My family has always been immensely proud of my father’s achievements in the military. In addition to rising up in the ranks of the Army, retiring as a Lt. Colonel, he fought in the Korean War and did two tours of duty in Viet Nam. It was only in the last decade of his life that [...]
Fran Seeley, Diane Atwood and Lisa Hachey I had such a great time last night! Here I am with Fran Seeley and Lisa Hachey at the Cancer Community Center in South Portland. Every year the Center honors its many volunteers and we were all on the guest list for the [...]
You know how law enforcement agencies often use a database of DNA profiles to identify crime suspects? Well, scientists are also building a DNA database of all the different species of plants and animals around the world. If you’re interested, you might be able to help them out this summer — and get to spend some [...]
Anne Belden and her husband John began trying to get pregnant when she was 29. It would take them 10 years to build their family — 3 1/2 years and many rounds of fertility treatments before their son was conceived and after he was born, another five years of the same before they decided to [...]
The Atwood family has a hard time getting rid of stuff. We still have our first computer — an iMac Plus. Yes, we are loyal Apple fans. We took our daughters to DC during April vacation back in the 90s and our computer was already on display in the Smithsonian. By then we’d moved up [...]
Julz and Bella, meant for each other Julz Poirier invites all dog owners in Greater Portland who have been touched by cancer to join her and Bella, her beloved dalmatian, for Bark For Life — a spin-off of Relay For Life, an annual American Cancer Society fundraiser. Julz was diagnosed [...]
Hilary Zayed had to reinvent herself after she fell off her horse several years ago and suffered a traumatic brain injury. She used to be a teacher.
The play “A Streetcar Named Desire” is full of examples of domestic violence, but when Tennessee Williams wrote it in 1947, domestic violence was not a topic most people discussed, even when it was happening right in front of them. Now, 65 years later, the Maine Humanities Council is not only giving people a chance [...]
No doubt you've seen commercials about mesothelioma and that there are several law firms in the country eager to represent victims. Have you ever met someone with mesothelioma?
Last year, I wrote about a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that all baby boomers born between 1945 and 1965 get a one-time blood test for Hepatitis C. The reason for its recommendation was that baby boomers are five times more likely to be infected than other adults and account [...]
“Cancer taught me that we all have a timeline. Cancer has put a timeline on my life, and I appreciate every day, every moment like I never have before."
Before surgery and two months later Weight loss surgery is a big deal. Sometimes, confesses Becky Sawtelle, she thinks if she had to do it over again, she might not opt for the weight loss surgery she had two months ago. Her issue? “I had a really strong relationship with [...]
At 5:00 this cold St. Patrick’s Day morning, I walked across the sand at East End Beach in Portland. It was pitch black, but you could hear the sound of the ocean. The frigid ocean. As I stood there looking out into the darkness bundled up from head to toe, all around me were people [...]
For several years, the Cancer Community Center held an art auction. Proceeds made it possible to continue offering free services to people impacted by cancer.
Bill laughs in the face of a colonoscopy Sharing what’s on his mind is what Portland Press Herald columnist Bill Nemitz does for a living. Sometimes though, it takes more than words to get people to pay attention. Telling everyone over 50, for instance, that they really need to have [...]
Andy Loman, of Augusta, needs a kidney — along with 95,240 other people in the country, 105 right here in his home state of Maine.
Becky Sawtelle one month out A whole month has passed since Becky Sawtelle was in the operating room at Central Maine Medical Center undergoing weight loss surgery. She had tried for years to lose weight on her own and finally opted to have the Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass procedure. So far, [...]
What a difference a week makes! Last Friday Becky got her stitches out and the incisions have all healed nicely. Her blood work also looks great, except for her iron, which is a bit low, so for the next two weeks, she’ll be taking iron pills for extra fortification. Her blood sugar is normal and [...]
I’m wearing red today, to mark the tenth anniversary of National Wear Red Day. Established by the American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, each year on the first Friday in February, women and men wear red to draw attention to heart disease in women. […]
We catch up with Becky Sawtelle, who had weight loss surgery one week ago.
An 80-piece jigsaw puzzle. No problem for a 9-year-old. Bit of a challenge for an 86-year-old with Alzheimer’s. My mother loves puzzles. The lower shelf of her plant stand is filled with ones she bought just over the past year at yard sales and second hand stores. Boxes brimming with intricate, tiny pieces — 500, [...]
After years of trying to lose weight and keep it off, Becky Sawtelle finally decided to have Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. It’s not one of those things you think about today and do tomorrow. She had to go through rigorous medical testing — one test showed that her gallbladder was so full of stones it [...]
Becky in 1997 When Becky Sawtelle’s father died 17 years ago, she ate. When her marriage ended three years later, she ate. And when her older sister died of bone cancer six years ago, she ate. “Food has always been my comfort,” says Becky. “It’s the one thing I can [...]
The DES breast cancer trial against drug manufacturer Eli Lilly was a momentous event for Maine DES daughter Patricia Royall, who was in the Boston courtroom on the first day. “The trial was amazing,” she says, “and I was so glad I took the time to go hear opening remarks and the first expert witness, [...]
DES daughter Patricia Royall and her mother, the late Virginia Inness-Brown Conn Since my post about the DES breast cancer trial that gets underway in Boston this week, I’ve been asked how you would know if you were exposed to DES. DES, or diethylstilbestrol, is a synthetic estrogen that was [...]
Patricia Royall and her mother, the late Virginia Inness-Brown Conn When Patricia Royall was 28-years-old she was rushed to the emergency room with massive bleeding. The diagnosis: cervical cancer. “The doctor who treated me asked if I was a DES daughter and I told him I didn’t know,” says Patricia. [...]
The key to keeping your New Year's resolutions is to make sure it's more than simply a wish.
Told she would probably never be able to have children because she was born with a heart defect, Mindy Beyer defied the odds. In 2012, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Her story.
I come from a big family — eight kids. We’re all adults now, with our own families and our own holiday traditions. But no matter how old you are, the traditions you grew up with are an important part of who you are. And so, if something interferes with the way things always were, it [...]
Three times in the past three weeks I have fallen hard on my rear end. And yet, I keep going back for more. Am I a masochist? Am I losing my mind?
Mandating employee flu shots is a growing trend among hospitals around the country. The consequences of refusing vary from hospital to hospital.