A couple days before St. Patrick’s Day, the annual St. Baldrick’s fundraising event will take place at Stumpo’s in Somers Point. The mission of the national St. Baldrick’s Foundation is to raise money and awareness with regard to childhood cancer.

The Sunday, March 15, event at Stumpo’s already has 26 shavees signed up, raising more than $3,600 so far. If you’re interested in participating at this or any of the other local events (there’s one in at the Brigantine North Middle School on Friday, March 20, and one at Ventnor’s Middle School the same day) you can register online.

Click below for a little background on the foundation.

Monday (Feb. 16) will certainly be an important day for the AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center’s (ARMC ) Heart Institute, as well as for citizens in the Atlantic City region. With a 20,000 square-foot Cardiac Catherization and Rhythm Center opening inside the Mainland Campus in Galloway Township, the ARMC will be able to provide better healthcare for heart patients. The $20 million facility showcases five cardiac catherization labs. One specifically is committed to electrophysiology, while another (swing lab) has the capability of servicing both catherization and electrophysiology needs.

Dr. Howard Levite, medical director of the Heart Institute, says that, “Heart disease and stroke are leading killers of Americans.” He believes these new advancements will, “enhance the environment in which we provide care to diagnose, treat and manage heart disease, and related health issues.”

Such issues as coronary artery blockages and carotid artery problems may be identified and treated through the facility’s resources. These include angioplasty, valvuplasty, angiography, intravascular ultrasound, stents, and various other devices and procedures.

The state-of-the-art technology will offer greater imaging detail, and utilize less radiation.

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Most new mothers, from 60 to 80 percent, experience at least a brief episode of the baby blues — feelings of sadness, anxiety, loneliness, or moodiness — within the first few days of giving birth. After a couple of weeks these symptoms typically disappear. However, when symptoms persist or deepen in intensity, they may be signs of postpartum depression.
The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services estimates that one woman in eight experiences PPD. There is no need to struggle alone. Family members can play an important role by recognizing the warning signs of PPD, helping the woman seek help and providing support.

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Atlantic City’s Community Health Services Unit in partnership with the Spanish Community Center – Shore AHEC will conduct an outdoor street fair on National Latino AIDS Awareness Day, tomorrow, Oct. 15, from 10:30am to 2:30pm at the Spanish Community Center at 3900 Ventnor Ave., at Harrisburg Ave.
The purpose of this day is to raise awareness about the importance of HIV efforts in the Atlantic City community and increase visibility of HIV/AIDS within the Latino communities. This year’s theme will be: United We Can: HIV/AIDS stops here, Prevention starts with us.
The A.C. presentation is one of more than thousand organizations in over 300 cities across the nation including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, that will come together to promote HIV testing and prevention initiatives in recognition of National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD).
Hispanics rank second behind blacks for AIDS diagnoses among minorities. Despite the fact that Latinos only account for roughly 14% of the US population, they account for 19% of the country’s HIV cases. Go here for more information

Atlantic County Flu Clinics

Flu shots work. I get one every year and find that I’ll get maybe one bad cold a season, usually about 11 months after getting my flu shot. The Atlantic County 2008 Public Flu Clinics schedule has been announced. Flu shots are available to residents 18 years and older for $15. Pneumonia shots are available for eligible residents age 65 and older for $25. There is no fee for Medicare Part B recipients who present their cards.
Here are some of the local stops; for a complete list, call 645-5933 or go here

Sat. Oct. 4 10am-noon
Atlantic Cape Community College gym
5100 Black Horse Pike, Mays Landing

Wed. Oct. 15, 10am-noon
Our Lady of Sorrows Church Hall
Wabash Ave., Linwood

Thurs. Oct. 23, 10am-noon
St. Bernadette’s Church Hall
1421 New Road, Northfield

Tues. Oct. 28, 3-5pm
Egg Harbor Twp. Community Center
5045 English Creek Ave., EHT

Thurs., Nov. 6, 10am-noon
Pleasantville Recreation Center
400 W. Brighton Ave., Pleasantville

Wed., Nov. 12, 10am-noon
St Elizabeth Ann Seton Church Hall
591 New Jersey Ave., Absecon

I had weight loss surgery last October, the gastric lap-band procedure. I have lost 50 pounds, but am stalled at the moment. Looking for motivation at the excellent lap-band community Band2Together.net, I heard about a Web site call Weightview.com. For free, they will take a current picture and show you what you will look like when you weigh less. I figured, what the heck, I’ll send my picture in. I just got the e-mail back and the results of their digital technology is amazing.

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Reading The Complete Diabetes Lifestyle by Donna Kay with Maribeth Stephens brought me back to that moment when I found out I had Type 2 diabetes five years ago. When you don’t have a family history of the disease, you don’t really know much about it. Your mind starts racing. In my case, when my eye doctor suggested my cataracts at age 48 might be from diabetes, I walked out of his office on a cold but sunny winter day and burst into tears.
Donna Kay had similar thoughts — I’m too young. My family doesn’t have diabetes. Why me? — which she has written about in her excellent primer book for diabetics. Newly diagnosed diabetics, especially those without any in-family experience, are looking for information, first and foremost, and The Complete Diabetes Lifestyle provides a ton of good basic information.

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Fitness centers love when January rolls around. That’s when guilt-ridden Americans rush to sign up at the gym, determined to make good on a New Year’s resolution to lose weight. The first step is dropping the 10 pounds gained over the holidays. January 2 is equal to Black Friday when it comes to the fitness industry.
I bring this up because I am still in the lapband surgery phase known as “bandster’s hell.” Last February, when I put on 15 pounds and saw when I looked like, I decided it was time to consider weight loss surgery.

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The idea began in February and culminated with surgery Oct. 18.
After spending more than half my life morbidly obese, I had gastric lap band surgery on Oct. 18. Anyone who thinks this is the easy way to weight loss is totally insane. (See my post-tummy picture as an illustration that it is painful at first.) It took a major commitment to understand that I would have my stomach physically altered in order to reach the finish line of my weight loss goals.Ten days post surgery and I am down 20lbs already, thanks to a liquid diet that includes dairy products and protein shakes. The weight loss will now slow as I begin to eat a bit more food, and the true restriction of the lap band follows in a few weeks with my first fill, which will tighten the ring around my stomach.
I am confident already that I made the right choice—getting into a pair of jeans this morning that has been on my shelf for 15 years was a great motivator. This is certainly not the right choice for everyone and I am sure I will have bumps along the way. However, if you are interested on info on the lapband, band2gether is a great site, featuring people who have been through the surgery talking about every aspect of the procedure. For a general website on bariatric surgery visit here.

My journey to a new state of wellness is headed for the next major stage. I will be getting the bariatric surgery known as the gastric lap-band later this month, if all goes well with the hospital date and insurance paperwork. After decades of living in the world of the obese, I am hoping to crossover to a new life at a healthy weight.
It won’t be easy. Anyone who says getting a weight loss surgery is the “easy way,” has no idea what it feels like to struggle with a body that does not want to cooperate. For more information on bariatric surgery go here.
These days, doctors understand more and more that diets don’t work and that the “fattening” of America continues. The lap-band will be a tool that allows me to eat less without being assaulted by irrational hunger cravings. I have had to come to terms with the reality that by constricting my stomach to the size of an egg, I will be eating a different way for the rest of my life.
Today, I started a liquid pre-surgery diet. I’ve never used liquid meal replacements, so this might be the hardest part of the trip to defeat sleep apnea, high blood pressure and diabetes. However, I am determined to reach the finish line.