On the Move With a New Breast Cancer Resource
(ARA) – When a woman is first diagnosed with breast cancer, all kinds of questions go through her mind, and not all of them are about the cancer itself. “Will I be able to remain active? What kind of impact will treatment have on my lifestyle? Can I still be intimate with my significant other?”
When California resident Mary Jean Lynberg was first diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer back in 2004, she felt numb and physically ill. “My doctor had informed me that the type of tumor I had was fast growing and as a result, she would be very aggressive with my treatment. She told me that meant several rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and maybe even surgery. I was very aware that life as I knew it was going to go through some drastic changes,” Lynberg says.
According to the American Cancer Society, 40,000 women (25 to 30 percent of women with breast cancer) are diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer every year. HER2 is part of a family of genes that play roles in controlling cell growth. In some breast cancers, for reasons no one understands, cancer cells have too much HER2.
Shortly after Lynberg was diagnosed, one of the first things she did was seek information and comfort online. “While I found several support groups that helped me get informed about my special form of breast cancer, I couldn’t find a site that spoke to the rest of my life – those topics that could benefit me on the road back to wellness,” she says. “I wanted to learn more about how to live the type of lifestyle I had before battling the disease. Would I still be able to enjoy my passions, like golf and travel?” Thankfully, Lynberg was able to continue pursuing those passions in one form or another, partly because her treatment included an oral therapy that she could take wherever and whenever she needed it.
Today, Lynberg’s breast cancer is in remission, but she remembers the struggles she faced at the time to figure it all out. However, she is happy to learn that the women who follow in her footsteps will not experience that same struggle. Launched this September, a new online resource is helping women and their loved ones continue to live a healthy, active, on-the-move lifestyle despite their cancer diagnosis.
HER Move (www.hermove.com) is the first ever Web-based, lifestyle program specifically for women in all stages of HER2-positive breast cancer, including the newly diagnosed, those living with advanced or metastatic disease and the long-term survivors. In addition to a unique offering of health and wellness information, there are resources that inspire women with HER2-positive breast cancer to live life to the fullest as best they can by staying on-the-move and living a healthy and active lifestyle.
Marybeth Bond, a travel expert and author of 11 travel books for women, is among the experts who have material posted on the site. “Travel has an uncanny way of taking us back to the simplicity that makes life precious again. A close friend recently told me that her first trip after diagnosis marked the beginning of hope – hope that she could live the life she had pre-cancer.”
But the key, points out Bond, is to recognize that “travel” has many definitions. “An afternoon visit to a botanical garden, a day cruise on a lake, or a walk in the woods with a loved-one can turn your attitude upside-down, change negatives into positives and pain into purpose.”
Those who have questions about intimacy, sexual connection and romance – generally not topics that are easy to discuss with your doctor, let alone their partner – can find answers courtesy of Ruth Peltason, author of the book, “I AM NOT MY BREAST CANCER.” A breast cancer survivor herself, she interviewed hundreds of women from all walks of life to get their take on the topic and shares what she learned on the site.
There’s also a section dedicated to caregivers headed up by HER2 Support Group’s (www.her2support.org) Joe Druther, whose wife, Christine, is a breast cancer survivor. “While being a caregiver can be stressful, there are many support groups made up of people like me who were unexpectedly given the role of caregiver. It can take some time to get adjusted to this new role, but know it is a crucial one – one that may be challenging at times, yet rewarding because you are, after all, helping someone you love.”
In addition to sharing resources, the site also creates a community where women can share their personal stories, anecdotes, recipes and photographs among new friends, and learn from the experiences of others. HER Move was funded and developed by GlaxoSmithKline Oncology.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
More than 60 percent of non-traumatic, lower-limb amputations occur among people with diabetes. Don’t become one of them.
(NewsUSA) - Nearly 21 million people in the United States are afflicted with diabetes, which accounts for 7 percent of the population. The prevalence of the disease is even higher among African Americans. In fact, approximately 13 percent of African Americans aged 20 years or older have the disease. And while diabetes is a chronic disease that can be managed, people need to be more aware of the complications associated with it.
Diabetic complications can cause nerve and vascular damage, which can eventually lead to foot ulcers. If not treated in time, these ulcers can result in amputation. In fact, more than 60 percent of non-traumatic, lower-limb amputations in the United States occur among people with diabetes.
What can you do? The American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) recommends regular visits to an APMA podiatric physician as part of a comprehensive foot care plan to help reduce your risk of amputation. Additionally, the APMA suggests following these simple tips at home.
* Check your feet every day
Especially if you have a loss of sensation, visually inspecting your feet daily will help you notice any cuts, sores, blisters or changes in the skin or toenails. You can use a hand mirror to help you check the bottoms of your feet. If you notice a change in your feet, see your podiatrist immediately.
* Clean your feet daily
Washing your feet will help avoid the build-up of bacteria. Be sure to wash in warm water, rather than hot. Completely dry your feet after washing, and pay special attention to drying between the toes.
* Keep skin healthy
By lightly applying lotion or moisturizer to your feet, you can help prevent dry, flaky or cracked skin. Use lotion on the tops and bottoms of your feet but never between the toes because excess moisture between the toes creates conditions favorable to forming an infection.
* Always wear shoes and socks
Soft, lightly padded socks will help you avoid blisters and sores. Socks with no seams are best. Also, examine the insides of your shoes to be sure there is nothing harmful that will injure your feet.
* Choose shoes that fit well and protect your feet
One of the best ways to avoid injuries to your feet is to wear sturdy and supportive shoes at all times.
For more information on diabetes and your feet or to find an APMA podiatrist in your area, visit www.apma.org.
The Wachovia Foundation has awarded a $10,000 grant to The Rex Hospital Foundation to support the renovation and expansion of Rex Cancer Center. The improvements to Rex Cancer Center will encompass the values long associated with Rex: high-quality care with the best technologies and clinicians available; a supportive and nurturing environment for the patient and family; and a focus on the whole person. Some of these improvements include: Expanded space for new medical equipment and medical treatments; a state-of-the-art linear accelerator and tomotherapy system, increased space for the cancer resource center and touch-screen kiosks for patient education.
“The Wachovia Foundation is pleased to provide a grant to The Rex Hospital Foundation for the renovation and expansion of Rex Cancer Center,” says John W. Ward, senior vice president for Wachovia. “Rex is an important part of the community, and continues to grow as the health care needs of our community become greater. Wachovia is proud to support this growth as a partner with Rex.”
Rex Cancer Center is devoted to preventing and treating cancer through cutting-edge therapies and individualized patient care. At the foundation of Rex Cancer Center are outstanding radiation oncology and hematology/oncology services. Rex provides cancer patients and their families with educational programs, screening programs, complimentary workshops, support groups and individual counseling. Rex diagnoses 1,800 new cancer cases each year. About 850 to 900 of these patients will come to Rex for cancer treatment, with 4,000 chemo treatments and more than 16,000 radiation treatments. Rex Cancer Center has been designated by the American College of Surgeons as a nationally accredited comprehensive community cancer center
Read More:CarolinaNewsWire
APEX, N.C. – WiSpots has selected tyBit™ Unified Search, the search engine from tyBit (www.tybit.com), as the exclusive search engine for its WiPad devices that allow patients in medical office waiting rooms to connect to the Internet for free, even if they don’t have their own wireless device. Several physician practices already offer WiPads, and WiSpots will be rolling out this new interactive media/Internet access solution that uses the tyBit search engine throughout North Carolina and the United States over the next 18 months.
Revolutionizing Waiting Rooms
Most people spend a minimum of 30 minutes in a doctor’s waiting room before receiving medical services. With the WiSpots WiPad, they can connect to the Internet to read informative content regarding their visit to the doctor or check e-mail while away from their office.
“There were over 68,000 hotspots worldwide as of mid-2005,” stated WiSpots CEO Kevin Flannery. “At this time only a small percentage of the general public is able to utilize these hotspot locations because patrons must provide their own laptop computers or PDAs. That’s not an issue at our client locations since we provide the WiPads for their patients to use on site.”
The partnership between WiSpots and tyBit allows patients to search the Internet with tyBit Unified Search for online magazines, news and social networks such as tyVille. Patients can also use WiPads to join existing social network groups, such as cancer support groups, on tyVille and communicate with other people throughout the United States who share the same medical concerns.
Patients concerned about germs and the cleanliness of hard-copy magazines in waiting rooms will appreciate the WiPad, which uses technology that provides a virtual “page turning” experience for many publications. Magazines are read on the WiPad screen, and pages are turned with the touch of a button. Additionally, WiSpots has enabled each of their WiPads to be disinfected with antibacterial supplies provided on each WiSpots interaction center, ensuring a healthy environment for any doctor’s office.
Free WiFi Supported by Ads
WiFi access is provided for free to patients since the service is primarily supported by advertising. WiSpots provides value to doctor’s offices by boosting patient satisfaction and turning any waiting room into a potential source of revenue. As part of WiSpots’ revenue-sharing program, the practice can receive a percentage of the ad revenue under certain conditions.
For advertisers, WiSpots provide access to the most captive environment of consumers worldwide. Unobtrusive advertising space is available in three different formats. Companies searching to get their message out to the community can leverage WiSpots and tyBit to get “face time” with millions of consumers and an opportunity converse with them, not just at them.
Advertising opportunities are available with tyBit and WiSpots. Please contact the tyBit team at advertise@tyBit.com or General Manager Kitti Jo Finch at kfinch@tyBit.com. Contact the WiSpots team at sales@wispots.com or by phone at (919) 387-6255.
Read More:CarolinaNewsWire
Need for Prescription Drugs Propels Demand for Pharmacy Technicians
(ARA) - With our nation’s population, the demand for prescription medication is greater than ever before. This has created a huge need for pharmacy workers, according to the National Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“There are numerous factors propelling demand for medication,” says Richard Nunez, department chair and certified pharmacy technician at Everest College, in San Francisco. “First, Americans are living longer than ever and need more medical treatments. Advances in medical technology are also producing more prescription drugs. The combination of these two factors is putting a real strain on the pharmaceutical industry to meet demand.”
The number of prescriptions filled increased by 60 percent in the span of a decade, rising from 1.9 million in 1992 to 3.1 million in 2002, according to the Association of Counter Drug Stores.
Nunez links this growth of the pharmaceutical industry to demographic changes. “The growing need for prescription drugs is one of the long term side-effects of the aging baby-boom generation. The pharmaceutical industry is one of many industries in healthcare that is feeling the repercussions,” says Nunez.
“Pharmacy technicians are one way the profession is responding to this need for workers,” he adds. “They really play a crucial role in a pharmacy. In many ways, the work of pharmacy technicians complements that of pharmacists. Pharmacy technicians help patients, explain dosages, update patient information, and help with labeling and filling prescriptions.”
Pharmacy technicians are one of the fastest growing professions in the U.S. right now. According to the National Pharmacy Technician Association, more than 39,000 pharmacy technician jobs open each year. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that pharmacy technician jobs are expected to grow more than 32 percent over the next decade.
Yet with increased demand, Nunez explains that the role of pharmacy technicians is changing. “Pharmacists just do not have the time to do everything themselves. Pharmacy technicians have to step in to fill multiple roles,” he says. Nunez explains that pharmacy technicians will begin to assume responsibilities for a range of tasks that were previously reserved for pharmacists or pharmacy aides.
“The profession has really had to develop in response to this need,” says Nunez. “Pharmacy technicians are no longer seen as simply assistants to pharmacists, but as full-fledged pharmaceutical professionals.”
Pharmacists have to focus more on patient care, and pharmacy technicians refer questions regarding prescriptions, drug information or health matters to them. Pharmacy technicians are responsible for measuring, recording and labeling medications, and they are also taking on more administrative duties, including updating patient profiles, preparing insurance claims and taking inventory of pharmacy stock.
As responsibilities of pharmacy technicians grow, obtaining certification is also becoming more important. “Although pharmacy technicians have traditionally received on-the-job training, employers are increasingly looking for employees who have prior professional degree,” says Drew Jones, Pharmacy Program director and certified pharmacy technician at Everest College in City of Industry, Calif.
More importantly, Jones explains that better training could lead to more professional opportunities. “The shortage of pharmacists opens up opportunities for better qualified pharmacy technicians to take on more responsibilities,” says Jones.
“We recognize the importance of this career in helping keep Americans healthy. Pharmacy technicians have become a crucial part of the pharmacy team, and we really stress the career’s potential to our students. They come to us to be part of an accredited program, because they recognize the new opportunities the career offers for qualified employees,” says Jones.
To learn more about career opportunities as a pharmacy technician, visit www.everest.edu.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
RALEIGH, N.C. – The Mariam Clinic, a new nonprofit organization that provides free health care to low-income, uninsured adults in Wake and Durham Counties, opened its doors in October 2007. The clinic is located near Rex Healthcare Center in Raleigh and provides medical treatment for acute and chronic illnesses, as well as social service and physician referrals, psychiatry and counseling, discounted lab and radiology services, and interpreters for five languages, including Spanish and Arabic.
Open on Sunday afternoons from 1 PM – 5 PM, the Mariam Clinic was created to fill the gaps of other local safety net providers. With more than 100,000 uninsured citizens in Wake County alone, the need for such clinics is enormous. The Mariam Clinic offers weekend hours because 80% of the uninsured are employed, mostly in hourly-wage jobs, which can make it difficult to keep appointments during the traditional weekday hours of many clinics
Read More:CarolinaNewsWire
RALEIGH, NC — Allen Weiss, a film director based in Raleigh, recently completed a series of 30-sec television spots for Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD) in Norfolk, Virginia’s only free-standing, full-service pediatric hospital, treating children from birth through age 21 and the site of the state’s only dedicated pediatric emergency center.
The series, created by Davis Advertising of Virginia Beach and produced by Park Group of Richmond, promotes CHKD’s expansion of its comprehensive children’s health care into all other communities in the state’s Tidewater/Hampton Roads area.
“We cast children and teenagers to depict various real-case CHKD experiences in these Tidewater communities,” Weiss explained. “We wanted to make the point that the hospital means different things to different children in these areas.”
Shooting took place in several locations, including Virginia Beach (at sunrise), the William & Mary campus in Historic Williamsburg, and along the James River in Norfolk. The visual “clue” that held them all together was large-scale version of children’s wooden blocks that form the CHKD logo.
The multiple locations brought on a challenge. “Fitting so many locations into a given number of shoot days with no contingency for bad weather - that was a challenge,” he said. “I’m not a particularly religious man, but I prayed a lot!”
The weather cooperated and the shoot went off without a hitch.
“This was my second experience with this agency and this client,” said Weiss, who worked with both on an earlier hospital campaign. “As always, they were trusting and open to input. They assemble people who they feel are the best for a particular job then let those people go about doing their job. And for me, that trust extended all the way through the mostly Richmond-based crew, including director of photography Kevin Burger.”
The series of spots, with editing and custom music done in-house at Park Group, is being aired throughout the Tidewater area, which includes Chesapeake, Hampton, Isle of Wight, Newport News, Norfolk, Suffolk, Smithfield, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg
Read More:CarolinaNewsWire
Raleigh — Kenneth L. Burgess, a Partner with Poyner & Spruill LLP in Raleigh, has been appointed to the legal committee of the American Health Care Association (AHCA) for a 3-year term.
Ken is a long term care attorney advising clients on a wide variety of legal planning issues arising in the skilled nursing facility setting, assisted living setting, and other spheres of long term care. He is a frequent national lecturer and author of industry manuals, national trade journal magazine articles and similar training tools. He serves Poyner & Spruill clients by focusing on legal issues impacting the long term care and health services sector.
The American Health Care Association (AHCA) is a non-profit federation of affiliated state health organizations, together representing more than 10,000 non-profit and for-profit assisted living, nursing facility, developmentally-disabled, and subacute care providers that care for more than 1.5 million elderly and disabled individuals nationally.
The legal committee of the AHCA is made up of select attorneys from across the country who specialize in long term care. They develop policy recommendations, review requests for financial assistance from providers around the country in legal cases with national implications, and help set policy for the Association’s legal strategy nationally.
Ken graduated from the University of North Carolina with a B.A. in 1979, and received his J.D. cum laude from Campbell University Law School in 1984. He can be reached at 919-783-2917 or kburgess @poynerspruill.com.
For more information, contact Cindy Caldwell at 704-342-5255 or mailto:ccaldwell@poyners.com.
Read More:CarolinaNews Wire
ARA) - Diabetes is one of the fastest-growing health crises in the United States. One in four Americans, or about 75 million people, has diabetes or is at risk of developing type-2 diabetes.
As with other chronic diseases, the financial consequences and economic impact of diabetes can be devastating. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), one out of 10 health care dollars is now being spent on diabetes and its complications while people living with diabetes spend nearly $11,000 more per year on medical expenditures compared to those without diabetes. Furthermore, the Milken Institute estimates that this year diabetes will result in over 140 billion dollars of lost wages and productivity costs. Fortunately, just as there are lifestyle actions people can take to manage and even prevent diabetes, there are steps people can take to prepare for the impact of diabetes on their financial security.
“Often, the financial implications of chronic diseases such as diabetes are overlooked,” says Robert Taylor, president of the Council for Disability Awareness (CDA). “It is important to understand that complications from diabetes may hinder people’s ability to earn a living, jeopardizing their present and future financial security. Wage-earners should be thinking about the financial measures they need to have in place to protect their financial lifestyles.”
Financial preparedness in case a disability happens is a critical responsibility for all wage-earners, particularly as disabilities among the work force continues to grow. A good starting point in the planning process is to estimate the monthly living expenses that would continue during an income limiting disability and determine your potential sources of income. From there you can develop your own plan for protecting your financial lifestyle.
The CDA Web site offers a financial review form that helps users to see how a disability could affect their financial situation, and a guide on how to prepare for that possibility. Also available at www.disabilitycanhappen.org are facts and figures about disability, real-life stories, and tips for healthy living that can reduce your chances of suffering from a chronic disease like diabetes.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
ARA) - With life expectancy figures continuing to climb, managing eye disease is essential for people to maintain healthy, happy and productive lives. According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of severe vision loss in people over age 50. The Centers for Disease Control and prevention estimate that 1.8 million people have the disease and another 7.3 million are at risk for vision loss from AMD.
AMD occurs when the central area of the retina responsible for clear vision, the macula, is damaged. This results in a loss of central vision in the eye, which is needed for reading and close work. Color vision and distance vision are also affected. There are two types of macular degeneration: “dry” or atrophic, and “wet” or exudative.
The exact cause of macular degeneration is unknown but it may be related to aging, hereditary factors, smoking and exposure to high levels of ultraviolet radiation and blue light, both found in sunlight. Your lifestyle can play a role in reducing your risk of developing AMD and other eye diseases. The AOA recommends that individuals:
* Eat a low-fat balanced diet rich in green, leafy vegetables, or ask their optometrist about dietary supplements;
* Wear sunglasses that block 99 to 100 percent of ultraviolet radiation;
* Keep blood pressure under control;
* Avoid smoking.
People should also be alert for the symptoms of the wet form of macular degeneration and seek professional help immediately if they notice:
* A sudden loss of the ability to see clearly;
* A gradual change in color vision;
* Distorted vision, such as wavy lines that should be straight;
* A dark or empty area appearing in the center of vision.
The key to treatment and management of AMD is early detection; see your optometrist regularly to protect your vision. For more information, visit the association’s Web site at www.aoa.org
Courtesy of ARAcontent
