Asthma program to assist sufferers

by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 9/12/2011

Learning to control asthma can be overwhelming, whether one is newly diagnosed or has been dealing with it for a while.

“People who have asthma are the least educated about their disease,” said Denise Houchins, a certified asthma educator at the Barren River District Health Department.

The health department is working to change that with the new Asthma Management Program, which will help people learn how to manage the disease. The first class will be at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Warren County Health Department. The 11⁄2- to 2-hour class will meet the fourth Wednesday of each month and will help participants understand the effects of asthma on their lungs, know how medications work and when they should be taken, correctly use devices including peak-flow meters, nebulizers and holding chambers, and understand triggers and how the environment plays a part in asthma.

“It’s not a support group,” Houchins said. “It’s an opportunity for you to get educated on your disease or your child’s disease and how to manage it at home.”

The Kentucky Respiratory Disease Program got a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to address asthma at eight sites across the state. One of those sites is the Barren River district. The program will also provide home assessments with a written referral from a school nurse or physician to help identify triggers and allergens in the home as well as training workshops for various facilities.

“Our goals are to have asthma education for school and day care staff and businesses and industries,” Houchins said.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, said Justin Srygler, respiratory director at The Medical Center. There are various types, including exercise-induced asthma, which is often seen in athletes, and occupational asthma, which is seen in industries.

“It’s most commonly going to have symptoms of airway obstruction – wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath,” he said. “Some people have mild to moderate asthma and never have been diagnosed with it.”

Asthma is a dangerous disease that shouldn’t be taken lightly, Srygler said.

“There are 250,000 deaths from asthma globally,” he said. “It’s devastating. People need to really understand the dangers.”

There isn’t a really precise method for diagnosing asthma, Srygler said. Medical professionals measure pulmonary function and check a patient’s response to a short acting bronchodilator or inhaled corticosteroids.

“We make it based on a monitored pattern of symptoms and a response to therapies, something that will dilate the airway so they can breathe better,” he said. “The big thing is using (inhalers) correctly.”

Patients should also try to avoid allergens and irritants that can trigger an acute asthma attack, Srygler said.

“They’re going to be more at risk for asthma after they have a lot of positive allergy attacks,” he said. “You want to try to find out what (the allergens and irritants) are and try to avoid that.”

For more information about the class, call Denise Houchins at 781-8039, ext. 154, or visit www.barrenriverhealth.org/asthma.

Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Honoring the fallen: City firefighters, officers, emergency personnel pay tribute to first responders who died in attacks

by Justin Story, The Daily News, originally published on 9/12/2011

In a solemn ceremony on a rainy morning, city firefighters gathered Sunday with police officers and emergency personnel at the Bowling Green Fire Department’s central station to remember the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in a 10th anniversary memorial ceremony.

A steady rain that fell through much of the event moved the ceremony into the Moltenberry Headquarters Fire Station on East Seventh Avenue, though the stage from which the speakers addressed the crowd remained outdoors.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania after terrorists hijacked commercial airlines, two of which crashed into the World Trade Center towers and another that slammed into the Pentagon. A fourth crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers took control of the aircraft.

Sunday’s ceremony paid tribute to the first responders who died in the attacks.

“Never in American history has our nation’s public infrastructure suffered such a tragic loss,” BGFD Chief Greg Johnson said.

In all, 343 firefighters, 60 law enforcement officers and eight emergency medical providers lost their lives responding to the attacks.

Several BGFD firefighters, Bowling Green Police Department officers and Emergency Medical Services personnel from The Medical Center took turns reading the names of the first responders killed that day.

The remembrance was punctuated by a bell-ringing ceremony saluting the firefighters who died 10 years ago.

Traditionally, three rings of a bell would signify the end of a shift. BGFD firefighter Keith Potts gave the bell three sets of three rings in honor of the firefighters who died, denoting that their duties have been completed.

Following the bell-ringing ceremony, Sgt. Jeff Manning of the Glasgow Fire Department played a mournful rendition of “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes.

Randy Fathbruckner, EMS director for The Medical Center, put into stark terms the toll that first responders took fighting the fires and tending to the dead and injured in the aftermath of the attacks.

Fires continued to smolder in New York for nearly 100 days and an estimated 14,000 to 19,000 people at the scene began suffering from chronic respiratory ailments afterward.

“One in five Americans knew someone that was either killed or hurt in the attacks,” Fathbruckner said.

Retired BGPD Assistant Chief Marieca Brown sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” near the beginning of the ceremony and Marty O’Callaghan, wife of BGFD Assistant Chief Brian O’Callaghan, sang “America the Beautiful” shortly before the closing.

The ceremony was one of several held throughout the area. Members of the local Rolling Thunder chapter planned to clean headstones belonging to veterans at Fairview Cemetery on Sunday afternoon.

Stephen Racz of Bowling Green Rolling Thunder Chapter 3 said the group’s vice president, Daren Bowen, noticed the condition of veterans’ headstones at another cemetery, which led to Bowen suggesting cleaning headstones at Fairview as a service project.

“We thought it was appropriate that our service project entail something with the veterans, and our chapter decided we would take this upon ourselves as a service project,” Racz said.

In Barren County, Glasgow joined several other communities by sounding outdoor warning sirens for one minute at noon on Sunday as part of a National Moment of Remembrance. Several churches also rang their bells during that time.

Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Fighting heart disease: Warren County Heart Walk raises money to help save lives

by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 9/10/2011

Tracey Stuart wants people to remember one thing if they think they might be having symptoms of a heart attack.

“Seek medical attention. Don’t wait. Don’t assume it’s nothing,” she said.

She knows from experience. Two years ago, at age 40, she had just run a mile and was walking when she experienced a burning sensation.

“I had huge pressure on my chest area from my chin to my chest,” she said. “I wasn’t in a great deal of pain, but it was enough to catch my attention.”

Stuart went to an emergency room and was treated for a heart attack. She later found out that she had a sudden coronary artery dissection, which can be related to female hormone levels. She had 99.9 percent blockage in her left main artery.

“It’s prone to women,” she said. “The hormones associated with pregnancy can affect the lining of the artery, then it ruptures.”

Stuart believes research funded by the American Heart Association helped save her life.

“They were able to do enough research to determine what could happen to me,” she said. “They are making so many advances and affect so many people. It’s just astounding. You can have heart disease and have a very healthy life.”

Stuart is chairwoman of the American Heart Association’s Warren County Heart Walk, which begins at 9 a.m. today on The Medical Center’s front lawn. Activities will include a Kids Zone, health fair, refreshments for walkers and blood screenings. A VIP area for walkers who raised more than $150 will include a masseuse, breakfast and drawings for gift cards. Nearly 400 people are expected to participate.

“It raises money to continue the fight against heart disease and research, for research, education, awareness and advocacy,” said Michelle Alloway, division director of the American Heart Association Great Rivers Affiliate. “I think it’s going to be a great event. Every year we grow and raise more money.”

The event also helps raise awareness, Stuart said.

“If my story touches someone so that they go to the ER instead of waiting ...,” she said, pausing. “People need to be educated about their health and their hearts.”

Last year’s walk raised $69,500, Alloway said.

“Hopefully we’re saving lives,” she said. “Heart disease continues to claim more American lives each year. It needs to be something on our list of priorities to think about.”

Stuart continues to take charge of her health in an effort to prevent another heart attack. In addition to taking preventative medication, she tries to eat right and exercise.

“I went right back to running and haven’t had one problem,” she said. “I think it was a definite eye opener.”

Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Interstitial cystitis sufferers have support

by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 9/10/2011

April Lee used to have a full life.

“I used to have a career. I have a master’s degree in counseling,” she said. “I used to help people with disabilities get back to work.”

About six years ago, the Bowling Green woman had a severe case of endometriosis that was really debilitating.

“I had multiple surgeries for it, but I had a hard time getting well. I tried everything to get well. I’d been to more than 40 doctors,” she said. “I had pelvic pain, pressure, urgency (to urinate) and frequency. I had to get up at nighttime all the time. It got so bad I couldn’t even hold a teacup. You’re really fatigued. It takes a lot out of your body.”

Lee eventually found out she had interstitial cystitis which, according to the Interstitial Cystitis Network website at www.ic-network.com, is also known as bladder pain syndrome, painful bladder syndrome or hypersensitive bladder syndrome. Because patients often think they’re suffering from repeated bladder infections, it may take months or years to be diagnosed.

“It’s like having shards of glass in your bladder,” Lee said. “There’s not a lot they can do for the pain.”

As many as one in five women in the U.S. may be infected, local gynecologist Dr. Mark Yurchisin said.

“It’s a chronic pelvic pain syndrome due to inappropriate stimulation to the nerves in the bladder or urethra,” he said.

Symptoms include urinary frequency, urgency and pelvic pain, Yurchisin said. Patients often experience burning when urinating, wake up at night to urinate and have painful intercourse. The cause is unknown.

“It’s prevalent in both sexes, but it’s more common in women,” he said. “Men show the same types of symptoms as women. They may have pain in the testicles and scrotum. They usually see a urologist.”

Lee said she didn’t know anybody with the condition and wanted support.

“I would sit in (Yurchisin’s) lobby, and he had all these patients that I’d end up talking to,” she said. “I’m meeting people younger and younger who are coming down with IC.”

She gave Yurchisin a list of products that had helped her with interstitial cystitis and talked to him about staring a support group. The result is the Interstitial Cystitis Support Group, which will have its second meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Medical Center. Lee has also started a blog for the group at icsupportbg.blogspot.com.

“We want to get these women together and have a speaker and educate them on things that can really help,” she said. “A lot of doctors don’t know what to do with them. They get put on pain medicines that they can become addicted to.”

There is no cure for IC, but it can be controlled, Yurchisin said.

“We can restore patients’ lives in terms of their bladder and sexual function and reduce their pain so they’re just not suffering so much,” he said.

The condition is treated with dietary restrictions to prevent irritation to the bladder, Yurchisin said.

“What I find in my population is the need to eliminate acidic foods, nicotine, caffeine, alcohol and tomato-based products,” he said.

There are three drugs that are most commonly used – Elmiron, which helps the bladder heal, Elavil, which helps reduce pain and urgency, and Hydroxyzine, an anti-inflammatory, Yurchisin said.

“These therapies take a long time to work. The medications are slow-working,” he said. “The results may not be seen for three to six months. Substantial improvements may take a year or more.”

IC is very elusive, Lee said.

“It’s not always that you can follow the diet and things will be all right,” she said. “Sometimes it flares up. I go to the chiropractor and that seems to help.”

Watching her diet, reducing stress and having physical therapy can help, Lee said.

“Drink a lot of water and rest,” she said. “You have to listen to your body.”

Although it has been mentally hard to adjust to making the necessary changes to keep herself healthy, Lee said she plans to keep talking to people about IC so she can find others who may need help.

“Even though it’s your bladder and it’s not something people want to hear about, I try to talk about it,” she said.

Lee hopes the support group helps a lot of people.

“It is a very painful disease that’s not understood,” she said. “It means a lot to have support.”

Upcoming support group meetings will be at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 19, Nov. 16 and Dec. 14 at The Medical Center.

— For more information, email aprilslee@windstream.net.

Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

'Buds to Blossoms' - NICU reunion will bring together children and families with doctors, nurses, staff involved in their care

by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 9/2/2011

Mandy Emedi strived to be prepared when she found out she was going to be the mother of twins about three years ago.

“We found out we were having twins pretty early in our pregnancy. We tried to glean as much knowledge as we could,” the Bowling Green woman said. “Having multiples, we knew there was an increased risk for premature birth.”

Still, she was surprised when she went into labor at 341/2 weeks.

“I had my mind set on a healthy pregnancy,” she said. “It was a complete shock when I went to the hospital. That was the most scared I had ever been.”

Emedi and her husband, Janko, welcomed twin daughters, Anna and Brooklyn. The babies stayed in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit for 10 days to get help with eating and gaining weight.

“We were very lucky,” she said. “There were no major complications at all.”

During that time, Emedi formed a bond with the NICU staff.

“We spent so much time there working with the nurses and doctors, we felt like they were our family,” she said. “They really, really connected with the families. They are there as much for the parents as they are for the babies.”

While in the hospital, Emedi learned about The Medical Center’s annual NICU reunion, which brings together the children and their families with doctors, nurses and staff members who were involved in their care. It gave Emedi a real milestone to look forward to.

“It was a goal of mine to take two healthy babies to show the nurses and doctors,” she said.

“Buds to Blossoms,” the fourth annual NICU reunion and open house, will be from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 11 at The Medical Center Auditorium.

“The theme is decided upon by a committee of staff nurses and marketing,” said Debbie Smith, charge nurse for the nursery and NICU at The Medical Center. “The babies begin as little buds and then blossom.”

The reunion has drawn as many as 300 people, Smith said. There are games, prizes and food. Parents are asked to send stories, pictures of their babies in the NICU and current pictures of their children. The pictures will then be used in a slide show during the reunion.

“It’s a wonderful event. The nurses look forward to it each year,” she said. “It’s so rewarding to see these babies come back. Here they come back as beautiful children, looking wonderful and doing well.”

The event not only reunites parents with the medical staff, but also with other parents.

“Parents get to know each other in this situation,” Smith said. “There are parents who form friendships that last for many years.”

Emedi helps parents who have babies in the NICU as a support parent with The Medical Center’s NICU P.E.A.S. (Parent Encouragement and Support) Group, which offers peer support for the parents of premature or ill newborns. She has been a support parent since the beginning of the year.

“The program was not in existence when my girls were born,” she said. “There is so much emotion and uncertainty that go in a NICU stay.”

Emedi said her children, now 21/2, are doing well.

“They’ve completely caught up with the growth curve,” she said. “Emotionally, they’re where they’re supposed to be.”

Emedi took her daughters to their first reunion when they were a few months old. She is just as excited to take the girls to the upcoming NICU reunion.

“It’s such an opportunity for families to come back,” she said. “I just want to go back and say think you for giving our girls a healthy start.”

— For more information, call 796-2144.

Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)