VOL 10, NO 3
COMPLIMENTARY
CELEBRATING, MOTIVATING, AND EDUCATING WOMEN
Real
TM
OUR 10TH
ANNIVERSARY ISSUE! Celebrating the
Survivor in You!
Cayce, Chapin, Lexington, Irmo, Lake Murray, West Columbia, & White Knoll
K Blackwell Photography is a cutting edge portrait and design studio that offers high quality portraits. Our focus is creating amazing portrait art that you are able to proudly display for years to come.
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in this issue... TM
www.lexingtonwomanonline.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Lori Samples Duncan loriduncan86@gmail.com
MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES Cathy Williams cw@woman2womanonline.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Lori Samples Duncan Carol Ryall Tracey Lease Ashby Jones Tim Loonam, DVM Cindy Johnson Hima Dalal Lydia Ramsey
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Lisa Ashworth woman2womanlisa@gmail.com
PHOTOGRAPHY
Clark Berry Photography Timeless Expressions Photography K Blackwell Photography JMB Photography
From the Editor 2
Our Commitment to You
Events 3
What’s Happening in Lexington?
Landscaping Tips 4 Summer Landscaping
Let’s Talk 5
Pay Attention!
Celebrating the Survivor in You 12
Paulette Criscione
14
Amy Kinard
16
Diane Conyers
18
Martha Shealy
Health & Wellness 22 Integrative Therapy in Return to Sport at Vital Energy Wellness and Rehab Center 26 Find Your “Center”
Personal Note 28 Making Summer Memories
Business & Web Directory 29 Contact our Advertisers
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From The Editor
This is our 10th volume which means it is Lexington Woman’s 10th Year Anniversary. This issue features some new stories from men and women in Lexington but it also features a few articles from our past issues that you have told us you loved! This publication is truly meant to simplify your life! It is our desire to bring to Lexington a “Best of the Best” right from the mouths of real women. Each of the businesses within these pages have made a personal commitment to you, “The Lexington Woman,” to conduct themselves in a way that would make you want to personally refer them, their products, services, or talents to your mother, sister, grandmother, best friend, or any other person in need of their expertise.
Celebrate, Motivate,
In our articles on individual Lexington women, we want to real women; to take a closer look at some of the women who are providing you with quality services and products.
and Educate
We will continue to bring to you services, products, and professionals who are dependable, customer-service-oriented businesses. Making Lexington Woman your premiere resource guide to assist you with the demands of everyday life is our goal. We appreciate the support of our readers as well as our clients, and we would ask that you let our advertisers know you are simplifying your life with Lexington Woman! We always want to hear your feedback, please email us or write to us about your own personal experience with our advertisers. We look forward to finding new ways to make Lexington Woman more comprehensive and useful for you. If you would like to nominate a local business person for a featured article please email me at loriduncan86@gmail. Sit back, and enjoy your complimentary copy of Lexington Woman. God Bless and See you next time! Your friend,
Lori Samples Duncan
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Celebrating, Motivating and Educating
Real Women
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Landscaping Tips from S&S Landscape Service Lexington Woman’s Preferred Landscape Experts!
Spring is almost upon us and many of you are digging into the garage to find those yard tools that haven’t been touched since last growing season. If you’re wondering which spring yard jobs need to be tackled first, here are some tips from S&S Landscape Services for the early spring months. Woody plants - Before your woody plants break their winter dormancy and as they begin to bud out, continue to prune tree and shrub branches that are winter damaged, diseased, weak, or dead. Grass - If you have a warm season grass like Bermuda or Centipede, (If you’re not sure, look at your yard. Is it still mostly brown? If yes, you have a warm season grass) resist the urge to fertilize now. Wait until later this spring. For now, just remove winter debris and leaves to improve your lawns curb appeal. Its also time to trim your Monkey grass(Liriope) and Mondo grass. Trim them to 10cm! Finally, it may also be time to dethatch and/or aerate your lawn. If you’re not sure if this is necessary or don’t know how to do it, call us! Flowers - Don’t forget to deadhead! Deadheading is the removal of flowers that have already bloomed. Specifically, deadhead Daffodils but don’t cut the leaves. They need their leaves to recharge the bulbs for next year. Deadhead those Pansies as they will bloom longer and better if you do. Fertilizers - Fertilize established trees and shrubs with 10-10-10 or a high nitrogen fertilizer except for Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and Camellias. Fertilize Azaleas with a super phosphate like 0-20-0 to encourage blooming early in the season. Always, if you’re unsure about tackling your yard work, or would just rather not, call S&S Landscaping at (803) 514 - 8275 for a free estimate. Landscape
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Celebrating, Motivating and Educating
Real Women
Pay Attention! Pastor Mark Crumpton, Lexington Church of God
“P
ay attention in class!” This is a phrase I have heard many times in life; but now I find that I am saying it to myself. God has called us all to be disciples (students) and life is the classroom. Most recently I have taken notice of my children and the profound love they have for all of God’s creation, family, strangers, and animals. When I pay attention, I see that God has given us children
“When I pay attention, I see that God has given us children to show us and to teach us of his deep and profound love for all creation to include sinful mankind” to show us and to teach us of his deep and profound love for all creation to include sinful mankind. My children don’t judge people for the way they dress, the color of their skin, or the way someone may look. They teach me how to be more accepting of all God’s children. Children are always eager and excited to help anyone in need. Though they may appear stingy or selfish at times, they will gladly give up their most prized possession to someone who truly needs it. Allow me to illustrate this point by telling you how my then 7 year old daughter shared Christmas with a family in need. A few years ago, on Christmas night, a home in my subdivision was completely destroyed by a fire. We didn’t know the people who lived there but I was the president of the homeowners association and was informed of the family’s needs. I mentioned to my wife that the family had children about the same age as ours and to gather up some clothes to take to them. My daughter heard and realized that this little girl had lost everything including her Christmas presents. She brought me her favorite new Christmas doll and some other new Christmas gifts to take because that little girl “needed it.”
Photograph by Cynthia Pace Photography
Friends, I believe that God has given us children to teach us what true love really is. Unconditional love is a difficult concept for us to understand; yet, children not only understand it, they will teach us if we simply “pay attention.” God loves us all with this same kind of love. His love is an endless and unconditional love. No matter what you may have done in your past and no matter what you may look like to the rest of the world, God LOVES you. God too is eager to help anyone in need; and today he is offering to you his most prized possession. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV) Pastor Mark Crumpton, Lexington Church of God 1228 S. Lake Dr | Lexington SC 29073 (803) 957-6675
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L e x i n g t o n Wo m a n c e l e b r a t e s t h e s u r v i vo r i n yo u
Photograph by Clark Berry Photography
The Survivor Photo Shoot October 2007
T
he ladies in the picture above are all Survivors, each of them at a different place in that process, some of them having faced similar cancers, and others not so well known forms of this menacing disease. They come from all different economic backgrounds. They are all different heights and sizes. I would venture to say if we asked about their heritage we would find a wide variety of family trees in this group of lovely women. The one thing that drew each of them to this moment in time, captured beautifully by Mr. Clark Berry is the fact that each of them has survived some form of cancer! Here are a few of the strong, resilient, beautiful women who faced a life threatening disease with courage and strength and decided to live another day.
Photograph by Clark Berry Photography
This photo started out as just an idea about one special lady that touched my own life with her faith and determination. You will read about Mrs. Diane Conyers in one of the next few pages. The Survivor photo shoot began to change after my aunt Peggy Harrison of Buford, Georgia was diagnosed with breast cancer in January of 2007. I wanted to share with women all over Lexington County that Cancer isn’t a death sentence. With early detection, state of the art treatment facilities and advancements made every day in research all over this magnificent world that we live in, people survive! I shared this idea with a few ladies and the Survivor Photo Shoot began to take on a life of its own. Women who I had no idea had ever battled cancer began to contact us and say, I am a survivor! I hope that reading about the four Survivors we chose to feature in this edition will inspire the survivor in you. Maybe it isn’t cancer you are facing, maybe it is another disease that has the odds stacked against you; perhaps it is a circumstance or a situation that has you wondering if you can get through. If so I encourage you to educate yourself and as Paulette Criscione would say, “Wrap your arms around faith,” and don’t give up!
www.Cancer.sc www.lexingtonwomanonline.com
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Let’s Talk
Paulette Criscione
Director of Sports Marketing for the Lexington County Recreation and Aging Commission
S
itting across from a perfectly put together Paulette Criscione, it was hard to imagine just days before she was a voice on the telephone to me. Engaging, kind, thoughtful and a woman of such innate grace, I smiled as I asked some tough questions. She answered honest and forthright, and I am certain it was the first of many lunches to come as I laid my black digital voice recorder on the table and clicked record. I smiled and got ready to celebrate the Survivor in one of the ladies who helped to create “Chemo with Style.” W2W: How does it feel to be a survivor, Paulette? Paulette: Great, I feel like everyday that I get up I am blessed. Just being a breast cancer survivor feels wonderful. Being a survivor
“If I could say one thing, that would be take one day at a time, just focus on that day. The other days will get there.” gives you the opportunity to meet a lot of other good folks with all different types of cancer. Again, I feel so blessed. W2W: What has been the most difficult part of this journey? Paulette: I think that the most difficult part would be the chemo. Trying to get through that, I call it a chemo cocktail. Just to keep moving, getting up everyday, and I pushed myself to go to work,
even when I didn’t feel like it. Luckily, I was surrounded by great people who just let me crash if I needed to. I can say the more chemo you take….the more accumulative that you take, the worse that it gets. I just wrapped my arms around faith and decided that I was going to let people be in my life, people who are friends and people who could take certain journeys with me. When I buzzed my hair, I pretended for a moment that I was GI Jane, and of course, after my hair was buzzed, I didn’t know what I was going to do with my head. W2W: You were GI Jane? Paulette: (laughing) Demi Moore had nothing on me, except her body. W2W: I bet she had a lot more surgery than you to get it too. Paulette: Laughing with me, then her tone changing to one of a more serious nature as she continued on…I had an angel come into my life and I truly believe that, and I just took one day at a time. The side effects of chemo were the most difficult part of my journey. Not everyone experiences side effects from chemo, but it’s good to know what they are. W2W: What three things do you think were detrimental to your survival? Paulette: Again, I go back to faith. You have to wrap your arms around faith, whatever faith that is, and you have to believe. Now that the cards are dealt, there isn’t anything that you can do but move forward with your life and believe that things will truly work out the way it’s supposed to. We all have a purpose in life. Secondly, my family and friends, the people who play a huge part in my life and some who have become friends since I’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer. You want friends, who are positive, to take the journey with you, because you have to find humor in this fight. It is so important. Thirdly, just believing and being able to give back to others is important. That is why I do some of the things that I do now, and it helps me, to help other folks. Everybody has a story and listening to others stories are just as important as my story is to me. There are so many good people out there that want to help other folks. It only takes a minute to give someone encouragement for the day. Being a survivor is a true testament to who you are. Chemo doesn’t define you. Cancer doesn’t define you. Bi-lateral mastectomy or whether you finish your reconstruction doesn’t define you. But its who you are and what’s in your heart that defines who you are. W2W: What has this journey taught you? Paulette: I was so busy before that life passed me by and before you
Photograph by Clark Berry Photography
12
Celebrating, Motivating and Educating
Real Women
Feature know it, a lot of time has passed. Life is sweeter now. It has helped me to slow down and enjoy my friends and family. It has given me the opportunity to make new friends. I go more places and enjoy volunteering for causes. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, it still took a while for me to slow down, until I finally said, wow, maybe I can make a difference and help others. I helped to create a class called “Chemo with Style.” It was a fluke, because after I buzzed my hair I didn’t know what to do with my head. I started wearing turbans, scarves and pins during my treatments until my hair came back. Since there wasn’t a network of people to help me through this journey, along the way I met my friend Terry VannSchon. She and I founded “Chemo with Style,” a class that helps others with headwear. Truthfully, if I had not been diagnosed with breast cancer, I probably would have just kept up the fast pace. So yes, being diagnosed with cancer does make life sweeter.
W2W: What would you say to someone who just got the same diagnosis, and what do you wish someone would have said to you? Paulette: If I could say one thing, that would be take one day at a time, just focus on that day. The other days will get there. I do believe the unknown is so scary, but the cards are dealt, and you just have to play it. If you start creating the “what ifs?” in your mind it doesn’t help you mentally or physically get through that day, and today is really all you are promised… Just one day and the one day that you get up. The next day after you are diagnosed, you wake up as a survivor, not five years after or ten years or two years. That next day—you are a survivor. W2W: What do you want people to know about Paulette? Paulette: That I made a difference and that I always “paid it forward” in hopes that others will too. For some of us, this is not the end of our lives, but the beginning of it! I think those are words to live by, and before we finished lunch Paulette said those words and I thought them worth including for each of us. No matter what you have survived, don’t let it be your end. Let it be your beginning of a sweeter life!
All Survivor Photographs by Clark Berry Photography
W2W: What has been your best day? Paulette: My first “Chemo with Style” class had to be the best day for me. Because a lot of the women who attended the class are young—seventeen to eighteen years old all the way up to seventy years old. Most of the ladies didn’t know what to do with their head without hair. They came to a class, felt the support, felt like they weren’t all alone and left with an idea on how to cover their head with style. Again, not having hair doesn’t define who you are, but it is important to most of those ladies. That one class was so
important to me, that it generated another class, and another, and to watch as people start to laugh and start talking and sharing...
“Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.” — Bill Cosby www.lexingtonwomanonline.com
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Professional
Amy Kinard
Mother Baby Nurse, Wife and Mother
A
my Kinard is a beautiful young woman, a nurse at Lexington Medical Center on the Mother baby floor, and a survivor. She is an avid runner and unlike some of us, health conscious. Yet, as we have seen so often, cancer is not a respecter of persons. I liked Amy the moment I met her, even more so after the Survivor shoot when she tossed a baseball cap she had been wearing and flashed the camera a smile bright enough to compete with the professional lighting in the best studios, and I knew then that Amy Kinard was someone I could be friends with. Over breakfast as I interviewed Amy, we laughed about motherhood and being busy women. She spoke of family and faith with a quiet dignity resounding in every word. A wonderful mother of three, Harrison (10), Bryce (9), and Ellie (5), inviting over neighbors to a “shaving party” as she started to loose her hair during chemotherapy, letting the children do the honors of buzzing it away instead. W2W: Amy how do you feel about being a survivor? Amy: I still don’t categorize myself as a survivor. When does being a survivor start? Does it start after chemo? Do you call yourself a survivor after the surgery? I know I am (a survivor) but it is hard to pin point the exact day you become a survivor. W2W: I think the minute you wake up, the next morning after diagnosis and put your feet on the floor and decide that you are going to fight—that’s when you are a survivor. I don’t believe there’s a magic number, like you have to be cancer free for three years, or five years. The reality is that some women choose not to fight, but because you chose to face it head on and scrap—that makes you a survivor. Amy: In those terms, I decided from the beginning there wasn’t anything I could do to change this, so from then on I started trying to make it as easy as possible to get through it. I have small children and I have a life to live, and I certainly wasn’t going to let this cancer interfere with my life … I wasn’t going to stop going to baseball games, football games or cheerleading events. I wanted my kids to know that I was there—sick or not. I just didn’t let it get in the way. W2W: Tell me how you told your children. Amy: We waited a couple of weeks, but I think they sensed something was wrong. We were having a lot of hushed conversations and I didn’t want them to hear it from someone else at church or anywhere else; and we chose to speak with each of our children individually so that the needs of each individual child were met. Kids do see (cancer) as a death sentence. That is what they see on TV and that is how the media portrays it, so that was a big fear, one they wanted to know. Could they catch it, can they still touch me, kiss me, was it contagious? They were sad because they knew I was going to feel bad.
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Celebrating, Motivating and Educating
Real Women
Photograph by Clark Berry Photography
We bought books and we talked about it and made it as light and as fun as cancer can be. We just let them know that we were going to be fine. I think this has truly been a life lesson for them, to see me. I knew that the way I reacted and how I responded was going to affect how they responded. I couldn’t lie on the sofa and cry … because I knew they were watching everything I did. I knew I had to be strong for them… we’ve cried together, and they know that there are times when mommy is sad, and when mommy doesn’t feel good. But for the most part they have seen how strong my faith has been, how people have come in from church and helped out and brought food, and they would ask, “Why are they doing that?” And I would say because they care about us. So I think it has been a lesson for all of us. We attend Lexington Baptist Church, and the support has been amazing. We are in a big Sunday school class and all of it has been overwhelming. W2W: What are three things, Amy, that you feel were crucial to you understanding that you would and will continue to survive? Amy: That’s a hard question…The biggest thing was my faith- Faith in God. That he was taking me down this path for a reason, I didn’t understand it and I didn’t like it but there wasn’t anything I could do to change it. And that strength made me realize that I was going to fight this and I wasn’t going to let it win. Having the knowledge being a nurse, one, I could process all this stuff, I knew how to decipher this information, and it was still new
information. It wasn’t always stuff I knew about but I knew enough to process it and to educate myself, hearing what the doctors had to say, Dr. Jones would say, “Amy, take it day by day, week by week, month by month, and we’ll just step by step make it through it.” He was a big eye opener in helping me understand I am not the only one going through this. That’s two. I will have to think on the third one. W2W: Were you giving yourself exams, or did you go for a mammogram. Amy: I went for my regular OBGYN appointment in January, and he said, “You are 34. You have to get your baseline mammogram at 35.” I said, “35? I thought baseline mammograms were supposed to be done at 40.” He said, “No, now its 35. So call me in July and I will write you a prescription to have it done.” So I said okay. My girlfriend had been diagnosed in May and she works at the hospital. She was also 34. I thought why her? She had young children—a two year old and a four year old—and that prompted me
“You can get mad, you can cry, you can kick, you can scream, you can not love God, you can love God, but there is nothing you can do to change it.” to start doing self breast exams. I found a lump and I thought it was a sympathy lump. I thought, “That is not what this is,” so I waited and did another self breast exam. When I found it was there, I still thought it was nothing. I called the doctor and said I found a lump… I thought I could talk myself out of having it. It was the size of my thumb.
Amy: No family history, no risk factors but I still tested positive for breast cancer. Cancer is blind. It is so random and sporadic. The American Cancer society has a whole list of risk factors: being over weight, over thirty five. I didn’t have any of the risk factors, but I still had breast cancer. My family has a history of heart disease. I am a runner. I ran because I knew I wanted my heart to be healthy. At 34, I was the healthiest I had been in my life. Yet, I still had breast cancer. W2W: Can you share something, Amy, that would help make this journey easier for some one else who has received your same diagnosis? Amy: You can’t change it. You can get mad, you can cry, you can kick, you can scream, you can not love God, you can love God, but there is nothing you can do to change it. If you get a lump and you find out it is cancer, you can’t change it … you can’t wish it away, you can’t make it go away, and so what are you going to do about it? Are you going to sit there and cry and feel sorry for yourself, or are you going to pick yourself up and go on with your life? That is what you have to do. You have to make that decision. I was not going to be a sick person, I was not going to have a pity party. And there were days when I had a pity party, and there were days when I was mad, but I never questioned why did this happen to me. I knew God had a plan for me. Did I like it? No. I just knew I couldn’t change it. It is what it is. And Dr. Jones did say to take it day by day, week by week. Each week my strength is coming back little by little. W2W: Years from now, if someone picked this up who didn’t know you, what would you want them to say about Amy Kinard? (We knew being modest as she is, this was another tough one for Amy.) Amy: That I am a great mom. That I love my kids and I put family first.
All Survivor Photographs by Clark Berry Photography
W2W: During this interview process, I have learned that most of the survivors I have spoken with found it themselves, not a mammogram. Amy: The most important thing I feel is being aware of your body. I think a lot of people just don’t want to know. I have so many girlfriends who have said they have never had a mammogram, because they just don’t want to know. They just don’t want to go through it, and I tell them it’s not that bad, it’s not that bad.
W2W: And now women live. Sixty years ago they didn’t, but today they do. This might be another hard one. What is the most valuable thing you have taken from this experience? Amy: My own self strength, and I don’t like to look at myself that way. I am a modest person and I don’t like for a big deal to be made about it. I have just really found out exactly who I am. I feel like I have grown up. Even though I have had small children, I’m a grown up now, I’m old. I’m 35, and I knew 35 was going to be a tough year—I just didn’t know it was going to be this tough. I feel like an adult. I feel like I have grown up. I am a stronger person and nothing can stop me now!
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Diane Conyers Wife and Mother
D
iane is the kind of woman that glows from the inside out, much like our other survivors; I knew the day that I met her that there was something special about this woman. When I first saw Diane I had no idea that she was in the middle of treatment. I attributed her short red locks to “a hip hair style.” Chemotherapy never entered my mind. She never frowned, and always seemed to be surrounded by people who were smiling and laughing so naturally I had no reason to suspect that this lovely lady with a sweet disposition was going through the most difficult trial of her life. Diane has been married for 34 years to the same man, and has two children and four precious grandchildren. We wanted to know how Diane feels about surviving cancer. “It feels wonderful to be a survivor. When I first heard the words breast cancer, I thought I would die. I thought that would be the end of my life. Before I was diagnosed, it was not something I ever thought of, it was as if I had never heard the words before. Shocking to say the least, now I feel as if I am a different person than I used to be.” I asked Diane what the most difficult part of her journey was, her quiet spoken words even now forming tears in the soft glow of her amber colored eyes. “Giving my husband the news was the hardest part for me. We cried together. Losing my hair was as bad as losing my breasts, because a woman’s hair is her glory. After the bilateral
I felt a terrible sense of loss, initially. However my appearance became the most unimportant thing. Living takes precedence, much more than the physical, and (facing cancer) you get your priorities straight very quickly.” W2W: “What do you feel was crucial to your understanding that you would and will continue to survive cancer?” Diane: “I think the most important thing was quick action. The doctors acted very promptly with my course of treatment. Once it was determined that a lumpectomy would not be sufficient, that I had to have a double mastectomy, I never had a second thought. I knew that moving forward with that would farther my chances of survival. I believe going to my treatments and being dedicated to doing exactly what the doctor instructed me to do, not missing the chemo or the radiation, all those things worked together to make me a survivor. The most important thing was knowing God had a hand in this, more than anything else. My faith has had a tremendous impact on me being where I am today. I have been told by so many people that I had a glow about me, in the midst of all this tragedy. I have a relationship with the Lord that even grew deeper because all I had to rely on was my faith in God. God was and remains in control in my life. Even though I felt that everything was going to be fine and the doctors said everything is going to be fine, there was still something in the back of my mind that said “you could die.” I prayed, ‘I don’t wanna die; I don’t wanna leave my family,’ and I prepared myself for that next step if I had to take that journey.” W2W: What have you taken from this experience? Diane: “We are all so busy in our everyday life, we take little things for granted, and you learn to slow down and things that might have seemed important before are not important any more. You look at the big picture in life. I believe I am a different person, a much stronger person, a happier person, something has been taken away from me, but I’ve have been given an opportunity to appreciate life again, I have a heart of sympathy and love for other people, I may see a stranger walking down the street and my heart will just go out to that person, before I may not have given that stranger a second thought. After cancer your priorities change.” W2W: Diane, do you have a best day that you would like to share. Diane: “The day I was told I was cancer free for the first time, was my best day. It was like you get up the next morning and the sun is shining and the world is new and different than yesterday when you woke up and were unsure about your future. Today is the day you know everything is going to be okay.”
Photograph by Clark Berry Photography
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“I would like to say one more thing, I want to tell other ladies there are survivors, there are treatments, don’t determine before you have
“We are all so busy in our everyday life, we take little things for granted, and you learn to slow down and things that might have seemed important before are not important any more.” educated yourself that you are going to die, just because you are diagnosed with cancer, it doesn’t mean this is the end of the world. You can survive.
All Survivor Photographs by Clark Berry Photography
Find a support group where other women have experienced the same things you have, or may be experiencing them currently. In this setting these women aren’t afraid to discuss things you may be
going through, to discuss the things you may not want to discuss with your family. So many people showed their love and concern through cards, letters, kindness, and such a humbling outpouring of support from family and friends in the community meant a great deal to me.” Diane left us with this nugget, “Have your mammogram once a year yes, but please check yourself. I had had mammograms six months apart for two years prior to finding my lump. I was never told of any irregularities, and in July, I found a lump through a self breast exam. If I had not found that lump myself, how much longer would I have went without having it rechecked? Don’t rely on a once a year mammogram. Self Breast Exams are so important and it takes only a few minutes once a month. The earlier cancer is detected the greater the chance of survival.” “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.” — Maya Angelou
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.’” — Eleanor Roosevelt www.lexingtonwomanonline.com
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Health & Wellness
Martha Shealy
Carolina Springs Middle, 6th grade English Language Arts Teacher
“I
met with Mrs. Martha Shealy during her planning period at Carolina Springs Middle School. With an infectious smile and a very real concern for women of all ages, it was a pleasure to sit and chat with her. I have been hearing all year about what a great teacher, Mrs. Shealy is (she is my son’s English teacher). When I found out she was a survivor, that was a perfect reason to visit with this lady whom my son speaks so well about and who is very obviously affecting my own family in a positive light. I asked Trey for a quote about Mrs. Martha Shealy, this is what he had to say, “Mrs. Shealy is the kind of teacher who really cares about learning from us (her students) and making sure we learn from her. She has a way of making the things I don’t really like, interesting.” Here is what she had to say about being a Survivor. W2W: How does it feel to be a survivor? Martha: Like I can conquer the world! If I have pulled through… this menacing disease, that most of us are experiencing in our lives, at some point or another, either ourselves or through friends and relatives, and I can conquer it, I feel like I can take on the world. I can’t… but I do feel like I can. I do feel like nothing can keep me down for having gone through this.
Diagnosis: Feb 2005 W2W: When did you tell your children about the diagnosis? Martha: My husband and I sat them down and told them together, and we told them I would be fine. Because I knew I would be. It would require surgery and Chemotherapy, but in the long run ev-
erything would be great. I needed this medical procedure and prescriptive chemotherapy in order to be healthy. W2W: What are three things that you feel were crucial to your understanding that you would and will continue to be a Survivor? Martha: Prayer foremost—prayer and my faith. Secondly, my attitude, my husband, family and friends. I’m not sure if I have these out of order or not—I guess my husband would have to be second. My husband allowed me to have a good attitude. He was right there helping me—my partner—he was there through all of it, the doctor visits and the treatment. He was the best one to do that because he
“This has been a good thing for me and for all the women in my life.” was my partner. For anyone else to take me to all the places that he did, for all my visits and my follow-ups and my chemo therapy.…. But he was there for all my initial visits, oncologists, plastic surgeon, gastro endocrinologists. He was right there, so I have to give him credit for helping me form my attitude about getting through it. W2W: Was it devastating? Martha: Yes, absolutely devastating, but I looked around and so many other people had worse situations than mine, and mine was going to be just fine. I knew that. So why get bogged down? When I was diagnosed with not just one but with two cancers, my knowledge was, “Okay, this is beatable.” I didn’t even consider the fact that I was not going to pull through. After two or three visits with my surgeon, I thought, well I better ask. So I did say, “This is not going to take my life is it?” And he just kind of laughed and said “oh no, no.”…. I had no fear of losing my life. I thought that is something I need to clear up. W2W: Was it your faith? Or what made you feel like this was something you could beat? Martha: I honestly think it was because I had done those things that women should do. I was having regular mammograms, and I knew that something so devastating as to take my life would not have appeared over night. The facts that I knew them to be were clearly in my favor, and of course knowing I had the support and prayers of family and friends all over the country and possibly all over the world. My niece’s father-in-law is bishop in the United Methodist Church, and he had contacted the bishops and of course people all over Lexington. I heard about it through word of mouth from teachers with whom I was teaching. So, I had no doubt—no doubt at all. I do know that I have two daughters, and I need to be sure and make them aware that at every age, nowadays a young woman can be vulnerable. You can turn something like this into a positive thing by
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Health & Wellness knowing you can become a healthier person by being familiar with symptoms and what to look for; and I have to look at it in that way. This has been a good thing for me and for all the women in my life. W2W: What is the most valuable thing you have taken from this experience? Martha:I have to say that I have come to know God’s healing hands. I can get teary. I turn to scripture. Even when you know things are going to be okay, you still need a little motivation—a little encouragement and a nudge from your Father. You need more knowledge of scripture and how God’s healing hands are there—not just for myself and my family—but for others as well. Also, (realizing) a sense of (my own) perseverance to continue to go on. I have accomplished a lot since my diagnosis, in terms of graduate credit, graduate courses, things that I had to do that I had already committed to before my diagnosis. I was looking at some of the things that I have done in professional development since I’ve been teaching, and a majority of them have been done since my diagnosis. I don’t know if I was just trying to prove something—I don’t think so. For my children, sometimes, when they are facing things, I have them look around ... and try to see things as they could be in spite of what is in our lives. We can keep the attitude, faith and perseverance to continue forward and not let things get us down. Throughout my diagnosis and chemo and so forth, I would just tell my friends who called and asked about me, “Oh this is really just a bump in the road,” and it really is. It is just a bump in the road, but we grow from our hardships. We become stronger, more resilient, yet remain that compassionate person because we have been there; and we can understand, and we can give ourselves in a way that maybe we could not have before.
(I would also want them to know) that there is so much hope. There is so much going into research and that things are different today in 2007 than they were in 2005. There is so much more in terms of medical knowledge, so there is no reason not to have hope if you have taken care of yourselves all along and done your monthly breast exams. There is no reason not to believe everything will be fine and it will be! I am strong, not all by myself. I am a strong woman, and I do have my faith, and I do have my Lord who I call on fifty times a day. It is through Him that I can be so strong, and that does not mean that I do things right all the time; but I am strong, and I can help others by having been at a place in my life where I’ve had to pull myself up.
All Survivor Photographs by Clark Berry Photography
W2W: What is something you could share with a woman who just received the diagnosis? Martha: Continue to put your best foot forward, every step of every day. If you are used to dressing a certain way, then you have to continue to dress that way, no matter how tired or depressed you might feel. You have to always be your best, look your best and you will feel your best. Get your hair done. Get your nails done. Continue to do those things. When I chose my wig, I went with a sassy red one. Just keep on being your best. Your better attitude will evolve from all that.
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Integrative Therapy in Return to Sport at Vital Energy Wellness and Rehab Center Along with integrative therapy, Scott Wilbert, PT, uses traditional physical therapy methods to strengthen muscles and decrease recovery time in athletes.
It’s hard not to panic following an athletic injury. What kind of therapy do I need? Where should I go? What’s the difference between regular physical therapy and a return to sport program? Regardless of whether you’re a high school athlete or enjoy playing club sports on the weekend at a recreational center, the physical therapy team at Vital Energy makes getting back to your fullest athletic potential simple with a personalized return-to-sport program. By Hima N. Dalal, OTR & Scott Wilbert, DPT, Sports Rehab Therapists “Our return-to-spor t program is a personalized program created for every individual athlete based on their specific spor t and injury status, ” explains Scott Wilber t, lead physical therapist at Vital Energy Wellness & Rehab Center. The program begins with a full evaluation on Day One, along with initial in-clinic treatment. Next, a plan is created by the phys22
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ical therapy team that includes in-clinic sessions and an at-home program that integrates functional performance goals with the athlete’s personal goals for a more personalized regimen. Throughout the return-to-spor t program, the athlete will simulate their spor t in-clinic to achieve the highest level of functional performance. For example, dancers will practice leaps and turns while
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one who plays for their church basketball team.” says Wilber t. “Anyone who plays some sor t of organized spor t at any age, is an athlete.” As a complement to this PT-based return to work program, occupational therapist Hima Dalal uses alternative therapy methods to enhance the athlete’s training and progress. Aquatic therapy is especially helpful in a return-to-spor t program because the warm water allows the athlete to increase their range of motion while decreasing pain & swelling. The underwater treadmill also provides low impact exercise, increasing strength and activity tolerance. Crystal Myofascial Release (CMFR) is also another alternative therapy service that aids in athlete recovery. Created by Hima Dalal, the owner and lead OT at Vital Energy, CMFR is a safe & effective hands-on technique that uses crystals to apply sustained pressure into the myofascial connective tissue to eliminate pain & restore motion. CMFR expedites injury healing time and eliminates rebounding, meaning the muscles do not return to their initial compressed state thus accelerating progress towards recovery. Additionally, CMFR decreases pain and increases muscle strength and endurance.
Hima Dalal uses aquatic therapy for college football athlete to increase range of motion and provide low impact exercise.
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Centering class members talk about childbirth.
Find Your “Center”
New Program for Expectant Families at Lexington Medical Center Inside a cheerful room at Lexington Women’s Care, a Lexington Medical Center physician practice, an excited group of new moms and dads looks forward to bright futures. On their laps are their newborn babies, all born within a few weeks of each other. They’re introducing their bundles of joy to each other at the last class of an innovative program offered at the physician practice called Centering®. Centering offers prenatal care in a group setting. By par ticipating in Centering sessions, patients benefit from more time with health care providers, information on prenatal and postpar tum care, and suppor t 26
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from other mothers. “Centering empowers women to take care of themselves and learn about their pregnancy while receiving the suppor t of practitioners and other women they get to know,” said Valerie A. Skinner, MD, FACOG, an OB/GYN at Lexington Women’s Care, who is leading the Centering class. At the beginning of pregnancy, a mother-to-be will have an individual
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prenatal visit and physical exam. If she chooses to “center” her pregnancy, she’ll join a group of other expectant mothers with similar due dates for monthly Centering sessions instead of traditional office visits. Dads-to-be are welcome, too. Upon arrival at Lexington Women’s Care, class members go directly to the Centering session where they’re greeted by staff and enjoy refreshments. There’s no waiting in the lobby for the doctor. Each Centering
session lasts about two hours and offers women a suppor tive environment to share physical, emotional and medical pregnancy experiences. The same physician or midwife serves as the group facilitator at each session. He or she privately performs regular health assessments such as blood pressure, weight, belly checks and hear t tones at the beginning of each session. After the assessment, the facilitator leads a group discussion on topics related to pregnancy and parenting, including the physical changes women experience during pregnancy, preparing for labor and delivery, nutrition, family planning, safety, conflict resolution, parenting and newborn care. At the last class for this group, there’s a celebration for the new babies, including Brittany and David Hardy’s six-week-old son, Boston Luke. The Hardy family loved what they learned during pregnancy in the Centering class. “Knowing what to expect made everything less overwhelming at delivery,” said Brittany. They also liked the tips the class received on taking care of a newborn baby at home. “I’m big on asking everyone questions and getting their insight,” said David. “We wish that we could continue now into parenting.” Impor tantly, Centering has been shown to decrease rates of preterm delivery and offer other advantages, too.
Brittany and David Hardy with their son, Boston Luke
“We know that moms who take par t in Centering have higher rates of breastfeeding and lower rates of postpar tum depression,” Dr. Skinner said. The term “Centering” comes from the idea that the program offers obstetric care in a group setting that places responsibility on the mom, realizing that she’s the center of her and her baby’s well-being. Lexington Women’s Care began the Centering class in 2015 after Dr. Skinner received a grant. Currently, there are more than seven Centering classes underway. Visit LexingtonWomensCare.com Dr. Valerie Skinner checks an expectant mother’s belly at a Centering class visit. www.lexingtonwomanonline.com
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B
y the time some of you read this, it will almost be my favorite season. Those old dog days of summer will be here and we will hopefully be enjoying some good warm South Carolina weather. There will be bon fires, barbecues, and roasted marshmallows in backyards and in camp sites. Cookouts with family and friends, taking the kids to the pool and sometimes the beach, and just spending time with the people that you love are some of the best parts of summer. While the kids are on summer break it is such a great time to catch up and make many new memories with them. In the past year I have been both ashamed and very proud of our State. We have watched as senseless acts of violence around the country have divided us, grieved us, opened old wounds and made us angry. We have also watched a community in Charleston take hate and return love. We saw the faces of beautiful people in various stages of life cut down and then saw the compassionate faces of love and forgiveness address the state, local and national media. Charleston.. oh Charleston. In life there are things that happen that are beyond our control, both good and bad things. While we can’t control those things, we can control the way we respond to them. If we chose positive or negative it is still our choice and our consequences. I have taught my children this principal since they were very small. Yes, I celebrate every success they have, big or small. I post pictures of the least of their accomplishments. They are not perfect children. They are simply loved, cherished, and appreciated children. However, each of them know they are personally responsible for their actions. In our home we have a rule. No playing the blame game. If your socks are on the floor. They are your socks. You pick them up. Even if your brother or sister knocked them off the sofa or out of a basket, they are your socks, you pick them up. What if we all accepted responsibility for our own actions? What if we all worked hard for everything we accomplished and wanted and checked our sense of entitlement before we left our homes? What if we all got up each morning with a sense of determination to make today better than yesterday, not just for ourselves but for everyone in our circle of influence? What if we all took a little time to understand what someone else might be struggling with? What if we all used words of compassion and not hate? What if we all tried to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes before we spoke ill of them or wrote them off? Would there be less murders? Would there be less crime in general? These are just my personal thoughts. Pondering’s of a woman who has recently witnessed some of the best of humanity in action and some of the worst. I love Lexington . I have since I moved here. People have been inordinately kind to me. I am often shocked to find out something that has happened so close because I simply can’t believe that happens where we live. So people would say I am naive. If so, I wear that title with honor. I never want to look at the late night news and become numb to what I see. I would just ask that you join me in praying for our community, our schools, our teachers, our administrators, and our local politicians for wisdom and discernment. I wish each of you reading this happiness and health for years to come. Your friend,
Lori Samples Duncan Let love be without hypocrisy Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; Romans 12:9-10
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Celebrating, Motivating and Educating
Real Women
Business & Web Directory
Art and Entertainment
Vital Energy Rehab Center...................23
Photography
Aiken Trials..............................................3
vitalenergytherapy.com
K Blackwell Photography................... IFC
aikentrials.com
Hotels
kblackwellphotography.com
Mitchell House and Gardens...............16
Comfort Suites......................................10
Clark Berry Photography.......................13
mitchellhouseandgardens.com
comfortsuiteslexington.com
clarkberry.com
Colonial Life Arena...............................26
Homecare
JMB Photography....................................27
disneyonice.com
FirstLight Home Care............................9
jmbphotographysc.com
Attorney
firstlighthomecare.com
Political
Jean Perrin Derrick.................................7
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Katrina Shealy........................................28
Dental Services
Budget Blinds of Lexington....................4
katrinashealy.com
Whitehead Orthodontics.....................24
budgetblinds.com/lexington
Real Estate
whiteheadortho.com
Pool Rx......................................................8
Earth Available Realty, Inc...................16
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poolrxsc.com
earthavailable.com
Bee Healthy............................................16
Lakeside Construction............................7
Restaurants
beehealthyclinics.com
lakesidecola.com
McDonalds...............................................7
Elite Personal Training..........................17
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mcdonalds.com
elitepersonaltrainingstudio.com
Theresa Miley State Farm.....................26
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statefarm.com
Columbia Presbyterian Community‌..4
Lexington Medical Center....Back Cover
Landscaping
preshomesc.org
lexmed.com
S&S Landscape Services..........................8
Morningside of Lexington......................14
Envision Family Eye Care.....................20
Monuments
morningsideoflexington.com
envisionfamilyeyecare.com
Memorial Design...................................20
Shopping
SC Obesity Surgery Center..................24
memorialdesign.com
Inspire Interiors.......................................8
scobesity.com
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Consultants in Gastroenterology........21
Grace Animal Hospital.........................14
Sylvan Learning Center........................20
scgastro.com
gracepets.com
sylvan.irmo@glc-sylvan.com
Carolina Behavior and Beyond............14
Millcreek Animal Hospital...................26
Wine
carolinabehaviorandbeyond.com
millcreekanimalhospital.com
Mercer House Estate Winery.................7
Smart Plan..............................................20 smartplanforhealthyliving.com
mercerhouseestatewinery.com
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