Bloagthon 07-Why Shriners, Mrs Duck

Thursday, July 26, 2007

I figured it might be good to explain a little bit about Shriners Childrens Hospitals. But I also figured it would be better coming from Mrs Duck, since shes the one with experience.

As you can see, Sparky is blogging for a very special organization called Shriners Hospital for Children. Unlike most Children's hospitals, Shriners services are free of charge to all children under 18 years of age that suffer from a special ailment, such as in my case, which was a brittle bone disease. Shriners in Philadelphia specializes in Orthopaedics with residents doing there interships under some of the finest Orthopaedic surgeons in the world.

I was a very fortunate individual, seeith that I have a very rare bone disease that not many doctors were familiar with. When I was diagnosed as a 7 year old, back in the 1970s, there were under 500 total diagnosed cases of my particular disease. And that was across the world numbers. As you can imagine, there were not a lot of doctors lining up to treat me, in fact, most were unwilling to even touch me. Fortunately for me and my parents, we were referred to Shriners.

At the time i was treated at Shriners in Philadelphia, it was a full service hospital and clinic. I can remember spending many days sitting and waiting for doctors to see me, from X-rays and attendings and then the orthopaedic surgeons themselves, there were alot of lines. Now, you would probably think that all that waiting would be a nuisance for a child that was in pain and could not really move. However, that was not the case, many of the greatest moments that ever happened to me happened in the waiting rooms of Shriners. I was able to meet and see other kids that had ailments that were many times more severe then mine was and there stories were something that I will never forget. I always say that Shriners not only gave me excellent care for my many bone problems, but they also gave me my mental health. I was able to see, that while it was extremely painful at times (i will spare you the details) but it also helped me to recognize that I was not alone and that there were so many children out there that had things much worse then I could ever imagine.

When I first signed up and was accepted into the Shriners family, my mom was told that Shriners would benefit much more from me then I would benefit from them. I always feel that my experience is what made me into the adult that I am today and I also know that some of the information Shriners gathered from treating me will help in researching and helping others who are diagnosed for my particular disease.


Don't forget the little button in the right hand corner of the blog if you wish to make a pledge for this weekend and thanks for reading.

Posted by Sparky Duck at 6:19 PM

Spring is in the Air

By Steven Brand:

Los Angeles, CA – September 10, 2007 – It was planting time for patients and family members recently at Shriners Hospitals for Children – Los Angeles.

Staff members from the hospital’s Child Life and Recreational Therapy Department assisted patients and family members as they planted flowers for themselves and helped beautify the hospital grounds. These gardening tasks were fun and they also play an important role the rehabilitation of our orthopedic and burn reconstruction patients.

Anna Peirera, Manager of the Child Life and Recreation Therapy Department at SHC-LA explains, “This type of activity has many benefits for our patients. They get the chance to be outside on a beautiful day, interact with their fellow patients and potentially learn a new hobby that will last them a lifetime.”

While gardening may be a hobby to some, it’s also serious clinical tool that is overseen by the American Horticultural Therapy Association. The concept of plant therapy began in the early 1950’s and has flourished since then. Many universities now have credentialed horticultural therapy programs.

This type of therapy is also often used as a form of group therapy helping patients to build their socialization skills and improve their self-esteem. For children born with disabilities, “Working with plants helps our patients as they move back into mainstream society.” says Peirera. “They get to work in a team environment and learn that there really is no limit to what they can do.”

Plant therapy is used in conjunction with more traditional rehabilitation therapies by using plants and nature-related activities to assist in the rehabilitation of patients. A simple garden task, such as the planting and watering of flowers provides valuable physical and occupational therapy to the children being treated at SHC-LA. Gardening has the added benefit of contributing to the patients' mental and emotional recovery.

Five-year commitment to Vegas event

Sep. 9, 2007

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The PGA TOUR announced Sunday that the Shriners Hospitals for Children has agreed to a five-year commitment to continue as host organization of the PGA TOUR's Las Vegas event beginning next year.

Under terms of the agreement, the Shriners Hospitals for Children will commit the necessary resources to the event to assure its continuation in Las Vegas through at least 2012. Additional details about the new arrangement will be provided in the coming weeks.

The Frys.com Open benefiting the Shriners Hospitals for Children, part of the TOUR's Fall Series, will be played October 8-14 at TPC Summerlin and TPC The Canyons.

This past April it was announced that the Shriners Hospitals for Children had succeeded the Las Vegas Founders Club as the tournament's host organization.

"We are thrilled to make this long-term commitment to the tournament," said Ralph W. Semb, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Shriners Hospitals for Children. "The partnership with the PGA TOUR, and its charitable mission, is a fantastic complement to our own charity focus, and we are excited about the future of the Frys.com Open benefiting the Shriners Hospitals for Children."

"We are delighted that Shriners Hospitals for Children has made this commitment to our Las Vegas event," said Henry Hughes, executive vice president and chief of operations, PGA TOUR. "It's clear that Shriners Hospitals for Children is energized by this opportunity to even more effectively integrate the tournament into the Las Vegas community, and we look forward to a strong and effective collaboration. We also appreciate the support of Fry's Electronics for this event, and we are looking forward to a great tournament in October."

Shriners Parade: Brother JB Nethercutt

Shriners Parade: Brother JB Nethercutt

Brother JB Nethercutt

If you haven't been to San Sylmar to see what Brother JB Nethercutt left for the world to see, Noble Terry Baker will give you a picture tour. just copy and past this link gallery.fezfans.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=60

Governor of the Chungcheongnam Do Province

By Steve,PR, SHC-LA


Los Angeles, CA – September 5, 2007 – The Honorable Wan Koo Lee, Governor of the Chungcheongnam do Province in the Republic of South Korea visited Shriners Hospitals for Children – Los Angles today. During his visit, he toured the hospital and viewed a demonstration of a telemedicine system which has the potential to assist in the treatment of Korean patients by Shriners physicians.
Telemedicine, or real-time videoconferencing, allows Shriners Hospitals for Children physicians to serve patients who live great distances from the hospital. The program offers many benefits for our young patients and their families. Along with expanding outreach care and lowering transportation costs it also reduces a patient’s time away from their family, school and decreases their parents’ absences’ from work.
Governor Lee also presented hospital administrator Terry Cunningham with a donation of $5,000 and a proclamation which read, “I and the people of Chungcheongnam do Province present this donation as proof of gratitude for the medical and surgical care that your staff provides to the physically challenged children of the province. I hope that this donation will help cure children in need throughout the world.”

John Lorant, M.D., plastic surgeon and Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at the USC Keck School of Medicine recently traveled to Korea on a visit to reach out to pediatric burn patients. Over his three day visit, Dr. Lorant and his team evaluated between 60 – 100 children for admission to Shriners Hospitals for Children – Los Angeles. Says Dr. Lorant, “Currently, approximately 3% of our patients originate from South Korea. The country has an excellent medical system and we were warmly welcomed by our Korean colleagues. The Shriners clinical team partnered with local Korean physicians to show them the latest advances in burn reconstruction treatment.”
Governor Lee then capped off his visit to the hospital with a traditional Korean luncheon shared with staff and patients of the hospital. The lunch was generously provided by the local Choong Chung Society of Southern California which is located in Los Angeles not far from the hospital. The group supports Korean children during their stay at the hospital.

Cyumas

The Kern County Shrine Club put on a Good show at the Cyumas parade Saturday they had the Shrine Hospital Traveling Display and their scooter patrol. I understand the Flying Egles airplane and the Classic cars were also in the line up.