Discovering The Mature Lifestyle
U.S. Curling Olympian resides in Columbia Heights Story inside
Health & Exercise January Issue
January 19, 2018
Holistic health center offers services for mind and body By SUE WEBBER Contributing Writer
As a two-time cancer survivor herself, Kathryn Cashman knows how important it is to have quality, convenient services available. “So many of us were looking for a place where the services would be all under one roof and would be coordinated for you,” Cashman said. “When you have cancer, you feel horrible, you have a gazillion appointments and you want to be well taken care of.” So Cashman, who has been a psychologist in the south metro area for 28 years, founded a center in 2011 that offers those integrated services. “I had great support, and I want other people to know what a difference it makes,” Cashman said. A licensed psychologist with more than 30 years of experience, Cashman is the CEO/ clinical director of Cashman Center in Burnsville, an integrative mental health center incorporating multiple modalities into each client’s individualized treatment. The center’s six-week “Living
Well with Cancer” program, be- and October. gun in 2014, is an integral part “Major benefits to people goof the center. Eight participants ing through chemotherapy and radiation are that it helps reduce pain, helps people sleep and eat better, and reduces anxiety and depression,” Cashman said. “Those are really huge benefits.” The sessions are led by Dr. Jamie Teunis, a doctoral-level mental health nurse practitioner, Cashman said. She incorporates spirituality, nutrition, and storytelling. “Dr. Teunis has a heart for people with cancer,” Cashman said. The group therapy gives participants ages 25-80 a chance to talk and share their experiences. “It’s great for senior citizens,” Cashman said. “They can take the bus; it’s covered by Medicare and they get great services.” Other therapies include acuKathryn Cashman, a licensed psypuncture, massage, Reiki and chologist, is the CEO/clinical director yoga. of Cashman Center in Burnsville, an “People have just reported integrative mental health center. such better health,” Cashman said. “One of our participants who have been referred by doc- said, ‘Western medicine saved tors, nurses or word of mouth, my life; Eastern medicine gave meet from 4 to 6:30 p.m. each me life.’” Tuesday for six weeks for group Another client said, “Attendtherapy, holistic therapy and ing the Living Well With Cancer small group sessions. Programs program was a breakthrough begin in February, May, August for me. This was an incredible
experience. Everything about this program was amazing. I especially appreciated being able to experience the variety of holistic services such as massage, acupuncture, BioMat, Reiki, personalized nutrition and aromatherapy. The group therapy helped me feel less alone and gave me more coping skills. Six weeks later and I still maintain the positive energy I received from this experience. I highly recommend the program.” The BioMat, according to its website, is “an FDA licensed medical device that combines state of the art Far Infrared light and Negative Ion technology with the healing power of Amethyst crystal.” . According to the internet, “Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by laying on hands, and is based on the idea that an unseen life force energy flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one’s life force energy is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.” The Cashman Center does
It’s time to speak out against elder abuse Who would want to hurt a sweet little old lady? Or steal from a harmless old curmudgeon? Apparently, a lot of people do. According to the Minnesota Elder Justice Center, one in ten adults over 60 is a victim of elder abuse. Worse yet, a recent study sponsored by Allianz Insurance indicates an even higher incidence. The research found nearly one-third of elderly Americans have been vic-
timized by some form of financial fraud alone. “It’s clear that elder financial abuse is becoming more commonplace, and, it appears to be greater than we thought in scope and impact,” explained Allianz CEO Walter White.To make matters worse, the perpetrators of financial exploitation of senior citizens are often family members, friends or other trusted adults who have an existing on-
going relationship with the victim. What kind of society robs from its own grandmas and grandpas? The truth is we don’t know the full extent of physical, mental, emotional or financial elder abuse, because masses of cases go unreported and undetected. Many victims remain in denial, are too embarrassed or ashamed to admit their vulnerability, are afraid of retalia-
individual plans and testing for each of its clients, Cashman said. “We integrate holistic pieces into the treatment plan,” he said. “We’re unique in that way.” Cashman grew up with a mentally handicapped sister and said, “I always wanted to help others.” A graduate of the College of St. Benedict and St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, Cashman now has a blended family that includes six grown children and eight grandchildren. Dr. Jamie Teunis previously was a psychiatric/mental health registered nurse at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, a registered nurse at the University of Minnesota Medical Center Fairview, and a hematology/oncology registered nurse at the University of Chicago Medicine. She has a doctorate of nursing, psychiatric/mental health nurse/nursing from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Winona State University. Information: Cashman Center, 2970 Judicial Road, Burnsville, 952-224-8990, or cashmancentermn.com
In many ways, elder abuse is the new frontier for fraud in America. tion, or feel the subject is There are more older too personal and private adults living longer, with (family business) to go pubGuest column lic. Other barriers to reporting include ageism ... by Bob and excessive Ramsey false pride. This lack of reporting is allowing crimes against older people to become an “invisible epi- more money than ever before. And many are demic.”
physically, mentally or emotionally compromised. This makes seniors tempting targets for an assortment of abuses including scams, extortion, identity theft, physical or sexual assault, neglect, bullying, emotional abuse and, even, spiritual abuse. U n fo r t u n at e ly, where one form of abuse exists, there are usually
ABUSE - TO PAGE 9
Curling is sport of choice for Columbia Heights man By SUE WEBBER Contributing Writer
John Gordon has enjoyed the sport of curling since 1977, when his exfather-in-law in Superior, Wisconsin, said he was looking for players. “He was a pretty accomplished player,” Gordon said. “I started playing recreationally then. Curling was a very popular game in Superior in the early 1970s. It’s still popular there. It’s a hotbed of curling.” His steady playing and love for the sport resulted in Gordon’s being a two-time Olympian. “When curling became an Olympic sport, there was a special tournament to qualify,” Gordon said. “You qualified by doing well in the state, district and regions.” “When I competed, nobody selected you,” he said. “You formed your own team and qualified or not. It was all decided on the ice.”
Now, a committee for U.S. Curling selects the athletes and puts the teams together, he said. “They evaluate you on your onand off-ice ability, compatibility and sports psychology,” Gordon said. He added that while more than 50 countries have curling, only 10 countries make the Olympics. “The host country gets in automatically,” he said. “The rest of the spots have to be earned.” Gordon was on the first Olympic curling team, the XVIII Winter Olympics (1998) in Nagano, Japan. He was one of 2,176 participants from 72 nations that year. The team captured fourth place. After his team qualified for Japan, the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Valentine’s Day front cover showed a photo of Gordon getting a kiss from his wife. He also was a member of the XIX Winter Olym-
pics curling team in 2002, in Salt Lake City, one of 2,400 athletes from 78 nations. That team tied for sixth place. “Those are pretty moving experiences,” Gordon said. “They’re life-changing.” He said most of the curling team players came from Minnesota and Wisconsin, though some were from the East Coast (New York, Boston and Washington, D.C.). “When I played, Wisconsin had the most competitive curlers,” Gordon said. Gordon and his wife moved to Columbia Heights in 1995, built a house behind the high school, and raised four children. They now have four grandchildren. Curling is still part of their lives. Gordon is a member of the Four Seasons Curling Club at Fogerty Arena in Blaine. “It’s like a regular league that
meets weekly,” he said. “It’s been fun. Everywhere you go, everyone is friendly. It’s a lot like golf. No one roots for you to do badly. Everyone gets along.” Gordon’s wife, Denise, a lifelong Columbia Heights resident who has done some curling, too, is the team administrator, in charge of making the group’s travel and hotel arrangements for tournaments. A Wisconsin native, Gordon said he worked originally for 30 years as a printer and pressman. He’s also worked some shorter RIGHT: The front page of the Star Tribune on Valentine’s Day 1998 featured John Gordon getting a kiss from his wife, Denise, after the U.S. Olympic curling team qualified for the semi-finals.
LEFT: John Gordon (lower right) is shown during the XVIII Winter Olympics in 1998, in Nagano, Japan.
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stints at Home Depot and Slumberland, he said. “I’m winding down now,” he said. “Four months ago we sold our house. We’re doing home care for my father-in-law, who had hip replacement surgery.” Although special shoes are needed for curling – plus a long-handled brush – Gordon says the rest can be as simple as wearing loose-fitting clothing and finding three other people who want to play. There are mixed leagues as well as all-men or allwomen teams, according to Gordon. “It’s a very active sport; you’re moving pretty good,” Gordon said. “It’s good cardio for the heart and lungs.” When he’s not involved with curling, Gordon says he does some working out and a lot of walking, and
he swims three times a week. “If you don’t stay active, you get rusty,” he said. “Rust never sleeps. It keeps moving.” Instructional sessions are available at Fogerty Arena for people who want to learn curling, Gordon said. “They have beginning leagues,” he said. WHAT IS CURLING? According to the internet, curling requires a long, narrow sheet of ice with a marked target area, called the house, at each end. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding 42-pound granite stones to the far side of the ice sheet. The objective is to get your stones closest to the center button of the house. The teams alternate throws toward the circular target. The object is to have more stones closer to the center than your op-
ponent after all 16 stones have been thrown. Participants wear curling shoes that are similar to ordinary athletic shoes except that they have dissimilar soles; the slider shoe has a Teflon sole and is worn by the thrower. The gripper is worn by the thrower on the back foot during delivery and is designed to grip the ice. Players also use curling brushes, usually with hollow tubes, that may have fabric, hog hair, or horsehair heads. According to the internet, the sport is popular all across Canada, in the northern U.S. states, in Scotland, in the Scandinavian countries, in the northern European countries and increasingly in the Far East. It can be played by people of all ages and skill levels with a minimum of equipment, according to the internet. Curling has been an official sport in the Winter Olympic Games since the 1998 Winter Olympics. It currently includes men’s and women’s tournaments. Mixed doubles have been added to the 2018 Olympic Games in PyeongChang County, South Korea.
Senior abuse largely unreported due to fear, shame other forms as well. Based on this data, it’s almost certain that I know someone who has experienced elder abuse. You probably do too. Yet, I don’t know who these victims are. The victims may not know it themselves. Maybe no one knows. Someone should know! That’s the only way that this societal sickness will be surfaced and solved. That’s why the Elder Justice Center wants ev-
eryone to know that it’s OK to report and talk about suspected elder exploitation. The signs to look for range from physical evidence (e.g. bruises, unexplained accidents, etc.) and financial clues (e.g. unusual withdrawals) to changes in personality and social isolation. The experts all agree that anyone who suspects elder abuse should report it. It’s easy—just contact the Minne-
COLUMN - FROM PAGE 7
sota Elder Justice Center at 651-410After all, most seniors have spent a 9304 or the Department of Human good deal of their adult life looking Services at 844-880-1574. Elder abuse out for others; now, it’s time for others can only be as rampant as we allow to help look out for them. it to be. So we need to step up, stand Bob Ramsey is a lifelong educator, freelance up and speak up against elder exploiwriter and advocate for “Vital Aging.” He can tation—and speak loud enough for be contacted at 952-922-9558 or by email at legislators, lawyers, litigators and law joyrammini@comcast.net. enforcement to hear. Noise attracts attention; and attention is the first step to action.
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