Each baby born is a blessing—a tiny new life filled with hope and promise. So sweet and helpless, a parent attends day and night to his/her infant’s every need. Parents become accustomed to sleep being seasoned; parents, however, never become accustomed to being woken from a deep sleep by a child’s life threatening seizure.

In the blink of an eye, a parent must be fully alert and capable of making life or death medical decisions. For a parent of a child with Dravet Syndrome, these decisions must be made not just one but hundreds or thousands of times during their child’s life.

Always on guard, a parent must vigilantly monitor illness, internal and external temperature fluctuations in the air, bath tubs, lakes and swimming pools, as these simple things can bring on status seizures. Exercise, the excitement of a holiday celebration or birthday party, stress, changes in the weather, computer screens, televisions, video games, and certain lighting in schools, libraries, medical and office buildings can trigger seizures.

 

The Harbor Court, offering senior adults independent and assisted living options for over two decades, is proud to announce the opening of Annie’s Place--a secure, memory care floor for those with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Locally owned and managed by the Zapis Family since 1987, The Harbor Court extends its continuum of care with Annie’s Place. With the addition of memory care, current residents can age in place, while community members with loved ones suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease have another service to choose from under The Harbor Court umbrella of senior services. Annie’s Place offers the most up-to-date memory care in a home-like environment, including personalized assistance and specialized activities, cared for by a veteran staff trained by the Alzheimer’s Association.

It was a cool gray morning and the sound of thunder rumbled in the distance. The smell of ozone just before spring rain filled my senses made me beam. Instead of pulling weeds in my garden I decided to spend my Saturday afternoon in the company of local healers and friends.

I walked through the perennial garden’s meandering path and into the lovely new reception hall at the Westlake church known as Unity Spiritual Center. The center’s new addition was filled with music and laughter. I’d let my gardening duties slip in order to make it to the event called “Let your Spirit Soar.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is estimated that half of the four million children injured during sports events or practices suffer repeat injuries. These figures are likely underestimated because other professionals like chiropractors and physical therapists, who also treat young injured players, are not included. There is mounting attention nationally on the growing problem of injuries incurred in our youth because of overuse problems.

Unity Spiritual Center hosted an open house on May 1 to showcase its new 6,000-square-foot multi-purpose event and wedding facilities. Activities included guided meditations; labyrinth walking; Tibetan singing bowls; drumming circles; discussions on spiritual topics; demonstrations in Reiki, yoga, and cranial sacral healing practices. The center welcomes people of all faiths, races  and levels of social structure whose common quest  is spiritual unity with God.

Drug Awareness and Prevention Inc., of Cleveland, in partnership with local and state law enforcement agencies, Parent2Parent, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health and Home Instead Senior Care has organized Operation: Medicine Cabinet. Their goal is to help residents in northeast Ohio safely dispose of any outdated or unwanted prescription medications. 

The event will be held Saturday, May 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Clague Cabin in Westlake and the Bay Village Police Department.

This completely confidential program will allow adult family members to visit any listed location, where law enforcement officers will collect and hold all medications. After the medications are collected, they will be weighed by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department before they are destroyed.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) attacks the nerves and interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body. It’s an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, with symptoms ranging from pain, numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis.

Most people are diagnosed with it between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women than men having it. As best we know, it affects over 400,000 in this country and 2.1 million people in the world.

Over the many years I’ve been a volunteer with the Ohio Buckeye Chapter of the National MS Society – helping to get the word out on this terrible disease and advocating for funds for research from state and federal officials – I’ve often been asked what led to my involvement with it.

Beware, citizens of Westlake! There’s a mad scientist lurking amongst you, one whose goal of reanimating human tissue is not entirely dissimilar to that of Victor Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s fictional 19th-century gothic character.

But fear not, good people. Extinguish those torches and drop your pitchforks. For while posterity regards Dr. Frankenstein as a cautionary tale of well-intended science run amok, Tom Roso today is respected locally as an exemplary tale in creative, goal-oriented exercise physiology with tangible results to boot!

Certified as a personalized trainer and nutrition specialist by the IFPA (International Fitness Professionals Association) and proprietor of The Restructuring Zone, Bay Village resident Tom Roso, 60, boasts a clientele as diverse as his various exercise regimens.

The city of Westlake, the Cleveland Clinic, St. John West Shore Hospital and Crocker Park have joined forces to sponsor the first citywide weight loss challenge, “Westlake Weighs Down.” Designed around the popular TV show “The Biggest Loser,” the 13 week program will track the participant's percentage of weight loss against others in the competition. 

The program will run from Feb. 1 – May 2, 2010. The competition will have several divisions consisting of males, females, corporations and local celebrities. Throughout the competition, a variety of events will take place including a health fair, presentations by doctors and dietitians and weekly exercise classes. Healthy recipes and other interesting tidbits will be shared with the participants throughout the duration of the program.

Transformation takes place when we are empowered, and put collaborative effort in accepting self, learning from our mistakes and communicating positive affirmation in our thoughts. Constantly enriching one’s emotional quotient along with intellectual and ethical quotient. Emotional well-being is making a commitment to self and God. As Mother Teresa said, “It’s not what you do, but how much love that you put into it that matters.” Love is the secret of lasting heritage. What gives true joy to emotional well-being is unconditional love. In this, human beings know only how to give and expect nothing in return. Emotional well-being is enhanced by giving service to others.

[Editor’s note: In order to protect the privacy of their son, the names of the “NOT MY CHILD” presenters have been kept confidential.]

Last month on Thursday, October 22nd at Bay Middle School and Wednesday, October 28th at St. Raphael School, a Bay couple presented the program “NOT MY CHILD” to share with parents practical and helpful information they believe every parent should know about adolescent alcohol and other drug experimentation, abuse and addiction. 

The couple, parents of three children, speak from experience “because we lived it.” They created the program to share the knowledge and understanding they gained after helping their son through the recovery process.  

The presentation included PowerPoint slides with video clips, music, a voice-over and audience participation segments, as well as a panel of experts.

No one believes it could happen to their child! Unfortunately, over half of our young, innocent children are experimenting with alcohol and other drugs beginning in middle school.

•  Parents, what do you really know about adolescent drug use? Do you know the signs to look for or what to do if you suspect that your child is using? Or how to respond or where to turn for help?
• To find out more, please attend an informative and interactive alcohol and other drug abuse program – presented by parents who know because they lived it!

"NOT MY CHILD!"

It’s a normal reaction parents have when the subject of alcohol or drug abuse is brought up. Unfortunately, studies indicate that over 50% of our youth experiment with chemical substances. 

• Are you aware that alcohol kills 6½ times more teenagers than all other illicit drugs combined?

• Did you know that local studies indicate that 12% of our 8th grade students have admitted to trying marijuana and that percent increases, significantly, as they enter high school? 

• Do you know where adolescents get most of the medications to get high?

To find out more, please attend an informative and interactive alcohol and other drug abuse program that will be presented by parents who know… because they lived it. 

Alcohol usage and drug experimentation, abuse or addiction is not at the top of a parent’s list of what they dream for their children. A natural response to any of these would be NOT MY CHILD! Unfortunately, experimentation, abuse and/or addiction occur among our children.

• Do you know that marijuana is “the drug of choice” of the majority of teens who seek treatment for drug abuse or dependence?

• Are you aware that national studies indicate that 2 in 5 teens report abusing cough medicine to get high? 

• Are you aware that teenagers, whose parents talk on a regular basis about the dangers of drug use, are 42% less likely to use drugs than those whose parents don’t?

No one believes it can happen to their child!  But it CAN and, unfortunately, experimentation of alcohol and other drugs start at the middle school level.

• Did you know that, statistically, 40% of those who start drinking at age 13 or younger develop alcohol dependence later in life? And that teens that drink are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than teens who never consume alcohol?
• Did you know that nearly 30 percent of all middle school age students admit they have tried alcohol at least once?  And that over 10 percent of them drank alcohol for the first time BEFORE the age of 13? 

To learn more, all residents are invited to attend one of two planned informative presentations on this often overlooked topic.

Adolescents… whether you are one, love one, or work with one there is bound to be turmoil. Undulating adolescent behavior has forever confounded teens, their parents and other caring adults in their lives.

How do we know what is normal teenage angst? How do we recognize behaviors that should raise giant red flags? For most teens the transition from child to adult is filled with exciting, rocky, and awkward years; and they survive. For others, however, this is a time of great suffering and despair; a time when too many teenagers are seriously considering suicide.