St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Receives Grant

St. Joseph Mercy Oakland (SJMO) received a grant of $6,000 from the Michigan Department of Community Health to develop an alcohol prevention and intervention program to help Hispanic women in Pontiac have healthy babies.  The funding was granted by Michigan’s Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Prevention and Intervention Grants.

The program is aimed at decreasing the number of pregnant Hispanic women who drink alcohol and to identify and diagnose individuals who are at risk for FASD.

SJMO routinely educates its pregnant patients about the dangers of alcohol and other substance use during pregnancy. With the grant, SJMO medical care staff and human service professionals will add screening and early intervention for at-risk women to the education component.  The grant also requires the collection and managing of information and data regarding Hispanic women’s alcohol use.

Hispanic women patients to be targeted in the FASD program are those who have indicated risk associated with alcohol use.  Some risk factors include long duration of residence in the U.S., separation from family in their homeland (mostly Mexico for Pontiac residents), having a partner who drinks heavily, lower educational level among Hispanics, higher rates of poverty and limited access to both physical and mental health services.

Community agencies leading the project are:  SJMO’s Clinica Santa Teresa, Centro Multicultural La Familia and Healthy Start/Healthy Families Oakland.  Founded by SJMO in 2005, Clinica Santa Teresa offers pre-natal care and multi-disciplinary support for pregnant Hispanic women.  Centro Multicultural La Familia is an Hispanic-lead human service agency that delivers critical pre-natal outreach and wrap-around services to Hispanic women in Pontiac.  Healthy Start/Healthy Families Oakland is an award-winning, fully credentialed program that provides intensive home visitation services to 250 vulnerable families and infants and young children throughout Oakland County.

Included in the program will be motivational interviewing, a style of interaction with clients that assesses readiness and provides support for behavior change.

About 260 Hispanic women each year are expected to be served by the program.

For more information about the program, contact Melissa Freel, director of Healthy Start, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland, 248.858.6942.

Fighting the Battle of Childhood Obesity

by Heidi Press

When family challenges and overeating created health issues for 12-year-old Kylee Gallero of Waterford, her family decided it was time to take action. They signed up for Shapedown.

Phil (dad), 48, Lori (mom), 40, and Kylee joined the University of California-developed weight loss program through the Community Programs department of St. Joseph Mercy Oakland (SJMO) in Pontiac. Based on family involvement, Shapedown is aimed at ending childhood and adolescent obesity through a curriculum that emphasizes healthy eating, exercise and communication. By-products of the 10-week program include increased self-esteem, decreased depression, improved diet and exercise habits and weight management knowledge.

For the Galleros, enrollment in the program came in the nick of time. Phil had suffered failure of one kidney and a heart attack. Mom, Lori, who works midnights was “sleeping on everything I ate.” Daughter Kylee had developed high blood pressure and diabetes.

With Gallero’s illnesses already causing stress, the family also had experienced deaths of family members in recent months, including Lori’s father, with whom 12-year-old Kylee was particularly close. She was so broken up when he died, she started eating for comfort and “that’s when I started gaining weight.” “We were so stressed out with things that happened to us, we just started eating,” Lori explains. Thanks to Shapedown, the Galleros learned how to deal with death and other life challenges.

They learned about Shapedown at SJMO, when Phil was being treated for his heart attack. The hospital connected them with a nutritionist who directed them to Shapedown. The Galleros attend the program at the North Oakland YMCA in Auburn Hills.

Currently, five families are participating, but there’s room for eight in each session. The program costs $500 per family, and each member receives a workbook in which he/she can keep track of the foods intake, exercise and communications activities. And it is loaded with information.

The program doesn’t offer a diet, just a plan to make healthy choices when it comes to food. In one class, the Galleros learned how to make healthy sandwich wraps and season and prepare food. They also learned how to scale down proportions. Each used to eat a bowl of ice cream; now it’s just a cup.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 17 percent of children and adolescents ages 2-19 are overweight. In Michigan, 12 percent are overweight, and 15 percent are at risk for becoming overweight. This extra weight can lead to all kinds of health issues, the Michigan Department of Community Health reports, including cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer as well as social and emotional difficulties.

Since enrolling in the program, the Galleros say their communications skills have increased. “If anything is bothering us, we now talk to each other, rather than holding it in,” Lori says. “The program made us more aware of each other,” she adds. “We’re supporting each other.”

They also learned how to relax with breathing exercises accompanied by mellow music.

In the exercise track, the program provides the children and teens with Theraballs, Therabands and water bottles. Other recommended exercises include walking, swimming, Rollerblading, bike riding and ball exercises.

Each of the Galleros has experienced some results from the program after only a couple of sessions. Phil says it has helped with his recovery. Lori finds that it boosts her self-confidence in addition to motivating the family to get moving. And, their daughter Kylee says that her “pants are getting bigger, which I’m happy about.” She also likes the fun element, and that “you’re not going through this alone.”

Phil says he likes the program because it gives him the tools to help him eat right and “ideas for exercise that won’t put stress or strain on you.”

SJMO’s program is directed by Julie Esparsa, coordinator for weight management programs. Classes are taught by licensed professionals, including an exercise physiologist; nutritionist; and social worker.

According to Esparsa, Shapedown was started in response to the increase in childhood obesity, especially in Pontiac, which is served by SJMO. The program is supported by donors and SJMO’s Community Benefit mission. Scholarships are available.

The Galleros like the supportive nature of the program. “We interact with other families,” Lori says. Since joining the program, the Galleros have met other families with whom they are planning to stay in touch.

For Phil, Lori and Kylee, Shapedown was a great find. “This program is the best way to go,” says Gallero. “It works. If you follow the program and do the exercises, you actually lose the weight.”

Heidi Press is the public relations specialist for Trinity Health’s St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac, MI. She holds a Bachelors of Arts degree from Wayne State University in English and Journalism.  She has an extensive background in the communications field.

Choosing to Lose…

As Mary White, 48 of Clarkston, begins her cardio warm-up with her personal trainer Peggy Staycoff, the inspiration of what her body is now capable of doing mitigates her profound dislike of the next 12 minutes she will spend running on the treadmill.

In March of 2007, Mary underwent gastric bypass surgery, a form of bariatric or weight loss surgery that alters the anatomy of your digestive system by limiting the amount of food you can eat and digest.

“Even though I’ve been overweight my whole life, I’ve always considered myself a healthy person. I’ve always believed in the power of exercise and a healthy diet,” says White.

At 5 foot two inches tall, White’s heaviest weight was 234 pounds.

“For years, I had tried every diet, exercise routine, and diet pill that came onto the market. Nothing worked for me. I finally realized that I could not achieve my optimal weight goal alone,” says Mary.

The decision to have gastric bypass surgery is a weighty one loaded with many concerns, questions and even dangers. For Mary, her decision took many years of investigative work where she educated herself on what the surgery involves, its risk factor and its long-term prognosis for sustained weight loss.

During gastric bypass surgery or Roux En Y, the kind of surgery Mary had, the stomach is reduced to the size of a walnut and food is allowed to bypass part of the small intestine. Not only is the stomach’s capacity diminished thereby resulting in feeling full more quickly but fewer calories are absorbed as food is bypassed from the small intestine. Generally, individuals with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 or higher or individuals who have a life-threatening disability due to obesity can be considered as candidates for the procedure.

In the spring of 2006, Mary thought she had her decision made and surgery was scheduled for April. But her family, fearful for her safety and survival, sat Mary down and discussed with her their concerns over the operation. During her family’s intervention, she decided against having the procedure and cancelled her surgery date.

That year, she gave herself the freedom to eat whatever she wanted. Much to her surprise, she only gained six pounds.

“But I was constantly tired. At the beginning of 2007, I decided to give the procedure more thought once again, said Mary.”

This time, she teamed up with Dr. Mark Pleatman, a general surgeon specializing in bariatric surgery at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac. Dr. Pleatman provided Mary with not just the scientific and medical answers she was still searching but also the comfort in addressing her and her family’s concerns. After a few consultations with him, she and her family members changed their minds and set a date for Mary’s surgery.

Mary knew that having the surgery was just part of the change that could eventually result in her reaching her weight goal. Once the surgery was complete, the onus was on her to make the additional changes in her lifestyle.

If bariatric surgery is accompanied by sustained behavioral changes such as a healthy and balanced diet, and exercise, it can provide a long-term solution to weight loss, says Dr. Pleatman.

During the next few months, with the procedure always present in her mind, she tried to lose some extra weight in an effort to put less stress on her liver during the time of surgery. And, she spent many sleepless nights terrified over the uncertain outcome of her decision to have this life-changing procedure.

The operation, which took about 4 hours, was a success. For the next six weeks, Mary would have to follow a strict diet: two weeks of liquids, two weeks of pureed foods and two weeks of soft foods. After six weeks, regular food was gradually added back into her diet as her stomach began to heal.

She also worked with a nutrition counselor who advised her on what to eat, how much to eat and how to appropriately balance her foods so that she was meeting her nutritional requirements.

“I realized that for years, I was eating wrong. I wouldn’t eat the whole day and then I would consume way too much because I was so famished. I was eating so fast that my brain could not receive the signal that I was full,” says Mary.

With her current weight at 124 pounds, Mary has lost almost over hundred pounds since her surgery last spring. She also exercises with a personal trainer three days a week.

In addition to her physical appearance, her eating patterns have also changed significantly. Mary eats six small meals every day and she can only eat about one cup of food at a time due to the reduced size of her stomach. If she tries to eat more, her body will reject it and pain and vomiting will consequently and unfortunately follow. She also takes a cocktail of vitamins, which are specifically designed, for bariatric patients and will have to take them for the rest of her life. But for her, these lifestyle changes are worth every ounce of weight that has vanished from her body.

“I can finally walk the talk I’ve been trying to walk. Having this procedure was the best and most difficult decision I have made so far in my life. It has made a life-long dream of mine come true,” Mary says.