Column: No Shame in Crying
Nor is it a crying shame. But something has changed, dare I say affected my tear duct production. I can’t say with certainty – or even specify a particular moment in time for sure – when the tears began to flow more easily, but I’ll guess the change occurred sometime on or around February 27, 2009, the day I first met my oncologist; the day I was diagnosed with a terminal disease, stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), “prognosed” to live 13 months to two years. If that kind of shocking, terminal-type news doesn’t upset your apple cart – permanently, “You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din.” And so it has, as reflected in my frequent “salty discharge” (to quote Jerry Seinfeld).
Tuberculosis Clinic Set Up at Lee High School
Three people at the school identified as having active TB.
Following reports that as many as 430 students and faculty at Robert E. Lee High School could have been exposed to tuberculosis, Fairfax County Health Department officials set up a special clinic on Friday, June 21, to provide testing and information on the infectious disease.
SkateFest Raises $11,500 for Children’s Hospital
Skateboarders from all over compete in Sk8 for a Cause.
Some 250 skateboarders from as far away as Missouri and Pennsylvania traveled to Wakefield Skate Park in Annandale Friday and Saturday, June 21 and 22, to compete in the seventh Annual SkateFest—Sk8 for a Cause, which raised $11,500 for Children’s National Medical Center in the district.
“Flourishing After 55”
“Flourishing After 55” from Arlington’s Office of Senior Adult Programs for July 8-12.
GFCA Hosts Groundwater Contamination Discussion
Lawyer speaks on experiences with groundwater contamination.
The Great Falls Citizens Association hosted Matt Pawa, an attorney with experience dealing with groundwater contamination Thursday, June 20.
Arlington Urban Agriculture Task Force Chickens Out
Panel members fail to reach consensus; submit three separate reports.
The Urban Agriculture Task Force laid an egg.
Promoting Recycling in Herndon Neighborhoods
The Four Seasons and Hunters Creek neighborhoods, both located in the Town of Herndon, will square off in a “Battle of the Bottles” to determine which neighborhood increases its percentage of recycled material throughout the month of July.
Total Health Concepts Opens in Vienna
Local residents, current clients and friends celebrated the grand opening of Total Health Concepts of Vienna on June 8, enjoying a sampling of the company’s services, nutritious grilled food, and a moon bounce for children. Total Health Concepts integrates nutrition counseling, fitness training, relationship coaching, and therapy in a multifaceted approach to help people live healthy lives and find personal fulfillment.
Two Area Residents Elected to Hope Connections Board
Hope Connections for Cancer Support, the local nonprofit organization whose mission is to help people with cancer and their loved ones deal with the emotional and physical impact of the disease, has elected four new members to its Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is made up of 19 members; the four new members include two from Fairfax County: Sharon Glickman and James J. Lynch, Ph.D.
Lobbying for Children’s Cancer Treatment
Centreville’s Crossett lobbies Congress to improve children’s cancer treatments.
It’s too late to save her own child. Meg Crossett’s daughter Rachel died of a cancer called neuroblastoma on July 3, 2001, at age 6. But she’s doing her best to improve the quality of care for other children battling the same disease that took Rachel’s life.
“Flourishing After 55”
Arlington senior centers: Aurora Hills, 735 S. 18th St.; Walter Reed, 2909 S. 16th St.; Culpepper Garden, 4435 N. Pershing Dr.; Langston-Brown, 2121 N. Culpeper St.; Lee, 5722 Lee Hwy.; Arlington Mill at Fairlington, 3308 S. Stafford St.; also Madison Community Center, 3829 N. Stafford St.; TJ Comm. Center, 3501 S. 2nd St.
Dr. Ericksen Joins Kaplan Center
Jeffery Ericksen, MD, an expert in regenerative medicine, joined the Kaplan Center for Integrative Medicine team, June 6. Before joining the Kaplan Center, Dr. Ericksen served at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Hospital as an attending physician and as the director of the hospital’s Interventional Pain Clinic and Polytrauma Network Site. Dr. Ericksen also holds an associate professorship at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical College Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
New Healthcare Facility Opens in Herndon
Clinic is first in Fairfax County to receive Affordable Healthcare Act funding.
HealthWorks for Northern Virginia opened a new healthcare center in Herndon Tuesday, June 11, the first such facility in Fairfax County that will receive funding from the federal government via the Affordable Healthcare Act.
Column: Full Circle
I hope it’s not a wrap though. I’d like to continue rolling along just like I rolled into college in late August, 1972, matriculating to the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. Oddly/coincidentally enough, there have been and continue to be some recent occurrences in my life that hearken back to yesteryear, the olden days of the early 1970s, when I freshmen-oriented myself to a major university for the first time.
Rock the Pink at Occoquan
The two day event featured over one hundred teams, with hundreds of players participating in the fundraiser. The goal was to raise $50,000 for breast cancer research.