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Published: June 18, 2008 10:34 pm
Health briefs: June19, 2008
Laryngectomee group to meet
The Laryngectomee Support Group will have its first meeting at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday at Terre Haute Regional Hospital Cancer Center, at the Out Patient Services Center on Hospital Lane, on the north side of the hospital.
Kathy Baysinger is the only laryngectomy specialist for voice restoration in the area, from Indianapolis to Vincennes. She has been at Regional Hospital for the past five years.
According to Baysinger, the support group is being formed “to provide a forum for those who have had laryngeal cancer. It is a way for us to support each other — so they don’t feel alone.”
The support group is also open to caregivers. Refreshments will be provided.
For more information about the group contact Baysinger, speech language pathologist at Terre Haute Regional Hospital, at (812) 230-1242.
Health MAPPING project seeks input
Twenty local community members have been meeting over the past several months to create a long-range vision for the Paris, Ill., community. This group, the committee for the MAPPING the Future of Your Community’s Health Program, is made up of local residents representing rural areas within the Wabash Valley.
Through many meetings, the committee has developed a template for the future health of the community. Now the group is asking for assistance from members of the Wabash Valley to provide input and refine the model that has been created for the future of health in Edgar County.
The MAPPING project has four goal areas that it is working to develop. These include (1) parenting education, (2) a community-based dialysis unit in Paris, (3) employment and financial education for students, and (4) a recycling program for Edgar County.
The MAPPING committee will conduct a special community meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the First Baptist Church in Paris. This meeting will provide attendees with an overview of the program and outline the vision that has been developed by the committee members. Attendees will be asked for their input on the plans created by the committee. Refreshments will be provided.
For more information about the MAPPING the Future of Your Community’s Health Program, contact Richard Ueberfluss, the project coordinator, at (217) 465-2606 Ext. 266.
Ex-Valley resident honored for service
A former Brazil man has been honored by Mental Health America with the The Clifford W. Beers Award for his efforts to improve conditions for mental health consumers.
Harold House was honored at the MHA 2008 annual conference, featuring the inaugural Promotion and Prevention Summit in Washington, D.C.
House is a teacher with Indianapolis Public Schools and is assigned to the Marion County Juvenile Justice Center.
“His compassion, dedication and optimism should serve as a benchmark for all of us in the advocacy community,” said David Shern, president and CEO of MHA. “Mental health consumers and their loved ones are the core of the mental health movement, and I am proud to honor this remarkable individual.”
Created in 1976, the Beers award is presented annually to a consumer of mental health or substance abuse services who best reflects the example set by Beers in his efforts to improve conditions for, and attitudes toward, people with mental illnesses.
House received the award for combating negative social stigma of mental illness, fighting for legal protection for mental health consumers, and creating programs within his community that help young people with emotional problems develop full, productive lives.
House, who survived bouts of clinical depression in the mid-1990s, has spent the past decade teaching and counseling at-risk and incarcerated youth in his community.
5-year cancer survivor celebrates life
Donald McGee, of Paris, Ill., returned to Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Midwestern Regional Medical Center in Chicago to celebrate his five years as a cancer survivor. McGee was joined by doctors and the clinical support team in a tree planting ceremony in his honor.
In 2003, McGee was diagnosed with prostate cancer. After five years of cancer survivorship, McGee feels like his quality of life has only improved since his original diagnosis. “If my quality of life was much better than it is now, I don’t know if I would be able to stand it.”
McGee spent 35 years as a high school math teacher. He also spent 44 years coaching junior high and high school basketball and was recently inducted to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. He is now retired, but still considers sports events his favorite hobby. McGee and his wife of more than 45 years have traveled to all mainland states in their RV, Colorado being one of their favorites.
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