Every individual values his or her health in every aspect including management of mental health issues. There were a handful of stories where I came into contact with people battling kidney diseases and eating disorders.
It also helps to have community support to help people cope with losses of loved ones and organizations reaching out to struggling families.
Easing the pain
Patient comfort comes first in The
Pavilion's on-site dialysis service
January 15, 2007
By Jason Arndt
The News-Sun
Dialysis treatments can be a long and
painful procedure. The Pavilion of Waukegan hopes to help patients
with kidney ailments through more individualized attention.
"Once
a person goes on dialysis, it means they suffer from kidney failure,"
said Pavilion spokesperson Aaron Shpayher. The only alternative to
defeating dialysis would be to receive a kidney transplant. A person
can survive for the remainder of his life with one kidney.
The Pavilion has been open for service
since 2000 and the program is geared toward individuals who have
chronic long-term kidney failure.
"We function more on the focus of
chronic situations," said Shpayher, on the difference between
the Pavilion and a full service hospital.
The long-term care facility offers
several other services to help ease the emotional and physical pain
of dialysis, including television entertainment and an in-house
beauty and barber services.
"We have a very bright room with a
television and radio. We have the ability to provide them a
distraction from the pain," Shpayher said.
In addition to leisure recreation
activities, they also offer nutritious meals and social settings for
patients to interact with one another.
"Because we are a chronic care
facility, the traveling and transporting is much easier," said
dialysis specialist Monica Wrobleski. "It makes the treatments a
lot more comforting and assuring."
In addition, Wrobleski said the staff
can give more one-on-one attention to the patients because they are
around the patients more than in a traditional hospital.
"The patients have a better
familiarity with the staff," Wrobleski said.
Shpayher said the entertainment offered
can be a relief to some patients in the Pavilion due to their
on-going kidney problems.
However, due to the pain they endure,
most choose to attempt to fall asleep.
The Pavilion also offers religious
services to individuals who need spiritual guidance to walk them
through the obstacles in their lives. With the high volume of
individuals on transplant lists for kidneys, patients appreciate
spiritual support to help them cope with what looms ahead.
Dialysis treatment involves three
treatments per week with the four remaining days off.
"We have success stories from
people on dialysis. Some of come in looking very sick and were able
to go out into the community after a few weeks in treatment,"
Shpayher said. "But they still have to undergo the three-day a
week treatment."
The process is ongoing because people
will need to remain in the treatment until they receive a transplant.
There is a series of medical
professionals to assist the patient in every aspect including a
nephrology social worker, kidney dietician, patient care technician
and biomedical technician. They also provide occupational, speech and
physical therapy.
For individuals who have been suffering
for a tremendous amount of time, they offer hospice care to help ease
the pain.
Positive support
National organization for eating
disorders has roots in Highland Park
October 30, 2006
By Jason Arndt
The News-Sun
HIGHLAND PARK - Christine Reh has found
a way to turn a past problem into a positive experience, courtesy of
a locally founded organization.
The 21-year-old DePaul University
senior is an intern for the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa
and Associated Disorders, which has provided support for the illness
which plagued her 10 years earlier.
"I am currently working on a
project where we are replicating a study on the age onset of
anorexia, bulimia and any kind of eating disorder," said Reh. "I
am a recovering anorexic and a major in psychology and I am going to
hopefully go to graduate school and get my PhD to study eating
disorders eventually and get into the field and help people who are
dealing with eating disorders."
Reh found the organization online at
her St. Louis home when she was a high school student and began
receiving support from individuals around the country who visited the
online chat rooms and forums. She also called into the hotline when
she needed assistance.
The hotline allows the organization's
volunteers to refer individuals who suffer from eating disorders to
more than 1,800 professionals throughout North America and the rest
of the world.
"So far it has been a really great
experience for me," Reh said, about her internship with ANAD.
Reh said she has been in recovery for
two full years and began having symptoms at 11 years old. Through the
support of her mother and father in high school, she was able to come
to terms with the illness.
"The recovery process didn't
really begin until I was old enough to really begin to take control
of myself and I wanted to get better," Reh said.
Vivian Hanson Meehan founded the
organization when she was a nurse at Highland Park in 1976 when a
family member was diagnosed with anorexia.
Due to the lack of resources then
available to medical professionals, she sought to verify the severity
of illness and prove it had become an epidemic.
Meehan credits former District 10 State
Rep. John Porter for assisting the organization with congressional
measures such as parity legislation, where health insurance providers
can recognize eating disorders and mental illness as a medical issue.
The organization also has participated
in congressional hearings regarding the dangers of certain diets and
products pertaining to eating disorders.
The former nurse began the organization
without any major expectations and seems surprised by the national
and worldwide support of the organization.
Meehan started the organization by
putting advertisements in the local paper calling out family members
who might have a relative with anorexia.
She received a high volume of response
from people who have suffered from the illness or who had relatives
seeking more information about the illness. Meehan was challenged by
a local doctor to find 2,000 people who suffered from anorexia and
her efforts eventually turned into the founding of a worldwide
organization.
ANAD has organizations in Germany and
was once affiliated with a Canada organization until Canadian
authorities threatened to take funding away due to being affiliated
with an American organization.
Amanda Elliott, 27, is the national
coordinator for support groups. The organization has approximately
250 support groups nationwide and receives requests on a daily basis
to form new support groups, according to Elliott.
Elliott said she will stay with the
organization for as long as it exists due to the amount of support
she received when she suffered from the eating disorder.
Compassionate Friends holds healing
vigil on Sunday
December 9, 2006
By Jason Arndt
The News-Sun
MILLBURN - The holidays can be a
difficult time for a parent to grieve over the death of a child. The
Northern Lake County Chapter of Compassionate Friends is working to
help parents who have lost a child by holding a candlelight vigil
scheduled Sunday at Millburn Congregational Church.
"My daughter
died in 2002 and I have been going to it ever since," said Jenny
Selle, leader of the county chapter. The loss of her daughter was
tough for the Selle family due to her daughter being her only child.
Selle's daughter, Lila Marie Ruffolo, a
Warren Township High School graduate, died at the age of 24 in an
auto accident. She was attending the University of Arkansas-Little
Rock at the time of her death.
She believes the timing of the vigil is
crucial due to Christmas.
"The holidays are a heavy time of
the year (for parents who lost their children) and it can be
comforting to feel the support," she said.
Compassionate Friends holds monthly
meetings to help parents cope with the loss of their child.
"The main thing is these are
people who have been through what we have been through," said
Selle. "That is the greatest value (of the organization)."
Selle believes the organization
provides more support than a professional therapist because everyone
involved within the group can assist each other and understand each
other better.
The candlelight vigil has taken place
annually in the second Sunday of the month since 1997.
Lake County's Compassionate Friends
organization was formed in 1984 to support parents, relatives,
siblings and grandparents. Selle said 10 to 15 people come to the
meetings every month, but more usually participate in the candlelight
event with expectations of around 100.
Only two men attend the monthly
meetings on a regular basis.
"One of the reasons why I am in
Compassionate Friends with my wife is because it is a family thing,"
said Jenny's husband, Rick. "I just want to let men know it is
OK to come in and talk about it."
Rick Selle mentioned the organization
also can help keep marriages strong when a family tragedy of losing a
child occurs. "It helps keep the marriage together, we must
share the grief and we are in this together," he said.
The worldwide non-profit organization
holds the vigil at the same time, making it the largest vigil in the
world, according to the organization.
Compassionate Friends chose the second
Sunday of December because it coincides with National Children's
Memorial Day.
Lake Zurich organization and e-Bay
reach out to single-parent families
October 16, 2006
By Jason Arndt
The News-Sun
According to the 2002 Illinois census,
38.8 percent of single-mother families lived below the poverty level.
Lake Zurich's Carolyn Gable along with a board of directors is
looking to bridge the gap to help struggling single mothers and their
children succeed in everyday life. Gable was a waitress with seven
children. She now owns a $30 million transportation company based in
Lake Zurich.
"I credit good people, a great customer base and a
belief in myself that God can put it all together," Gable said.
New Age Transportation began in 1989
when her company earned its first million dollars.
According to Gable, the biggest jump in
the business came in 1999 when the revenue doubled from $4 million to
$8 million in one year.
"Once she got to a new level of
success with her transportation company, she remembered where she
came from," said Executive Director Kathy Gregg on why Gable
decided to create the "Expect a Miracle" organization. "She
felt she needed to give back to the community."
What started out as a yearly
traditional garage sale turned into a worldwide fund-raising effort,
courtesy of online auction giant ebay.com.
"She was all for it. We had a
garage sale at her house and previewed (the items)," Gregg said.
For the first five years, the
organization held garage sales to fund activities for youth in
poverty. Then Gregg and Gable's board of directors presented Gable
with an idea of an e-Bay store. This September, the first week the
sale went virtual, the online e-Bay fund-raiser raised $1,000.
The "Expect a Miracle"
Foundation aims to reach out to single mothers who cannot afford to
send their children to extra-curricular activities such as ballet
lessons, choir workshops and athletic programs.
Since the foundation began in 2001,
they have sponsored $200 for each child in the program to participate
in athletics.
"When we told a mother of eight
kids they could play football, she literally broke down in tears at
the Lake Zurich Park District," Gregg said. "Her kids spent
all of their lives on the sidelines watching their friends play
football."
The organization has touched the lives
of 1,000 other single-parent families across the United States.
The "Expect a Miracle"
organization donated 52 percent of its proceeds to the inner city of
Chicago last year.
In addition, the foundation also has
funded a $25,000 summer camp for inner-city children every year since
its inception.
"We are reaching quite a
cross-section of people," said Gregg, who is still collecting
demographic data on diversity.
Gable said the roadblock of the
organization is more money is going out than coming in.
Despite the majority of the recipients
being single mothers, single or widowed fathers also have been helped
by the organization.
A 15-year-old Stevenson High School
student and aspiring musical theatre major in college was able to
receive funding to attend a trip to New York with her choir class.
"Going to New York will definitely
be the best experience because of all the opportunities to perform
there," said the recipient in the letter to the organization. "I
really enjoy singing and I am looking forward to singing in many
places in New York."
A mother of a 12-year-old tae kwon do
student wrote a letter of thanks to the organization for funding her
son's advancement through a program at a fitness club.
"He will be in the program for
three years and is so happy and excited that he can now take belt
promotion tests," the mother wrote. "It has been difficult
financially for us to afford extra-curricular activities for (him)."
The single mother also indicated in the
letter that her son aspires to be a scientist or doctor when he
attends college.
In order to apply for a grant from the
organization, or for information on making a donation, call (847)
545-1157 or go to www.expectamiraclefoundation.com.
