Tag Archives: Marie Havenga

10 things to know about IBD

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Health, Senior Living,
With proper treatment or medications, patients can usually get inflammatory bowel disease under control. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Marie Havenga, Spectrum Health Beat


If you are suffering from urgent bowel movements, frequent diarrhea and abdominal pain, you may be a victim of inflammatory bowel disease.


But all is not doom and gloom.


With the right treatment plan, most patients can limit their symptoms and complications, allowing them to live full and active lives, said Andrew Shreiner, MD, PhD, a Spectrum Health Medical Group gastroenterologist.


Dr. Shreiner, who presented an IBD program recently at a digestive disease conference, sat down with Spectrum Health Beat to discuss what patients need to know about the disease.

1. What are the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease?

Symptoms of IBD are often related to inflammation in the digestive tract, including frequent diarrhea, blood in the stool, urgency with bowel movements and abdominal pain. Generalized symptoms such as fatigue and weight loss are common. Symptoms related to complications of IBD, including infection or intestinal blockage, are less frequent and include abdominal pain, fever, bloating, nausea and vomiting. Occasionally, symptoms may develop from IBD affecting other body areas, such as skin, joints or eyes.

2. What are the types of IBD?

The main types are ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Ulcerative colitis affects the colon and often causes bloody diarrhea with urgency. Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the digestive tract, so symptoms are variable but often include abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue and weight loss.

3. What causes IBD?

We don’t know what causes IBD, exactly. It is clear that inherited genetic factors are one component, but environmental factors play a large part in the development of IBD, too. Many of the possible environmental factors are thought to be the result of modernized living, such as antibiotic use, exposure or lack thereof to microbes and changes in diet.

4. How do you diagnose it?

In individuals with symptoms that are worrisome for IBD, and not explained by another cause (such as intestinal infection), ulcerative colitis is generally diagnosed with colonoscopy and tissue biopsy, and Crohn’s disease is often diagnosed with a combination of colonoscopy and an imaging test, such as a CT scan.

5. How can IBD affect my daily life?

When IBD is active, it can have a significant impact on daily life. Frequent diarrhea, abdominal pain and fatigue can really limit an individual’s ability to maintain a normal routine. Sometimes, individuals are admitted to the hospital with severe symptoms. When IBD is well-treated and inactive, individuals can function without any significant impairments related to IBD.

6. Is there any preventive care?

Individuals with IBD—particularly those on medications to suppress the immune system—are at increased risk for a number of health problems. Preventive care is important to decrease the risk for developing these health problems. This includes vaccinations to prevent infections, sun protection to prevent skin cancer, routine check-ups to prevent osteoporosis, and a number of other preventive measures.

7. Are there any medications that can help?

Yes, there is a growing list of medications that help treat IBD. The goal of treatment is to induce and then maintain remission from inflammation, so medications work to suppress the inappropriate immune activity that promotes IBD. Various medications differ in the level of potency, so there are various options to treat IBD ranging from mild to severe.

8. How much does diet/lifestyle affect IBD?

We generally recommend a healthy diet and active lifestyle, in addition to not smoking tobacco, to promote overall health. These measures can lessen the symptom burden in IBD and they are an important component of managing the disease. It is important to note that diet and lifestyle habits are not adequate therapies by themselves to treat IBD in the vast majority of individuals.

9. Can surgery help?

There is a role for surgery in the treatment of both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. In general, surgery is used as the last option for active disease or disease-related complications that cannot be adequately treated with medical therapy or less invasive procedures.

10. Can it ever be cured?

At present, IBD cannot be cured. However, it can be managed in most cases to limit symptoms and complications and to allow individuals to lead full and active lives.


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.




‘Heading south quickly’

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Health, , ,

[huge_it_slider id=”76″]


By Marie Havenga, Spectrum Health Beat

Photos by Taylor Ballek


David Stults stood in front of a packed auditorium at Lowell High School, sharing his medical journey with students.


Even though the cause of his irreversible lung damage is, of all things, microwave popcorn, Stults has learned that vaping can cause similar damage. And he wants students to know it. Before they suffer a similar fate.


Stults, now 59, started feeling short of breath about 10 years ago when he’d go up and down the stairs at his house.


“Your initial thought is, OK, it’s time to push away from snacks and do some exercise, which I began to do,” the Walker, Michigan, resident said. “The symptoms only became worse. I went to my PCP. He listened to my lungs and said, ‘Something doesn’t sound right.’”


The doctor referred him to Michael Harrison, MD, a Spectrum Health pulmonology disease specialist.


In late 2009, lung function tests put Stults in the 70% to 80% range.


“For a healthy 49-year-old man, that was alarming,” Stults said. “Imaging showed some very ugly air trapping. He did all the breathing testing and put me on a pretty aggressive regimen of prednisone and inhalers.”


But time would not be a healer.


By February 2010, his lung function had worsened, dipping to the 60% range.


“It’s heading south quickly,” he said. “I was taking 60 to 80 milligrams of prednisone a day, as well as other inhalers. I started doing breathing treatments a couple of times a day.

Photo by Taylor Ballek, Spectrum Health Beat

“By March or April, I was down to 30%,” he said. “I couldn’t walk up half a flight of stairs without stopping to catch my breath. Any kind of incline was a challenge. Even the gentle incline of the drive walking from the mailbox to my home, I’d have to catch my breath.”


By May, he continued to slide downhill, requiring weekly pulmonology appointments.

Medical mystery

Dr. Harrison suspected Stults may be suffering from an autoimmune issue. A rheumatologist started aggressive treatment with Rituxan, a drug normally used to fight cancer.


“I felt great afterwards,” he said. “I had more energy. I didn’t feel as short of breath.”


The diagnosis came in May 2010: bronchiolitis obiliterans, a severe lung inflammation that is both progressive and irreversible.


Doctors confirmed the diagnosis after three days of intense testing.


He returned home on oxygen.


“They said, ‘You need to go home and get your affairs in order,’” Stults said. “My wife (Barb) and I are both very committed and devoted Christians. We reached out to our family and friends and let them know we were asking for prayer. I can tell you from that day forward, my lung capacity has increased from 41% to 43% and has never gotten worse.”


Still, Stults wondered how he could have contracted this untreatable condition.


Dr. Harrison asked if he had been exposed to insulation, factory or foundry chemicals.


No. Stults had always worked white collar jobs.


He launched a massive internet search on his condition.


“Up popped this article on popcorn lung,” Stults said. “It told the story of these plant workers at various microwave butter-flavored popcorn manufacturers who were dying at this incredibly crazy rate. It was only the employees in these cities, working at these plants. A dozen employees died over six months. It was ridiculous.”


Federal agencies such as OSHA and NIOSH launched an investigation and learned the chemical used to create the butter flavoring, diacetyl, when it’s heated, creates a potentially toxic vapor.

Photo by Taylor Ballek

“My wife and I loved microwave butter-flavored popcorn,” he said. “My secretary at the office would make me a bag every day. I really enjoyed it, almost to an addictive level—opening the bag and sniffing in the fumes. I was breathing in the diacetyl on a daily basis. We had done that for 30 years.”


Stults’ condition may be irreversible and incurable, but he’s trying his best to reverse the actions of students who vape.


“We were talking with some friends of ours who are 20 years younger than we are and they have high school age boys,” Stults said. “She’s kind of the cool mom of Hudsonville. They have a nice home with an indoor basketball court. All of the guys in her son’s class hang out there.


“Because she’s so cool and engaging, the boys started to confess to her that a lot of them were vaping and couldn’t stop,” he said. “They were reaching out to an adult that they trust.”


She did some research and found that diacetyl is one of the many chemicals used to create different flavors in vaping pods.


“She knew my story and called me,” Stults said. “Besides nicotine, which is incredibly addictive, there’s asbestos and formaldehyde. You wouldn’t live with it in the attic and you’re going to suck it into your lungs?”

Snuffing out vaping

According to a series of national surveys recently released by the federal government, about 40% of high school seniors have vaped, double from the year prior.


Stults teamed up with Spectrum Health Medical Group pulmonologist Shelley Schmidt, MD, to set up talks at schools, with the goal of shining a light on the dangers of vaping pod chemicals and nicotine addiction.


“I get at least a phone call a week from a principal saying, We don’t know what to do. It’s out of control,’” Stults said. “Students are addicted. They don’t know how to stop.”


Stults aims to portray the real-life picture of what the chemicals do.


“I tell them, ‘Here’s what you’re setting yourself up for—40% lung capacity,’” he said. “Dr. Schmidt explains addiction and what’s going on in your lungs.”


Stults said they’ve only done a handful of presentations so far, but as principals talk to each other, engagement requests are growing.


“These kids do it walking down the hall in the school,” Stults said. “They do it in the classroom. They sneak it. Other than kind of a fruity smell, there are no fumes.”


Glenn VanOtteren, MD, a Spectrum Health Medical Group pulmonary disease specialist, said popcorn lung is rare but it could become more of an issue as vaping data becomes available.


“With the removal of diacetyl from heated food, we saw it rarely,” Dr. VanOtteren said. “We don’t have data on the rates of vaping-induced lung disease because the use of vaping has accelerated in the last two to three years.”


Dr. VanOtteren said Stults is doing well, despite limitations.

Photo by Taylor Ballek, Spectrum Health Beat

“His lung disease is stable,” Dr. VanOtteren said. “He is short of breath with stairs. He requires daily medicine and has flares of his disease about two times a year when he gets worse and needs additional medications. His lungs can continue to decline because of these flares.”


Dr. VanOtteren said he’s impressed Stults and Dr. Schmidt are sharing lung lessons with students.


“This is such a contemporary and important topic,” he said. “Providing education at this early age is super impactful.”


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.


‘They only gave me 6 to 9 months’

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Health, , , , ,
Photo credit: Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

By Marie Havenga, Spectrum Health Beat

Photos by Chris Clark


Late last summer, Tricia Johnson experienced subtle stomachaches.


Job stress, she thought. Or maybe tight muscles from starting a new workout routine.


“It was kind of constant, but not like pain,” Johnson said. “More like pressure would be the word for it. I kind of blew it off.”


But then, her stools started to change color. And change consistency.


She visited her primary care doctor, who ordered blood work.


“Everything came back pretty OK,” Johnson said. “My white blood count was a little down, but nothing she was concerned about. She chalked it up to my having irritable bowel syndrome. She gave me some anti-cramping pills. I took those for 10 days, but didn’t see any change.”


She returned for a CT scan on Aug. 30.


“I was barely home and I was getting a phone call from the physician,” Johnson said. “He said ‘I have bad news for you.’ My instinct was I thought it was my gall bladder. So when he said, ‘I have bad news for you,’ I thought, ‘Yeah, it’s my gall bladder, I’m going to need surgery.’”

Soul shock

That would have been welcome news.


Instead of hearing about gallbladder issues, she heard unthinkable words spill from her telephone earpiece: “You have pancreatic cancer.”


Johnson sat down on her bed. Shock flooded her soul.


“He must have set me up with an oncologist,” she said. “I just don’t remember much of that day. My husband (Shane) was working in Detroit. I had to call him. He couldn’t believe it. We stayed on the phone with each other that whole three-hour drive home. He even called the doctor to make sure I wasn’t hearing things wrong.”


The first week of September, Johnson met with an oncologist at the Spectrum Health Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion to review her scans and biopsies.

Photo credit: Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

There the news got even worse.


She had Stage 4 cancer in her pancreas, liver, lymph nodes and some of her vessels. And the cancer was too advanced for surgery.


“She told me it was the worst kind,” Johnson said.


Johnson underwent aggressive chemotherapy with four different medicines twice a month. Each session would take between five and six hours. She would return home with a pump that would continue to deliver chemo drugs.


“They told me it was going to be like dropping a hand grenade in my body,” she said. “They only gave me 6 to 9 months to live, depending on how I handled treatment.”


Johnson wasn’t about to let cancer rule her future. She started researching and studying, trying to learn everything she could to combat the criminal in her cells, the one trying to steal her health and life as she knew it.


“I learned we needed to do our part to take care of the rest of me and we changed my diet,” Johnson said. “We were typical Western Americans that ate processed foods, sugars and red meat.


“After reading a lot of different things, we changed to whole foods,” she said. “We still do some chicken and fish and learned about the top 10 cancer-fighting foods. I really do attribute that to helping me get through chemotherapy and keeping me healthy. If people don’t know I have cancer, they wouldn’t know. I don’t look like a cancer patient at all.”


Johnson concluded chemotherapy at the end of January. Scans showed the tumor had shrunk.

Reason for hope

Then, came the most encouraging news of all.


Spectrum Health surgical oncologist G. Paul Wright, MD, was starting a new clinical trial for hepatic artery infusional chemotherapy to the liver. The trial is the first of its kind in the United States and only a few places around the country have an HAI pump program.

Photo credit: Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

He inserted the pump in late February.  During this surgery, he and his partner, fellow surgical oncologist Mathew Chung, MD, performed nanoknife ablation of the tumor in the pancreas. This uses high voltage electrical pulses to shock the tumor while preserving the surrounding structures.


“It’s pumping chemo directly to my liver,” Johnson said. “So far so good with the pump. I haven’t had any side effects. Before with a port, by the time the chemo got to my liver, it was only 25 percent effective. Now, it’s 400 times the amount I would be getting through regular chemo.”


Dr. Wright said the hope is to increase longevity for patients who respond to what he called a “very aggressive” treatment.


“One of my primary career interests is the delivery of regional chemotherapy to isolated areas of the body,” Dr. Wright said. “This targets affected areas while minimizing toxicity that the rest of the body experiences.”


The pump in her abdomen, about the size of a hockey puck, slowly delivers high-dose chemotherapy to the liver over the course of two weeks.


“We then empty the chemotherapy out and take a two-week break before the next pump chemotherapy treatment,” Dr. Wright said. “These treatments are combined with regular chemotherapy through the standard port.”


So far, the results are astounding.


“As part of the trial we track tumor response using a blood test that is specific to pancreatic cancer,” Dr. Wright said.  “So far, early into her treatment, those numbers have already improved by 90% from when she was first diagnosed.”

Photo credit: Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

Johnson and her husband recently visited Lemmen-Holton to have the chemotherapy removed and heparin placed in the pump, as a two-week placeholder before the next treatment.


Clinical research nurse Marianne Morrissey told Johnson she’s looking great.


“We’re very hopeful,” Morrissey said. “And so far, you’ve been a model first patient, so we like it. The tumor shrank. Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it because it’s working.”


Johnson announced that she’s ready to go back to work in her role as a restaurant manager at Brann’s in Grandville.


“Your asking is a good sign that you’re ready,” Morrissey told her.


Shane, a martial arts instructor, said his wife works out three days a week.


“I help people with health and fitness and training,” Shane said. “I’ve taken and applied all of that to Tricia, as if she’s one of my fighters. Every day we work at this. Realistically, she didn’t have six months. It was that bad. That white flag is pretty easy to throw in the air. That’s not an option now. Everything is very positive.”


Including Johnson’s attitude.


Although she felt scared at first to trial the “direct-to-the-liver” chemotherapy pump, she remained hopeful.


“It made me feel so comfortable because Dr. Wright was so passionate about it,” Johnson said. “I look at it like, ‘What do I have to lose?’ I’ll do anything I can to be around longer.”


The plan is for Johnson to undergo the clinical trial pump treatments for six months, with a CT scan after three months.

Photo credit: Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

“I think that’s why I’m still here,” she said. “There’s a reason I was chosen to do this.


“Number one, it’s to help with medical research. Number two, I want to give back,” she said. “I can’t wait until I can volunteer at the hospital. Eventually, this disease is going to get me, but if I can help others have better quality of life, that makes me feel wonderful. There are so many people who have touched me, prayed for me, and done amazing things including my family members.”


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.


Pampered with a purpose

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Health, , ,

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

By Marie Havenga, Spectrum Health Beat

 

Photos by Chris Clark

 

Ruth Hourani swept hair from the floor at Profile Salon on a recent Monday, locks of brown, gray, red—each strand a story.

 

Hourani, a volunteer at Profile Salon’s Beautiful You program, knows that story of picking up the pieces all too well. The cancer story.

 

Just a short time ago, Hourani sat in those salon chairs.

 

Once a month, the Grand Rapids, Michigan, salon treats cancer patients to complimentary manicures, pedicures, massages and hair services.

 

Hourani said she gained so much from the fellowship and pampering at Beautiful You that she wanted to give back. She now volunteers there.

 

But it’s been a long and frightening journey from then until now.

 

In March 2016, Hourani underwent a routine mammogram. She went in confident. After all, she performed regular breast exams.

 

Photo courtesy Ruth Hourani

But when she overheard the receptionist attempting to schedule a biopsy after the mammogram, she knew.

 

“They had me scheduled for an ultrasound then switched it to a biopsy,” Hourani said. “Right then I thought, ‘Uh-oh, this isn’t going to be good.’”

 

That was on a Friday. The following Monday, March 14, her phone rang. Results. Results she did not want to hear. She suffered from an aggressive cancer.

 

“My husband (Thom) put the phone on speaker because I knew I wouldn’t retain much,” Hourani said. “It was like the floor dropped right out of my world.”

Aggressive cancer, aggressive action

Within days she met with a Spectrum Health Cancer Center oncologist and radiologist to discuss treatment.

 

“I went from a biopsy to being told to get ready for surgery within a week,” she said.

 

She had a lumpectomy on her left side on March 31. Doctors also removed two lymph nodes. They were clean, but due to the type of cancer, HER2, she had to undergo six chemo treatments, six weeks of radiation and a full year of preventative treatment called Herceptan.

 

She tried to keep life as normal as possible for her husband and two sons, Anthony, 21, and Thom, 18.

 

“My youngest son was a senior in high school and I wanted to make sure his last year was fun for him and it wasn’t all about Mom being sick,” she said. “When I look back, I don’t know how I did it. I was exhausted.”

 

Hourani threw up a denial defense at first—about the cancer diagnosis, about everything happening in her once-normal life.

 

“I lost my hair,” she said. “Two weeks from the first treatment they tell you you start losing it and they were dead on.”

Feeling beautiful again

Hourani enjoys sporting a sharp hair style. A friend of hers told her about the Beautiful You program.

 

“I was hesitant at first because I was so much in denial about what I was going through,” Hourani said. “I went there on one of their off days and had them shave my head. Your hair doesn’t fall out a piece at a time. It falls out in handfuls. If I had to do it over again I would shave my head right away. It was more traumatic to see it fall out.”

 

Hourani remembers feeling embarrassed. Ashamed. Different.

 

“They took me into a special room so I wouldn’t be out in public (for the head shaving),” Hourani said. “I felt very secluded and alone because it is a lonely journey. Unless you’re going through it, no one can understand how you’re feeling or really be there for you.”

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

Despite her hesitancy, when she started attending monthly Beautiful You sessions, she gained camaraderie, comfort and compassion.

 

“I thought I needed something to look forward to,” Hourani said. “I needed to be with people who were OK seeing me without hair. Friendships change throughout this type of journey because most people don’t know how to handle seeing you sick. Most people are used to seeing me very strong. I’m happy hiding my emotions. People had a hard time seeing me otherwise.”

 

When she walked into the salon, she felt sisterhood.

 

“Everyone is loving and caring,” she said. “You’re catered to—little things you wish other people would do, they did. If your body hurts, you can get a massage. If your head hurts, and your scalp is sensitive to everything, to have your head massaged just means the world to you.”

Sharing the beauty

She sat with like-minded sisters in salon chairs, bald sisters, sisters who shared emotional and physical pain, sisters who somehow understood the juggernaut in her journey.

 

She so much wanted to get from Point A to Point B, to slay the fears, to dry the tears. Her salon sisters understood that, too.

 

“I got to know a lot of the people,” she said. “I didn’t leave there without crying, because you could. You don’t feel beautiful when you’re going through cancer. You’re bloated from treatments and hormones. You gain a lot of weight. You just don’t feel at all attractive to anybody.”

 

Beautiful You offers wigs for those who wish to wear one. They offer sweet treats and coffees and fresh fruit.

 

Volunteers make purses and scarves and necklaces for the cancer clients.

 

“You come home with something so you feel like you were given a gift,” Hourani said.

 

Now, Hourani is repaying that gift. On her first day of volunteering, she brought in fabric purses that a friend of hers made. Hourani wants to start crocheting again so she can make items for the group, too.

 

But most of all, she wants to impart her gift of knowledge, of being a cancer survivor, of reaching back to a sister who is at Point A, and helping them to recognize there is indeed a real-life Point B somewhere in the not too distant future.

 

She wants to help them believe. To trust. To know.

 

“I’m hoping to be an advocate, to talk to the women about what they can expect,” Hourani said. “I hope that I can make people feel as good as I felt, and feel as beautiful as I felt when I was there.”

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

Hourani hugged the receptionists behind the desk, and talked with cancer patients getting pampered.

 

She wants to be a guiding hand, through her words.

 

“I would stay after my appointments just to talk to people and be upbeat with them knowing that it just stinks what you’re going through,” she said. “People will ask what you need and you don’t even know what to tell them. It’s almost as if these women just knew. When you walk in there, they know what you need—a massage, pedicure, manicure…They’ve got to see some pretty ugly feet without toenails (they fall out during chemo), but none of them look shocked.”

 

Hourani wants to reassure, just as other Beautiful You volunteers reassured her.

 

“They tell you you look beautiful,” she said. “Your family can tell you the same thing, but it comes differently from women who have been through it. They say, ‘We don’t care how you look. We want you to feel awesome today.’”

 

She misses the pampering, but now she tries to help others feel awesome.

 

“When you’re going through cancer, you feel as if you are dying, but you don’t want to feel that way,” she said. “It’s sad so many people have been touched by it. If I can help somebody else understand what they are going through after what I have been through, that right there is a blessing.”

 

Pam Westers, owner of Profile Salon, launched Beautiful You by Profile four years ago. The program started with less than 10 women three years ago and now pampers 60 to 80 cancer patients every Beautiful You Monday.

 

“It makes their whole month,” Westers said. “They look forward to this appointment because all their other appointments are hospitals and doctors. They love the relationships they make here. It’s almost like a support group when they’re here. It revitalizes them for the whole month.”

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

‘Beauty in the battle’

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Health, Local Faces, , ,

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

By Marie Havenga, Spectrum Health Beat

 

Photos by Chris Clark

 

In 2013, after a five-year battle, Emmy Rickert lost her Aunt Jodi to breast cancer.

 

Two weeks later, at age 24, Rickert began fighting the same battle.

 

Rickert was still grieving the loss of her mom, who died of a brain aneurysm just two years prior. Seven months before her mom passed away, Emmy’s dad endured a heart transplant.

 

Two weeks after Aunt Jodi died, while Emmy worked as a legislative aide for a state senator in Lansing, Michigan, she felt a bruised area on her chest.

 

“I felt deeper and felt a lump,” Emmy said. “I was an active 24-year-old who exercised regularly. I wondered if I pulled a muscle or dropped something on it.”

 

Rickert visited her OB-GYN in Lansing.

 

“She said, ‘You’re 24, it’s probably nothing,” Rickert said. “’Let’s check back in a month.’”

 

Still tender from the loss of her aunt, she wanted to be sure. She pushed.

 

“I really credit my aunt with my life,” Rickert said. “I tell people to be their own health advocate, I really had to push my OB to get it checked further. I didn’t feel comfortable having just lost my aunt.”

 

Rickert talked her doctor into ordering an ultrasound.

 

“I remember going in thinking ‘whatever journey I’m about to start, help me to be strong enough for it,’” Rickert said. “I just didn’t have a good feeling about it.”

Cancer at 24

Shortly after the Friday morning ultrasound began, the technician stepped out and brought the radiologist in. He immediately ordered a core biopsy.

 

On Monday, while at her desk at work, she got the results.

 

“The radiologist called me and told me I had breast cancer,” Rickert said. “He seemed quite shaken. He said, ‘I’ve never had to call a 24-year-old to tell them they have breast cancer.”

I remembered back to when I was a child. Whenever I was sick and had to take medicine, (my mom would) say, ‘Alright, I’m sending the soldiers in to kill the bad guys.’ Every time I watched the chemo flow into my body, I thought of my mom and felt her there. I thought, ‘We’re sending the good guys in to kill the bad guys.’

Emmy Rickert
Breast cancer survivor

The words rang in her ears. Just like in the movies. But this wasn’t fantasy. Instead, earth-shattering reality.

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

“My ears started ringing after I heard the word ‘cancer,’” she said. “I didn’t hear anything after. My world was spinning at that point. I didn’t understand why this was happening. I hadn’t prepared myself for those words ‘you have cancer.’ I don’t know if anyone can prepare themselves for that.”

 

Rickert’s mind whirled. She feared not only for her life, but she feared how she would tell her family about the diagnosis. They had already lost so much. So fast.

 

Right then, right there, she vowed to have the most optimistic and positive attitude possible.

 

“Having seen my family go through so much, I knew that was the answer,” she said.

Sharing the diagnosis with family

Rickert picked up her younger sister from Central Michigan University. They drove to their family home in Hersey, Michigan, near Reed City.

 

“I told them, ‘Listen, this is what’s going on,’” Rickert said. “I don’t know the specifics yet, but I’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m going to fight it and I’m not scared. I don’t want you to be, either.”

 

She soon learned the specifics. They weren’t comforting.

 

She had triple negative breast cancer, the most aggressive form of breast cancer. She needed surgery right away.

 

Because her young age and triple negative diagnosis threw up red flags, she underwent a mastectomy on her left breast.

 

“They came out and told me it had grown an entire centimeter in the two weeks from the ultrasound to surgery,” Rickert said. “But it had not spread to my lymph nodes yet. They said if I had waited even a matter of weeks, it would be a different story.”

 

Further testing revealed Rickert carries the BRCA2 gene mutation.

 

Following surgery, Rickert wanted to go home. Home to Hersey. Home to family. Home to friends.

 

Knowing there was a new Spectrum Health cancer center in Reed City—the Susan P. Wheatlake Regional Cancer Center, one of six Spectrum Health cancer centers, she teamed up with a Spectrum Health oncologist to fight the foe.

She always wanted to be a mom

But the recommended chemotherapy carried a risk she wasn’t willing to take—infertility.

 

“The No. 1 fear for me was not losing my hair or being sick during chemo, or even death,” she said. “It was not being a mother. Being a mother has always been my dream.”

 

She went to a fertility specialist in Grand Rapids, and froze her eggs before commencing chemotherapy.

 

That decision helped instill a deep resolve. Commitment deepened. She would win this fight. She had to win this fight. For her unborn children.

 

“That gave me so much hope,” Rickert said. “It gave me the gumption and will to say, ‘I’m going to be a mother now no matter what the fertility outcome is after chemo. That means I need to survive this because I’m going to be a mom.’ I went into it with a suit of armor, with hope and peace.”

 

Courtesy Emmy Rickert

Only after her eggs were frozen and safely tucked away did she begin chemotherapy. She felt fear as she watched the liquid drip into her veins.

 

But she also felt a presence. A presence she missed so very much. Her mom.

 

“Along this whole journey, I could really feel my mom there,” Rickert said. “I remembered back to when I was a child. Whenever I was sick and had to take medicine, she’d say, ‘Alright, I’m sending the soldiers in to kill the bad guys.’ Every time I watched the chemo flow into my body, I thought of my mom and felt her there. I thought, ‘We’re sending the good guys in to kill the bad guys.’ I think that outlook really made a difference for me.”

 

Unfortunately, chemotherapy made her sick. Very sick. Aunt Jodi did well through chemotherapy. Not so for her niece.

 

“I was in bed for weeks at a time,” Rickert said. “My dad and little sister would help me to the bathroom. But I was glad it was kicking my butt because I thought it might be kicking cancer’s butt as well.”

‘So much gratitude’

She’s grateful she made the decision to return home.

 

“Being close to my family and having that support system, being in my hometown and being at Spectrum also made a difference for me,” she said. “I had so many people rooting for me and lifting me up daily. There wasn’t time to feel down. I constantly was uplifted by my doctors and my townspeople, my family and friends.”

 

After she recovered from chemotherapy, Rickert decided she didn’t want to ever live through the same nightmare. She proactively had her right breast removed.

 

A year later, she married.

 

She and her husband, Kelly, conceived naturally. Their daughter, Grace, entered their lives on May 15, 2015.

 

“I can’t even begin to describe the joy we felt,” Rickert said. “I started to enjoy living. I felt so much gratitude that I survived. Seeing that miracle reminded me even more how precious and fragile life was.”

 

Having survived her own battle, she turned her energy outward.

 

“I started to do as many speaking engagements as I could, trying to help as many people diagnosed, or battling cancer, as I could,” she said. “I had gone through this for a reason, and that was to be a bright light for anyone going through this. I felt so driven to let people know there is life after cancer.”

 

And for the Rickert family, yet another life. Their son, Huck, was born in 2016.

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

The children were her light at the end of the tunnel, rainbows at the end of her storm. She calls them her little rainbow children.

 

But she knows storms can return. That’s why she’s not taking a single moment for granted. None of them.

 

“I know my cancer could return or something else could happen,” Rickert said. “Life is so precious, miraculous and fragile. I’m constantly being in the moment with my family. I’m helping others see that there is life past cancer and there is beauty in the battle because it makes you so much more aware of the fragility of life and the beauty of life.”

 

Judy Smith, MD, chief of the Spectrum Health Cancer Center, said Emmy is an inspiration to all who know her or her story.

 

“Her courage and optimism in the face of adversity takes my breath away,” Dr. Smith said. “She is one in a long line of strong women who proudly carry on the legacy of Betty Ford with her candor, willingness to publicly speak of her personal journey, promote screening and early detection and, most of all, help all women take charge of their own destiny.”

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

‘I want it gone’

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Health, Local Faces, , ,

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

By Marie Havenga, Spectrum Health Beat

 

Photos by Chris Clark

 

Bob Bustance enjoys life in his hometown of Hastings, Michigan.

 

Depending on the season, he tends to his vegetable garden, hunts deer or goes snowmobiling.

 

But in September of 2017, as he harvested the last of his crops, he seemingly lost control of his bladder.

 

“I had to urinate frequently,” said Bustance, 58. “I had no control. It came out of nowhere.”

 

Bustance made an appointment with his family doctor. Her concern led to a referral to Christopher Brede, MD, a Spectrum Health Medical Group urologist.

 

“He went ahead and did his testing,” Bustance said. “Three days later, he called and told me I had prostate cancer. I was astonished.”

 

Dr. Brede said the routine screening showed Bustance had a rising PSA level, leading to a biopsy.

 

“The cancer was found to be localized at diagnosis,” Dr. Brede said.

 

After considering options presented by Dr. Brede, Bustance chose to have the cancer surgically removed. Dr. Brede performed a robotic prostatectomy.

 

But that wasn’t the end of Bustance’s cancer story.

 

Doctors discovered cancer lurking in his thyroid during a total body scan.

 

“It all hit at one time,” he said. “They took my prostate. Six weeks later they went in and took my thyroid.”

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

Bustance sensed the cancer double whammy could only mean one thing. His time was up. He visited a local funeral home and planned for what he thought to be his future.

 

“I thought I was going to die,” Bustance said. “I went ahead and made my funeral arrangements and bought a cemetery plot. It was like a tidal wave hitting you.”

 

Dr. Brede said he doesn’t think the two cancers were related.

 

“Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer solid tumor in men, so it would not be that rare for an individual to have prostate cancer with another cancer,” he said. “His happened to be discovered concurrently. They ended up not being related.”

 

Bustance said a Spectrum Health nurse navigator helped answer questions and schedule appointments throughout the ordeal.

 

“He called me every week,” Bustance said. “He was a positive person. Everyone was so positive… Without those people at Spectrum, I would have never made it.”

 

In June, Bustance was able to return to his position as a supervisor for a metal stamping company.

 

“The company I work for has been awesome,” he said. “There’s no company in the world that will hold a man’s job for 10 months to make sure I had health insurance. A lot of people stepped up. It’s just amazing.”

 

Bustance continued to see Dr. Brede weekly after his surgery, then every three months and now, every six months. His PSA tests have been normal.

 

“I am so ecstatically happy,” he said at the time.

 

He and his partner of 35 years, Betty Negus, are resuming life.

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

“Robotic surgery is one of the most awesome experiences you could ever have,” he said. “They didn’t do an incision at all—just little holes with a couple of stitches. The recovery time to me was just remarkable. I got it done, went home and laid around for three or four days. The soreness just went away. By the time I went to see him a couple of weeks later, everything was healed up. No red marks. No nothing.”

 

Bustance said he’s still not 100 percent energy wise, but he can only imagine how he would feel if he had large incisions to contend with.

 

“Of all the surgeries a man could have, that’s the way to go because of the recovery time and not being split wide open,” he said. “Dr. Brede gave me options (treatment or removal). Cancer has been in my family for years. Being as young as I was, I looked at him and said, ‘I want it gone.’ Betty and I talked about it. I pretty much made up my mind I wanted it out.”

 

“It was very trying,” he said. “I had to stay positive. I had to surround myself with positive people. I live each day trying to be better than I was yesterday and it works. My eating habits have changed. Everything has changed.”

 

Bustance said he’s happy with his decision to have the prostate and thyroid cancer removed.

 

“I think I made a wise choice,” he said. “It’s a good feeling. I wake up every day very thankful. I wasn’t a religious person, but it really makes you think. It really does. It all came out for the best for me.”

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

‘A phenomenal relationship’

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Health, Local Business, Local Faces, , ,

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

By Marie Havenga, Spectrum Health Beat

Photos by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

 

Steven Houser slipped on his first pair of ballet slippers as a 6-year-old growing up in Portland, Oregon.

 

These days, he rarely takes them off.

 

The 30-year-old professional dancer is now in his 13th professional season, his sixth with the Grand Rapids Ballet.

 

As graceful and fluid as the dancers appear, the profession is wrought with injury—stemming from long, demanding physical hours and precision poses.

 

While warming up before class recently, Houser felt “something odd” in his neck. By the end of the session, he could barely move his head.

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

John Ferraro, Grand Rapids Ballet Company manager, called the Spectrum Health Medical Group Sports Medicine Team.

 

The Grand Rapids Ballet and Spectrum Health have enjoyed a harmonious relationship for the past five years, with sports medicine professionals and athletic trainers helping dancers achieve ultimate health and conditioning.

 

“Spectrum sent someone right over,” Houser said. “She really helped me out a lot because I had an important rehearsal that day.”

‘Piece me back together’

Houser said he’s grateful for the quick response, and grateful he could continue his love of “expressing emotion, physically.”

 

He’s on the mend.

 

“There was a bunch of stuff out of alignment,” he said. “It sent everything into spasm. It took a couple of weeks to get to a normal place. I think without that quick response, it would have taken much longer to heal.”

 

Even when there aren’t unexpected injuries, Spectrum Health athletic trainers Emilee Van Hoven and Allie Hoyt visit the ballet twice a week; Heather Pietrzak and Paige Bachelor visit the ballet three times a week. They work with dancers who are recovering from injury.

 

If they see a major issue or something that needs more attention, they refer the patient to Matthew Axtman, DO, a sports medicine specialist with Spectrum Health Medical Group.

 

“It’s a bit reoccurring, so they all help piece me back together,” Houser said.

 

After six hours a day of dancing—for six, sometimes seven days a week—even the strongest and most fit bodies tire.

 

“They keep an eye on things that could turn into something major,” Houser said. “My hip hurts a little bit today. My ankle feels a bit jammed. Those little things can become chronic if you can’t be seen quickly. Them being here so frequently is incredibly helpful.”

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

Houser said Fridays are typically the hardest day because the aches and pains compound over the week.

 

“Even if you’re just getting your calves to relax a little, it helps,” he said.

 

Depending on the nature of the injury, the sports medicine team will sometimes do soft tissue work, sometimes mobilization.

 

“Sometimes they’ll give you exercises and tools we can use on our own to maintain certain things, like stretches,” Houser said. “Or they’ll tape us up to help keep things in place.”

Hand in hand

Phillip Adler, manager of the Spectrum Health Medical Group Sports Medicine program, approached the ballet about a partnership in 2011. Dr. Axtman had previously worked with the Atlanta Ballet and other dance groups.

 

“The expertise he had really made the ballet believe we had the experience to manage this unique area of sports and performing arts medicine,” Adler said. “I was the primary athletic trainer that would go down whenever the ballet needed anything.”

 

And so began Spectrum Health’s performing arts medicine partnership with the Grand Rapids Ballet.

 

By the second year of the collaboration, Adler brought on additional sports medicine staff to help in the endeavor. They covered not only rehearsals, but performances.

 

“I have worked with a lot of high-level athletes and NFL players, but I’ll be honest, ballet dancers are not nice to their bodies,” Adler said. “They have to go on point balanced on one leg, with the hip bent at 90 degrees for 15 or 20 seconds with maybe a partner. They’re working eight or more hours a day.”

 

Ballet companies typically don’t have injury prevention or strength and conditioning programs like many other professional sports teams do.

 

“I don’t think the vast majority of people realize what goes into putting on a ballet performance,” Adler said.

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

Adler said the partnership can help extend dancers’ careers.

 

“They have such a finite time to be a professional ballet performer,” Adler said. “How can we help them prevent injury or manage injury so that it prolongs their career? Not so long ago a surgery for a ballet dancer was career-ending. We’re making sure if those things come up, how do we maintain careers?”

 

Ferraro said he has noticed a huge decline in injuries since partnering with Spectrum Health.

 

“It’s been a huge benefit to us,” the ballet manager said. “The dancers have absolutely loved it.”

 

The athletic trainers often spot and prevent things before they become serious injuries.

 

“If somebody starts to feel an issue or something isn’t feeling right, they can let us know and the athletic trainers will come pretty much any day they’re needed,” Ferraro said, noting he’s grateful for the assistance.

 

“A lot of bigger ballet companies don’t even have this benefit,” he said. “It’s just a phenomenal relationship for us.”

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Reining in the pain

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Health, Local Faces, Recreation, Senior Living, , , ,

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

By Marie Havenga, Spectrum Health Beat

Photos (except where noted) by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

 

With the wind in her face and the reins in her hands, Shanna Ruffner guides Jag, her quarter horse, through corkscrew-like barrel racing drills at a farm near her Otsego, Michigan, home.

 

Ruffner, 39, has been steering horses through barrels since age 2.

 

She’s always felt freedom and exhilaration aboard a horse’s back. Until last year.

 

After many repetitive motions at work, she felt pain.

 

The pain in her hands started like a slow walk, waking her up at night about this time last year. By November, the sensation had galloped into her daily life, affecting just about everything she attempted to do.

Taking a toll

Ruffner has worked for years for General Motors in the Lansing Delta plant, assembling Traverse and Enclave vehicles.

 

“I do a lot with the main wiring harness for the motor, plugging in different things and bolting things to it,” Ruffner said. “I also torque down the strut, tie bar and hub on the front end and attach radiators to the undercarriage before it gets married to the body.”

 

It’s important work, but repetitive work. And it eventually took a toll on her.

 

“I started experiencing numbness in my fingers about a year ago,” she said. “It finally got to the point in November that I could no longer sleep because it was waking me up. My hands would completely go numb in the middle of the night. They would go numb and they would burn. It was just unbearable.”

 

It became increasingly more difficult to work, and also risky to ride.

 

“It made it difficult to ride a strong, powerful horse because my hands would go numb while I was riding,” Ruffner said. “I ride a very powerful gelding. It’s a good thing we have a good bond because if it were any other horse, I don’t think I’d be able to ride.”

 

Still, the pain sometimes outweighed the fun. It was a crushing blow for Ruffner, who followed in her dad’s hoofprints so many years ago.

 

Her dad, George, who died in 1996, rode competitively and taught his daughter all he knew about barrel racing.

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

As a child, Ruffner competed in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Texas.

 

But in the last year, she felt like her condition was holding her over the barrels.

 

“It made it hard to pull and made it hard to hang on,” she said. “It just didn’t feel quite right. I didn’t have as much control as I would have liked to have.”

 

A horse wasn’t the only thing that became difficult to steer. She experienced trouble driving a car.

 

Ruffner’s commute from Otsego to Lansing spans an hour and 15 minutes. About 10 minutes into her drive, her hands would go numb. And eventually, they’d be numb before she even turned on the ignition.

 

She enjoyed taking her sons, Trenton, 18, and Brady, 15, to the movie theater for family outings. But the numbness closed the curtain on those outings, too.

 

“I got to the point I didn’t want to go to the movie theater because I knew my hands would bother me by the time I got there,” she said.

‘It was simple’

Last spring, with pain and numbness continuing to canter, Ruffner saw a specialist in Lansing for a nerve test.

 

“They basically hooked up different electrodes to see how the nerves react,” she said. “The nerve testing came back that I needed surgery on both my hands.”

 

In June, she consulted with Peter Jebson, MD, a Spectrum Health Medical Group orthopedic hand and upper extremity surgeon.

 

Within 10 days of first seeing Dr. Jebson, on June 27, she underwent carpal tunnel release surgery in his office.

 

“It was simple,” Ruffner said. “I felt a little pressure when they were cutting (the ligament), but as far as anything else goes, the worst part of it was the shot of the local (anesthetic) to numb my hand. It was a piece of cake.”

 

Ruffner needed only Tylenol to keep the pain at bay.

 

“It’s felt really good,” she said.

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

Dr. Jebson said he’s pleased with Ruffner’s progress.

 

“With carpal tunnel, you have pain, particularly at night,” he said. “You can have bothersome numbness and tingling and also functional loss. She had the entire constellation of symptoms. But she’s already experiencing 100 percent pain relief and 90 percent of the tingling has improved. She is doing very well and the incision looks good.”

 

Dr. Jebson said carpal tunnel release surgery has come a long way in recent years. It used to be performed in an operating room in a hospital or outpatient surgery facility, under general anesthesia, which is significantly more expensive. The new technique, developed in Canada, saves patients money, pain and healing time.

 

“It also used to be a larger incision,” he said. “The patient used to be casted or splinted after surgery. We’ve progressed to where we now do minimally invasive incisions.”

 

Dr. Jebson and his Spectrum Health Medical Group team of hand specialists—Drs. Kevin Chan, Randy Lovell and Levi Hinkelman—perform about 750 in-office hand surgeries each year, including carpal tunnel release, trigger finger, trigger thumb, De Quervain’s tendonitis release, simple tendon laceration repairs and ganglion cyst excisions.

 

Dr. Jebson estimates performing procedures in the office suite saves patients and health care insurers $2,000, “which is significant with the increasing shift of financial responsibility to patients with higher co-pays and deductibles,” he said.

 

“Not only does it save patients a significant amount of out-of-pocket expense because they’re not using anesthesia and they’re not at a surgical center, patients don’t have to go for any preoperative testing, which saves them a lot of time,” Dr. Jebson said. “And this doesn’t require IV antibiotics.”

 

Office-based surgery is also environmentally friendly, producing only one bag of waste for a day’s worth of surgeries versus one bag for every procedure.

 

“It’s a significant savings to society in general,” he said. “It’s a multiple win and provides true value for patients. It’s the future—it will be the standard of care in three to five years across the country. We’ve been doing it for four years now and happen to be a nationally recognized program.”

 

Ruffner is pleased—especially that she’ll be able to return to work soon.

 

“I’m a self-admitted workaholic,” she said. “Being home all the time is difficult for me.”

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

It may be a bit before she bounces back to barrel racing—her saddle weighs 19 pounds and she has a 5-pound weight restriction.

 

But she has plans beyond lifting saddles. She aims to have surgery on her left hand, too.

 

“By the time this journey is all said and done, I will have had surgery on both hands,” Ruffner said. “I want to get it done and over with and be pain-free and resume a normal life.”

 

She hopes to be running barrels again by mid-September, with both hands healed and weight restrictions lifted.

 

“It’s a rush,” she said of barrel racing. “I love the adrenaline. You get to go out and run as fast as you can around three barrels without hitting them on a 1,000-pound animal that has a mind of their own. They have a personality and temperament all their own. You learn the true meaning of teamwork. It’s one thing to be a team with another human. It’s entirely different to be a team with an animal.”

 

But Ruffner said she truly appreciates the teamwork with Dr. Jebson and other Spectrum Health staff, in getting her back to where she wants to be.

 

“Anybody that is fearful of having carpal tunnel release surgery done should know, the way Dr. Jebson does it, they shouldn’t be fearful,” Ruffner said. “Have the surgery and take care of it as opposed to waiting until your hands are completely numb all the time. This experience has been so easy.”

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

15 ways to keep your glow

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Health, How-To's, Senior Living, , ,

Get the glow with these skin-healthy tips. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Marie Havenga, Spectrum Health Beat

 

Winter may be harsh on the spirit, but it’s also rough on the skin.

 

From getting pelted by blowing snow to being cooped up inside without the benefit of outdoor activity, our skin takes a beating.

 

Kim Delafuente, ACSM-PD, a Spectrum Health community health educator, offers up some tips on how to get through this cold weather season looking (and feeling) a whole lot better.

15 surefire ways to get your glow back:

1. Exercise saves your skin

“There are a lot of small blood vessels on the surface of the skin,” Delafuente said. “As you exercise, the blood flow rises to that level. With the blood comes oxygen. It’s actually the oxygen that helps rejuvenate the skin and helps to get rid of toxins.”

2. Sweat often

Sweating is often viewed as a negative thing, especially for women.

 

Delafuente suggests we wipe away this perception.

 

“As we sweat, we’re able to release unwanted impurities from our skin,” she said. “In some people, those impurities can lead to acne or other skin-related conditions. Sweating is a good thing. It’s a natural thing. It’s really the way our body cools itself off. This is an added benefit of exercise that helps to clean out pores.”

3. Wash after exercising

Sweating is great, but don’t forget to wash after exercising.

 

“The idea is to get the sweat and salt off,” she said. “If you don’t, you’re kind of defeating the purpose. You’re releasing impurities from your pores, but if they just sit on your face, you’re not getting the complete cleansing effect of exercise.”

4. Elevate your heart rate

Anything that boosts your heart rate is a skin-pleaser.

 

“Walking, running, any type of cardio activity is good for your skin,” Delafuente said. “Dancing is great. As your heart rate goes up, more blood is circulated. With lower level activity, there’s less blood circulating. It’s the aerobic type exercise that’s going to have the most impact.”

5. Sleep is good for the skin

Don’t use this as an excuse to sleep the day away, but the more we exercise, the better we sleep.

 

“Sleep is a time when our body repairs itself,” Delafuente said.

6. Reduce stress

Exercise reduces stress hormones like cortisol, according to Delafuente.

 

“As those levels decrease, it can have a positive effect on the skin,” she said. “Stress releases cortisol, which can be damaging to our bodies. It can cause weight gain and is responsible for belly fat. In the case of skin, it can lead to acne and eczema. There have been studies that show exercise can actually help reduce the incidents of those types of skin conditions.”

7. What is “the glow?”

Exercise not only keeps your body fit, it does wonders for your skin. As you exercise, blood flow intensifies and moves toward the surface of your skin, which is known for giving that infamous “glow” to your skin.

 

“You work out and your skin gets a little more reddish,” Delafuente said. “That’s how your body is cooling itself. As your blood comes to the surface, it helps to keep your body cooler. After a workout, when you cool down, that blood flow is still going to be intensified.”

 

And that look, for some people, is a motivator to exercise more.

 

“It’s an added benefit of exercise that sometimes people don’t think of,” Delafuente said. “For some people, this might be a draw. It seems regular exercise has the potential to keep the skin at its best.”

8. If you feel good, you’ll likely look good

Exercise provides mental as well as physical health benefits, according to Delafuente.

 

“Some of that glow comes with a positive attitude and feeling good,” she said. “The other thing is, exercise does improve immunity. When we have less chronic disease or colds and flu, our skin will naturally look better because of that as well.”

9. Remember that your skin is an organ

You may exercise to keep your heart healthy, but remember your skin is an organ that directly benefits from a workout, too.

 

“I think people are conscious of their skin, but they don’t think of it as an organ,” she said. “I think when we think of organs, we think of internal organs, but we don’t think externally.”

1o. Remove makeup before exercising

Leave your foundation and blush on, and you risk clogging your pores when you sweat.

 

Instead, remove all traces of makeup before you begin.

11. Wear proper sunscreen

If you’re exercising and sweating, make sure you wear sunscreen that is sweat resistant or that you are reapplying often.

 

“I think we all know it’s important to wear sunscreen,” Delafuente said. “But I don’t know that people always think about it when they’re exercising. They’ll say, ‘Oh, I’m going to to walk for an hour,’ but they may not think of that as a time they need to use sunscreen. People can also wear a hat to shield their face from the sun.”

12. Forget about tanning booths and spray tan products

“Never a good idea,” Delafuente said.

 

Enough said.

13. Treat your skin kindly in the face of cold weather

“Make sure you’re covered up appropriately,” she said. “If you have really sensitive skin, you may want to wear a scarf over your face.”

14. Stay hydrated

“Make sure you’re drinking enough water,” Delafuente said. “If we’re dehydrated then our skin isn’t going to be as healthy. We should drink to our thirst. In the winter, especially, we may not be as thirsty.”

15. Wear proper clothing when you exercise

Loose fitting clothing is the best choice.

 

“Make sure you wear clothing that wicks away the sweat and moisture,” she said.

 

If your clothing traps sweat in, it may clog your pores, leading to unhealthy skin conditions.

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

‘I was totally blindsided’

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Education, Health, How-To's, Local Faces, Senior Living, , , ,

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

By Marie Havenga, Spectrum Health Beat

 

Photos by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

 

Back in the winter of 2000, Rick Eding went to the Zeeland Community Hospital emergency room with a sinus infection.

 

The then-25-year-old never expected the experience to reveal a much deeper and mind-numbing problem: severe heart problems.

 

“I was totally blindsided,” the Hamilton, Michigan, resident said. “I had cough and cold symptoms and sinus pressure in my head.”

 

ER doctors gave him a prescription for Bactrim, an antibiotic he’d tolerated well in the past. He started on the medicine, but within a couple of hours, allergic reactions flared—red skin, lethargy, difficulty breathing.

 

His dad drove him back to Zeeland Community Hospital.

 

By the time he arrived, his blood pressure nosedived.

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

“I felt like I had a brick wall on my chest,” Eding said. “I didn’t know what in the heck was going on. Basically, I went into cardiac arrest.”

 

Emergency response teams rushed him to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

 

“I bounced back alright, even with cardiomyopathy,” Eding said as he dropped his 15-year-old son off at Hamilton High School football practice.

 

But as the years went on, Eding’s weight went up. And his heart function went down.

 

Working as an electrician, he traveled across the United States and Canada.

 

“I just kind of wrote it off as, ‘I’m traveling, I’m not eating like I probably should. I’m getting older,’” he said. “It got to the point where I couldn’t do anything. I was probably 300 pounds. I had chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, all those classic symptoms.”

 

Diagnosis? Heart failure.

 

At 31 years old.

LVAD

“From 2006 to 2011, I really battled the heart failure thing,” Eding said. “I was constantly in and out of the hospital. In 2011, the decision was made to have an LVAD placed.”

 

An LVAD, left ventricular assist device, picks up slack for the heart and helps it pump blood as it should.

 

“Basically it got to the point where they needed to do a tandem heart,” Eding said. “It’s an exterior device that buys you time. They needed to do something within a day or two or there wouldn’t be any choices. It was very scary. I was young. I was married with kids and the whole bit.”

 

Doctors placed Eding on the heart transplant list. But the more he waited, the more he weighed.

 

His weight spiked to 330 pounds—60 pounds more than when he got the LVAD.

 

Then, in 2013, more devastating news.

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

His growing weight made him ineligible for a heart transplant.

 

“The worst thing for me was hearing, ‘We need to take you off the transplant list. You’re too big,’” Eding said. “It’s like a kick in the teeth. It’s horrible. The glimmer of hope you had of having a good life … gone.

 

“Being so young, the goal of a transplant was totally getting your life back,” he said. “That goal was stomped on. It wasn’t even attainable at that time.”

 

Eding dove into research—diets, surgeries, “you name it.”

 

He tried a slew of diet plans with minimal success.

 

“I would drop 20 pounds and in some way or some form, I’d have a setback and ‘boom,’ the weight comes back on,” he said.

Shrinking appetite

Eding learned about patients experiencing similar frustrations with an LVAD, and how they had success with bariatric surgery.

 

He spoke with Michael Dickinson, MD, a cardiologist with the Spectrum Health Richard DeVos Heart and Lung Transplant Clinic.

 

“It was like, hands down, I’m ready,” Eding said.

 

He met with Spectrum Health bariatric surgeon Jon Schram, MD.

 

“We took our time to make sure everything was good, which was very reassuring to me,” Eding said. “The surgery was done at the Meijer Heart Center. He was confident in what he had to do and that made me feel real good. “

 

Dr. Schram performed a sleeve procedure last October.

 

“We removed about 80 percent of his stomach,” Dr. Schram said. “The stomach is shaped like a big flask. We changed the shape of the stomach to about the size of a small banana.”

 

That does two things. It limits how much food the patient can eat at one time and also limits a hormone produced by the stomach that regulates hunger.

 

“By removing that much of the stomach, we create a situation where he’s not as hungry all the time,” said Dr. Schram, who performs about 400 of these surgeries per year.

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

Dr. Schram said the unique partnership between Spectrum Health’s bariatric division, cardiothoracic division and advanced heart failure team gave Eding a second chance.

 

The weight loss results? Almost immediate.

 

“It was like a pound a day for the longest time,” Eding said. “Yesterday I was 268.”

 

Best of all: As of late January, he’s back on the transplant list.

 

“I’m just ecstatic,” Eding said. “It’s unbelievable this roller coaster I’ve been on, with the highs and the lows. I’m definitely flying high and so thankful and so blessed to be back on the list.”

Digging in

The father of six is feeling blessed to be living a more normal life while he waits. No more hospital stays and no harsh symptoms.

 

The LVAD seems to be doing its job.

 

That means more time for fishing with his kids, more time for coaching Little League baseball, more time to dream of a future that could be there if the stars align and he gets a new heart.

 

“He’s not being held up by his weight now,” Dr. Schram said. “He’s just waiting for a donor. He suffers from severe heart failure. The longer he goes without a heart, there’s a possibility his heart could give out.”

 

But giving in is not an option.

 

“A lot of people would have given up a long time ago,” Eding said. “But I dug my feet in and put my nose to the grindstone and really took it head-on.”

 

And he has another goal: swim with his children again.

 

Since the LVAD is an electrical device, he can’t swim with it in him.

 

A transplant, of course, could change all that.

 

“I can’t wait to go swimming again,” Eding said. “The kids all love to swim and go to water parks. I feel like I’ve robbed them of being able to do that with them. As soon as I get the go-ahead, we’re going to Great Wolf Lodge or Michigan’s Adventure and we’re hitting the water park.”

 

‘They’re miracles’

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Education, Food, Health, ,

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

By Marie Havenga, Spectrum Health Beat

 

Photos by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

 

To celebrate her 11th birthday, Lily Brouwer and her family planned a mini-vacation at a beachfront cabin in Grand Haven, Michigan.

 

She had been battling an upset stomach and intermittent abdominal pain, but determined to have fun, the birthday girl insisted on going.

 

Frigid Lake Michigan waves rolled in when they arrived that dreary Sunday. They still remember the date: Dec. 30, 2012.

 

A more chilling fear would sweep over the family.

 

After loading up with Motrin and going sledding, Lily’s condition worsened. She thought she was seeing blood in her frequent diarrhea.

 

“I tried to tuck her into bed and prayed for her, but she was up 15 minutes later,” said Michelle Brouwer, Lily’s mom.

 

Lily’s dad, David, said they knew something wasn’t right, that this was no ordinary stomach virus.

 

Michelle drove Lily to Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids.

 

When the clock rolled to midnight on New Year’s Eve, ushering in Lily’s birthday, they were in the emergency room.

 

“She was lying on my lap, writhing in pain,” Michelle said. “She was in complete misery.”

 

Doctors told Michelle they were going to observe Lily for six hours. If she could keep fluids down, they could release her.

 

Instead, they admitted her. She remained there for 21 days.

Tainted food

Michelle’s parents dropped off a birthday gift to Lily at the hospital and then tended to Lily’s siblings—Madeline, Jorja and Liza—so Michelle and David could watch over their daughter.

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

For four days, Lily went to the bathroom every 15 minutes. Bloody diarrhea. She vomited frequently. She took morphine every two hours for pain. A steady stream of IV fluids dripped into her young veins.

 

With doctors trying to pinpoint a cause, anyone who visited the room had to don gowns and gloves.

 

That Thursday afternoon, a pediatric nephrologist delivered the soul-shaking news: Lily had hemolytic uremic syndrome. The doctor said Lily could lose her kidneys. And her life.

 

Lily fell into acute kidney failure. She was rushed to the intensive care unit and put on a huge dialysis machine.

 

According to Alejandro Quiroga, MD, section chief of pediatric nephrology at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, something Lily ate caused this life-threatening condition.

 

“(Hemolytic uremic syndrome) is a condition where there is a toxin produced by a bacteria in your gut that causes your red blood cells to be destroyed and form small clots in your blood vessels, creating multiple organ damage, but particularly to the kidney,” Dr. Quiroga said.

 

Lily either ingested undercooked or poorly handled food, Dr. Quiroga said.

 

“We don’t know from where,” he said. “The health department was notified and they performed an investigation without any yield.”

 

David and Michelle prayed. And they cried. But they had faith. In God, and in the doctors who cared for their precious daughter.

 

“There were countless times I feared the loss of Lily’s life and how that would forever change the course of our family,” David said. “But we continued to pray, believe, and put our faith in the amazing team of doctors and nurses responsible for her care.”

Incomprehensible horror

Lily remained in the ICU until Sunday afternoon. While there, she began suffering from hallucinations.

 

“They had to rush her down for a CT scan,” Michelle said. “It can attack your brain. Every organ can be affected. She saw pretty much every specialist there is. Her heart rhythm was off. She developed pancreatitis. She had a pleural effusion.”

 

How could this be? Their precious daughter, who had just celebrated her birthday, appeared to be nearing her death day.

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

“We had thousands of people from around the world praying for Lily,” Michelle said.

 

As if life couldn’t get any more terrifying, another dagger struck.

 

“We got a text from grandma that our baby, Liza, who was 5 at the time, was having vomiting and bloody diarrhea,” Michelle said.

 

David and Michelle swallowed hard as they reread the text message in disbelief.

 

“I was horrified,” David said. “After watching Lily for 10 days and knowing what she was going through, it was incomprehensible to think that Liza was going to have to go through that pain as well.”

 

Michelle returned home to check on Liza.

 

“I got a call from my husband,” she said. “He didn’t know what to say other than, ‘You need to get down here to the hospital right away.’ The way he said it, I didn’t know if Lily was still going to be there when I got there.”

 

Lily had difficulty breathing. She was upside down in bed, gasping for air.

 

The grandparents took Liza to the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital emergency department.

 

“They were going to transfer Liza to the seventh floor to be right next to Lily,” Michelle said. “But at the same time, Lily was getting worse and they had to transfer her back up to ICU.”

‘I’m afraid I’m going to see Jesus’

Lily told David she couldn’t breathe.

 

“She said, ‘Daddy, I can’t breathe, I’m afraid I’m going to see Jesus,’” Michelle said. “She told him, ‘I don’t want to see Jesus today.’”

 

They intubated Lily. She remained on a ventilator for four days.

 

Meanwhile, the nightmare continued. Liza’s numbers trended in the wrong direction. She also tested positive for hemolytic uremic syndrome, and transferred to the intensive care unit.

 

“This could be lethal in some cases and Lily and Liza were critically ill and at risk of death or permanent organ damage,” Dr. Quiroga said.

 

Slowly, the medicine—and the prayers—began to work.

 

“We tried an off-label medication on them that in our experience and other centers’ case reports have shown improvement in severe cases like them,” Dr. Quiroga said.

A community responds

Michelle and David’s emotions crawled from the valley of death to the mountaintop of hope.

 

Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat

Lily came home from the hospital on Jan. 18. Liza followed three days later.

 

Hundreds of people lined the Brouwers’ street, clapping and cheering.

 

“Lily is a miracle that she’s here and that her kidneys started to turn back on,” Michelle said. “Our God is a big God and he did a miracle. Lily and Liza are amazing. They’re miracles. They’re perfectly healed.”

 

The girls went home on a special diet and required outpatient dialysis.

 

Now, they’re both off medication and only need to do urine checks once a year with their pediatrician.

 

“They are doing great now,” Dr. Quiroga said. “They have normal lives and the prognosis is excellent.”

 

Michelle said no one would even know the girls were sick if it weren’t for the testimony the family has to share.

 

The illness may be gone, but the lessons remain for the Brouwers and all who know them.

 

“This story affected so many people,” David said. “Lily and Liza became symbols in our community for hope, faith and healing. We were shown so much support, love and care. During that time and ever since, we have tried to do the same for others going through horrible times as well. We witnessed a profound miracle and everyone near and far realized it, too.”

 

Learn more about the pediatric specialty care available at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, including the nationally-ranked pediatric nephrology program.

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

 

 

‘I just don’t have the energy I used to have’

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Education, Health, How-To's, Senior Living, , , ,

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Photos by Taylor Ballek, Spectrum Health Beath

 

By Marie Havenga, Spectrum Health Beat

 

Diane Peterman tried everything.

 

She ordered remedies off the internet. She used over-the-counter medications that worked for friends. She visited multiple doctors in Northern Michigan near her Onaway home not far from the Mackinac Bridge.

 

But nothing could stop the hot flashes, night sweats, sleeplessness, weight gain and lack of energy she suffered during menopause.

 

“I started menopause three-and-a-half years ago,” Peterman said.

 

Life hasn’t been the same since.

 

She averaged 25 hot flashes or night sweats a day. Scalding. Miserable.

 

“All my friends in menopause said, ‘Try estrogen,’” Peterman said. “When I went on estrogen, the hot flashes disappeared.”

 

But another issue surfaced: migraine headaches.

 

She tried cutting the estrogen patch in half for a lower dosage. Migraines continued. She tried a quarter of a patch. Same result.

 

Peterman, who has worked for over three decades as a school superintendent’s administrative assistant, said the condition messed with her daily life.

 

“I saw a neurologist,” she said. “He checked for a brain tumor because I had visual migraines, with auras and pressure. They call it vascular migraines. They affect your vision and ability to drive.”

 

The neurologist ran multiple scans before finally discovering the culprit.

 

“He asked, ‘Are you by chance on an estrogen patch?’” Peterman said. “I took it off and threw it away. That was no longer an option for me.”

 

But what was? She needed to find someone who understood her symptoms and could assist.

 

“I tried cutting all caffeine out and exercising more,” she said. “I have no energy and just don’t feel good. No matter what you do or where you go, you are uncomfortable. I’ve never had anything like this and was so frustrated.”

 

She increased her exercise. Decreased her calories. Weight loss remained elusive.

 

“I wear a Fitbit to keep track of my steps, but it also keeps track of how many times you are up in the night and I averaged eight times a night. It gets to the point where I am just exhausted. I just pray my daughters don’t go through this.”

 

Frustrating. Tiring. But always warm.

 

“Some days I just hate the way I feel because I’m so sick of burning up and being sweaty,” she said.

Staying cool

In the winter, she keeps her bedroom thermostat at 50 degrees because of night sweats. Her husband piles on the blankets to keep warm.

 

“My husband (Tom) can look at me and tell,” Peterman said. “You can’t even disguise them. I use cool washcloths on my neck, dress in layers and drink a lot of ice water. I have bought a cooling mattress, cooling mattress pad and cooling pillows. If it said ‘cool,’ I bought it.”

 

She has spent more than $1,000 in search of a solution. But nothing worked. She knew it. Her husband knew it.

 

“When a hot flash starts, I go out on the porch in the winter and you can see the steam come off my body,” she said.

 

Perhaps not only physical steam, but emotional and spiritual steam.

 

With hope evaporating, and options dwindling, frustration built.

 

Peterman’s daughter, who lives near Grand Rapids and works at Spectrum Health was aware of unique services in Women’s Health and recommended the Midlife, Menopause and Sexual Health practice.

 

Peterman made an appointment with Natasha Peoples, NP-C, NCMP, a Spectrum Health Medical Group advanced practice provider who is specialty trained and nationally certified in caring for patients with menopause concerns.

 

“My daughter said you need to see a menopause specialist, your symptoms are extreme and beyond normal,” Peterman said. “My glasses were steaming up my hot flashes were so bad.”

 

Peterman had her first appointment with Peoples in late December.

 

Peoples took her off the medication another doctor had prescribed and put her on a new medication that other menopausal women found helpful.

 

Peterman said her hot flashes have dropped to about half of what she used to have, and she has also lost some weight.

 

For the first time in a long time, she feels hope.

 

“I keep a gratitude journal,” Peterman said. “I’ve always been a very positive person, happy and busy. It’s not that I’m depressed. I just don’t have the energy I used to have.”

 

Her seven grandchildren, with whom she spends as much time as possible, spur her on.

 

“I want to have energy to keep up with the seven grandchildren without struggling,” she said.

 

She credits Peoples for leading her on the first steps to improvement. Finally she felt “heard.” After three and a half years of chasing remedies, she’s experiencing her first symptom relief under People’s care.

 

“She’s a very sweet, compassionate person who is also very knowledgeable,” Peterman said. “Since she is a menopause specialist, this is what she does all day long and she sees every situation. She has already helped me and I’m hopeful she will continue to help me improve so I can get back the quality of life I had before.”

Complicated journeys

Menopause is different for every woman, according to Peoples, but Peterman’s journey has been particularly challenging.

 

“Diane’s symptoms are somewhat complicated due to the fact that she has hormone-mediated migraines, so hormone therapy is not an option for her,” Peoples said. “It’s not uncommon to experience the most severe and disruptive symptoms in the years just before or after the final menstrual period, as is the case for Diane.”

 

Making lifestyle changes and switching medications helped Peterman.

 

“Learning her triggers and patterns for hot flashes has been helpful,” Peoples said. “Being aware of how her daily habits can make a difference is a motivating factor. Her hot flashes have improved.”

 

Peoples said menopause transition symptoms—hot flashes, night sweats, difficulty sleeping, mood changes, vaginal dryness, decreased libido and irregular bleeding—are like an out-of-control roller coaster ride, “one that we hope to help them navigate.”

 

While some menopausal symptoms are genetic—think, “How was menopause for my mother?”—other symptoms can be related to lifestyle, according to Peoples.

 

“They are more severe for women who drink caffeine or don’t drink enough water, for those who don’t exercise and those who smoke,” Peoples said. “Weight gain and poor sleep can both be caused by menopause but also contribute to worsening symptoms.”

 

For women suffering from severe symptoms, it’s important for them to realize they are not alone.

 

“We all do it differently, but we all do it,” Peoples said. “Talk to your peers, talk to your provider and come and talk with us. We hope to help empower women to make the transition in a way that maximizes health and minimizes distress and discomfort.”

 

Take a hard look at your daily habits.

 

“Drink water, keep a good sleep schedule, exercise regularly, make healthy diet choices—watch out for sugar—and practice meditation or mindfulness,” Peoples said. “All of these choices will make a difference.”

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health.