Photos by Tom Rivers – Molly, a 3-month-old black lab, snuggles with Abby Ferris, 6, who has epilepsy and suffers from unpredictable seizures. Molly will be trained to watch for the seizures and to alert Abby’s parents or an adult.

CARLTON – The seizures started with Abby Ferris was she was 2, often striking at night. In the four years since then she has had about 30 seizures. They are unpredictable.

Abby, now 6, has epilepsy. Her parents, Kristin and Todd Ferris, keep a watchful eye on her, afraid to keep her out of sight in case of a seizure. They don’t let Abby sleep alone or go play by herself for very long.

Abby should soon be able to have more independence because the family purchased a seizure response dog, a black lab named Molly. The dog is just 12 weeks old but has already begun some basic training. Molly will be trained to observe Abby for seizures. If Abby is having one, the dog will be trained to go paw at Mr. or Mrs. Ferris.

“I want her to be a normal kid to be able to sleep in her own bed and go play on her own,” Mrs. Ferris said.

Abby Ferris is pictured with her parents, Kristin and Todd Ferris, and Abby’s seizure response dog, Molly.

Abby is very much an active 6-year-old, dancing at Gotta Dance by Miss Amy, jumping on a trampoline and riding a Barbie Car in the backyard.

There is a good chance she will outgrow epilepsy, a neurological disorder. Her seizures can be long, often more than 5 minutes. The family has medication at home if there is an extended seizure.

Mr. Ferris is a long-time Carlton firefighter, a former chief who led the department for 8 years. If Abby has a seizure, he can administer her medication and then check her pupils, muscle strength and equalization – the strength of her left and right sides of the body. Mrs. Ferris also worked in a doctor’s office.

Abby drives her battery-charged Barbie car in her backyard in Carlton.

The couple has learned not to panic when their daughter has a seizure.

However, they said they feel always on alert that their daughter could lose consciousness from a seizure. It’s particularly worrisome at night if she were to have a seizure and vomit. If she were alone, she could choke to death.

“It’s a guessing game. It’s so unpredictable,” Mrs. Ferris said.

Molly, the seizure response dog, gives the family some peace of mind, as well as providing an energetic playmate for Abby.

The family is working with Laura Gates from Gates Dog Training in Ransomville to have Molly become a trained seizure response dog. That training could cost $5,000 to $7,000.

Abby Ferris enjoys jumping on the trampoline.

The family is teaming with the Orr family in Albion for a fund-raiser on Oct. 25 to help pay for the costs of medical dogs.

Tyler Orr, 9, has juvenile diabetes. He was diagnosed almost two years ago. He has unpredictable seizures. His medical dog will be trained to detect a drop or spike in blood sugar levels. Tyler was featured in an Orleans Hub article on Aug. 3: “Family seeks medical dog for son with diabetes.”

Iva McKenna and Country Lane Veterinary Services in Barre are organizing the spaghetti dinner and basket raffle. For more information about tickets or to donate a basket, call Country Lane at 589-9835.

ALBION – Orleans County residents are welcome to drop off unused prescriptions at three locations on Sept. 27 as part of the “National Prescription Drug Take-Back Initiative.”

The three locations will accept the prescriptions form 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The locations include:

Orleans County Public Safety Building – 13925 State Route 31 – Albion
Holley Fire Department – 7 Thomas Street – Holley
Medina Fire Department – 600 Main Street – Medina

This is a collaborative effort with the U.S. Department of Justice – Drug Enforcement Administration, the Orleans County Health Department, and the Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism & Substance Abuse.

This is a great opportunity for the public to surrender unwanted or expired medications for safe and proper disposal, Sheriff Scott Hess said.

“Events such as these have dramatically reduced the risk of prescription drug diversion and abuse, as well as increasing awareness of this critical public health issue,” he said.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Hoag Library hosted its first health fair today with about 25 vendors attending the three-hour event.

In the top photo, Dr. Ahmet Guler, a cardiologist for Medina Memorial Hospital and Orleans Community Heath, talks with Cindy Perry, director of health education, wellness and outreach for the hospital and OCH.

Dr. Guler was hired as a local cardiologist in July. He promoted the hospital’s new vein center at today’s health fair. The Albion Urgent Care Center also offers vein screening services. Guler said Medina has the only vein center between Rochester and Buffalo.

The Care Net Pregnancy and Family Center in Albion also attended the health fair, trying to promote its services, which include pregnancy tests, ultrasound, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and other family services. In this photo, Sara Moore, left, is pictured with center director Gloria Lear. Moore is the nurse manager for Care Net, which is located across from McDonalds. The center has its annual “Walk/Run for Life” next Saturday at Mount Albion Cemetery beginning at 10 a.m.

Wayne Litchfield, the coordinator for VALOR, talks about the program with Leanne Serrato, a registered nurse with Medina Memorial Hospital. VALOR stands for Volunteer Alliance Linking Orleans Resources. The group provides volunteer support for public health preparedness.

“Unless it affects you personally, you don’t know the services that are out there,” said Nola Goodrich-Kresse, public health educator for Orleans County. She helped plan the health fair with Hoag Library staff.

She expects the health fair will become an annual event at the library.

“By coming here you now have names and faces to connect with organizations,” Goodrich-Kresse said.

Lyndonville Central School will host a health fair on Oct. 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. as part of its homecoming weekend.

Collier

Press release, Hospice of Orleans

ALBION – Hospice is well known for caring for seriously ill patients in their final months, weeks and hours of life. What might be less well known is the care Hospice also provides to the families of those who have passed away.

Hospice social workers, chaplains and volunteers offer support, and bereavement services are made available for the first full year following the loss of a loved one.

As part of the ongoing training of its respite and bereavement volunteers, Hospice of Orleans is hosting Holley author Lindsay Collier at 1 p.m. this Saturday at Hoag Library. The public is welcome to attend this free talk.

The day after Lindsay Collier lost his wife of 40 years to ovarian cancer, a huge rainbow surrounded the couple’s Rochester home. This occurrence inspired Collier to write “Jan’s Rainbow,” a book containing his own accounts, as well as his family and friends’, about ways they have taken comfort through signs in nature and coped with their grief in creative ways.

“Writing this book was a major factor in my own recovery from the loss of my wife Jan,” Collier said. “But what makes me feel really great is the fact that this book and the presentations I’ve made to many groups have helped hundreds of people who have lost spouses and other loved ones.”

Collier was a Kodak engineer, developing expertise in creativity and innovation. He retired early to write and pursue other adventures. He now divides his time between Holley and The Villages in Florida and has published several books, in addition to “Jan’s Rainbow,” including: “Organizational Mental Floss,” “Organizational Braindroppings,” “Quotations to Tickle Your Brain” and “How to Live Happily Ever After.”

BROCKPORT – An emergency room will open Tuesday morning at the former Lakeside Memorial Hospital, the University of Rochester Medicine announced today.

The state Department of Health approved the emergency department at Strong West, the former hospital that closed in April 2013 in Brockport.

The current urgent care center will switch over to become Strong West Emergency at 8 a.m. Tuesday. The long-awaited approval means a return of higher-level, 24-hour emergency care to the Brockport area.

The change will improve emergency health care access for eastern Orleans residents, and will reduce commute for some ambulance crews that have been taking patients into Rochester.

UR Medicine’s Strong Memorial Hospital has worked closely with New York State DOH since last summer, submitting plans to develop an off-campus ED, the health care system said. This unique health care model has been adopted by several other downstate institutions.

Off-campus EDs are designed to offer acute emergency care for patients and are open around the clock, seven days a week. Unlike urgent care centers, these EDs can accept patients brought in by ambulance (urgent care sites, by law, cannot) and are staffed by a physician 24 hours a day.

Because off-campus EDs have no in-patient hospital beds – Strong West will have three short-term observation beds – patients who require more intensive care and hospitalization will be treated and transferred to UR Medicine’s Strong Memorial or Highland Hospital or a hospital the patient chooses.

By Nola Goodrich-Kresse, Public Health Educator for Orleans County Health Department

With fair season and this week’s Orleans County 4-H Fair underway it is important to remember to stay hydrateddrink water whether you are thirsty or not. Increased heat and activity outdoors brings certain risks with it, particularly dehydration and heat related illnesses.

Some people are more susceptible than others are to dehydration and heat related illnesses. They include infants, children, the elderly, and those with chronic illnesses.
Dehydration is ‘the excessive loss of water from the body.’ The more physical activity that you engage in, the more water you are likely to lose.

Possible signs of dehydration:

Dry mouth and fatigue.

If you are mildly dehydrated, you might experience muscular pain or pain in the lower back region or even a headache.

Dark yellowish urine is also a good indicator that dehydration is setting in.

Severe dehydration can cause dizziness, confusion, accelerated heartbeat and eventually, kidney failure.

There are ways you can prevent dehydration from occurring. The most obvious way to prevent dehydration is by drinking a sufficient amount of water to replace the fluids you lose throughout the day.

The best way to figure your ideal daily water needs is to take your body weight and divide it in half. This is the number of ounces of fluid you should be consuming on a daily basis through beverages and foods. For example, a person who weighs 160 pounds should be drinking no less than eight 10-ounce glasses (80 ounces) of water each day. You should drink more than this during extreme heat and/or if you are engaging in physical activity. Talk with your healthcare provider if you tend to retain water and have puffy or swollen ankles, legs and hands.

Consider these suggestions for keeping yourself well hydrated:

Foods with high water content can help you meet your fluid needs. Some examples include soups, stews, citrus fruits, grapes and melons.

Low-fat and fat-free milk, 100 percent fruit juice and decaffeinated tea and coffee can also count toward your minimum eight glasses of fluid a day.

Develop a habit of staying hydrated. Drink a glass of water when you wake up, one between and at each meal, and one at bedtime to make eight. Remember you need more during hot days or when engaging in physical activity.

Keep bottled water in your car, backpack or desk.

When visiting the Orleans County 4-H fair this week, drink plenty of water and take breaks in the shade by visiting the great exhibits the county’s youth have worked so hard on this past year. Enjoy the fair!

Photos by Tom Rivers – The mobile dental unit is parked behind Oak Orchard Health at 301 West Ave. in Albion.

Denise Beardsley has been coordinator of the Oak Orchard Health mobile dental unit since it started 10 years ago.

ALBION – For 10 years Oak Orchard Health has been taking a mobile dental unit to the five school districts in Orleans County, cleaning teeth, doing sealants and extractions.

The dental unit spent the summers in Wyoming County. But now that Oak Orchard Health has a new center in Warsaw with dental services, the mobile dental unit is parked for the summer in Albion.

“We do everything you would get in a dental office except we’re on wheels,” said Denise Beardsley, the unit’s coordinator.

Two dentists, a hygienist and an assistant work out of the site that is parked behind Oak Orchard Health at 301 West Ave.

Beardsley said the unit has worked with thousands of children over the decade, helping to improve their oral health. The unit is open to everyone in the community, not just children. It accepts insurance and offers a sliding scale fee for people without insurance.

The unit has two rooms for dentists to work on patients. During the school year, Oak Orchard visits the five schools in Orleans and also Oakfield-Alabama in Genesee County.

Beardsley has developed relationships with teachers, nurses and school superintendents who steer children and their families to the dental services.

“We think it’s making a difference,” she said. “The kids have fewer cavities.”

For more information, call Beardsley at 267-9236 or check the Oak Orchard web site by clicking here.

Provided photo – Orleans Community Health recently was recognized for attaining 100 percent immunization rate for children by their 19-month-old birthday. The following are pictured with a certificate of recognition: Jennifer Herring, operations manager for Orleans Community Health in Albion; Paul Pettit, director of Orleans County Health Department; and Bill Gajewski, administrator of Orleans Community Health’s Albion health care site.

By Nola Goodrich-Kresse
Public Health Educator for the Orleans County Health Department

We all know how important immunizations are to prevent illness and death, but did you know there are certain standards that are in place to make sure guidelines were followed correctly?

All local health departments are under the guidance of the New York State Department of Health Bureau (NYSDOH) of Immunizations and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for immunization practices.

In order to meet the standards the health departments are responsible for reviewing the immunization rates for healthcare providers in their respective counties. The Standards of Immunization Practice are created by the American Association of Pediatrics for all providers who immunize. The data determines the percentage of children completely immunized with their initial series of immunizations by their 19th month birthday.

In March, Orleans Community Health Center received a 100 percent rating for children’s immunization coverage by 19 months of age. This is an excellent example of standard of practice for immunizations. NYSDOH has a benchmark of 90 percent rating to receive their Certificate of Excellence.

It is important to make sure you and your children are up to date on all immunizations to not only protect you from harmful diseases, but also for those of you who are in contact with people who have poor immune systems.

If you are unsure what immunizations you and your family needs, talk with your healthcare provider to get up to date. There are also catch-up schedules to make sure you have what you need to protect your health.

Congratulations to Orleans Community Health of Albion for encouraging families to be healthy by meeting the standards. We encourage all healthcare providers to work toward meeting these standards as well. For more information about the immunization standards, call the Orleans County Health Department at 585-589-3278.

Lyndonville wins best-tasting water contest

By Nola Goodrich-Kresse, Public Health Educator for the Orleans County Health Department

Congratulations to Lyndonville Municipal Water System for winning this year’s Orleans County Best-Tasting Water contest. For those who tasted the water, Lyndonville was sample “B”. We appreciate our Municipal Water Systems for providing safe and healthy water to all of our communities.

Now that summer is officially here it is important to remember to stay hydrated – drink water whether you are thirsty or not. Increased heat and activity outdoors brings certain risks with it, particularly dehydration and heat-related illnesses.

Some people are more susceptible than others are to dehydration and heat related illnesses. They include infants, children, the elderly, and those with chronic illnesses.

Dehydration is “the excessive (too much) loss of water from the body.” The more physical activity that you engage in, the more water you are likely to lose.

Possible signs of dehydration:

Dry mouth and fatigue.

If you are mildly dehydrated, you might experience muscular pain or pain in the lower back region.

Dark yellowish urine is also a good indicator that dehydration is setting in.

Severe dehydration can cause dizziness, confusion, accelerated heartbeat and eventually, kidney failure.

There are ways you can prevent dehydration from occurring. The most obvious way to prevent dehydration is by drinking a sufficient amount of water to replace the fluids you lose throughout the day. The best way to figure your ideal daily water needs is to take your body weight and divide it in half. This is the number of ounces of fluid you should be consuming on a daily basis through beverages and foods.

For example, a person who weighs 160 pounds should be consuming no less than eight 10-ounce glasses (80 ounces) of water each day. You should drink more than this during extreme heat and/or if you are engaging in physical activity.

Consider these suggestions for keeping yourself well hydrated:

Foods with high water content can help you meet your fluid needs. Some examples include soups, stews, citrus fruits, grapes and melons.

Low-fat and fat-free milk, 100 percent fruit juice and decaffeinated tea and coffee can also count toward your minimum eight glasses of fluid a day.

Develop a habit of staying hydrated. Drink a glass of water when you wake up, one between and at each meal, and one at bedtime to make eight. Remember you need more during hot days or when engaging in physical activity.

Keep bottled water in your car, backpack or desk.

As the summer continues remember to drink plenty of water and take breaks in the shade especially when out working, playing, exercising and at the various festivals and fairs this year.

Millis Memorial tops $100K over 8 years

Provided photos – The winning team includes, from left: Kyle Kurkowski, Greg Johnson, Craig Kurkowski and Ian Weatherbee.

The family of David Millis hosted the 8th annual David R. Millis Memorial Golf Tournament on June 1 at the Batavia Country Club and raised $12,500 to assist families battling cancer.

The tournament has now raised $100,600 over eight years. The money is donated to the Knights-Kaderli Memorial Fund, which is a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to helping local families with their fight against cancer.

The money is used to assist with prescriptions, medical insurance, nutritional supplements, hospital beds and many other needs.

This year the tournament had 111 golfers and an additional 48 dinner guests. Craig Kurkowski, Kyle Kurkowski, Greg Johnson and Ian Weatherbee won this year’s tournament. Doug Dombrowski, Ryan Dombrowski, Greg Weber, and Cody McKeller finished in second place.

The tournament also held the following competitions: longest drive (men’s) Bill McDonald, (women’s) Bee Monteverde, straightest drive – Brian Millis, closest to the pin (men’s) Joel MacFaland, (women’s) Carol Jones, Pancreatic Cancer Ribbon of Hope – Wes Bradley, chipping contest – Bob Fraser, and putting green contest – Bob Jones.

The Millis family joined for a photo at the tournament on June 1.

Golfers and dinner guests had a chance to find purple golf balls hidden throughout the golf course and banquet hall to help raise awareness for pancreatic cancer. Millis died from that disease. Anyone who found a purple golf ball won a prize.

“I am so happy we had another fantastic tournament this year,” said David’s wife Joan Millis. “I would like to thank all our sponsors, businesses and everyone who donated raffle items, golfers, dinner guests and volunteers. We couldn’t do it without everyone’s support.”

Next year’s tournament will be held on Sunday June 7. For more information, pictures and updates, click here.

“I would also like to thank our children and their families for all of their hard work and for helping so many families that are going through difficult times,” Mrs. Millis said. “I am very proud of all of them and keeping their Dad’s memory alive.”