CRESTVIEW — Sacred Heart Medical Group welcomes Dr. Joseph Peter of Crestview Pediatrics, along with a nurse practitioner and two new pediatricians, to Sacred Heart’s regional network of physicians.

Sacred Heart is expanding its Crestview pediatric presence by adding Peter, advanced nurse practitioner Lindsey Mann-Badyrka, and pediatricians Dr. Jennifer Heegard and Dr. Lisa Currier to the Crestview pediatric practice.

Peter has more than 25 years of pediatrics experience and has served the Crestview community since 1998. 

“We are excited to have a physician of Dr. Peter’s experience, reputation and skill joining Sacred Heart. He has always been a supporter of our Children’s Hospital and its mission,” said Roger Poitras, president of Sacred Heart Medical Group. “He is passionate about service to the underprivileged, and his community work has been recognized on the local, state and national levels, including being one of four physicians in the nation to receive the Pediatric Hero Award: Champion for Children from the American Academy of Pediatrics.”

Board-certified pediatrician Heegard received her medical degree from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, where she was recognized with the Gold Humanism Award for leadership and compassion in medicine. Heegard completed her pediatric internship and residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Before joining Sacred Heart Medical Group, Heegard practiced pediatric care in San Antonio, Texas, and worked in the pediatric emergency room at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio.

After receiving her medical degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School, Currier completed her residency training in pediatrics at Phoenix Children’s Hospital and Maricopa Medical Center. Before joining Sacred Heart Medical Group, Currier practiced pediatrics and children’s emergency care at various hospitals, urgent care centers and pediatric practices in Virginia and Colorado. She served as chair of pediatrics and a member of the medical executive committee at Vail Valley Medical Center.

Mann-Badyrka graduated with her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She completed clinical preceptorship rotations in pediatric and adult primary care, as well as women’s health. UAB School of Nursing students selected her to receive the Florence Nightingale Award. She is active in her church and has done mission work in Haiti. Her previous experience includes working in cardiovascular surgery and intensive care at UAB and serving as a nurse practitioner for Linde Healthcare.

Sacred Heart Medical Group Pediatrics in Crestview is accepting new patients and same-day appointments at its 332 Medcrest Drive offices. Call 683-5100 for more information.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Sacred Heart welcomes pediatricians, practitioner to Northwest Florida medical group

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Could a mushroom a day help keep the doctor away?

A new University of Florida study shows increased immunity in people who ate a cooked shiitake mushroom every day for four weeks.

Of the thousands of mushroom species globally, about 20 are used for culinary purposes. Shiitake mushrooms are native to Asia and are cultivated for their culinary and medicinal value.

In a 2011 study led by UF Food Science and Human Nutrition Professor Sue Percival, 52 healthy adults, age 21 to 41, came to the Gainesville campus, where researchers gave them a four-week supply of dry shiitake mushrooms. Participants took the mushrooms home, cleaned and cooked them. Then they ate one, 4-ounce serving of mushrooms each day during the experiment.

Through blood tests before and after the experiment, researchers saw better-functioning gamma delta T-cells and reductions in inflammatory proteins.

“If you eat a shiitake mushroom every day, you could see changes in their immune system that are beneficial,”

said Percival, an Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences faculty member. “We’re enhancing the immune system, but we’re also reducing the inflammation that the immune system produces.”

To be eligible for the study, participants could not be vegans or vegetarians. They also could not drink tea, take antioxidant supplements or probiotics before the study. They also could not consume more than 14 glasses of alcoholic beverages per week or eat more than seven servings of fruits and vegetables per day during the experiment.

Percival explained the dietary restrictions as follows: Fiber, tea and probiotics help the body’s immune system, so researchers didn’t want to start with people who already had a strong immune system. Additionally, that much alcohol could suppress immunity, she said.

The study was published online April 11 in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Mushrooms boost immunity, University of Florida study says

Editor's Note: This continues our coverage of Crestview's Relay For Life, an American Cancer Society fundraiser.

The News Bulletin is proud to support cancer awareness with numerous articles leading up to the April 24-25 event.

—

CRESTVIEW — Four North Okaloosa residents have the enemy in sight, and Friday, they will join a global fight.

Their mission is twofold: defeat cancer and celebrate more birthdays.

The weapon? Participation in Relay For Life, an American Cancer Society fundraiser. The event is 6 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday at Shoal River Middle School.

'WE NEED CURES'

Rose Campau, of Crestview, will join residents commemorating the weekend to cancer survivors, their caregivers and those who have died from the disease.

For her, like so many other supporters, the issue is personal.

"After my husband died from colon cancer and his oldest daughter died less than four months later from brain cancer, I wanted to relay so no one has to hear 'terminal' and watch their loved ones gone before their time," she said.

"It's a horrible disease, and we need cures for all the cancers."

Crestview Relay co-chair Loney Whitley, a Holt resident and 15-year participant, said a chance conversation sparked his passion for the cause.

"What started out as a casual conversation between me and my walking buddy, Karen, about the number of people at Duke Field who had cancer, or that we had lost to cancer, led to our first step," he said. "A couple of weeks later, we read an article in the paper about a Relay For Life meeting.  We attended the meeting and that was the start of team Duke it Out."

'NO MONEY, NO MISSION'

Businesses, schools, nonprofit organizations, families and other groups form sponsored teams and schedule fundraisers several months before walking the track during the main event.

So far, Crestview's 32 teams and 239 participants have raised $44,952.65, according to www.relayforlife.org/crestviewfl.

Money raised boosts local programs and services that improve the quality of life for people with cancer, according to the American Cancer Society's Emerald Coast office.

For instance:

•$1,000 helps researchers study cancer, its causes and treatments

•$50 covers four rides to and from a cancer patient's treatments. The same amount covers six nights of a cancer patient and caregiver's lodging if they must travel far from home for treatment.

•$20 goes toward providing free cancer information to people calling 1-800-227-2345 or chatting online.

The same amount of money can help cover 20 people's clinical trials from more than 6,000 ongoing studies

However, a familiar saying in Relay For Life circles is "no money, no mission." Without team fundraisers and proceeds from the main event, there is no help for people with cancer.

REMEMBRANCE AND HOPE

While participants round the track, numerous teams will sell food, drinks and refreshments. There also will be live entertainment, namely Roger Whitaker, a former correctional officer sergeant at the Florida Department of Corrections, who lives in Bonifay and covers classic country songs.

Perhaps the night's most solemn moment is the 9 p.m. luminaria ceremony, when all the lights go down except for illuminated paper bags bearing the names of those who died from cancer.

That moment of remembrance is important, participants said.

So is looking forward to the future.

"I relay for Debbie from team Duke it Out, who lost her battle last year and who had been on our team for 13 years," Whitley said. "I relay for Karen, my friend and co-founder of Duke it Out, who is a cancer survivor. I relay for Laci and Mary, two more Duke team survivors. I relay for little Noah — a constant reminder of why we relay, hoping to find a cure so no child ever has to deal with cancer.

"I relay for all those we have lost, and to honor those who are in remission or still undergoing treatment."

David Meyer also knows his motivation.

"The first reason is for my friend, whose mother lost the fight to cancer over 15 years ago," he said. "It became real to me because this woman was also like a mother to me.

"I have another friend, who last month posted on social media that his mother is fighting cancer. As I walk around the track this year, I will think about both of these women."

A half-hour before the walk around the track kicks off at 7:30 p.m., a dinner honoring those who live with cancer will remind attendees why Crestview relays.

Survivors will help promote the fight against a deadly disease, and the goal to celebrate more birthdays.

"I'm tired of burying my family and friends," Gene Cox said. "Cancer has cut the lives short of so many people I know. I love to see the survivors, and look forward to (seeing) them every Relay."

Meyer agreed.

"I relay because of the survivors I have met during previous relays," he said. "They give me hope.

—

WHAT: Relay For Life,an American Cancer Society fundraiser

WHEN: 6 p.m. today to 6 a.m. Saturday

WHERE: Shoal River Middle School, 3200 Redstone Ave. E., Crestview

COST: Free to participate; food and drinks available at various tents; all proceeds benefit the ACS

Click here for the event website>>

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: TONIGHT: Here's why these Crestview residents Relay For Life

CRESTVIEW — North Okaloosa Medical Center's staffers are celebrating National Donate Life Month.

The annual observance — which Donate Life America and partnering organizations established in 2003 — encourages people to register as eye, organ and tissue donors.

 Last year at NOMC, 10 donors' contributions restored sight for up to 12 people, and various bone, tendon and skin grafts helped 400 or more people, according to the hospital's spokesperson.

Lesley Lang, of Life Net Health of Florida, recognized NOMC's "outstanding commitment to tissue donation," during an April 14 Donate Life Month flag-raising ceremony. 

Learn more about organ donation here>>

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Organ donation takes focus in April

CRESTVIEW — Sixty-eight Northwest Florida residents now have improved dental health, and it didn't cost them a cent.

The residents, ages 6 and up, benefited from the Florida Department of Health's March 30 volunteer training event. DOH volunteers, provided by Tallahassee Supervisor of Volunteer Health Services Christopher Gainous, screened patients for eligibility April 3 in a mobile vehicle. They assigned appointments for treatment April 6-10.

The clinic, sponsored by the Baker Lions Club, provided more than $25,000 in dental services for attendees.

Volunteers included Samma Brannon, Ruby Carr, John Cosson, Joyce Cosson, William Courtney, Laura Fountain, Joye Garrett, Royce Henley, Mary Ann Henley, Ruby Kelley, Tammy Lawson, Faye Nall, Ida Powell and Jan Walker.

This is the second time the mobile unit has come to Northwest Florida, courtesy of the Okaloosa Baptist Association.

Henley, a Baker resident, said, "The mobile dental unit is fully furnished by the Florida Baptist Dental Convention. They travel throughout the state, usually in South Florida."

Next year's event hasn't been scheduled, but Henley and her husband, Royce, look forward to helping again with the effort, which she said is "very rewarding."

The Baker Area Ministerial Association and the Baker Lions Club provided fellowship to those who were waiting for dental work. The association also provided lunches to dental workers throughout the event.

Jennifer Holland-Wyer, DMD, Crestview; Orilius G. Banks, DDS, Fort Walton Beach; Susan Welch, DDS, Fort Walton Beach; Kristin Shinnick, DMD, Fort Walton Beach; and Oliver Broutin, DMD, Niceville, provided patient treatment.

Nurses Danielle Crider, Cheri Denney, Beth Fountain, Joye Garrett, Debi Luther and Carolyn Williams also participated in the project.

Organizers presented dental kits to people after their appointment. The kits included toothpaste, toothbrushes, dental floss and age-appropriate tracts. They also included a Bible, all of which were donated by Joe H. Anderson Jr.

In addition, "Acteens of First Baptist Church of Crestview (a mission group for teenagers)  provided decorated drink cups used in the dental kits of younger patients," Mary Ann Henley said.

Email Editorial Assistant Renee Bell, follow her on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Volunteers provide more than $25K in Baker dental services

CRESTVIEW — Until today, Julio Chi had a branchial cleft cyst, a congenital abnormality that resulted in a lump on the side of his neck. 

"Because of this, the boy doesn't grow well and he gets repeated respiratory infections — mainly upper respiratory infections," Dr. Joseph Peter, a Crestview pediatrician, said.

The result is what he called global developmental delay: "He doesn't talk now," Peter said. "He just makes some noises here and there."

But three physicians — Peter, of Crestview Pediatrics, along with Dr. Joseph Siefker and Dr. Richard Barnett, of Fort Walton Beach Medical Center — and numerous Northwest Florida residents, want to see a better life for this 4-year-old Belizean boy.

ANNUAL MISSION

Operation Medical Care — a group of Crestview area volunteers including Peter and his wife, Bernadine — visits Belize each year to provide free services for impoverished residents.

Last fall, Angelica Chi walked 5 miles from her Orange Walk home seeking care for her son.

All of Julio's vaccinations — for polio, measles, mumps and rubella — were current, Bernadine said. But the cyst could easily be treated with a corrective surgery unavailable in the Central American nation.

Because of this, and her finances, Angelica said she never imagined that Julio would receive the surgery. The single mother of two — including another son, Juan, 15 — washes people's clothes for a living and takes home the equivalent of $5 U.S. a day.

In addition to lack of funds, she said she lacked emotional support from her children's father.

"When I tell him the baby's sick, he tell me, "I am not a doctor, I don't have no money for him," she said Wednesday.

Little did she know, Northwest Florida residents were determined to care for Julio.  

'GENEROUS PEOPLE'

"Very generous people," including Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church parishioners, the Knights of Columbus and the Engel family raised enough money to cover the Chis' airfare and lodging for what could be a month in America, Bernadine Peter said.

Her husband, along with Siefker and Barnett, are providing health care services at no charge.

Wednesday, the Chis visited Crestview Pediatrics for a blood pressure checkup.

Friday, surgeons performed a fistulectomy, removing a fistulous tract that caused some of the problems. “It’s gone really well,” Siefker said after the surgery.

Additional procedures included removal of Julio’s tonsils and adenoids, and work to correct a defect in his ear tubes. “This child’s adenoids and tonsils were so bad he couldn’t breathe through his nose," Siefker said. "And he’s had so much fluid in his ears, so this is really going to make a marked difference in his life.”

'VERY REWARDING'

Barnett, who participates in annual medical mission trips to South America, said he appreciates the chance to help people like Julio.

“It is very rewarding to help someone who doesn’t have the means to help themselves," he said. "You see what’s out there that people just don’t have access to. “Once you realize that need is out there, it’s hard not to do it.”

Peter said he is optimistic about the surgery's effect on Julio's health.

"Hopefully, after this correction he'll be able to say a few words."

In the meantime, Crestview residents have taken Angelica — who came to America for the first time with just one bag — clothes shopping at Wal-Mart and to meals at places like La Rumba. 

In addition, Melissa Channing Hill donated  some shirts, pants and a jacket after seeing a Facebook post about the need.

Brittany Board  also said she felt compelled to contribute to the effort.

"We had been blessed with quite a few clothes that were given to us for some of our foster children and were not able to use all of them (pants, shirts, etc.) Nothing on this earth really belongs to us anyway so why not give to someone who can use it! By giving to others in need, I feel we are just passing on the blessings that God gave to us."

All that Northwest Florida residents have done for the Chis has left them with a good impression of America, Angelica said.

"It's the first time I come visit here but I like… it's good.

Email News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'Passing on the blessings': NWF residents rally for Belizean boy

Editor's Note: Cancer survivors, family members and others are preparing for Crestview's American Cancer Society Relay For Life. Teams will have at least one member continuously walking the circuit 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. April 24-25 at Shoal River Middle School. Visit www.relayforlife.org/crestviewfl for more information.

CRESTVIEW — Jeri Toolan credits a family doctor-recommended procedure for nine cancer-free years.

After the 2006 birth of her third child, she initially attributed pain in her abdomen to childbirth's residual effects.

But the pain became more severe.

“I had a sharp pain in my right side, like a knife in my stomach, when I stood up,” Toolan said. “I worked at a desk a lot so I just didn’t stand up as much … I saw my ‘little girl’s’ doctor and he said I had to have a hysterectomy. So I went to my family doctor.”

He ordered a colonoscopy, an exam that detects abnormalities in the large intestine and rectum. As Toolan came out of anesthesia from the procedure, she saw her surgeon, who referred her to a Birmingham surgeon.

The goal was to ensure her colon could be reattached after a cancerous section was removed. “Otherwise, you’re on the (colostomy) bag,” Toolan said, referring to a prosthetic device people wear to collect waste from a surgically created opening.

Though her colon was re-attached, and she avoided having to receive chemotherapy after surgery, she annually must get a colonoscopy, which her insurance carrier only covers every other year.

“I was truly blessed by catching it (cancer) so early,” Toolan said.

Due to early detection, Toolan maintains a busy lifestyle, being a mom, checking progress on her family’s construction company job sites and conducting CrossFit boot camps.

One in 20 people — slightly more men than women — will be diagnosed with colon cancer, the third leading cancer-related death, according to the American Cancer Society.

A colonoscopy can be simple and painless, so Toolan said she is surprised that people still avoid having it done.

“People say, ‘I don’t have a history (of cancer).’ Well, I didn’t have a history.

“… My thought is, if your stomach hurts, you need to have a colonoscopy, plain and simple. You never know. You just never know.”

MORE INFORMATION

Colonoscopy (koe-lun-OS-kuh-pee): an exam that detects changes or abnormalities in the large intestine and rectum.

A long, flexible tube is inserted into the rectum. A tiny video camera at the tube's tip allows the doctor to view the inside of the entire colon.

If necessary, polyps or other abnormal tissue can be removed through the scope, and tissue samples can be taken. — Source: Mayo Clinic

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview cancer survivor: Listen to your body, get tested