Healthy Living, June 2011

E X E R C I S E • N U T R I T I O N • A D V I C E • L I F E S T Y L E

cover story:A healing experience ( page 10 )Learn about the first Survivor’s Outdoor Experience retreat held at Olympic Park Institute

also inside: • Peninsula College students take their environmental studies class to Salt Creek Farm• Tips on how to use the leafy green, Swiss Chard• Guidance for gardeners on avoiding injury

A publication of the Peninsula Daily News, produced by the Advertising Department.

2 HealtHy living • june 2011 a publication of the Peninsula Daily News

SUMMER AT THE Y

A WHOLENEW VIBE

olympicpeninsulaymca.org302 S. Francis, Port Angeles360-452-9244 165122232

165122226

An Elite Spaon the

North Olympic Peninsula

Jodi FairchildLicensed inMedical Aesthetics

106 North Lincoln • Port Angeles • 360-565-0200

paSSuitesSkincare

VOTED FIRST PLACE - BEST SPA

Massage • Facials • Waxing • Chemical PeelsBody Wraps • Pedicures • ManicuresTeeth Whitening • Red Light Therapy

www.SkinCareSuites.com

$40 MassagesEvery Thursday & Friday

thru June

S t o p i n a n d E x p e r i e n c e w h y w e w e r e

2011 “PORT TOWNSEND” Model

165121719

Over a $900 Value!

Port Townsend Athletic Club

Downtown (360) 385-6560

Only $35 to Join!* Yes YOU can! Join us Today!

Let us help YOU take back control of YOUR life... We offer all of the

benefits of a full service club as well as many specialty programs. We

have the best trainers, classes and equipment in Jefferson County.

* One year agreement required, prorated current monthly rate due upon joining plus $35 one time

per person processing fee.

RECEIVE A FREE ENTRY FOR JOINING!!

Purchase additional entry tickets for $10 at Front Desk!

Special Thanks to:

Spring into Fitness

Bike Raffle July 1st

135112320

The Best Full-Service Day Spa in Sequim!

www.sequimdayspa.com

Sugaringand Waxing

Gel NailServices

Spa Manicure andPedicure

Massage and Body Treatments for Men and Women

Facials,Microdermabrasionand Peels

PermanentMake-up

Affordable Prices

128 West Bell, Sequim360-683-4363

Open Monday through Friday 9-4

Saturday and Evening Appointments Available

A publication of the Peninsula Daily News june 2011 • HeAltHy living 3

contentsCommon ground ( 4 )Sequim man tells his story in hopes of connecting with others who have spinal cord injuries.

Field trip ( 6 )Peninsula College students take their environmental studies class out into the real world at Salt Creek Farm.

Yoga as therapy ( 9 )Port Angeles yoga teacher offers classes for people suffering from post-traumatic stress and long-term mental illness.

Is coffee good for you? ( 14 )New take on a much-loved beverage.

Green variety ( 17 )Spice things up with Swiss chard.

Find these articles, and more, inside your summer issue of Healthy Living.

on the coverParticipants in the first Survivor’s Outdoor Experience retreat — cancer survivors and their caregivers — go for a group canoe outing on Lake Crescent.

( page 10 )

Photo by Dave Pitman.

articles & submissionsWe’re always on the lookout for

article ideas to include in our quar-terly Healthy Living publication.

If you have an idea for a story, please let us know.

Professionals in their field are invited to contribute informative and educational articles or columns for consideration in Healthy Living.

For more information, e-mail Jen-nifer Veneklasen, section editor, at: jennifer.veneklasen@ peninsuladailynews.com.

Note the period between the first and last name.

We cannot guarantee publication due to space and content consid-erations. If your submission is ac-cepted, we reserve the right to edit submissions.

June 2011

HEALTHY LIVINGVolume 7, Issue 2 n June 2011

Published by the Peninsula Daily News Main office: 305 W. First St., Port Angeles, WA 98362 360-452-2345

John C. Brewer editor & publisherSuzanne Delaney advertising directorJennifer Veneklasen editor

614

9


Where employee owners care about your home improvement projects.

1601 S “C” St., Port Angeles 457-8581 • angelesmillwork.com

3111 Hwy 101 E, Port Angeles452-8933 • hartnagels.com

Your surroundings can affect your mood. Banish drab colors from your home and brighten up your life with a fresh coat of colorful paint. Paint projects are quick and easy, and can dramatically transform the look of any room. Grab some paint and supplies to get started today.

Brighten your day, with a fresh coat of colorful paint!

Authorized dealers of

Parker Paint!

Your surroundings can affect your mood. Banish drab colors from Your surroundings can affect your mood. Banish drab colors from

NOW STOCKINGZERO VOCULTRATECH PAINT AT HARTNAGEL

Make it a fun family project.

165122229

424 East 2nd Port Angeles

165122227

SUPPLIES FOR HEALTHY LIVING

Call now for an appointment with

Sandy Sinnes our diabetic specialist

Sandy is now taking appointments on Fridays

452-4200

www.jimsrx.com

FREE DIABETES & HEART HEALTH CLASSES offered second Thurs.

of each month Call for class topics

and location.

Life really can change in the blink of an eye. For Joe Preti, a Port Angeles man who suffered a spinal cord injury and became wheelchair-bound last

October, learning that lesson has been both difficult, and bittersweet.

written by Jennifer Veneklasen

Pauline Preti knew something was wrong with her husband, Joe, from the moment they awakened on Oct. 2, 2010.

She never could have guessed, how-ever, that their lives would be forever altered that day.

>>> The Pretis woke up as usual at their Port Angeles home which sits on a bluff overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The home had been purchased in 2004 in preparation for the couple’s early retirement — Joe from his career as a UPS trainer, and Pauline from her work as a nurse.

Pauline says that on that October morning, her husband of 36 years woke up acting like a child, wouldn’t eat and actually ran outside in his boxer shorts. He hopped in his car and refused to come back inside the house.

Having been a nurse for more than 30 years, Pauline knew his actions were connected with his diabetes, but the overly strange behavior was unsettling.

“When there is no sugar in your brain, you can’t think,” she says. “It’s like you’re drunk.”

Joe, 59, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 34 years old. His diabetes is uncommon in that Type 1 is usually diagnosed in childhood.

Joe’s body is insulin-dependent, and over the last 25 years, he has learned to listen for his body’s subtle cues — like being disoriented, sweaty or shaky — that warn him he is having a hypoglycemic reaction and needs to take action.

“I know what to do when that hap-pens,” Joe says. “But I have no memory of that day [Oct. 2].”

Pauline says that police in the early 20th century would often arrest disori-ented diabetics with low blood sugar for what they thought was public drunkenness — similar she assumes to the behavior her husband exhibited.

“I threatened to call 9-1-1, which of course he didn’t want, so he came back in the house and ran and hid from me like he was a little boy,” she says.

Pauline was so disturbed by her hus-band’s behavior, she sat down on the first floor living room couch and cried.

Minutes later she heard banging noises, turned around and found Joe lying on the floor behind the couch. He had fallen more than 14 feet from the top banister of their wooden staircase.

Joe has a vague memory of saying, “help me,” while lying on the floor, but he remembers nothing else.

The fall was jarring to say the least, but Pauline says that for some reason she was more concerned with Joe’s dia-betes than anything else.

“I was worried that he would go into a coma,” she says. “Even though I was touching his leg and he couldn’t feel it, it never dawned on me that he couldn’t get up.”

An ambulance transported Joe to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles where doctors, unequipped to handle Joe’s massive injuries, opted to helicopter him to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

It was there in Seattle that Pauline learned Joe had broken his left wrist, right big toe and eight teeth, had a con-cussion, and most devastatingly — shat-tered his T3 and T4 spinal vertebrae.

All that damage, and there hadn’t been one speck of blood, Pauline says.

The prognosisWhen the couple was reunited at

Harborview, Joe’s first words were, “Don’t worry, Pauline, God’s got me. God’s in charge.”

In his disoriented state, Joe had even been singing the tune, “I Believe in Miracles,” to doctors and nurses.

“When he woke up in his human-ness, he didn’t feel that way,” Pauline says. “But in his place of spirituality, he believed that God would take care of him.” >>

The long road home


For More Information Call:360-457-7004

328 E. 7th St., Port Angeleswww.olympicpeninsulaseniorgames.com

P.A. SENIOR CENTERJoin us at the

Olympic Peninsula Senior GamesAugust 26, 27 & 28

Come for the Sport - Stay for the Fun!

165121927

For More Information Call:

www.olympicpeninsulaseniorgames.com

August 26, 27 & 28August 26, 27 & 28August 26, 27 & 28August 26, 27 & 28

460-7195 824-C East 8th Street - Port Angeles

165122239

ADDITIONAL ADDITIONAL SERVICES SERVICES

• Infrared Sauna • Foot Cleanse • Cardiovascular Testing

Linda Smith, LMP 15 Yrs Exp

RELAX & RENEW RELAX & RENEW 1 Hour Full Body 1 Hour Full Body MASSAGE MASSAGE (Therapeutic or Deep Tissue)

$ 1 0 00 Thru July 15 th OFF

165121728

That first night residents said they doubted Joe would ever walk again.

They asked permission to perform a 5-hour sur-gery to stabilize his spinal column and remove all the bone fragments the vertebrae had left inside him.

“You don’t often see men his age with this type of injury,” Pauline says.

Spinal cord injuries are most often seen in much younger people, typically men, who break their spines in high-risk activities like car racing and motorcycle accidents.

Joe’s age, diabetes and his uncontrolled blood pressure all made the surgery more risky.

But without surgery to stabilize his spinal cord, hope for future rehabilitation was nil — and at that point, Joe couldn’t even lift his head off a pillow.

Feeling left with little choice, the Pretis agreed to the surgery.

Doctors removed the bone fragments and sta-bilized Joe’s spinal cord as much as possible, but during surgery Joe suffered permanent loss of sight in his left eye due to the optic nerve not receiving enough oxygen.

Joe and Pauline spent 18 more days at Harbor-view and then moved on to the Sequim Health and Rehabilitation Center.

The couple says their health insurance company wanted Joe’s wrist to heal and be able to perform weight-bearing exercises before any other type of rehabilitation could begin.

For two months they stayed at that facility.Totally overwhelmed, but feeling blessed that her

husband was still alive, Pauline refused to leave Joe’s side. She had an extra hospital bed brought in the room so they could sleep together every night.

Grasping at any way to show their support and love, friends organized a meal sign-up calendar.

People brought the Pretis food twice a day for more than 60 days — perhaps illustrating just what

kind of people the Pretis are and how many lives they have touched in their time on the North Olym-pic Peninsula.

There were even people the Pretis didn’t know who brought meals. The food was welcome support for their bodies, but more importantly for their souls.

“Learning that people really do care has been a real gift to me,” Pauline says.

Around Christmas time, Joe’s wrist was suffi-ciently healed and it was time to move on to more intense physical and occupational therapy at the University of Washington’s Department of Rehabili-tation Medicine.

At UW, Joe began the exhaustive process of first learning how to sit up and then how to do every-thing from the seat of a wheelchair.

Never in his life did Joe think he would have to re-learn how to get dressed, cook meals and tend to his personal hygiene. For six more weeks, Joe learned all that he could.

“They wanted to show me how to do other things like take a trip to the store or go to the park and roll around on the grass,” Joe says. “But the insurance company said that if I was well enough to do those sorts of things, then I was well enough to go home. They used to keep people at rehab for up to a year.”

Coming homeThe Pretis returned home to Port Angeles in Febru-

ary and tried to regain some sense of normalcy.The entrance to their home had to be equipped

with a chair lift, as did the stairs from which Joe fell.One of the side effects of spinal cord injury is that

the body has nerve spasms. Seemingly out of nowhere Joe’s legs or arms will spasm uncontrollably because nerves once directed along the spinal cord are now misfiring, causing the body to go haywire.

Pauline and Joe Preti at their Port Angeles home.

photo by Jennifer Veneklasen

story continued on page 19 >>


Students from Suzanne Grey’s online Environmental Studies course at Peninsula College recently traded in their laptops for workboots and headed over to Salt

Creek Farm for an afternoon of hands-on education. They met for the first time in person while transplanting

strawberries. Farm owner Doug Hendrickson along with seasonal ap-

prentices John Ludwig and Laura Giannone began with a tour through the greenhouse, barn and fields.

Then they passed out forks and hand tools, and the class dug in.

The class wanted answers to big questions: “How can we nourish ourselves without depleting our en-vironment?” and “What kind of work is being done in our community to respond appropriately?”

As a former apprentice at Salt Creek Farm, Suzanne knew just where to take her students for a real-world look at sustainable farming.

Salt Creek Farm is a small-scale organic farm that embraces a diver-sity of techniques that rejuvenate soil and encourage native habitat.

As part of the online classwork,

Suzanne assigned readings and projects, including an essay by Michael Pollan, and creation of a “100 mile meal” that used only ingredients found within a 100-mile radius of Port Angeles.

At the farm, students saw well-loved 1950s-era tractors, the root cellar and tomato starts under cold frames — all evidence that a successful food shed requires commitment, hard work, ingenuity and a supportive community willing to buy their food from farmers.

They learned about cover crop, rotation, irrigation, water conservation, tools, yurts, goats, chickens and basically what does it mean to wake up every morning and go to work on 8 acres in the Salt Creek Valley.

Students left with dirt under their fingernails, strawberries to transplant at home, and a greater appreciation for small farmers.

>>> Doug Hendrickson has been running his Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program for 19 years and was the first on the North Olympic Peninsula to offer such a program.

CSA subscribing members receive a wide range of produce and herbs in their weekly share boxes May through November.

CSA’s goal is to cultivate a community that is responsible for the social and economic well-being of the farm.

Salt Creek Farm can be reached at 360-928-3583 or on the web at www.saltcreekfarm.org.

f r o m t h e k e y b o a r d t o t h e f i e l d

salt creek fa r m

Laura Giannone, one of Salt Creek Farm’s apprentices, talks to an environmental studies class from Peninsula College about small-scale, organic farming.

photos by Doug Hendrickson


Free Delivery & Set, Bedframe, Removal Of Old Bedding

Dealer Customization

What makes Sealy Posturepedic the most supportive mattress

for all you do in bed?

StayTight™ FoundationCovered with a rubberized gripper fabric that holds sheets in place.

LiftRight™ Surround HandlesRight where you need them when you need them.

CoreSupport™ CenterThe center third of the mattress is power-packed to enhance support and resist body impressions.

0311SPP-1-ROP

NOW$

Queen Set

NOW$

Queen Set

$

$SAVE$50off

With this ad

see store associate for details

165122231

1114 East First • Port Angeles • 457-9412 • angelesfurniture.com

AngelesFurniture

GRANDPREVIEWThe All New Sealy Posturepedic

AppomatoxFirm or Plush

After $50 Savings

After $50 Savings

PasswordFirm or Plush

69999

99999


www.renaissance-pa.com401 E. Front St. 360/565-1199 www.renaissance-pa.comwww.renaissance-pa.comwww.renaissance-pa.comwww.renaissance-pa.com

RENAISSANCE

You’reGetting More Exercise

NOW,

Every Week or Every Month, Massage is Part of the

Vital Lifestyle

Shifting Priorities.Eating Better

MASSAGE.

02403082

135111827

The two words, “breast cancer,” shake all women to the core.

In 1970, 1 in 20 women were diagnosed with breast cancer; today, 1 in 8.

As with our top life-robbing diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes, when it comes to breast cancer, genetics loads the gun, but most of the time, we pull the trigger by the choices we make every day.

Here are seven proactive steps that we can choose to incorporate into our lives right now which sig-nificantly improve our chances of beating the breast cancer odds. 1. Load up on fruits and vegetables!

We all know the answer to the very simple ques-tion, “Which foods help prevent cancer?”

Fresh fruits and vegetables. That includes breast cancer too. These are also

the foods, packed with life-supporting nutrients, micro-nutrients and fiber, that prevent heart dis-ease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and excess weight.

If we all know that fresh fruits and vegetables are our health heroes and disease and weight warriors,

then why don’t we center our meals on fresh fruits and vegetables?

Simple answer: Because we weren’t taught to. We were raised to center our meals on meat,

bread, cheese, boxed cereals and other foods empty of disease-preventing nutrients.

To help prevent breast cancer and other diseases, consider making a shift in thinking, choices, and habits.

Center your meals and snacks on fruits and veg-etables, consciously filling up on the best-for-you foods first.

Then, if you choose, eat traditional American favorites as smaller side dishes or, even better, avoid them altogether. 2. Move your body

If you can get up out of bed, you can exercise. No excuses. Studies show that walking just four hours a week

decreases the risk of breast cancer by 33 percent. That’s only four hours a week! No matter how busy you are, you can squeeze

four hours, and more, of exercise into your week, for the sake of your life. 3. Maintain ideal weight

Excess body fat increases the risk of most cancers, including breast cancer.

Breast cancer thrives on body fat. Furthermore, women diagnosed with breast can-

cer significantly increase their survival if they main-tain their ideal weight.

Beating the breast cancer oddswritten by Leslie Van Romer

Keep them for life with regular cleanings

360-379-1591642 Harrison Street, PT

Your Natural Teeth Are Precious

Call for your next regular hygiene visit today.

Dr. Barry provides a free visual-only exam for new patients.

“Gina did such a fabulous job! My teeth have never been so clean. She’s very focused and professional. Her gentle procedure was totally comfortable even though I have a sensitivemouth.

And she didn’t ask mequestions when I couldn’t answer! I scheduled regularcleanings with Gina for ayear.”

~ Lauretta Frost, Artist, PTGina Indelicato, RDH

155120792

continued on page 15 >>

Advertise in Healthy LivingThe next issue of the Peninsula Daily News’ Healthy Living section will publish in September. Call 360-417-3541 today to reserve your space in this popular quarterly publication!


Several months ago, Peter Casey, executive direc-tor of Peninsula Community Mental Health Center (PCMHC), asked Robin Popinski, owner of Olympic Iyengar Yoga Studio in Port Angeles, to lead two ongoing yoga classes: One for a group of people with post-traumatic stress, and the other for a group with long-term psychiatric disorders.

Just before asking Robin, Peter had attended a program led by Dr. Bessel van de Kolk, who is con-sidered to be one of the world’s leading authorities on post-traumatic stress.

“Dr. Bessel van de Kolk believes in using yoga to help regulate emotional and physiological states,” Robin says.

By holding challenging yoga postures, Robin says that participants allow feelings to bubble to the sur-face. If students “stay with those feelings” inside the posture, they learn that those feelings are tempo-rary, that they will end.

In other words, students can learn to regulate and work with their emotions rather than feeling trapped inside of them.

“It helps [them] to befriend their body,” Robin says.Debbie Fredson is a case manager at PCMHC.She provides support, encouragement and valida-

tion for people who are living with and recovering from severe and persistent mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar and major depression.

Debbie has wanted to offer clients yoga since she began working at PCMHC nine years ago.

“I immediately saw how disconnected my folks were from their own bodies due to having so much going on in their heads,” she says.

Debbie goes out of her way to get clients with schizophrenia to try yoga.

“I actually pick up several people for the group in order to ensure they come,” she says.

She even makes smoothies after class while the group is putting away mats and tidying the room.

One thing Debbie thinks is really beneficial about the group is that it’s just that — a group.

“Brains like to connect with other brains,” she says. Yoga instruction leads participants to move as a

group, in and out of the postures together.“They are building interpersonal skills but in a

different way from a talking or skill-building group,” she says.

In addition to the physical benefits, Debbie hopes they are developing friendships that will take hold.

“Our focus has been on the idea of befriending — what it means to be friendly toward self, body, mind

and others,” she says. Because people with these types of mental illness

often have difficulty with interpersonal relation-ships, Debbie says, finding connections and develop-ing friendships doesn’t happen overnight.

“Hopefully, they will create a sense of belonging out of this experience,” she says.

Not everyone has jumped on the yoga bandwagon. One of Debbie’s clients absolutely refused to try,

and one had an adverse reaction to another student waxing euphoric about yoga and refused to come back.

The overall response, however, has been positive.“I see an increase in hope, a recognition of their

own progress and then the spark of an idea that things do improve,” Debbie says of her clients.

She has also seen an improvement in patience from one long-term client and a genuine apprecia-tion from another “angry” client.

Students talk about remembering Robin’s instruc-tions and adjusting their posture throughout the day, Debbie says.

“They know they can balance on one foot to reduce repetitive thoughts, they are learning pos-tures that help them relax, and they tell me they are stretching more at home,” she says.

“It is a great therapy for body and mind.”Erran Sharpe is a therapist in the adult outpa-

tient department PCMHC, which means he does individual and group therapy with adults.

He recommends Robin’s yoga classes for clients who have been through traumatic events and are

having difficulty calming their emotions enough to work on the events therapeutically.

“Yoga is all about the unification of body and mind,” he says. “When people go through traumatic or abusive situations, both their body and their mind are affected. Much of the trauma is stored somati-cally, in the body.”

Erran participates right along with his clients dur-ing yoga class and offers occasional insight about the connection between what they are doing physically and what is going on mentally and emotionally.

Clients report immediate benefits in physical relaxation, feeling kindness toward themselves and others, and to some extent improvement in their ability to focus their attention, Erran says.

“What I am most interested in is having them develop long-term benefits of being able to calm themselves and feel good about themselves,” he says.

“Much of the lasting legacy of trauma and abuse is self-hatred. This is what we want to make inroads with.”

Some of Erran’s clients, too, are hesitant. And some refuse. No one is coerced to attend, but the ones who are willing to do it are really liking it.

Robin says she hopes her teaching is allowing students in both groups to realize they have tools — poses to help them throughout the day to regain their peace of mind, feel better and be more present.

“It’s important to me because we all deserve to live life fully, not trapped in the tape of the mind,” she says. “By living fully we are capable of much.”

Can mindful movement and breath awareness restore the body’s natural ability to heal and cope with illness? Yoga teachers around the

world say it can do just that.

written by Jennifer Veneklasen

Yoga as therapy

In May, Robin Popinski had a guest teacher from India at her Port Angeles yoga studio. Gulnaaz Dashti is shown above teaching one of Robin’s regular studio classes. Gulnaaz also taught the Peninsula Community Mental Health classes. Robin says that Gulnaaz approached each of the classes differently. For the post-traumatic stress group, she taught for depression; making the students move up and down, up and down to really get their blood flowing. “She cajoled, yelled and teased to get them to stay with her,” Robin says. With the other group, Robin says that Gulnaaz interspersed the class with puzzles to make the students think. “The students appeared to love it,” Robin says. “There were many smiles, and they worked very hard to keep up with her.” When she returns to India, Gulnaaz will speak to Geeta Iyengar, one of the world’s leaders in therapeutic yoga and daughter of the founder of Iyengar yoga, about how she worked with the classes. Robin is excited to receive Geeta’s suggestions on how to work even more effectively with PCMHC clients.


Retreats at Olympic Park Institute give folks diagnosed with cancer the opportunity to go from being a patient to being a survivor. >>>

Photo by Paul Sauers

A group from the first ever Survivor’s Outdoor Experience Retreat gathers during an interpretive hike led by a field instructor

from Olympic Park Institute.

Healing experience in a serene setting


There are more Survivor’s Out-door Experience retreats planned for the summer. If you’d like to learn more about sign-ing up, phone Jack Ganster at 360-477-1619 or e-mail him at [email protected].

written by Kathleen Ganster

The words that deliver the diagnosis may vary — “I’ve got some bad news,” or “It’s

worse than we thought,” or even the direct meth-od, “I’m afraid you have cancer,” — but they all boil down to the same thing: There is a disease to be fought, and that disease is cancer.

Jack Ganster heard a version of those words when the doctor told him that the growth in his head wasn’t benign as first thought, it was cancer.

At that moment, Jack decided he would be a survivor.

Seven years later, he uses the same motto for his nonprofit organization, Survivor’s Outdoor Experience (SOE).

“I always say that you become a survivor at the moment that you are told of your critical diagnosis. You do not need for a certain time period to elapse, nor do you need to wait for test results to become a ‘survivor,’ ” he says.

“I also know this is easier said than done.”Jack started SOE with the goal to offer other

cancer survivors and caregivers tools to help them cope with the disease, to think like a sur-vivor and live life to the fullest, whatever the outcome from the disease.

In his quest to assist other cancer survivors through SOE, Jack has offered various work-shops, presentations and, most recently, the Inaugural Healing Adventure Retreat.

The retreats are designed to provide folks who have been diagnosed with cancer the opportuni-ty to go from being a patient to being a survivor through educational and outdoor programming.

“By learning about how to move forward liv-ing a healthy and active lifestyle, participants will be putting themselves in the best position to survive,” he says.

The inaugural three-day retreat was held at Olympic Park Institute (OPI), a venue that of-fers educational programming within Olympic National Park.

Jack chose OPI because of the beautiful, natu-ral setting as well as for the ability to host lec-tures and presentations in a classroom setting.

A group of 16, eight cancer survivors and eight caregivers, was able to participate in activities that included journaling, wellness, nutrition and cooking, as well as exercise sessions. They also went hiking and paddled a group canoe.

Marie Marrs of Port Angeles is fighting breast cancer and was still in chemotherapy when she attended the retreat.

She learned of the retreat through another woman in her cancer support group.

As a member of OPI’s board and a former teacher, she knew the setting well.

“The campus on Lake Crescent is peaceful, cozy and beautiful — a perfect place for a re-newal experience,” she says.

“I particularly liked the suggestion that our

‘significant caregiver’ come, too.” Marie’ husband, John, also attended. Led by an OPI staff member, participants

went on a two-mile hike to Marymere Falls in the park.

One participant said it was the first time that she had been outside like that in two years.

Jack says, “This was when I realized that every-thing that I had been working towards was for real. She was so happy, so satisfied.”

Marie particularly enjoyed the boat ride. “When we went out in the big canoe (all of us

in one!), I didn’t have to paddle because my sur-gery had not fully healed. I just sat in the canoe and enjoyed the gorgeous morning ride on the lake,” she says.

SOE board member and cancer survivor Tim Smith attended the retreat with his wife, Michelle.

“When I was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, I had recently heard about SOE. I knew Jack and got in touch with him. When I talked with him, it helped me get moving toward feeling like a survivor,” Tim says.

“Joining the board of SOE seemed like the next step. It felt like something I wanted to be part of.”

The camaraderie of the group was also impor-tant to Smith.

“The retreat was great. We really enjoyed ourselves. I was inspired not only by the hike, but by the other hikers. I look forward to more outdoor experiences,” he says.

Marie describes the weekend as both fun and nourishing.

“I came back exhausted, but ready to try new things I hadn’t considered before. I gained some self-confidence I had lost due to the side effects of my treatment. It was a wonderful weekend,” she says.

Comments like Marie’s make it all worthwhile for Jack.

“Seeing the way people responded and receiv-ing the comments of appreciation made this a healing adventure for me,” he says.

Jack hopes to continue holding retreats along with additional workshops and presentations.

“As long as this disease exists, we should do what we can to make things better. I’m not in a position to bring about its demise, but I think we can provide support and inspiration through our actions,” he says.

Visit www.survivorsoutdoorexperience.org for more information.

Kathleen Ganster is a freelance writer based out of Pittsburgh, Pa.

She is also Jack Ganster’s sister and attended the Survivor’s Outdoor Experience Inaugural Healing Adventure Retreat in May.

Photo by Joe Streva

The group pauses for a break at Marymere Falls. In the front row from left are Marie Marrs, Jenny Steelquist, Dianna Maree, Fran Streva, Sky Heatherton and Candi Pit-man. In the back row are Michelle and Tim Smith.

Photo by Paul Sauers

Dave Long of Oven Spoonful gives participants a healthy food demonstration.

Photo by Dave Pitman

Pat Flood of Olympic Acupuncture dis-cusses “Healing Into Wholeness” during the retreat at Olympic Park Institute.

the next retreat


135112164

Come to ZUMBA ®

at Aspire Academy! We have the most experienced

instructors on the Olympic Peninsula and have offered Zumba ® since March, 2008. We also have Professional Sprung Dance Floors (the only ones

around). These floors are preferred by dancers because they absorb the shock of your movements.

They help to protect your hips, knees, ankles and back and they reduce fatigue. We offer Zumba ® 6 days a week.

We also offer Zumbatomic ®

for children 8-12 on Saturdays.

Our convenient punch card system makes it easy to come to the classes you want. Drop in – your first class is

free! View our schedule online at www.AspireAcademy.us

or call us at 360-681-3979.

Why Choose Aspire?

160 Harrison Rd, Sequim (behind Big 5 store)

YOUR PARTNER IN HEALTH

www.therapeuticassociates.com/PortAngeles

• Keep moving

• Remain independent

• Invest in my physical health

Living healthy means I will...

How can we help you?

1114 Georgiana St.

360-452-6216 [email protected]

facebook.com/PortAngeles

Beth Welander, PT, DPTClinic Director

165122235

As early as the 1930s, there was evidence that repeated consumption of processed and refined foods posed a significant threat to our health.

Research by Dr. Weston A. Price docu-mented the physical degeneration of indigenous people as they were exposed to modern foods like sugar and white flour.

These people’s diets were traditionally dependent on their local environment, and had kept them in near-perfect health.

With the change to a modern diet, Price noted drastic changes after only one generation — the development of tooth decay and facial deformities along with the emergence of modern-world diseases such as heart disease, arthritis and diabetes.

Dr. Price’s conclusion that consumption of pro-cessed and refined foods causes accelerated degen-erative processes and disease has since been sup-ported by countless other scientific studies.

Today, our bodies are under constant assault by a growing number of chemical substances that are

added to our food supply. From the time a seed is planted into the ground

to the moment the finished product reaches our dinner table, our food has become saturated with contaminants like artificial sweeteners, synthetic flavoring, coloring agents, preservatives, herbicides and pesticides.

We have come to expect, and accept, that these chemicals are added to improve shelf life, enhance flavors and make food pleasing to the eye.

But over time, these chemicals accumulate in the body and eventually lead to cellular breakdown.

They have been implicated as catalysts for a vari-ety of illnesses like cardiovascular disease, digestive disturbances, allergies, hyperactivity and depression.

When we take whole foods — foods as close to their original natural state as possible — and put them through chemical and mechanical processing, they lose many of their naturally occurring nutrients.

In addition, these refined and processed foods strip our body of its stored nutrients because it has to work overtime to metabolize unfamiliar and often

toxic substances. When we turn healthful foods like potatoes into

french fries, and whole grain into synthetically enriched white flour, it comes at a cost.

Our health and well-being is compromised. Most refined foods are easy to identify. They come in cans or boxes and contain a label

with their ingredient list. Unfortunately, these ingredient lists often read

like a foreign language and the average person is left wondering if a Ph.D. is required for translation.

The law instructs manufacturers to list each ingredient by weight, with the primary ingredient listed first.

Interpreting the labels is tricky. Often a label will show a low sugar percentage,

seemingly indicating the product has low sugar con-tent. Sadly, this is very misleading.

Sugar has many disguises: high-fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, maltose, dextrose and lactose.

Added together in one product, sugar becomes the main ingredient. >>>

{ } written by Heike Wardnutr i t ion

Reduce refined foods to revitalize your body


839 Water StreetPort Townsend 360-385-4795

Open 10-6 Dailywww.abouttimeclothing.com

DANSKO.COMDansko is a registered trademark of Dansko, LLC. © 2009 Dansko, LLC. 1.800.326.7564

135111823

www.abouttimeclothing.com

Dansko is a registered trademark of Dansko, LLC. © 2009 Dansko, LLC. 1.800.326.7564

Your LocalSolution

For Healthy

Feet

Sound Sleep ClinicAND SLEEP DISORDERS CENTER

Jakdej Nikomborirak, M.D.Diplomate, American Board of Sleep Medicine

Accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

(abnormal behavior during sleep)

683-8544 It’s your health and your Choice!512 E. Washington St., Sequim

Bringing Sound Sleep to our Community

for the past 12 years.

16

51

21

88

2

for the past 12 years.for the past 12 years.for the past 12 years.

“Dr. Jak” treats all types of sleep disorders:

• Sleep Apnea• Restless Leg• Parasomnia

• Narcolepsy• Insomnia

What to do? The truth is that no one particular diet serves

everyone. We each have unique nutritional needs. There are, however, many healthful ways in

which we can revitalize our body and reduce its exposure to toxins.

1.) We can increase our intake of whole foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables are filled with vita-

mins, minerals, phytonutrients and flavonoids that protect against many chronic health conditions and are supportive of your health.

2.) We can adopt the 85/15 way of eating. This dietary approach encourages the consump-

tion of 85 percent nourishing, wholesome foods (locally grown, organic foods eaten as close to their natural state as possible) to supply the body with the nutrients required for optimal functioning and to provide it with reserves that assist in the metabo-lism of low-nutrient, depleting foods.

3.) We can buy organic foods. A study published in the Journal of Applied

Nutrition compared organically grown produce with similar conventionally grown produce and found that on average the organically grown ver-sion of the food had more than 90 percent more

minerals and vitamins!

4.) We can shop for seasonal organic produce at local farmers markets and at local organic farms like Nash’s Organic Produce and Johnston Farms.

Foods that are grown in organic soil are a concen-trated source of nutrients.

When we shop for seasonal, locally grown pro-duce, we not only nourish our body, we also support the local farming community and our environment.

5.) If we eat animal products, we can choose range-fed, antibiotic and hormone-free meats.

6.) We can eat whole grains that provide us with fiber, B-vitamins and minerals.

7.) We can drink plenty of clean, filtered water and herbal teas to ensure proper hydration.

Every bodily function, from circulation to the digestion and elimination of wastes, involves water.

8.) We can reduce our overall sugar consumption by replacing refined and processed sugary snacks with fresh fruit, by using natural sweeteners such as honey or Stevia, and by avoiding sugary sodas (the average can of soda contains approximately 10 teaspoons of sugar).

9.) We can keep informed, read labels and become aware of hidden ingredients.

Nature offers us its best. When we eat wholesome foods, we nourish our

body with vitally important nutrients at a deep cel-lular level.

The rewards are plentiful: our energy levels increase, chronic illnesses decrease, we optimize our health, and hopefully we will leave a legacy of uncon-taminated healthful foods for future generations.

Heike Ward is a holis-tic nutritionist who lives in Port Angeles. She gradu-ated from Clayton College of Natural Health in 2008 and is currently working on her Master of Science in health and nutrition education. For information on health coach-ing, nutrition education and wellness promotion, phone her at 360-460-4526, or e-mail [email protected].


Pilates:Helping

you achieve success

Offering rehabilitationPilates. Call for details!

360-417-0703 708 S. Race St., Suite C, Port Angeles

www.soht.info

165119520

135111970

Dr. Jonathan Collin, M.D. FOCUS ON ADULT MEDICINE

Chelation: A Treatment For Lead/Toxic Elements &

Support For Circulation Disorders

www.drjonathancollin.com 911 Tyler St., Port Townsend

360-385-4555 Recommended Reading:

Arline Brecher’s: 40 Something Forever order your copy for $9.00

Is COFFEE better than you think?For many Americans, coffee is a daily habit, even

an addiction. For others, it is a guilty pleasure. But some new research suggests that coffee often

gets a bad rap and that coffee drinkers have no need to be ashamed.

“Coffee has been blamed for everything from indigestion to cancer,” says Dr. Roseane M. Santos, co-author of An Unashamed Defense of Coffee: 101 Reasons to Drink Coffee Without Guilt.

“But almost everything people think about coffee is wrong. It’s actually one of the healthiest bever-ages we can consume.”

Santos is a professor at South University’s School of Pharmacy in Savannah, Ga., where she runs a research team focused on coffee and health.

And while many health experts now advise drink-ing a glass of red wine each day, Santos would rec-ommend drinking coffee as well.

Santos is certainly not alone in thinking that cof-fee can be healthy. But some health experts have been slow to warm up to its beneficial effects.

Why don’t more experts recommend coffee? It probably stems from the fact that for decades, people have focused on one component of coffee — caffeine.

But coffee is much more than a steaming cup of get-up-and-go.

It contains important minerals such as potassium, iron and zinc, and an abundance of natural antioxi-dants known as chlorogenic acids.

“The age- and cancer-fighting qualities of anti-oxidants are well known to the health-conscious,” explains Santos.

“But what is less well known, and what the American Heart Association recommends, is the importance of getting antioxidants from natural sources: fruits, vegetables and coffee. The coffee bean is, after all, a fruit.”

Much like the health benefits of red wine have been separated from the detrimental effects of exces-sive alcohol, coffee and caffeine are beginning to be understood independent of one another.

The truth is that adults will not see any negative effects from caffeine — and will get all the healthy benefits of coffee — as long as they limit their intake to three to four cups of regular coffee per day.

Santos does raise one warning to those who would turn to coffee as a health drink. The blacker your ground coffee is, the less healthy it is.

The reason is that when coffee is roasted for too long, there is not much left but caffeine.

Most of the nutrients have been chemically altered by the roasting process.

As for indigestion, “there is no evidence that cof-fee causes gastric problems,” says Santos, citing a 2006 study by Stanford University researchers Kaltenbach, Crockett and Gerson.

“Some people may be intolerant of coffee or caf-feine, just as some people are intolerant of hot pep-per sauce or dairy products. But daily coffee intake cannot be considered responsible for the onset of gastric ulcers or gastritis in healthy people.”

And cancer? There was a scare in the early 1980s when a

study initially tied coffee to a higher risk of pancre-atic cancer.

But Santos says that follow-up research deter-mined that smoking, not coffee, was the real cause.

Article courtesy of ARA Content.


165122230

819 Georgiana St., Suite B • Port Angeles

She’ l l be g lad you d id .CALL 360-452-2228 OR 1-800-723-4106

Come in for a Did you know that 26 million Americans suffer from some type of hearing impairment? New technology is making it possible for hearing instrument users to enjoy the world of improved hear-ing by making these instruments more flexible, comfortable, con-venient and stylish to wear.Now matter what your lifestyle, with so many models and circuit options there is a hearing aid that may be perfect for you!

CERTIFIED HEARING

FREEHEARING TEST

ComfortFlexibility

ConvenienceStyle

CALL US TODAY

If you’re looking for these benefits in a hearing

instrument:

Avamere Olympic Rehabilitation of Sequim’s team of professionals offer individualized services to patients recovering from an illness or injury. The goal is to restore patients to their lives, their homes and their communities.

165121200

360-582-3900 1000 S. 5th Ave, Sequim

AHCA/NCAL Quality Award Winner and 4 Star Rating from Medicare (medicare.gov)

� �

Olympic Rehabilitation Olympic Rehabilitation of Sequim of Sequim

>> breast cancer, continued from page 8

As for indigestion, “there is no evidence that cof-fee causes gastric problems,” says Santos, citing a 2006 study by Stanford University researchers Kaltenbach, Crockett and Gerson.

“Some people may be intolerant of coffee or caf-feine, just as some people are intolerant of hot pep-per sauce or dairy products. But daily coffee intake cannot be considered responsible for the onset of gastric ulcers or gastritis in healthy people.”

And cancer? There was a scare in the early 1980s when a

study initially tied coffee to a higher risk of pancre-atic cancer.

But Santos says that follow-up research deter-mined that smoking, not coffee, was the real cause.


4. Limit intake of animal productsThe American Cancer Society’s No.

1 recommendation for the prevention of breast cancer: Eat more plant-based foods and fewer animal-based foods.

According to T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., in The China Study, as the amount of animal protein consumed goes up, so does the risk for breast cancer, along with heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

He also discovered that the choles-terol, not just the saturated fat, found in all animal products is strongly cor-related to raising the risk of breast cancer. 5. Reduce or eliminate alcohol

A study by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that daily alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer and other cancers.

Each alcoholic drink consumed on a daily basis increases the risk of breast cancer by 12 percent.

Decreasing your alcohol intake from one drink every day to one drink every week or month decreases the risk of breast cancer by 50 percent or more. 6. Do not smoke

Smoking maims and kills. Period. Breast cancer is just one disease

on the long list of diseases directly related to smoking. 7. Avoid Hormone Replacement Therapy

When Hormone Replacement Ther-apy (HRT), or estrogen made from the urine of a pregnant horse, became the miracle cure for menopausal symp-toms, it was clearly not taken into account that increased estrogen lev-els significantly increase the risk of breast cancer.

Since discontinuing HRT in 2002

as a primary solution for hormonal imbalances, breast cancer has decreased in the United States 7 to 15 percent.

Many cases of breast cancer are preventable, not inevitable.

Every fruit and vegetable you choose to eat, every walk you take, every pound you lose, every drink or cigarette you refuse boosts your immune system one more notch up.

Your persistence and patience as you put your health-building knowl-edge into daily practice will reward you a thousand fold by adding days to your life and life, joy, and peace to each of your blessed days.

You are the master of your own choices and either the beneficiary of or slave to the consequences.

Leslie Van Romer is a chiropractor, author, speaker and weight-loss cheer-leader. She offers free monthly motiva-tional health presentations — see the box below for more information on her next talk. Leslie can be reached by phone at 360-683-8844, e-mail at Dr.Leslie@DrLeslieVanRomer, or you can visit www.vanromerchiropractic.com.

Leslie Van Romer’s next free health presentation will be “Sidestepping the Big Ones: Cancer, Heart Disease, Stroke and Diabetes.” It will be held at Olympic Theatre Arts, 414 N. Sequim Ave. in Sequim, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on July 11. Phone 360-683-8844 for more information, or to reserve your space.

{ }free health presentation


Are You At Risk?Take Time for your Health

We provide non-invasive, completely painless screenings using Doppler ultra-sound technology. Performed by registered vascular technologists.

These tests quickly detect arterial abnormalities which can cause disrupted blood flow. Our screenings

are fast and accurate.

physician typically will not order an ultrasound evaluation for someone who has no symptoms

Peripheral Arterial Disease ScreeningPeripheral arterial disease (plaque buildup) in the lower extremities is linked to coronary artery disease.

Vascular Risk ScreeningSaturday, June 18 & Saturday Sept. 24

8:30am - 4 :30pmDungeness Valley Lutheran Church

925 N. Sequim Ave., SequimPre-registration is required.

Call 360-733-8128

3

A

Stroke ScreeningCarotid ArteryThe #1 cause of stroke is linked to carotid artery blockage.

1 $40Abdominal AorticAneurysm ScreeningThe vast majority of people who have an aneurysm have no symptoms.

2 $40

$40

$99Complete Vascular Package

(All three screenings)

of vascular disease. This vascular screening allows you to be checked for vascular disease as part of your own personal prevention plan. We provide non-invasive, painless screenings that can identify vascular disease, valuable information for your personal physician to help you reduce the risk for stroke.

Northwest Vascular Screenings, LLC Northwest Vascular Screenings, LLC does not file insurance claims.

www.nwvascularlab.com

165121198

{ }written by Beth Welandert rekking poles

A tool for walkers and hikers

Hikers at Hurricane Ridge inside Olympic National Park. Photo by Chris Tucker

As the weather warms and sun comes out, many peo-ple head outside for some walking or hiking.

Before you hit the pavement or trail, you might want to consider the benefits of trekking poles, a tool that first came on the scene in the mid-1990s.

Trekking poles are similar in appearance to a ski pole but are used much like a walking stick.

They are lightweight, being made out of aluminum or other alloys. The ends are somewhat flexible and won’t break if caught.

The tips are often interchange-able — either hard rubber for pavement or carbide tips for trail surfaces. Most collapse for easy transport.

There are many benefits to using trekking poles.

Using trekking poles reduces the weight on the legs and back by redistributing weight to the arms.

It has been reported that a person can decrease the weight on each leg by 15 to 25 pounds with each step!

It also decreases excessive com-pression on the knee and hip joints.

This is particularly helpful when going up and down hills, which can be difficult or even painful for some people that have lower extremity weakness, osteoarthritis or other joint problems.

This use of the arms includes them in the workout, exercising the triceps, deltoids, and lats.

Since the legs are working less, this increases the endurance of the legs. You may find you’re able to walk farther and with less fatigue when using trekking poles.

Using trekking poles helps main-tain a more upright posture, taking pressure off the back and improving your ability to breathe.

There is increased stability and balance, particularly when walking on uneven ground or maneuvering over obstacles.

continued on page 18 >>


Katherine Ottaway, MDAnnounces the Opening of

Care for people of all agesin the context of theirhealth, history, family and community.

Quimper Family Medicine

QuimperFamily Medicine

2120 Lawrence Street, Port Townsend360-385-3826

Call Rachel Swett, officemanager at 360-385-3826

for information or to make an appointment.

135111825

Swiss chard doesn’t usually win popular-ity contests in the produce world.

But this member of the beet family is a great and healthy way to add some variety to your greens repertoire, especially if you tend to grab the same bags of baby spinach week after week.

Swiss chard, also simply called chard, comes in a number of varieties and is easily identified by its large, firm leaves (dinner plate size) and its delicious celery-like stalks. It is available year-round but is at its peak late summer and early fall.

Common varieties include white, which has bright, silvery stalks; ruby, which has deep red stalks and veins; and a multi-colored chard — often labeled “Bright Lights” — that has red, pink, purple, orange and white stalks.

White chard is the most common and usually has a slightly milder flavor. All varieties have dark green leaves that are loaded with calcium, folic acid and vitamins A, C and E.

When purchasing Swiss chard, buy bunches with crisp, shiny leaves and tender stalks. Avoid chard that is yellowed, wilted or ratty looking with a lot of torn leaves.

Chard is relatively perishable compared with other leafy greens. Store it loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in the coldest part of the refrigerator for no more than three or four days.

add variety to your greens repertoireStart to finish: 45 minutes (15 active) Servings: 4

2 tablespoons pine nuts1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 large sweet onion, coarsely chopped1 bunch Swiss chard (about 1 pound), washed, leaves and stalks separated2 tablespoons golden raisins2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar1/4 teaspoon saltGround black pepper, to taste

• In a large deep skillet or Dutch oven, toast the pine nuts over low heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside to cool.• In the same pan, heat oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and very soft, 9 to 12 minutes.• Meanwhile cut the chard stalks into sticks 1/4 inch wide and 2 inches long. Tear the leaves into 2-inch pieces.• Add the stalks and golden raisins to the cara-melized onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the stalks are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.• Add the leaves and vinegar. Continue cook-ing until the leaves are very wilted and tender, about 5 minutes longer. Season with salt and pep-per. Transfer to a serving dish and top with the reserved pine nuts.Nutrition information per serving: 117 calo-ries; 59 calories from fat; 7 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 13 g carbohy-drate; 3 g protein; 3 g fiber; 578 mg sodium.

Just before cooking chard, wash the leaves and stalks in a large bowl or sink full of cold water.

Swiss chard can be sauteed, steamed or braised with a bit of liquid. The stalks take longer to cook than the leaves, so it’s best to separate them.

For a simple take on this super-versatile green, you can drizzle sauteed or steamed chard with extra-virgin olive oil and some balsamic vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Additionally, the large leaves can be blanched and used as a great wrap for various fillings, such as grains and roasted vegetables. They even can be used as wrappers to steam fish in.

Chopped up Swiss chard leaves and stalks can be added to soups and pasta dishes or used as the vegetable filling in lasagna.

Swiss chard with caramelized onions and pine nuts is a gorgeous side that gets its inspiration from the Catalonia region of Spain. It goes well with grilled meat, fish or poultry. Or for a special treat, try slices of grilled polenta.

Article and recipe from The Associated Press.

SwiSS Chard with Caramelized OniOnS

& Pine nutS

165121888 165121664

2 - 1 Hour MassagesHot Stone & Aroma Therapy

$9800

OrthopedicAssessment & Treatment

90 min.

$7500

swiss chard Start to finish:Servings:

1 bunch Swiss chard (about 1 pound), washed, leaves and stalks separated2 tablespoons golden raisins2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Just before cooking chard, wash the leaves and stalks in a large bowl or sink full of cold water.

Swiss chard can be sauteed, steamed or braised with a bit of liquid. The stalks take longer to cook than the leaves, so it’s best to

Caramelized Oniswiss chard


They have wrist straps, which decrease pressure on the wrists and reduce grip fatigue.

The straps also allow walkers to use their hands without having to set the pole down.

Some hiking poles include baskets at the ends, enabling them to be used in the snow.

Get the right fit When holding onto the grip, your

arm should be parallel to the ground. The length of the trekking pole may

need to be adjusted when walking up and down hills for extended periods.

When going uphill, the pole should be a little shorter to maintain the proper forearm position.

When going downhill, the pole should be a little longer.

The wrist strap should be adjusted so that you can comfortably hold onto the pole without having to grip it tightly.

Using trekking poles should be comfortable, and with practice will become very

natural. Usual technique is to keep moving

your arms as you would with a normal walking pattern — meaning, you move the pole at the same time as stepping with the opposite leg.

This can be done when using either one or two trekking poles.

When using two poles, some people prefer to move them at that same time, particularly when walking on rough terrain.

Feel free to do what is comfortable for you.

Trekking poles can be purchased locally at stores car-rying outdoor recre-ation equipment.

Beth Welander is a physical therapist and clinic director of Therapeutic Associ-ates Physical Ther-apy in Port Angeles. She can be reached at 360-452-6216, or by e-mail at [email protected].

Discover the difference!

Active. Engaged. Really living.Stop by and see for yourself why Discovery Memory Care is the best choice for you and your family!

We are a professionally managed assisted living community specializing in the care of adults with all forms of memory loss, including Alzheimer’s. Discovery offers compassionate solutions for long term care, respite stays, and adult day care. Our unique building design houses beautiful apartments to help your loved one feel at home. A full schedule of activities and social events keep them active, engaged, and really living.

408 W. Washington StreetSequim, WA 98382

www.discovery-mc.com

408 W. Washington Street408 W. Washington Street408 W. Washington Street

Call us!We’re here for you.

(360) 683-7047

A Senior Services of America Managed Community

165121139

Warm weather is here and it’s time to get the gar-den going.

Gardening is good for you on many levels

— from the mental health boost you get from doing something relaxing to the physical benefits of exercise, time outdoors and adding fresh vegetables to your diet.

Bending over to weed, gripping gar-dening tools and the general physical effort of gardening, however, can make existing aches and pains worse, or even cause new ones.

This summer, take steps to ensure your gardening experience is as com-fortable and beneficial as possible.

Here are some ideas for avoiding injury and irritating existing condi-tions while gardening:

Warm upYou wouldn’t go jogging or work

out without doing some light stretch-ing and warm-up exercises, and you shouldn’t jump into gardening without warming up first.

Before stepping into your garden, do some stretches to limber up, especially your arms, legs and back.

When you’ve completed your gar-dening chores for the day, finish up with more stretching.

Banish bendingMany Americans suffer from chronic

back pain, and while it’s important to keep moving despite discomfort, it makes sense to minimize activities that could create or worsen pain.

Bending over to work in the garden can be hard on your back.

If back pain is a concern, consider planting your garden in raised beds this year, or working with container gardens. Elevated beds require you to bend less when doing typical garden-ing chores.

And container gardens can be placed on tables or deck railings to make it easy to reach plants.

Protect hands and wristsWeeding, hoeing, raking, shoveling —

the repetitive motions of gardening can lead to hand and wrist pain, and worsen existing conditions such as arthritis.

Taking steps to minimize irritation and discomfort while you work can help ensure your gardening tasks don’t create aches or worsen pain.

Consider wearing an Arthritis Glove, like the Imak-made glove com-mended by the Arthritis Foundation, to provide mild compression and warmth while you work.

Because the gloves are made of cotton Lycra with an open fingertip design, they won’t make your hands hot or hinder movement, and they’re fully washable, so you don’t have to worry about getting a little dirt on them as you go about your gardening tasks. >>

>> trekking poles, continued from page 16

Guidance for gardeners: avoiding injury and discomfort


Th e W i l l o w M a s s a ge Th e ra p y C e n t e r1225 E . F ront S t reet • Por t Angeles

Marilyn Beech, LMPCertified Rolfer®

Certified Structural Integratorcm

360-477-6855www.marilynbeech.com

165122233

energize for LIFE!

Willow Massage TherapyWillow Massage Therapy Body in BalanceBody in Balance

Darla K. Workman, LMPOrthopedic MassageChronic Pain/Stress ReliefMost Insurance Accepted360-417-5257/360-809-0623www.willowmassagetherapy.com

Debbie Collins, LMPAMTA, NCTMBTherapeutic Touch, MLD, PIP, L&IMost Insurance Accepted360-460-9155

Steve HalgrimsonM.S., C.N., CHState Certified NutritionistNutrition & [email protected]

Rolfing Structural IntegrationRolfing Structural Integration Olympus Nutrition CenterOlympus Nutrition Center

An added bonus — wearing any kind of glove can help you avoid another common garden-ing injury: blisters.

Guard skinSunburn and insect

bites are also a risk for gardeners who spend a lot of time outdoors.

While most insect bites are just an irrita-tion, sunburn can cause serious, long-term skin damage.

To ward off mosqui-toes and other biting bugs, apply an insect repellent.

Prevent sunburn by always wearing sun-screen — the kind that blocks both UVA and UVB rays — whenever you’re outdoors.

Use a wide-brimmed, lightweight hat to shade your eyes and keep the sun off your head.

Take frequent breaks and drink plenty of water, especially on hot days when you’ll be out for several hours.

Move wiselyLifting can be another

source of back pain, and gardening often involves lifting, whether it’s heavy bags of soil or seed, or a full basket of the fruits of your labor.

Remember to lift from a squatting position, with your back straight, so that your legs do the work, not your back.

When kneeling down, use gardening knee pads or even just a rolled up towel to cushion your joints from the hard, damp ground.

Remember to mini-mize twisting motions that can injure your back and joints.

With a few precau-tions, you can ensure this summer’s gardening activities remain safe, enjoyable and pain-free.


“I get frustrated when I see the leg spasms, because I think, ‘then why can’t he walk,’ ” Pauline says.

The Pretis continue to travel to Seattle two or three times every week for physical therapy. There is so much to learn, and Joe says he is nowhere near the end of rehabilitation.

One of his therapist’s goals is for him to be able to sustain a wheelie in his chair for up to 10 minutes.

Joe sees others — people who’ve been in wheelchairs much longer — who can per-form such feats of upper body strength.

“They tell me that I’m going to fall over at some point. It’s inevitable,” he says.

Spasms will someday cause his body to fall to the ground, and he needs a plan for what to do when that happens. If he is alone, will he be able to get back up?

For right now, the answer is “no,” but Joe continues to make progress every day.

Joe and Pauline may never know exactly what happened on that life-changing Octo-ber day when Joe fell.

They and their family have lots of theo-ries but no concrete answers.

Some days the not knowing bothers them, and other days, there is sweet acceptance.

Joe says one of the biggest lessons he has learned on this winding journey, is that

life really can change in an instant.“You know, I was a pretty active guy. I

loved golfing, biking, going for walks and doing yard work. This is not how we envi-sioned our retirement,” he says motioning to his wheelchair and immobile legs.

“But, here it is.”He says there are definitely days filled

with self pity and asking “why?” But in what he describes as his “own

weakness,” Joe has come to rely heavily on his spiritual beliefs.

“What I know is that when I feel the best, it’s when I feel close to God,” he says. “I’ve got to trust his will.”

>>> Joe wishes to start a sup-port group for people with spinal cord injuries, as well as their care-givers and family members.

“These injuries don’t just hap-pen to the person, they happen to the whole family,” he says.

Taking care of someone with a spinal cord injury (especially if that person becomes paralyzed from the neck down, not just the waist down) is a full-time job.

He wants the support group to be a place where people come to

talk about hope.“We are still alive, and as long as there

is breath, there is hope,” he says.Research and medical strides are hap-

pening all the time in relationship to spinal cord injuries, Joe says.

“Most times, when I’m not letting fear run me, I believe that I will walk again.”

For information on the support group, phone Joe at 360-452-9970, or email him at [email protected].

>> gardening continued >> spinal cord injury continued from Page 5

and bring more joy, good health, & song into your summer:

1.Write songs with us at community workshops in Sequim, Quilcene, Port Townsend & more

2. Join our Healthy Music team and learn to use easy tools to make music with family & friends.

3. Volunteer or intern in our office & in the field serving elders in care settings and their families

Songwriting Works Educational Foundation is a non-profit organization run by professional musicians dedicated to bringing the power of music to people of all ages, backgrounds and

physical and cognitive abilities.

Our award-winning programs are growing on the Olympic Peninsula.

Learn more at: www.songwritingworks.org/olypen

or call SONGWRITING WORKS

[email protected]

165121724

Love Music?? Want more music in

your life?Join SONGWRITING WORKS


www.VanRomerChiropractic.com • www.GettingintoYourPants.com • www.DrLeslieVanRomer.com Dr. Leslie Van Romer • 415 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim, WA 98382 • [email protected]

Dr. Leslie Van Romer

FREE Spinal Examination (Value: $75.00) FREE X-rays (if needed) (Value: $140.00)

FREE First Spinal Adjustment (Value: $45.00)

• • •

“Our services are not only FREE, they are complete and comprehensive, a FULL 1 hr. 45 mins. to 2 hours of my time and expertise (30+ years) focused on YOU.

“The best part: From the first friendly hello, you’ll relax and know that we genuinely care about YOU and helping you find a solution to your problem.”

– Dr. Leslie

“I was impressed by the friendly, skillful, experienced treatments with rapid beneficial results. My hip, neck, and knee pain are vastly reduced.”– Ellen Halstead

“Dr. Leslie knows what she is doing.” – Dale A. Burke, D.D.S.

“My back is better, neck pain gone, and I get a kick out of Dr. Leslie.!” – Robert Falstad

“My hip pain is greatly reduced. My energy has increased and I sleep better.” – Regina Hart

165120849

Healthy Living, June 2011

Documents

Transcript of Healthy Living, June 2011