4 minute read
Summery sweet fashions
Sweet Summery
A new season, a new sweet shop downtown, and this summer's fashionably fun inspiration.
Photography: Ralph Demillio Models: Casana Fink and Nesha Mutuku Styilng: Robin Fannon Hair + Makeup: CP Fredericks Fashion: The Unverified – www.the unverified.com Jewelry: Heart + Stone Jewelry Co. – available at Shannon Roth Collection Shot on location at: Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop
MEET OUR MODELS: The two exceptional young women who are featured have serious credentials that far surpass their outward beauty. Ocala Magazine is proud to team up with these inspirational and exceptional beauties.
Nesha Mutuku (left) is the founder and CEO of a financial technology company, Swally. A budgeting app she designed when she was 18 helps students practically learn financial literacy. Her passion for increasing financial awareness began when she lived in the Middle East. Working with her family’s non-profit to rescue refugees and trafficked women opened her eyes to the importance of financial literacy. Upon returning to the United States, she obtained three associates degrees in Quantitative Reasoning, Social Science and Psychology. Soon after, she received her bachelor’s in business from Stetson University and has continued to work fractionally as the director of Net Impact’s Black Professional Chapter and as an aide to Family Offices, championing DEI initiatives and impact investing.
Casana Fink (right), 23, is currently representing Gainesville in the Miss Florida Pageant and is a telecommunications graduate from the University of Florida. She has worked heavily alongside the transplant community since her father received a liver transplant in 2014. At the age of 15, she created her own non-profit, Give to Live - Donate Life, which propelled her to travel the state, educating and promoting organ and tissue donation. After graduating from the University of Florida, she attended fashion school in London. Shortly after that, she worked in the fashion industry in New York City. When COVID-19 hit, she decided to move back to her home state where she created her own e-commerce brand, The Unverified, that both women are wearing in this feature. She continues to prioritize philanthropy and entrepreneurship and how they can be utilized together to make an impact.
SETTING A NEW STANDARD OF CARE FOR CANCER TREATMENT
Advanced treatment options offer faster, more precise radiation therapy
If you are diagnosed with cancer, it’s important to learn about all of your treatment options. Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute (FCS) is at the forefront of science and research, providing the most up-to-date treatments personalized for your unique needs.
Shorter courses of radiation treatment are quickly becoming the standard of care for prostate, lung, breast, bone and brain cancers. These advanced options are available from FCS, many offered exclusively in Marion County.
Targeting tumors with greater precision
Successful radiation therapy depends on delivering the proper amount of radiation to the cancer in the best and most effective way, destroying cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue.
A treatment technique known as hypofractionation delivers the total dose of radiation more precisely and in fewer sessions, compared to standard radiation therapy. Patients can complete their course of radiation therapy much faster with optimal outcomes and a better overall experience.
Shorter treatments for prostate and lung cancer
One in six American men can expect to develop prostate cancer in their lifetime; the average age at diagnosis is 66. The good news is that the survival rate is extremely high, thanks to a range of advanced treatment options. Traditional prostate treatments are time intensive (typically requiring daily treatment for nine weeks). Recent clinical trials have demonstrated that the use of shorter treatment schedules (daily treatment for five weeks) results in similar positive outcomes, no increase in side effects, fewer trips and less expense. In select cases, another emerging treatment — stereotactic body radiotherapy — can be delivered in as few as five treatments as an alternative to surgery for patients with prostate cancer and early-stage lung cancer.
Advanced technology [to better target tumors] offered exclusively in Ocala
Advanced techniques use SpaceOAR gel to reduce the risk of rectal damage during prostate radiotherapy. FCS is the only provider in Ocala offering SpaceOAR to protect healthy rectal tissue.
Breast Cancer
FCS is the only cancer center in the area to provide two modern treatment techniques that protect the heart during radiation treatment for breast cancer. Traditional methods of blocking the heart may place patients at higher risk for a heart attack. Deep inspiration Breath Hold creates more separation between cancer and the heart, making treatment more precise. This video demonstrates the specialized deep inspiration breath hold technique.
