On Friday, Oct. 14, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Food for Life instructor MiMi McGee will explore how a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, grain, and legumes can increase survival rates for those individuals diagnosed with breast cancer. She will provide information on how various foods and other factors affect breast cancer risk, prevention, and prognosis. The findings are drawn exclusively from scientific studies and updated as new research becomes available. The goal is to provide breast cancer patients, survivors and those at high risk for breast cancer with information to help them prevent and survive breast cancer.

You will also get to enjoy cooking demonstrations, taste healthy delicious dishes and share your experiences in a supportive group setting.

The free class will be offered . in the Education Center at Waldo County General Hospital.

To register, call Barbara Crowley at 930-2650 or email: bcrowley@wcgh.org.

On Saturday, October 8, the Troy Howard Middle School gymnasium will be filled with an indoor sale of new and used children’s items from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. This is the fourth year for the fall version of the Baby Fair, sponsored by Waldo County General Hospital, which has an admission fee of $1 to benefit the Belfast Public Health Nursing Association to help local families in need. Children are admitted free. The Troy Howard Middle School is at 173 Lincolnville Avenue, Belfast.

The fair also includes educational booths on nutrition and identifying lead in the home.  Dawn Bryant, EMT, of Waldo Community Action Partners, will offer free car seat inspections, checking for recalls and expiration dates, and education on choosing and installing a child’s car seat.

This is a great opportunity to clean out your closets and sell baby and children’s items no longer needed in your home. Items can include clothes – up to size 12, toys, books, furniture, etc. No recalled furniture, or car seats that have an expired use date, can be sold. Crafts people who make baby items may also want to join the fair.

Tables for exhibitors are available to rent at $25 each. Large clothes racks or displays may be charged an additional fee as space is limited. The fee is non-refundable and must be paid prior to the fair to guarantee a spot. Proceeds from table rental fees benefit the Belfast Public Health Nursing Association, but all other profit is yours to keep. Set up will be at 7:00-8:30 a.m. before the fair starts, and clean up will be immediately following the event.

To book a table, or for more information, call Lois Dutch of Waldo County General Hospital’s Education Department at 338-2500 ext. 4154.

Beets are often shunned, yet they are a favorite in our home.  Baked fresh beets have a rich, sweet flavor that our kids love.  Not only are they delicious, they also double as dinner lipstick, as our girls discovered, to see who got the more ruby lips and tongue.  Bear in mind that beet juice is a formidable dye.  Our little one is famous for wearing parts of her dinner!

I often hear people saying they don’t like beets.  Perhaps it is because they have only had the canned variety, or are a bit concerned as to how to prepare them.  They are actually very easy to make.  Giuliano likes to serve them as a delicious salad, together with their green tops, which are similar to Swiss chard.  We hope your family and friends will delight in this salad as much as we do.

1.  Preheat the oven to 400°.

2.  Wash the beets under cold water and cut the tops away from the root bulbs.  Put the wet bulbs on a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil and seal them in a pouch, allowing enough space inside for the steam to circulate.  Place the pouches on a baking sheet bake until the beets are tender when pierced with a toothpick, about 1 1/2 hours.

3.  While the bulbs are baking, fill a pot that will comfortably hold the beet tops with water, place over high heat, and bring to a boil.

4.  When the water in the pot is boiling, add a tablespoon of salt and put the beet tops in.  Cook until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Drain in a colander and squeeze out as much water as possible by pressing on the leaves with a spoon.

5.  When the root bulbs are cool enough to handle, trim the tops and bottoms then peel them.  The skin should come off easily using your fingers.  Cut the beets in half lengthwise then slice into half moons and put on a serving platter.

6.  Cut the beet tops into bite size pieces, and add them to the platter.  Sprinkle generously with salt, add the oil and vinegar, and toss gently.  The beets are best when served lukewarm or at room temperature.

Note: The root bulbs can be baked 1-2 days ahead and kept in the refrigerator.  Take them out of the refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving to let come to room temperature.  The tops are best when served within a few hours of being cooked.

Have you been diagnosed with heart failure? Want to learn some skills to help you better manage your condition and connect with others who also have heart failure?

A series of educational classes, known as “The Beat Goes On!,” will be offered on Thursdays between Sept. 29 and Oct. 27 from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. The series will cover the following topics:

• Sept. 29 – You Can Do This: Self-Management Skills for Living Well with Heart Failure, led by Deb Czuchra, FNP;

• Oct. 6 – Eating Well with Heart Failure: Get the Low Down on Salt, led by Jen Nelson, RD;

• Oct. 13 – Pills and Me: Understanding the World of Health Failure Medications, led by Nancy Nystrom, PhD, RPh;

• Oct. 20 – Pump it Up: Exercising with Heart Failure, led by Teri Blackadar, RN; and

• Oct. 27 – Ahhhh: Managing the Stress of Heart Failure, led by Jo-Ann Whiting, RN.

Participants are welcome to bring a family member or friend with them to the classes.

The classes will be held in the second floor conference room of the new building at125 Northport Ave.across from the hospital. There is an elevator available.

Call Barbara Crowley at 930-2650 or email her at bcrowley@wcgh.org for more information or to register.

Nurse Manager Jean Shorey, RN, front row, second from left, retired Aug. 18 after more than 32 years at WCGH. Read more…

The merits of vitamin D, besides improving bone health, are becoming more evident. Consider:

 • There is mounting evidence that links low levels of vitamin D to an increased risk of type 1 diabetes, muscle and bone pain, and, perhaps more serious, cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, ovaries, esophagus, and lymphatic system.

Read more…

For the second year in a row, Bone Gas II (Drs. Dave Arnold and Owen Nelson) competed against Quality Counts II (Dr. Kent Clark and Rob Fowler RN) in the Belfast

Drs. Dave Arnold, left, and Owen Nelson put the sides on their boat. They finished second in the workmanship category.

Harbor Fest’s National BoatBuilding Challenge.

  Read more…

Waldo County General Hospital recently finished its 26-week weight-loss challenge, “Waldo Weighs-In.” The winner, Roz Grotton, lost almost 30 percent of her original body weight. In the process, she was able to stop taking the medication she had been on for 14 years to lower her triglycerides.

The group as a whole, 103 people started the competition, lost an amazing 1,113.73 pounds, even with some participants dropping out.

But the most interesting story of the competition may be the effect it had on family members of some of those involved in the competition.

Hospital employees Sione Taungatua and Mert Sprague together lost 165 pounds and finished second in the competition, losing more than 27% of their combined weight.

Sione and Mavis Taungatua

And while Taungatua is thrilled with his monetary prize, he is also pleased that his friend was able to lose so much weight and that his daughter, Mavis, who will be an eighth grader next year, is approaching her own weight loss of nearly 50 pounds.

Mavis started running last year with her grandmother and then adopted a diet of no breads or pasta (except on her free day of Sunday) to support her father. Mavis and Sione have been mostly eating chicken, tuna fish, fruits and veggies for the past 26 weeks.

Mavis’s first race was to raise money for Camp Kiev and she finished fourth in her age-group. She was tired afterwards but also felt she had accomplished something. Soon after, she started running when she was angry or stressed and realized it made her feel better.

Sione got involved when Mavis asked him to do a 5K with her for her birthday. He really didn’t want to do it but it was his daughter’s birthday request so he did. After-wards, he says, “I felt good about doing it and being able to finish,” and he adds, “We weren’t last.” It was March and their time was 46 minutes.

Sione and Mavis are now running 5Ks almost every weekend and his time is down to 28 minutes and hers is 35. The two now run two or three times a week. Sione’s goal is to do a 5K in less than 25 minutes by the end of summer.

Sione also quit smoking about four months into the competition. Part of his incentive was to beat his mother-in-law in a race.

Sione is now down to 219 pounds and his goal is to get to 200 pounds and then to maintain his weight between 200 and 210 pounds. Mavis continues to lose weight and believes it has helped her in the school sports she is actively involved with.

So how did Sione lose 100 pounds during the 26 weeks? At first, his rule was no breads or pasta but as time went by, he started limiting himself to chicken, tuna fish, fruits and veggies. If his family was having barbecued chicken, he would wash the barbecue sauce off his. Taco salads were made with ground turkey; his without the taco seasonings because of the sodium content. When his family was having nachos and strawberry shortcake at a birthday celebration, he would talk about how good his salad was.

Among his favorites were Southwest-style corn, “which tastes like you’re cheating”; canned tuna or chicken in his salads; and egg beaters with onion, mushroom or peppers.

Sione says his weight loss was helped tremendously by the fact that he’s not a couch potato and likes to get out and do things. He enjoys going for walks with Mavis and his two younger children, ages 4 and 6, on nature trails, swimming, or even playing soccer. And it’s important to him to be a role model for his children, who he wants to be healthy and active, instead of playing with wireless electronic devices inside.

In the case of another Waldo County General Hospital employee, Lynne Depasquale, it was her 16-year-old daughter, Courtney, who was pushing her mother to do more exercising. “When she wanted to stop, I’d tell her she needed to push a little farther. And when she’d get to her breaking point, I’d tell her to do a little more. I’d say, ‘Five more and then five more after that and tell her she could do it. She needed someone to push her.”

Courtney and Lynne Depasqualte are thrilled to see the number on the scale at Lynne's final weigh-in for Waldo Weighs-In 1.

Apparently it worked. Lynne and her partner finished fourth in the competition. Lynne lost 43 pounds after the competition started and has lost 54 since she started on her weight-loss journey at the first of the year.

Courtney, her coach, who Lynne says pushes harder than Jillian on the Biggest Loser Show, has lost 10 pounds herself.

Lynne has been hula-hooping, walking and running. She and Courtney have a 2-mile walk that they do together from their home. They also both took part in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, known locally as “Bon Bon Bra-gade,” as members of Team Waldo.

Lynne says she will be joining Waldo Weighs-In Second Chances, which begins July 21, to keep going on her weight-loss journey, with a goal of losing 100 pounds. And now that a non-hospital employee can be a partner, she and Courtney will be partners during the 20-week competition.

“I’ve been thinking about losing weight for years and years and every January I say to myself that I’m going to do it. This year, I said, ‘This is the year.’ I didn’t want to get to June and have to say that I wasted the six months. It’s been nice to have Courtney to talk to about it and I think it helped us both. I have more self-confidence now and can do more.”

Waldo County General Hospital has a new nephrologist, who will be coming onboard fulltime.

Dr. Mark Vannorsdall, who is board certified in internal medicine and nephrology, will be working with dialysis patients at DCI and will also be seeing patients one or two days a week in Suite 118 at the hospital and occasionally at Pen Bay Medical Center.

Read more…

Kimberly Lenfestey

Getting a diagnosis of breast cancer is frightening enough. Add to that all the options for treatment there are now and the situation can become overwhelming for many people. Should I have surgery? If so, should it be breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy) or a mastectomy? Should I have radiation? Chemotherapy? Or should I try a hormonal therapy? And what about all the alternative and complementary therapies, will they help my recovery?

At Waldo County General Hospital, anyone with a diagnosis of breast cancer and their family members can get help navigating through the maze of healthcare options.

Read more…