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How a life-saving transplant transformed my life

| Annemarie Ward shares her journey of keeping hope alive amidst heart disease | NEARLY 15 YEARS AGO, Annemarie Ward was walking the family’s three dogs with her mother Polly and sister Emily when she collapsed. At age seven, Annemarie had suffered a heart attack. She was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or enlargement of the…
Pop Quiz: Maintaining optimal optical health

| Understanding the causes of low vision and taking precautions as you age | EYESIGHT is a precious thing, and unfortunately there are many threats to optimal optical health. One common eye problem is low vision, and it affects seniors the most. Low vision, in its simplest terms, is any vision loss that interferes with…
Celebrating Black History Month with a look at local African-Americans in medicine

ALEX ALEXANDER Registered Nurse Bartow Regional Medical Center As a black registered nurse from North Carolina, 56-year-old Alex Alexander has had his run-ins with prejudice. But he’s learned to remember who he is, treat others like his brothers and sisters, forgive, and … not believe everything he hears. “You earn things by your merit and…

Publisher’s Note: From the pyramid to the plate

As of June 2, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled the federal government’s new food icon: My Plate. Gone is the food pyramid from 1995 and even its more modern descendant, “My Pyramid,” which displayed the concepts of variety, moderation and proportion in vertical color coding (rather…
Body, Mind & Spirit: How not to be your own worst enemy

We’ve all heard it — that not-so-quiet voice in our head that says, “You can’t,” “It’s impossible” or, “You’re not good enough.” Most of us have minor battles with our inner critic during different points in our lives, but some people struggle with self-criticism on a daily basis. Unlike external naysayers in our lives…
Caregivers: Our extended family

Thursday, June 17th was the national observation of Nurse Assistant Day, which kicked-off a week of honoring all nursing assistants around the country. Nursing assistants serve under many different titles in our local homes, hospitals, clinics, schools, and assisted-living facilities. These individuals are the devoted people who in many cases are the primary caretakers…