BROWSING:  Articles

Hurley Medical Center is making a significant impact on Flint and Genesee County through efforts designed to improve the overall health, wellness and quality of life for local residents. Hurley has served more than 2,000 food-insecure patients in the past two years through the Food FARMacy, the Diabetes Prevention Program is at various community locations, Camp Move It has helped children get healthier over the past five years and they are involved in several collaborative projects like the annual Community Baby Shower and Vaccination Fair. The Nurse-Family Partnership helps first time mothers during their pregnancy and all the way through the second year of their child’s life to provide guidance and access to health-related resources.

Disposable diapers vs cloth. Homemade baby food vs store-bought. Formula vs breastmilk. These are just a few of the very important choices that most new mamas are pondering upon finding out they are carrying a new life.

The McLaren Proton Therapy Center, located in Flint on the campus of the Karmanos Cancer Institute, has opened its doors and is providing new technology that destroys cancer with unmatched precision, according to Hesham Gayar, MD, Medical Director of the Center. “Proton therapy is a highly precise sub-atomic particle therapy that stops accurately at the targeted cancer. It makes cancer treatment tolerable and minimizes side effects,” Dr. Gayar reports. “I am proud to have the latest and most advanced proton therapy in the world here in Genesee County to serve Michigan, Northern Ohio, Indiana and Canada. This advanced technology delivers higher doses of radiation to cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue and organs, reducing side effects, resulting in strong cure rates and greatly lowering the risk of secondary cancer.”

Here are a few things going on around town to help bring in the new year.

There is new one-hour program that explains basics of Alzheimer’s and dementia. The program will be held at Forest Township Senior Center in Otisville on Monday, Jan. 6, from 1- 2:30 pm.  The center is located at 130 E. Main St. A, Otisville.

Kwanzaa is an African-American celebration of life from December 26-January 1. The festival was introduced to the United States in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a black nationalist and professor of Pan-African studies at California State University at Long Beach, as a ritual to welcome the first harvests to the home. Dr. Karenga created this festival for African-Americans as a response to the commercialism of Christmas.

It’s Monday, December 23, two days before the family arrives, the sweets get eaten and the gifts are handed around. Now, I am a creature of habit and there are certain things that I absolutely MUST do before the big day. Sure, I have to make some Christmas cookies, decorate our tree and listen to certain Christmas albums (John Denver and the Muppets, Josh Groban’s Noel and Michael Buble are the main three, in case your wondering) but, above all, certain Christmas films must be viewed. Of the multiple movies that I love, I have decided to narrow it down to five of my personal best and to present them in order of least to most important. Movies are quite subjective so feel free to agree or disagree with my choices and respond in the comments with your own Top 5.