2009-10 northern colorado medical & wellness senior living

1A STYLE MEDIA AND DESIGN, INC. PUBLICATION : : EST. 1984

N O R T H E R N C O L O R A D ON O R T H E R N C O L O R A D O

MEDICAL WELLNESSMEDICAL WELLNESSVOLUME IV 2009

FIVE DOLLARS

GOODNIGHT’S SLEEP

A STYLE MEDIA AND DESIGN, INC. PUBLICATION : : EST. 1984

FRONT RANGE CENTER FORBRAIN & SPINE SURGERY, P.C.

BACK TO BACKSUCCESSES

MARK NEAGLE, M.D.THE SLEEP CENTER

ORTHOPEADIC CENTEROF THE ROCKIES

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Donn M. Turner, M.D. • Timothy C. Wirt, M.D.Hans C. Coester, M.D. • Douglas W. Beard, M.D.

PRECISIONWHEN

PRECISIONCOUNTSMOST

New patients and referrals are welcome.Ft. Collins:

1313 Riverside Ave. • (970) 493-1292Greeley:

2001 70th Ave. • (970) 356-4488Loveland:

2500 Rocky Mountain Ave. Ste. 360 • (970) 669-0470(800) 458-0306 • www.brain-spine.com

• We use the same precision and respect for nervous tissue required for brain surgery in your spine surgery.

• We use the latest technological advances in spine care, such as cervical and lumbar disc replacement, minimally invasive surgery, and kyphoplasty.

• We regularly review each other’s surgical recommendations providing a second opinion for free, without charge to you.

• We routinely work together assisting each other in the surgical procedure.

• Together we now have over 95 years of neurosurgical and orthopaedic spine experience and more combined continuing education than any other spine practice in our region.

• Our practice has a spine and brain surgeon on call for emergencies 24 hours, 7 days a week, at all local hospitals, and provide the brain and spine surgery trauma coverage for regional trauma centers at NCMC and MCR.

• We work in all of the hospitals and surgery centers in the tri-city region thereby allowing you to choose the facility most convenient for you and your family.

We are in network with all the major insurance carriers in our region, ensuring that you will be able to maximize your insurance benefits.

Specialists in Spine and Brain Surgery Since 1978

NEUROSURGERY & ORTHOPAEDIC SPINE SERVICES

ALL IN ONE PRACTICEThe blend of both neurosurgery and orthopaedics in one practice is unique to the region! This allows our surgeons to offer patients the best and most comprehensive care from both disciplines.4 Design Gallery, Fully Stocked

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Donn M. Turner, M.D. • Timothy C. Wirt, M.D.Hans C. Coester, M.D. • Douglas W. Beard, M.D.

PRECISIONWHEN

PRECISIONCOUNTSMOST

New patients and referrals are welcome.Ft. Collins:

1313 Riverside Ave. • (970) 493-1292Greeley:

2001 70th Ave. • (970) 356-4488Loveland:

2500 Rocky Mountain Ave. Ste. 360 • (970) 669-0470(800) 458-0306 • www.brain-spine.com

• We use the same precision and respect for nervous tissue required for brain surgery in your spine surgery.

• We use the latest technological advances in spine care, such as cervical and lumbar disc replacement, minimally invasive surgery, and kyphoplasty.

• We regularly review each other’s surgical recommendations providing a second opinion for free, without charge to you.

• We routinely work together assisting each other in the surgical procedure.

• Together we now have over 95 years of neurosurgical and orthopaedic spine experience and more combined continuing education than any other spine practice in our region.

• Our practice has a spine and brain surgeon on call for emergencies 24 hours, 7 days a week, at all local hospitals, and provide the brain and spine surgery trauma coverage for regional trauma centers at NCMC and MCR.

• We work in all of the hospitals and surgery centers in the tri-city region thereby allowing you to choose the facility most convenient for you and your family.

We are in network with all the major insurance carriers in our region, ensuring that you will be able to maximize your insurance benefits.

Specialists in Spine and Brain Surgery Since 1978

NEUROSURGERY & ORTHOPAEDIC SPINE SERVICES

ALL IN ONE PRACTICEThe blend of both neurosurgery and orthopaedics in one practice is unique to the region! This allows our surgeons to offer patients the best and most comprehensive care from both disciplines. 5

6 Lydia’s STYLE Magazine

Fellowship Trained Spine Intervention and Pain Management Procedures under Fluoroscopic Guidance

Fellow, American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Subspecialty Board Certification in Pain and Sports Medicine

Diplomate, American Board of lnterventional Pain Physicians

Diplomate, American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine

Certified, McKenzie Mechanical Diagnosis and Treatment of the Spine

7Northern Colorado Medical & Wellness

7Paolo Romero, MD :: Matthew Sorensen, MD

Regina Brown, MD Anne Kanard, MD :: Miho Toi Scott MA, MD

at the POUDRE VALLEY HOSPITAL HARMONY CAMPUS 2121 E. Harmony Rd. Suite 150, Fort Collins • www.cancercenteroftherockies.com

970.493.6337

sty le media and design, inc.| 970.226.6400 |

w w w. s t y l e m a g a z i n e c o l o r a d o . c o m

Publisher Lydia Dodyeditor Angeline Grenz

creative director Scott Prossersenior designer Lisa Gould

advertising sales eXecutivesJon Ainslie (970) 219-9226

Abby Bloedorn (970) 222-8406Karen Christensen (970) 679-7593

Lydia Dody (970) 227-6400Saundra Skrove (970) 217-9932office Manager Ina Szwec

accounting Manager Karla Vigilcontributing Writers

Susan D. Cole, Jon Geller, DVM, Connie Hein,Erica Pauly, Corey Radman, Kay Rios,

Graciela Sholander, Renee Young

PhotograPher Warren Diggles

contributing PhotograPhersLydia Dody

affiliationsFort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce

Loveland Chamber of CommerceGreeley Chamber of CommerceWindsor Chamber of Commerce

2009 style MagazinesJanuary-Loveland/Greeley Medical & Wellness

Magazine and DirectoryFebruary-Building & Remodeling

March-Northern Colorado Medical & WellnessMarch-Family & Philanthropy

April/May-Northern Colorado Business & BuildingMay/June-Northern Colorado Medical & Wellness

June/July-Business & Building July/August-Fort Collins Medical & Wellness

Magazine and DirectoriesAugust/September-Business Women & Building

October-Women’s Health & Breast CancerNovember-Northern Colorado Medical & Wellness

November/December-Holiday/Winter

Style Media and Design, Inc. magazines are free monthly publications direct-mailed to homes and businesses in Northern Colorado. Elsewhere, a one year subscription is $35/year and a two year subscription is $50/year. Free magazines are available in stands at 100 locations throughout Northern Colorado.

For ad rates, subscription information, change of address, or correspondence, contact: Style Media and Design Inc., 211 W. Myrtle St., Suite 200, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521. Phone (970) 226-6400. Fax (970) 226-6427 E-Mail: [email protected]

©2009 Style Media and Design Inc. All rights reserved. The entire contents of Style Magazine is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without the expressed written consent of the publisher. Style Media and Design Inc. is not responsible for unsolicited material. All manuscripts, artwork, and photography must be accompanied by a SASE. The views and opinions of any contributing writers are not necessarily those of Style Media & Design Inc.


V O L U M E I V 2 0 0 9CONTENTS NOrThErN COlOradO mEdiCal & wEllNESS

The articles in this issue of Northern Colorado Medical & Wellness are presented for your general knowledge and are not a substitute for medi-cal advice or treatment. If you have any questions or concerns about your health, please contact your doctor of healthcare provider.

30 IBMC MeDICal TraInIng ChangeS lIveSInstitute of Businessand Medical Careers

46 holIDay DangerSTo your PeT 50

45 11Th annual Free heaD & neCk CanCer SCreenIngAlpine Ear, Nose & Throat, P.C.

PhySICIan SPoTlIghT: ServIng PaTIenTS DeSPITe ChallengeSJames Sprowell, M.D., Associates in Family Medicine, P.C.

12 Publisher’s letterTechnology Advances in Healthcare

14 Sleep apnea – getting a good night’s SleepNorthern Colorado Pulmonary Consultants, P.C.

18 replacement Parts in the 21st CenturyOrthopeadic Center of the Rockies

22 Back to Back SuccessesFront Range Center for Brain & Spine Surgery, P.C.

28 Pap Smears essential for Cervical health Summit Pathology

30 IBMC Medical Training Changes lives Institute of Business and Medical Careers

34 Providing a Continuum of CareMountain Valley Health Care

38 Choosing a Chiropractor

42 Managing your Stress

46 holiday Dangers to your Pet

48 Stem Cell Therapy For Pets

50 Physician Spotlight: Serving Patients Despite ChallengesJames Sprowell, M.D., Associates in Family Medicine, P.C.

2218 rePlaCeMenT ParTS In The 21ST CenTuryOrthopeadic Center of the Rockies

BaCk To BaCk SuCCeSSeSFront Range Center for Brain & Spine Surgery, P.C

45 11th annual Free head & neck Cancer Screening Alpine Ear, Nose & Throat, P.C.

Mark Neagle, M.D., Northern Colorado Pulmonary Consultants, P.C. helps the Northern Colorado community get a good night’s sleep.

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With this significant healthcare expansion, we have responded with medical and wellness publications packed with timely and informative articles featur-ing the expertise of our region’s finest specialists and healthcare providers. As we visit and interview these exceptional professionals, I continue to be impressed with the quality of care we offer the residents of our region.

This Northern Colorado Medical & Wellness is-sue spans a wide range of interesting and compel-ling topics. I had the opportunity to meet and photo-graph Alan Braga from Wyoming who had not been able to hold his head up to look someone in the face for several years. After a significant surgery involving screwing a nine-inch rod into his spine, Dr. Timothy Wirt and Dr. Douglas Beard gave Alan and his wife a new lease on life. Alan couldn’t have been hap-pier at his post-op appointment! Read “Back to Back Successes” to learn how the synergy of neurosurgery and orthopedics is working together for better out-comes.

Some months ago my friend, Susan Cole, con-tacted me and asked if I would be interested in reading her article about Dr. Sean Grey’s expertise in shoulder replacements. Naturally, I was interest-ed and after reading it and learning that there are roughly 50,000 shoulder replacements annually in the U.S., I knew that the topic would be of interest to many readers and that “Replacement Parts in the 21st Century” would be informative, as some of us might just need them within our lifetime.

Our cover physician, Dr. Mark Neagle, informed me about a relatively new specialty, sleep disorders, which he is very enthused about since it is a man-ageable condition. Current estimates are that 1 in 20 Americans suffer from sleep apnea and treatment

Publisher’s Letter

Better OutcomesFor Patients

can prevent more serious conditions from develop-ing and significantly improve a patient’s quality of life. Read “Sleep Apnea: Getting a Good Night’s Sleep” to learn about how treatment results in a rest-ful night’s sleep for patient and their sleep partner.

Alongside these and many other articles, we also interviewed several chiropractors to learn about their practice philosophy. On occasion, chiropractors have gotten a bad rap even though their modality genu-inely helps relieve pain and improve alignment. Read “Choosing a Chiropractor” to learn how to select a healthcare professional that will align with your treat-ment goals.

Providing care for our families also includes care for our pets. Become alert to the hazards of the season in “Holiday Dangers to Your Pet” by Dr. Jon Geller to avoid an unexpected trip to the veteri-nary emergency hospital. And, learn about how Dr. Robin Downing incorporates leading edge research technology to helping her pet patients in “Stem Cell Therapy For Pets.”

We hope you enjoy these and more articles about our health, well-being, and the healthcare professionals of our region.

Thank you for your on-going support of Style publications. We truly work very hard to bring you high quality, interesting and timely magazines fo-cused on Northern Colorado people, places, and events. We continue to enjoy receiving your letters, emails, and calls commenting on our issues and al-ways welcome suggestions for future topics. We love hearing from you!

Wishing each of you good health,As November rolls round and we con-

tinue celebrating Style Magazine’s 25th anniversary of publishing in Northern Colorado, we are grateful to have been part of the growth of this

area. We have enjoyed seeing our area grow to be a sought-after location to live, raise a family, start a business, or retire. And, as this area has grown, it has also evolved into a regional healthcare center.

Lydia’s STYLE Magazine12

Northern Colorado Medical & Wellness 2009 13

~ MEDICAL CLINIC AT CENTERRA, PC

Part of the Greeley Medical Clinic Family


SLEEP APNEA:getting a good night’s sleepImagine sleeping through the night, only to wake up every morning as if you’ve just finished playing a two hour game of football. This is the case for 1 in 20 Americans, says Mark Neagle, M.D., of Northern Colorado Pulmonary Consultants, P.C.

slee

p di

sord

ers

by erica pauly

“we cannot diagnose

sleep apnea just

based on symptoms

alone. however, this

is a manageable

disorder, not a

preventable one.”

Mark Neagle, M.D.,Northern Colorado

Pulmonary Consultants, P.C.

NOrThErN COlOradO PulmONary CONSulTaNTS, P.C.

Dr. Neagle is Board Certified in In-ternal Medicine, Pulmonary, Criti-cal Care, and Sleep. For five years and counting, he has provided the know-how and heart to help

treat Northern Colorado residents suffering from sleep apnea.

What is Sleep Apnea?“Really, it is easier described as sleep dis-

ordered breathing,” says Dr. Neagle. Sleep dis-ordered breathing can be caused by a block-age of the airway or a problem of patterned breathing.

Sleep disordered breathing, or sleep ap-

nea, includes snoring, frequent awakenings, or momentarily stopped breathing for periods throughout the night. Many people who suffer from disordered breathing do not notice their actions. It is often the family member or sleep partner who hears the problem throughout the night and who is concerned about their loved


by erica pauly

one’s sleep patterns. Once the individual does regain breath, they usually recover with a loud snort or choking noise, according to both Dr. Neagle and the U.S. Department of Health and Human services.

Dr. Neagle notes, “We cannot diagnose sleep apnea just based on symptoms alone. Sometimes people just snore, which doesn’t mean they have a sleep disordered breathing case. Others snore and it is apparent during a sleep study that they have sleep apnea.”

Individuals suffering from sleep apnea will generally be sleepy all day, due to the lack of ‘deep’ sleep throughout the night. Other symp-toms include inability to concentrate through-out the day, constant fatigue, memory loss, and even depression. Dr. Neagle notes, “Some-times people say, ‘No, I don’t have a problem sleeping, I can sleep all day,’ but I have to re-mind them that they are so tired because they never receive the deep sleep needed for a good night’s rest.”

Who suffers from it?Current estimates are that 1 in 20 Ameri-

cans suffer from sleep apnea, although there can be a wide variety in forms of sleep disor-dered breathing.

Though the poster child for sleep apnea is an obese middle-aged male, Dr. Neagle re-minds us that this is not always the case, “Yes, obesity does increase the chance of sleep ap-nea, but so does living at higher altitudes as well as advancing age.” We live at a higher altitude, and Fort Collins is known for its out-standing retirement communities, so it is not a surprise that Dr. Neagle treats patients from 14 years old to patients in their 90s.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, women are less likely to suffer from sleep apnea. However, Dr. Neagle sees both males and females for sleep disordered breathing.

How is it treated?Sleep disordered breathing can be treated

several different ways. However, “this is a man-ageable disorder, not a preventable one.” In or-der to treat a patient effectively, Dr. Neagle and his staff ask the patient to take part in a sleep study. Seventy-five percent of the sleep study patients need only stay one night at the Sleep Disorders Center located near Poudre Valley Hospital.

For the study, the patient has wires glued to his or her head and a band around their chest and abdomen. While it may look a bit Frankenstein-like, Dr. Neagle says that if the patient must get up to use the restroom, there is only one small piece they must unplug. “It is not like you have to unhook yourself from some scary contraption, you just un-plug from one spot and go on your way.”

“We can usually make this a split-night test on most of our patients,” says Dr. Neagle. A split-night test occurs when the patient shows signs of sleep apnea within a few hours. When this occurs, the staff wakes the patient and begins treating the sleep apnea in hopes to pinpoint and resolve the sleep disorder in the same night.

Lifestyle Changes To Improve Sleep

If you have mild sleep apnea, some changes in daily activities or habits may be all that you need.

• Avoid alcohol and medicines that make you sleepy. They make it harder for your throat to stay open while you sleep.

• Lose weight if you’re overweight or obese. Even a little weight loss can improve your symptoms.

• Sleep on your side instead of your back to help keep your throat open. You can sleep with special pillows or shirts that prevent you from sleeping on your back.

• Keep your nasal passages open at night with nose sprays or allergy medicines, if needed. Talk to your doctor about whether these treatments might help you.

• Stop smoking.

If a split-night test cannot be achieved, the patient is asked to return for a second night, when the treatment would take place.

The most common method of treatment is the CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine. The machine consists of a mask fitted over the nose and/or mouth of the individual. Air is administered through the mask and into the airway in order to prevent blockage and to maintain an open airway throughout the night. The CPAP machine is the most commonly used and most researched treatment method. Ac-cording to Dr. Neagle, 80 to 90 percent of his patients use the CPAP machine. What about the other 10 to 20 percent of patients? “There are other options such as devices made by dentists in the community, surgical procedures, and medication if a patient prefers a different avenue other than the CPAP machine,” says Dr. Neagle.

Recent commercials advertising mouth-pieces or nose adhesives will help with snoring, says Dr. Neagle, but the spokespeople of these companies make it very clear that the mouth-pieces and adhesives are made only to prevent snoring, not sleep disordered breathing.

Additional Treatment MethodsDr. Neagle suggests that most of his pa-

tients work alongside nutritionists and other doctors to get weight down, if necessary. “We partner with the patient to get them to a healthy place, not just in their sleep patterns, but their overall health.”

There are a few recommendations for life-style changes that will help those with mild sleep apnea. These are found at the U.S. De-partment of Health and Human Services’ Web-site, www.nhlbi.nih.gov. Enter “Sleep Apnea” into the search tool.

Responsibility of Loved OnesIf you do not suffer from sleep apnea, but

someone you care about does, the best thing to do is to encourage your loved one to receive medical help from a professional. There are not many options as a spectator to help someone with these conditions, but a medical profes-sional is trained and has the resources to im-prove the quality of your sleep as well as that of your sleep disordered breathing partner.

Northern Colorado Pulmonary Consultants is located at 2121 East Harmony Road, Suite 300, in Fort Collins. They can be reached at (970) 224-9102 to schedule an appointment to discuss healthy options for sleep disorders.

Results“I love treating those who are initially skep-

tical of finding a treatment option,” says Dr. Neagle with a smile. He continues, “They are the ones who always come back impressed that something actually works and can help them.”

The positive results come from the positive outlook of Dr. Neagle himself. From the ini-tial meeting between him and his patient, Dr. Neagle informs them of his three goals: First, to help them find a way to sleep better and feel better. Second, to reduce the risk of heart attacks or any other serious health risks. And third, help others living with the patient so that, ultimately, sleep is improved for everyone. “I’ve been surprised in the past when it’s the spouses, partners, and family sending me flow-ers saying ‘Thank you! I can sleep again!’” +

Erica Pauly is a freelance-writer living in Love-land with her husband, Brent.

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REPLAcEmENt PARtS iN thE21st CentURYIt was still dark when I arrived at the Orthopaedic Center of the Rockies surgical facility. I changed into starched dark blue scrubs and covered my hair with a filmy cap. Soon I was joined by seven other identically dressed figures; the team was assembled. For them it was business as usual. For me it was a rare opportunity to glimpse a medical miracle in the making. Today a patient would be released from a decade of constant pain. Today he would regain the full use of his arm. Today, his shoulder joint would be replaced.

orth

oped

ics

by SuSan D. cole

No longer are we

consigned to living

the sunset of our

lives as victims of

crippling arthritis.

The advent of joint

replacement has

vastly changed the

outlook for people

with arthritis and

provided a plethora

of new shoulders,

knees and hips.

OrThOPaEdiC CENTEr OF ThE rOCkiES

A rthritis isn’t picky; it affects people of all ages, from all walks of life. Sometimes it’s a result of trauma, like an auto accident, but more often it is just a part of aging.

There are various types like degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis) and disease-based rheu-matoid arthritis. Often, in the business, arthritis is simply called the “wear and tear” disease. The advent of joint replacement has vastly changed the outlook for people with arthritis and pro-vided a plethora of new shoulders, knees, and hips. Today, I would see the procedure used to insert an artificial shoulder joint.

The shoulder is a ball and socket joint that

allows you to raise, twist, and bend your arm. It enables you to move your arm forward, to the side, and behind your body. Normal shoulders allow these movements smoothly. This is impor-tant because the shoulder must rotate through a greater range of motion than any other joint in the body. The rounded part of the upper arm is supposed to be covered with a layer of smooth cartilage. This layer protects the bone as it glides against a dish-like socket that forms the top part of the joint. But sometimes this process is interrupted.

Robert* had spent four decades working in the manual labor field. His left shoulder had borne the brunt of the heavy lifting and pound-

ing of his daily job. Over time, the protective coating of cartilage over the bone started to wear thin and the bones began to rub against each other. The body tries to protect itself against the deterioration of the bones. “Spurs” often form around the edges of the ball socket and bits of cartilage and bone can break loose and become “floaters.” Combined with the fric-tion of bone on bone this translates into pain. As we would soon discover, Robert’s shoulder joint ball was encircled with spiky bone spurs.

Like most of us, Robert had shied away from surgery. He tried medications to control the pain and, eventually, cortisone shots to re-duce the inflammation in the joint. But the pain


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continued and the wearing in the joint began to reduce the function in his arm. If this pro-cess goes on too long, Robert would begin to experience numbness and loss of arm function. In extreme cases, the bones in the joint be-come so worn that there isn’t enough bone to work with and surgical replacement becomes impossible.

When I entered the surgical suite, covered from head to toe in blue and wearing a mask, I received one final warning from the surgi-cal team: stay at least eighteen inches away from all instruments and blue covered tables. I pulled my arms close to my sides.

Then I climbed up on the observation lad-der overlooking Dr. Sean Grey’s shoulder.

We were both positioned next to Robert’s left side. Robert was sleeping peacefully under anesthetic. He looked like he was lying in a lounge chair with his head and knees slightly elevated. His body was covered with a blanket and sterile drape and even his face was “tent-ed.” His arm and shoulder had turned a burnt orange from Betadyne antibacterial wash and had been coated with a layer of “Saran Wrap.” The word “yes” had been written on the arm as final insurance that the correct one was be-ing operated on.

After one last look at the CAT Scan and X-rays, Dr. Grey was ready to begin.

A diagonal incision was cut across the joint and the incision deepened with succes-sive cuts. The tiny blood vessels were sealed off as they began to bleed by the physician’s assistant, Brian Hoffman. I was surprised at how little blood there was in the wound itself. Carefully the surgeon spread apart two of the major muscles, the peck major and the deltoid, to expose the joint itself. By avoiding actually cutting the muscles, the surgeon was able to minimize the recovery process for Robert.

Spreaders (retractors) held the muscles

apart while the surgeon worked. Finally, the rounded head of the humerus was exposed. It was almost shiny, with virtually no cartilage at all, and jagged with bone spurs. Carefully the surgeon removed the diseased head of the humerus with a small scissor saw. Now a new head would be selected. The surgeon reached into a box filled with dome-shaped plastic patterns. They looked like mushrooms in colorful rows of orange, purple, and green. These would allow the surgeon to determine the exact size of implant Robert needed. At his word, the representative from the implant company (affectionately called the “box boy”) unwrapped the correct apparatus.

It had two major parts: a ball that looked like a golf ball on a tee, and a three-legged dish. The surgeon drilled out several inches of the arm bone, and inserted the “tee.” Rob-ert’s jagged ball joint had been replaced with a shiny new sphere. Now it was time to replace the “dish.” Three holes were drilled in the top shoulder bone. Each hole was then dried with a blow dryer and a type of cement was inserted in each. Quickly the feet of the dish were in-serted and held. The surgeon then had a nurse place a ball of cement into his other gloved hand and into mine.

When the cement becomes hard the im-plant will be set. Bone cement is a special ad-hesive that looks like pale gray Play-doh. As I squeezed it, it began to get almost unbearably hot and then it hardened. “You have to be pa-tient,” Dr. Grey explained. “The pressure on the dish must continue until the cement reach-es just the right temperature and hardness.”

Finally, the procedure was complete and Robert had a new shoulder. Brian, the physi-cian’s assistant, would sew up the incision and complete the remaining details. The sur-geon would take a much needed break; there were seven more shoulder replacements today

and the procedure required exertion. It took strength to wrestle the bones between the muscles during the operation. No wonder most orthopedic surgeons are men.

Robert would have several weeks of physi-cal therapy and would have to be careful us-ing his arm for the next year. It is important to ease back into regular activity so that the body can settle properly around the joint. But he was very happy. Yes, there are annoying aspects of having an artificial joint: special screenings and “pattings” at airports, a squiggly scar snaking across the shoulder, and a limit to clothing op-tions (strapless gowns are probably no longer an option, although Robert wouldn’t be con-cerned about that). But the gains far outweigh the negatives.

As artificial joints become better and bet-ter, the surgeries increase in number. Most patients rave about the almost miraculous re-sults and absence of pain. No longer are we consigned to living the sunset of our lives as victims of crippling arthritis. With high-tech, light weight stainless steel prostheses, we are actually worth less, dry weight, than the sum of our parts. But who’s counting? With knee replacements edging towards three-quarters of a million annually, hip replacements closing in on that number, and shoulder replacements at roughly 50,000 in the U.S., chances are that you are acquainted with someone who has a replacement part. +

*patient’s name has been changed to protect his privacy

Susan D. Cole is a college counselor and author of three books and numerous articles. She lives in Fort Collins.

Sean Grey, M.D., Orthopaedic Center of the RockiesDr. Sean Grey (left), with assistant Brian Hoffman, examines X-rays during surgery. The patient received re-placement parts to give him a new shoulder.



Christopher Bee, MD

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bAck to bAck sUCCessesTwo surgical specialties, orthopedics and neurosurgery, when combined, pack a powerful punch. They change lives, in fact.

neur

osur

gery

and

ort

hope

dics

by corey raDMan

FrONT raNgE CENTEr FOr BraiN & SPiNE SurgEry, P.C.

I t’s a statement that seems obvious but has little meaning until one really looks at the individual lives that have been im-pacted.

Without surgery, Alan Braga would have spent the rest of his life looking at his feet. Without medical intervention, Colorado Eagle’s former Head Coach and current Gen-eral Manager might have had to leave hockey altogether. Without that treatment, the Colo-rado Eagles might not have won the 2007 Cen-tral Hockey League Championship.

In 2007, Eagles’ President and General Manager, Chris Stewart, was a Head Coach who couldn’t stand or sit comfortably for any period of time. Stewart had planned to take a hiatus for a portion of the season while he ad-dressed the degeneration of his lumbar discs.

The bone on bone grinding in his lower back had reached a point where bumping down the road on the team bus was excruciating.

He had even been mistakenly assumed dead by an opposing team’s equipment man-ager one day when, during a pre-game skate, he had stretched out flat on the floor under the stands. He laughs as he remembers the tem-porary panic his prone position caused. “The only way to reduce pain was to go in under the stands and lay flat on my back to take the pres-sure off. The guy must have thought I’d had a heart attack or died or something.”

Stewart explains that his back problems hadn’t been caused by a specific hockey injury but probably had been exacerbated by a career that involved a lot of activity and many, many miles on the road. The pain wasn’t responding

long term to any of the multiple therapies he had tried, so Stewart started looking for a sur-geon. The name he heard again and again was orthopedist, Douglas Beard, M.D. At the time, Dr. Beard was practicing in Denver.

Dr. Beard explains the lumbar disc arthro-plasty he performed with consultation from his neurosurgical colleagues: “Coach Stewart had a two level, lumbar disc replacement. The pro-cedure is done retroperitoneally (from the front side, going through the abdomen). Usually we make a small incision and work carefully around or behind organs. And no, we don’t pull the guts out of the abdominal cavity and plop them aside while we work on the spine,” Dr. Beard jokes. “It’s a common misconception.”

“We find the diseased disc level and spend a lot of time remobilizing the disc – getting it to

Chris Stewart, General Manager of the Colorado Eagles, with orthopedist Douglas Beard, M.D.


Northern Colorado Medical & Wellness 23

move again the way it’s supposed to - getting off bone spurs, and making sure there is noth-ing bulging backwards towards the nerves. In older days, we would have removed the dis-eased disc and placed a block of bone between the two sites, where they would have grown together and forever more been fused. With the arthoplasty procedure, we assemble a plas-tic ball and metal cup arrangement that allows

the vertebrae above and below to continue moving naturally.”

Dr. Beard uses the ProDisc prosthesis from Synthes, which has two metal endplates and one plastic in-lay. The metal endplates are care-fully fitted to the upper and lower vertebrae. According to Synthes, the plastic inlay snap locks into the lower endplate and provides the ball that rides in the socket of the upper end-

plate that is intended to allow motion. By re-placing spinal fusion surgery with arthroplasty (literally meaning surgical repair of the joint), patients’ spines have better mobility and less stress on joints surrounding a fused site.

Coach Stewart says, “The procedure and recovery went very well. I was back on the bench within six to eight weeks - a lot quicker than initially anticipated. I had planned to be

Patient Alan Braga is seen by surgeon Timothy Wirt, M.D. for his post-surgical appointment.

Before X-ray of Alan Braga’s spine. Weakened neck and back muscles prevented him from straightening his neck.

After X-ray which shows the 20 screws attached to the metal rod used to straighten Braga’s neck.

“doug and i have similar approaches. when we operate together, things really click which makes surgeries much faster

and thus reduces risks to patients from exposure to the air and long periods

under general anesthesia.”

Timothy Wirt, M.D., Front range Center for

Brain & Spine Surgery, P.C.

Colorado Eagles General Manager Chris Stewart celebrates the 2007 Central Hockey League Championship win.


on sabbatical potentially for the whole sea-son… We went on to win the national Cham-pionship that year.” Stewart gives credit to the Eagle’s staff, and especially his assistant coach, Ryan Bach for their excellent work. However, he feels that it was Dr. Beard’s care that made winning the cup a possibility at all. “It abso-lutely helped accommodate that opportunity to win the championship,” he says.

Results like Chris Stewart’s caught the at-tention of the partners at Front Range Center for Brain & Spine Surgery, P.C. (FRCBS) whose then 29-year-old neurosurgery practice was thriving. Already renowned for exceptional head work and top quality spine care, the part-ners agreed that adding Dr. Beard would bring a new level of technical ability, allowing them to care for patients who had complex deformi-ties.

Senior surgeon, Timothy Wirt, M.D. who has practiced at FRCBS since 1980, says, “It has been a great partnership.” Since Dr. Beard joined in 2008, the practice has benefited from the synergy of surgical excellence in orthope-dics and neurosurgery. FRCBS’s four surgeons, Timothy Wirt, M.D., Donn Turner, M.D., Hans Coester, M.D., and Douglas Beard, M.D., are all board certified in their specialties. All but Dr. Beard are also fellows in the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Wirt, known throughout the region for swift, safe, accurate surgeries appreciates

25Northern Colorado Medical & Wellness 2009

Beard’s skills in the operating room. “Doug and I have similar approaches. When we operate together, things really click which makes sur-geries much faster and thus reduces risks to pa-tients from exposure to the air and long periods under general anesthesia.”

The practice’s approach to surgery seems to get results. Care Science, a national, indepen-dent quality management firm reported that surgical patients of FRCBS had half the morbid-ity rate of the national average (.9 percent ver-sus 1.8), and had 5.8 percent fewer surgical-related complications than usual.

FRCBS’s practice draws patients from all across Colorado, western Nebraska, and south-ern Wyoming. In many cases, people bypass other major medical centers to come to Fort Collins specifically because of the reputation for excellence that has been built by the part-ners.

Such was the case for Alan Braga. The 75-years-old semi-retired farmer lives in En-campment, Wyoming. When it was clear that his severely humped neck was not going to straighten up through physical therapy, his friends suggested he go see Dr. Wirt.

“The trouble with my neck started 15 years ago. My neck and back muscles were not strong enough to lift my head up any more. My face was perpendicular to my body. I couldn’t look people in the eye and just felt like there was a barrier between me and the world,” Braga explains.

Dr. Wirt performed a C2 to T4 fusion from the bottom of Braga’s cranium to his shoulders by screwing a nine inch titanium rod into the spine. “He’s got a metal rod for a neck,” Dr. Wirt sums up.

“Mr. Braga’s procedure went well,” recalls Dr. Wirt. “We set him up in the operating room to be physiologically and anatomically neutral. He was curved downward, so under general anesthesia, we repositioned his head to be neutral with his eyes level. Then we opened up the cervical/thoracic spine [inserted the rod] and put screws into every lateral mass. We con-nected the 20 screws to the rod, roughed up the bone and laid down material that will make it all fuse together.”

“It feels good to finally greet people eye to eye,” Braga says by phone from his home in Encampment. “I think I had the best care – I couldn’t have had better surgeons anywhere.”

At one point, FRCBS might not have at-tempted to correct Braga’s deformity. However Dr. Beard’s previous experience with cervical fusions added the extra know-how that was needed to ensure a successful outcome.

Because of the integration of neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery, Front Range Center for Brain & Spine Surgery now offers more depth in spine care. Because of the collaboration of tal-ented physicians like these, Chris Stewart and Alan Braga are living fuller, less painful lives… and Northern Colorado is home to a CHL na-tional championship team. +

Corey Radman is a writer and mother of two who lives in Fort Collins.

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PAP SmEARS ESSENtiALfoR CeRviCal healthThanks to diligent women who get their yearly Pap smears, cervical cancer rates have dropped dramatically over the past four decades.

prev

enti

on

by Kay rioS

“Before Pap screens,

carcinoma of the

cervix was the

number one killer of

women in the u.S.”

Arlene Libby, M.D., Summit Pathology

SummiT PaThOlOgy

Before Pap screens, “carcinoma of the cervix was the number one killer of women in the U.S.,” says Arlene Libby, M.D. and medical director for cytology services and

breast pathology at Summit Pathology. “Now that’s not true, but in countries where they don’t have Pap smears, it’s still number one.”

In fact, the National Cervical Cancer Coali-tion reports that worldwide 473,000 women are diagnosed each year, with 85 percent of the cases occurring in developing countries. Currently in the U.S., about 10,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year. That number was considerably higher in the 50s but, with the increased use of the Pap test, the death rate declined by 74 percent.

Findings of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reaffirmed that

fewer and fewer American women are diag-nosed with cervical cancer every year because of the use of the Pap test, and newer screening tools and treatments continue to reduce inci-dences. But any test is only good if it is used and, the study said, most women who got the disease had either never had a Pap smear or had not taken one for five years.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports that, in 2005, almost 13 million women age 18 to 64 had not re-ceived the Pap test within the last three years. Insurance, education, and ethnicity all played a role in that decision, according to AHRQ’s study. Twenty-five percent of uninsured women failed to receive a Pap test within three years. Asian women were less likely to have consent-ed to the test than other ethnic groups. Lesser-educated women registered higher numbers of

those not receiving the test. Twice the number of single women had not received a Pap smear, compared with those who were married.

It’s important to get a Pap test, says Jacque-line Fields, M.D. and founder of Healing Gar-dens. “Cervical cancer is extremely treatable, but we need to know what is happening in the cervix to be able to treat any abnormalities.”

She adds that, “Within one year of being sexually active or beginning at age 21, women need to have a Pap smear. Once people are married and monogamous, and they have had normal Pap smears, they can have their Pap smear every two years.”

Having a yearly test is usually recommend-ed until age 30. After that, the human Papillo-mavirus (HPV) test is usually given at the same time. If the HPV test is negative and the Pap smear is normal, the test may be skipped for up

to three years, Dr. Libby says. “That approach isn’t really used on a wide-

spread basis,” she says. “One reason is that doctors are afraid the patients will not come in for the rest of the exam. They still need to come in for a breast checkup and have their ovaries checked and, if not for the Pap smear requirement, the rest of the exam may not hap-pen.”

The Pap smear, says Fields, looks for abnor-mal cells in the cervix. “We have a higher risk for having abnormal cells at the cervical junc-tion, where one cell type tranforms to another. In a Pap, you swab that junction zone and then look at the cells under a microscope. Are they normal or not?”

The majority of abnormal results come from HPV, she says. “There are 60 strains of HPV, but only a handful of them are associated with cer-vical cancer and that’s what we are concerned about. The idea is to find this before cancer evolves.”

The cells taken in the exam are sent to a pa-thology group such as Summit Pathology. Sum-mit is an independent group of doctors that work out of North Colorado Medical Center, Medical Center of the Rockies, Poudre Valley Hospital, McKee Medical Center, East Morgan County Hospital, and Estes Park Medical Cen-ter. At those sites, pathologists review the mat-ter sent to them and provide the analysis.

Dr. Libby says that cells from the Pap smear were previously looked at on a slide. The newer method is to place them in a solution where they are easier to view. There are less false posi-tives and less false negatives with this proce-dure than in the past. “The change to liquid occurred about 10 years ago and has increased the reliability of the test,” Dr. Libby says.

“The main thing we look for is a preneo-plastic condition (dysplasia) that is a condition prior to cancer. That is the beauty of the Pap. Cervical carcinoma has a long phase that we can detect in its early stages. A woman’s cells can be infected by HPV and, depending on the type of HPV and the woman’s immune re-sponse to that virus, it can either disappear or progress over a period of years. So we want to catch it at the preneoplastic stage,” she says.

About seven years ago, the HPV test was developed and its use along with the conven-tional Pap has become more common in the past five years. “There are still clinics that just do the basic tests with a conventional Pap on a slide. That’s primarily in indigent clinics be-cause it’s less expensive.”

But the point remains: Pap smears are es-sential in reducing incidence rates. “Cervical cancer is very treatable but, again, you have to come in to have your screening,” Fields says. “I’ve never had anyone die of cervical cancer but that’s because I have very diligent patients. And I think the game is always prevention. In-formation is never the enemy.” +

Kay Rios, Ph.D., is a freelance writer in Fort Col-lins. She writes for a variety of publications and is currently at work on a collection of creative non-fiction and a mystery novel.

29

Jacqueline Fields, M.D., founder of Healing Gardens

Northern Colorado Medical & Wellness 2009

What Every Woman Should

Know about HPV:

• HPV is a very common virus, like chicken pox

• Certain types of HPV are the primary cause of cervical cancer

• Up to 8 out of every 10 women get HPV by age 50

• Regular screenings can protect you from HPV

Lydia’s STYLE Magazine

NEw FaCiliTy iN grEElEy

With people going to great lengths to protect themselves from illnesses, it seems strange to intentionally place yourself in the midst of a contagious atmosphere. That is exactly what people do everyday, however, at the Institute of Business and Medical Careers (IBMC). “It’s an infectious environment you want to be in,” says Steve Steele, president of Northern Colorado’s homegrown occupational associate’s degree school.

med

ical

tra

inin

giNSTiTuTE OF BuSiNESS aNd mEdiCal CarEErS

“i can promise you that

at the end of the day,

the students and their

success are the number

one focus we have.”

Steve Steele, President, institute of Business and

medical Careers

IBMC faculty, staff, and students agree. “To see the growth in students and to see them succeed…I can’t get enough,” says Charissa Swope, a registered medical assistant and phlebotomist, and an IBMC

instructor.Rich and Colleen Laub purchased the school

(originally called Medical Careers Training Cen-ter) in 1991, after moving to Fort Collins. Rich Laub grew up in the postsecondary education world; his father co-founded the National Edu-cation Corporation in Newport Beach, Califor-

nia, so helping people achieve success beyond high school came naturally to him.

When the school’s student population be-gan bourgeoning in the mid-‘90s and the Laubs recognized a need in Northern Colorado for bet-ter trained business professionals, they changed the school’s name to the Institute of Business and Medical Careers (IBMC) and expanded its offerings from primarily medical assisting to in-clude diplomas and degrees in medical billing and coding, therapeutic massage, pharmacy technician, business administration and ac-

counting, paralegal, and administrative assis-tant. Since then, they also established branch campuses in Greeley and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

According to Diana Gunderson, Vice Presi-dent of Education, the school has seen another influx of students in the past two years. Enroll-ment today stands at more than 750 students compared to half that number in 2007.

The relative brevity of IBMC programs (19 months or less for most programs) attracts many students, often those fresh out of high school who do not want to attend a two- or four-year

ibmc mEdicAL tRAiNiNg Changes lives by renee young

30


university, but know they need college-level career training. “Employers are excited to get IBMC graduates because they are prepared enough to be able to hit the ground running, but yet they’re still trainable to suit an individual employer’s needs,” Gunderson explains.

IBMC’s fast-track coursework also attracts people who may want to change careers, such as Carole Thyfault. “I wanted a career for my-self that I could take anywhere to support my son and myself…something to be proud of…and the 19-month [medical assisting] program turned me on.”

IBMC’s medical assisting program includes training in taking vital signs, injections, phle-botomy, the preparation of lab specimens, EKGs, suture removal, and more. In addition to class training, students participate in an extern-

Registered medical assistant, phlebotomist, and IBMC instructor, Charissa Swope (center), shows students how to take a patient’s blood pressure.

At IBMC (Fort Collins campus pictured), students can access healthcare careers including: medical billing and coding, therapeutic massage, pharmacy technician, and medical assisting.


100 percent job placement rate in medical pro-fessions. Part of this success is credited to the school’s hands-on training by instructors who work in the healthcare field and externships, which afford students the opportunity to gain real-world experience and make connections while working in local clinics and medical set-tings.

Tara Campbell received a degree in massage therapy and was working part time as a thera-pist, plus working full time managing University of Northern Colorado’s health clinic. More and more she found herself responsible for billing and collections, so she enrolled in IBMC’s medi-cal billing and coding degree program. Camp-bell took advantage of IBMC’s flexible hours; she worked her jobs all day, plus mothered six

ship where they do hands-on training in a physi-cian’s office, a clinic, or other healthcare setting.

Certainly the economy is another reason for the increasing enrollment at IBMC and other postsecondary institutions. In a down economy, “…people get a little scared and take a look at themselves and want to add some more mar-ketable skills,” Steele says. The medical field seems to offer some protection from job losses that other fields, such as technology, don’t of-fer. “Healthcare is something, regardless of what the economy is like, we all have to have. So we’ve really tried to focus our program offer-ings around things that don’t cycle, like health-care.”

IBMC touts an average 90 percent monthly retention rate, plus anywhere from an 83 to

children, then attended classes from six to nine o’clock in the evening four nights a week. Now Campbell manages her own medical billing business where she employs three other people, two of whom also are IBMC graduates.

For Campbell, “balancing workload and time management was huge, but it was defi-nitely worth it.”

It must have been, because now Campbell’s 19-year-old daughter, Kesha Montoya, a newly-wed and new mom, is halfway through a medi-cal assisting degree program at IBMC’s Greeley campus. “I probably wouldn’t have been aware of what IBMC has to offer if it hadn’t been for my mom, but I love it. It’s like a small commu-nity – everybody knows everybody and is willing to help one another out.”

IBMC’s classes are challenging. Campbell already alluded to how daunting the workload can be without exercising serious time manage-ment skills. Thyfault says that, “it was definitely challenging trying to work, go to school, and maintain a 4.0 GPA, plus raise a family, but IBMC will follow you through and support you.”

Jessica Pantano, a recent IBMC graduate with an associate’s degree in medical assisting, says she had tears in her eyes the day she fin-ished her classes. “These guys are like a second family. They take care of their students here and help you through the hard stuff, like financial aid. It’s definitely more of a people environment versus an institution.”

For Pantano, who was hired by the Wom-en’s Clinic of Northern Colorado the day after she finished her externship, but before she ac-tually received her diploma, the expense to at-tend IBMC at first seemed more than she could handle. “The biggest hurdle for me was the cost. It’s definitely more expensive than [some

32


other local colleges], but the fact that I already have a job and I haven’t even officially graduat-ed makes it worth it. Plus, financial aid covered about 99 percent of my expenses.”

Additionally, the cost of IBMC’s medical programs (approximately $17,500 to $27,000) is all-inclusive. “The price includes tuition, books, and medical kits that include items used in class and labs, like a stethoscope, blood pres-sure cuff, and lab coat,” says Christina Nilsson, IBMC’s marketing executive. “Students are not nickel and dimed here like at a lot of other col-leges where you have tuition, then other ex-penses, and then more expenses.”

Another challenge for some students is that credits earned at IBMC often do not transfer to other colleges and universities. Gunderson said IBMC credits currently transfer to the University of Phoenix, Colorado Christian University, Colo-rado Technical University, and Regis University, and the school is working on more transfer agreements. “I would love to see us have an articulation agreement with Front Range Com-munity College or AIMS Community College.”

Despite the challenges, most students agree that IBMC changes lives. To those considering IBMC, Thyfault says, “Just go. Just do it. Don’t hesitate. You won’t have regrets.”

“Caring individuals, changing lives,” reads IBMC’s tagline. “That’s a nice thing to be able to say and a nice thing to put on a t-shirt, but it’s completely another thing to live it,” Steele says. “I can promise you that at the end of the day, the students and their success are the number one focus we have.” +

Renee Young is a freelance writer based in Fort Collins.

IBMC’s education team: Steve Steele, President; Eric Thompson, Dean of Education; JoAnn Caddoo, Director of Career Services; and Diane Gunderson, Vice President of Education

NEw FaCiliTy iN grEElEy

Meeting the needs of the community is what Mountain Valley Health Care is about, providing services in home care, hospice, and rehabilitation.

hom

e ca

remOuNTaiN VallEy hEalTh CarE

“There are very few

agencies out there that

do both home care and

hospice. To be able

to provide care under

home care and then

make the transition to

hospice is unique. we

have a lot of different

resources to access for

each patient.”

James Contos, President, mountain Valley health Care

It’s not unusual for a nurse or therapist from Mountain Valley Health Care to drive up to Wyoming or venture deep into Northern Colorado’s foothills to as-sist a client. From the chaplain to medical

specialists to administrators, every staff mem-ber here puts the well-being of the patient first, regardless of how long and windy the car drive to reach the person might be. It’s part of the holistic approach the agency embraces to give patients and their families quality individu-alized care along with spiritual support.

“Our philosophy is twofold,” says Larry Kilpatrick, chaplain for Mountain Valley Health Care. “The home care side deals with people who are expected to recover. With a hospice di-agnosis, the focus is on quality of life and help-

ing someone live life to the fullest to the end. What ties these two together is the emphasis on going through it with dignity. We’re here to help patients and their families who are going through a rough time.”

James Contos, who has led the Northern Colorado agency as its president since 2004, emphasizes what sets Mountain Valley Health Care apart: “There are very few agencies out there that do both home care and hospice. Many of our people are cross trained. To be able to provide care under home care and then make the transition to hospice is unique. For example, a dying person might need physical therapy. We have a lot of different resources to access for each patient.”

Home care addresses the needs of individu-

als who are chronically ill, disabled, or recover-ing from injury or illness. A staff member or team visits the patient at his or her place of residence, providing everything from therapies and treatments to personal care assistance. Of-ten, therapies are combined for better results. One example is the merging of music therapy with physical therapy.

Neurologic Music TherapyMary Koopman, MT-BC, NMT, is a board

certified music therapist specializing in neuro-logic music therapy. She often accompanies a physical therapist on a home care visit to en-hance the session, bringing her autoharp, a portable stringed instrument that allows her to play a wide range of music. “I use music

PRovidiNg A coNtiNuumof CaRe by graciela SholanDer


Physical therapist Jenny Scarpulla performs vestibular rehabilitation with a Mountain Valley Health Care patient.


35

therapy to facilitate the efficiency of motor movements. The physical therapist works on specific movements, and the music adds to the efficiency by cueing and prompting neurons. New motor neuron pathways are created along the length of a song.”

Neurologic music therapy works well for patients of all ages, particularly those dealing with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, stroke, or brain injury. By introducing external stimulus in the form of music that engages the patient, a physical therapy session becomes more effec-tive. Koopman customizes her research-based therapy to meet the specific needs of individu-als affected by nervous system diseases.

She’s seen significant improvement in bal-ance, coordination, and endurance, as well as in the person’s mood, when music therapy is included. Applied in a hospice setting, special memories are created. “Music therapy sup-ports the family in addition to the patient,”

notes Koopman. “When I’m playing a favorite song or hymn, it can create a powerful bond between everyone present.”

Vestibular Rehabilitation TherapyAnother specialty Mountain Valley Health

Care offers is vestibular rehabilitation therapy, which deals with the human balance system that depends in large part on the inner ear. Symptoms such as vertigo, dizziness, ringing, nausea, and a number of balance issues can result from vestibular disorders. “The eyes, in-ner ear, and nervous system work together to regulate balance,” explains physical therapist Jenny Scarpulla, MSPT. “The vestibular system is located in the inner ear.”

Vestibular rehabilitation involves a thor-ough evaluation and, whenever possible, treatment of the cause of the symptoms, fol-lowed by therapy sessions designed to retrain the brain to process signals more effectively.

Mountain Valley Health Care’s team: President James Contos, music therapist Mary Koopman, physical therapist Jenny Scarpulla, and chaplain Larry Kilpatrick..



“The first step is to determine why the person is dizzy,” says Scarpulla. “The second step in-volves exercises to retrain the eyes and ears to work together. The last step is doing therapy strength exercises for balance.”

She recalls the case of a woman who trav-eled extensively by plane and had been expe-riencing significant dizziness and repeated falls for the past 15 years. Through vestibular re-habilitation therapy, her dizzy symptoms disap-peared. “I saw her twice, and in only two treat-ments she was back to normal,” says Scarpulla. Balance and strength retraining completed the therapy for this patient.

Mist TherapySome wounds take longer to heal than

others. Mountain Valley Health Care offers a relatively new therapy that can accelerate heal-ing and benefit both chronic and acute skin wounds. Called Mist Therapy, the system uses acoustic pressure to clean the wound, remove bacteria, and stimulate growth of new, healthy cells. It works through ultrasound and can complement any existing wound care regimen.

Kathy Rodriguez, RN, has used the sys-tem extensively with home care patients. “I’ve seen dramatic results. The technology is low-frequency ultrasound, and the device does not come into direct contact with the wound. It penetrates deeply and jumpstarts cell repro-duction. We see an increase in healing with this supplemental, add-on therapy.”

Non-contact ultrasound waves deliver a sterile saline mist. The treatment is painless and easy to administer. Cleared by the FDA to pro-mote wound healing, the Mist Therapy System is customizable, with a typical session lasting three to five minutes. It can be used twice a week or in conjunction with a scheduled dress-ing change.

“Getting out to a clinic may be difficult for skin wound patients,” notes Contos. “So mak-ing this therapy available by coming out to the person’s home to treat a chronic wound makes it more convenient.”

Care ContinuumThese are just some of the many services

Mountain Valley Health Care brings directly to the homes of Northern Colorado and Wyoming residents, including nursing homes and respite care. Other services include occupational thera-py, social work, bereavement counseling, spiri-tual care, massage therapy, and pet therapy. Two facilities, one in Windsor and one in Lou-isville, serve as coordinating stations that send specialists out where they are needed. With its dedicated staff, diverse skills set, and emphasis on treating the whole person, Mountain Valley Health Care is ready to bring quality healthcare services to your doorstep. +

To learn more about Mountain Valley Health Care visit their Website at:

www.mountainvalleyhealth.com or

call them at 1-800-368-7137.

Graciela Sholander is a Fort Collins-based writ-er and author of Dream It Do It, www.dream-itdoit.net.

chooSiNg A ChiRopRaCtoRChoosing a chiropractor can be a challenging proposition. Some chiropractors believe strictly in manipulating the spine; others take a holistic view of treating the entire body. A chiropractor can treat an immediately painful problem or can take a long-term approach to changing the body’s structure. In light of the varied types of chiropractors today, how can you be sure the chiropractor you call will have similar treatment goals?

Wel

lnes

s

by angeline grenz

ChirOPraCTiC CarE

F inding a good chiropractor involves delving first into your own philoso-phies and needs. Do you want a quick adjustment? Are you looking for someone to invest a great quantity

of time into your overall health and wellbeing? These decisions can influence which chiropractor might be best suited to you.

At the same time, there are some cautionary considerations. Julie Scott, D.C., of Scott Chiro-practic and Healthcare Systems also sits on the Colorado State Board of Chiropractic Examiners and consults for the National Board of Chiro-practic Examiners. Dr. Scott says the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners is taking a strong look at some practices among chiropractors.

Dr. Scott cautions against chiropractors that request patients sign lengthy contracts with up-front payments, often several thousand dollars. “There exists over-abuse and scare tactics among

some chiropractors,” she says. Additionally, Dr. Scott says that some claims made by chiroprac-tors have yet to be conclusively tested. “The state laws, rules, and guidelines definitely follow the facts. If chiropractors want to use something new, they need to do all the tests.”

Dr. Scott’s own philosophy is “medically modeled,” and she works closely with medical doctors, surgeons, and others from the health-care arena. She warns consumers to watch for chiropractors that require their patients to spend “hundreds and hundreds of dollars on supple-ments.” She adds that these and other market-ing techniques “are not pro-patient.”

In general, says Dr. Scott, most chiropractic conditions will start to improve in four to six treatments. From there, frequency should be decreased as the patient improves. Some more complex conditions may require further care and rehab that may take up to 12 weeks.

Regardless, she adds, when choosing a chi-ropractor, find one who is upfront about their treatment techniques and plans. The State Board of Chiropractic Examiners, says Scott, is taking a long, hard look at chiropractors that go beyond the parameters of their profession. If you are unfamiliar with chiropractors in your area, she recommends looking at the approved chiroprac-tors on the lists of insurance providers for a good idea of quality practitioners.

“Chiropractic medicine is about fixing bio-mechanical problems. However, there is no such thing as a perfect spine. Our body is a big machine. Chiropractors are shooting for opti-mal alignment and joint mobility, then muscle strength and balance.”

Local chiropractors offer a variety of phi-losophies and treatment profiles. However, there are commonalities they all recommend when it comes to choosing a chiropractor.



4038 Timberline Rd.Fort Collins 80525 | (970) 267-9600

www.advantagechirowc.com 39“When caring for patients, my philosophy is to use what is called a ‘treatment plan.’ This al-lows the patient to track his or her progress us-ing a plan that consists of several adjustments, stretches, and exercises that will help rehabilitate the area of complaint,” says Casey Kincaid, D.C., CCEP, with Advantage Chiropractic of Fort Col-lins. This model helps the patient understand the process is a joint effort: Dr. Kincaid adjusts the pa-tient and gives them the tools to become healthy, but they must also follow through with the plan.

At a successful completion, patients are then transitioned into a maintenance plan with pe-riodic checks to ensure the patient is pain free. Advantage Chiropractic also offers low impact ad-justments, extremity adjustments (with a Certified Chiropractic Extremity Practitioner), family care, sports physicals, treatment of sports injuries, in-house massage therapy, and spinal muscle reha-bilitation exercise/re-education. Advantage Chiro-practic has been serving Fort Collins since 2005.

When choosing a chiropractor, Dr. Kincaid recommends paying attention to the practice’s adjusting techniques. “A friendly staff and com-fortable procedures are important as well,” he adds. Patients should also experience pain relief within two weeks of the initial visit. “At that point, if the pain has not subsided, the chiroprac-tor should change their treatment technique or refer the patient to his or her primary care physi-cian or a specialist.” However, changing the over-all structure of a patient can take three months or longer.

Dr. Kincaid says, “A good chiropractor should do a high quality initial exam.” He continues,

1136 E. Stuart St., Suite 4207Fort Collins 80525(970) 377-0055

Dr. Jeff Groene, of Groene Chiropractic in Fort Collins, says his practice recently reexam-ined their philosophy to better serve their pa-tients. “We come from the standpoint that your health in this world is the most important thing you have. When good health is absent, you can’t work, you can’t enjoy your family, and, at times, you can’t even think.”

Working with this premise, Dr. Groene says the first thing you need is to get your health back. “We care for the human frame from a gross anatomy level as well as on a cellular level with chiropractic care, nutrition and diet.” Dr. Groene takes care of the chiropractic care of his patients; his wife, Mary, addresses diet and nutrition for patients looking for a whole-health approach. The nutrition supplements offered at his practice are food-based products designed to address nutritional deficiencies.

From a structural approach, Dr. Groene says, “I believe the sacrum and pelvis are the founda-tion for your entire body; these are where I put my focus.”

Dr. Groene’s first recommendation for choos-ing a chiropractic doctor is to “find someone you trust and who is honest. This profession has got-ten a bad rap. It seems we have a higher than normal ‘shyster factor.’” This is because there are chiropractors that “try to make chiroprac-tic look better than medicine. Chiropractic and medicine have fundamentally different goals. They are truly complementary in that one ac-complishes what the other can’t.”

“If you find someone who is honest, who won’t string you along, and who has integrity, then you will probably get excellent care no mat-ter what type of techniques they use,” he adds.

In his practice, Dr. Groene prefers not to share office space with other types of caregiv-ers, such as massage therapists and acupunctur-ists. “I am not taking away from these types of care,” he says, “but when trying to get people to understand the importance of what I am do-ing, they can be a distraction.” In general, Dr. Groene says patients in pain should experience improvement in their condition within six visits with a chiropractor. “By then, they should be feeling a whole lot better.” Structural correction, however, “takes longer. It all depends on what your goal is.”

2601 S. Lemay Ave. Fort Collins 80525(970) 223-5914

“Moving is life; if you can move well you can live well,” says Dr. Ed Osgood, with Light-house Chiropractic in Fort Collins. “Chiropractic works because we are a self-regulating, self-healing body controlled by the central nervous system. When we impair this system with stress or trauma, the body’s ability to self-regulate and

heal is hindered.” That is where your chiroprac-tor comes in, returning proper motion and align-ment to the body.

At Lighthouse Chiropractic, it is all about families. From pregnancy to seniors, they have techniques designed to meet the needs of all patients by tailoring care to a patient’s age, con-dition, and overall health. But they have made their specialty treating pregnant mothers and newborns.

“Many patients wonder why a new infant needs care. Consider the birth process itself: it is a very traumatic event causing common mis-alignments in the hips and pelvis,” says Dr. Os-good. “Studies suggest that excessive crying, colic, poor appetite, or erratic sleep habits may be a sign of early spinal distress. Adjustments for infants and children are extra gentle, using no more force than it takes to test a ripe tomato.”

If a patient is not responding well to care, Dr. Osgood takes the time to do a full nutrition evaluation. He also has a degree from Colorado State University in human nutrition. “We work hard with mothers, children, and infants to en-sure the building blocks are in place to live a long, healthy life.”

When selecting a chiropractor, Dr. Osgood quotes a mentor of his: “Every therapy works for someone, but no therapy works for every-one.” He continues, “It is important to match your needs and personality with that of the doc-tor and staff. Talk with someone you can trust for a referral. As you begin care, if you don’t feel comfortable with a method or technique, ask questions. Make sure you are getting the best for your specific needs.”

Chiropractors must have a license from the State Board to practice in Colorado. They are charged with treating neuro-musculo-skeletal conditions, says Osgood. Essentially, they address problems with nerves, muscles, and bones. “If a patient comes with a problem outside the scope of our practice, we will gladly refer them to the appropriate medical doctor.” Other quality chi-ropractors should do likewise in their practices.

40Lydia’s STYLE Magazine40

“From this exam, the chiropractor should be able to tell the patient if a chiropractic adjustment would be beneficial. Adjustments do not help ev-ery condition. I would be cautious about going to any medical or chiropractic doctor who does not perform a high quality physical exam before they start treatment,” he encourages.


4112th Annual Northern Colorado Head and Neck Cancer Screening

Risk factors and possible symptoms of ad neck cancer include: Excessive alcohol or tobacco use 1 A lump in your neck A change in voice 1 A sore in your mouth Persistent cough/coughing up blood 1 Difficulty swallowing Earache or pain when swallowing

Please attend if you have any concern, systems or

Christopher M. Ericksen, MD, FACS • Sarvjit S. Gill MD, FACS David H. Zacheis, MD, FACS • Matt L. Robertson, MD

While walk-ins welcome, it is recommended an appointment made be calling 593-1177.


mANAgiNgYoUR stRess

wel

lnes

smaNagiNg STrESS

Stress. Just the word is enough to make your shoulder muscles tighten up and heartbeat quicken. Who doesn’t suffer from too much to do and too little time? Or face difficult decisions with no clear resolution in sight? But while stress may be an inevitable part of daily life, the pressure it inflicts on the body can have life-threatening consequences.

“Stress attacks the

body, spirit, soul, and

every way in which

we function.”

Mark Benn, Psy.D. and adjunct Professor for Colorado State university

by angeline grenz

S tress is essentially your body gearing up for action; the fight-or-flight re-sponse that is more animal reaction than conscious thought. Stress trig-gers very definite physical responses:

a burst of hormones is released, the heartbeat accelerates, and muscles tense.

The problem with stress is that our bodies tend to hold that reaction; we never experience a release from the tensions stress creates in the body. “We have both emotional and physical stress, but the body’s response to either is the same: a biochemical response; we prepare to fight or run,” according to Justin Strote, M.D.,

at Heart Center of the Rockies. “The most basic scientific response is an in-

crease in heart rate and blood pressure,” con-tinues Dr. Strote, “In the long term, a constant state of stress can lead to high blood pressure, heart arrhythmia, heart attack, even ‘Broken Heart Syndrome.’” Broken Heart Syndrome is a condition where a surge of stress hormones causes severe weakening of the heart muscle.

These physical reactions to stress are the most severe on the spectrum. Lesser reactions, says Dr. Strote, include back pain, nausea, even hair loss. However, Dr. Strote warns that it is “very difficult to try and correlate stress as the

cause of health problems.” Rather, physicians will work to rule out other problems first. “If we cannot find a cause for the problem else-where, then we begin talking to our patients about their stress levels.”

Treating stress is also difficult. “As cardi-ologists, we counsel our patients on dealing with stress for the long-term.” To do that, Dr. Strote discusses with his patients the im-portance of heart health and exercise, recom-mending at least 20 minutes of exercise three times a week. Exercise works well because it helps naturally improve mood and pumps us up with endorphins, those feel-good compounds


occurring naturally in the body. “I also discuss with my patients what activi-

ties they find enjoyable. Any activity that takes them away from the stressor is good,” he says. However, there are patients that may need ad-ditional help dealing with stress. “Clearly, some people may need help in the form of coun-seling or medication to help them deal with stress.” In those cases, he refers them to the appropriate professional.

Bottom line: “The important thing to take home from this is that, if it is not dealt with, there is an increased chance of heart attack or stroke from stress.”

Relaxation techniques designed to slow heart rate, lower blood pressure, reduce mus-cle tension, improve concentration, and reduce anger and frustration are essential to dealing with stress. In addition to exercise, meditative activities, yoga, massage, and Tai Chi can pro-vide relief from stress.

What is important is to choose an activity that takes you away from the stressful situa-tion, according to psychologist Dr. Mark Benn, who also serves as an adjunct professor for Colorado State University and works with their Health Network. “Emotion almost al-ways trumps cognition. When stress goes up, our brain function goes down,” says Dr. Benn. “Stress attacks the body, spirit, soul, and ev-ery way in which we function. I think one day, stress will kill us.”

“We are Americans; we work non-stop, don’t take siestas, and don’t take time off like other cultures.” How do we correct this pen-chant for over-stimulating and over-complicat-ing our lives with stress? “Learn to deal with stress. Take five minutes three or four times a day and de-stress.”

The key is to find the activity or stress re-liever that is most effective for you. “For me,” says Dr. Benn, “I live in the mountains. Every-

Justin Strote, M.D., Heart Center of the Rockies


day, I take 20 minutes to walk my ridge, sit on a rock, and look out over the water.” Praying, journaling, and meditating are all effective ac-tivities. Dr. Benn encourages pairing your stress reliever with good diet and plenty of exercise for a healthier, happier you.

Well intentioned we may be, but in times of extreme stress, what if these outlets are not available? “Try thought-stopping. I call it the ‘Scarlett O’Hara approach’ – tell yourself ‘I will worry about it another day.’” Sometimes, he adds, you just can’t do anything about the stressful situation, so just stop thinking about it.

“Stay in the present, in the moment, as much as you can during your day. Your brain is always taking you places really fast. You need to take charge of your brain.” This technique and others will help to manage and overcome stress. “We have empirically valid data that shows stress management techniques work. But it takes time to master these techniques.”

Like Dr. Strote, there are instances when managing stress becomes more than a person can handle on their own. “Stress,” advises Dr. Benn, “is like your body is constantly running. Depression looks a lot like your body is con-stantly tired.” He draws the line between stress and how it may play a role in depression. “If a person can’t get a hold on their psychological stress, then they should go to a professional and get help.” However, Dr. Benn reiterates that becoming proficient in managing stress takes time and effort and warns individuals against looking for a “quick fix.”

When his students ask him for one piece of advice to take away from his classes, Dr. Benn tells them, “If you do one thing in life: give up stress.” Stress beats you up from the inside out, concludes Dr. Benn. “Eventually the body will tell you, ‘I am done.’” +

Angeline Grenz is Editor for Style Magazine.

Mark Benn, Psy.D. and Adjunct Professor for Colorado State University

hEad & NECk CaNCEr SCrEENiNg


Since 1998, Alpine Ear, Nose & Throat has been hosting a free cancer screening ev-ery fall to help the community with early detection of often ignored or unseen problems that could lead to cancer of

the throat, neck, or head. “Early detection is really key” in successfully

treating these cancers, according to Sarvjit Gill, M.D., with Alpine Ear, Nose & Throat. While family doctors and dentists can spot the most noticeable of these cancers, such as lesions and lumps, there are areas of the head and neck that cannot be seen easily and require special equipment for a thorough evaluation.

Dr. Gill recommends this screening to any in the community who have been suffering with chronic hoarseness or soar throat, difficulty swallowing, have noticed a mass on the head or neck, sores in the mouth, lesions that are not healing, is coughing or spitting blood, or has recurrent nose bleeds. All of these problems can be indicators of the presence of a malignancy, and are often the only symptom a person might have without an exam.

Every year, Alpine and their dozens of physi-cian, physician assistant, and nurse practitioner volunteers see an average of 200 people from Fort Collins, Loveland, Estes Park, Greeley, Berthoud, and even a few from Wyoming. Of those, a handful, 12 to 15 on average, are referred to their family physi-cian for follow-up, says Dr. Gill.“Fortunately, most come for the screening and are able to have their fears put to rest,” says Dr. Gill. However, every year there are three or four who have a malignancy. One year, Dr. Gill says, a local man came in to have what he thought might be a bug bite checked. It turned out to be cancer in the throat that had actually manifested itself with a disruption to the skin on his neck.

“These are people who come in for the free screening that have problems that probably wouldn’t have been detected otherwise,” adds Dr. Gill. “Especially now, with so many that have lost jobs and the economy so hard.”

The screening includes a comprehensive head and neck exam. For individuals that need it, doctors can use special scoping devises, such as a nasopha-ryngoscope, that has a flexible wand to exam the

nasal and throat cavities, a device family physicians don’t always have access to in their practices.

Any with concerning conditions are referred on and doctors at the screening do their best to follow up with patients, so that no one goes untreated. “We will see to it ourselves that care is provided, if that is what it takes.”

Along with the exam, doctors counsel patients to lead a healthier lifestyle; smoking and excessive alcohol consumption have been shown to increase the risk of some of these cancers.

Alpine is recommending that people call ahead and reserve a time slot for the free clinic, though walk-ins will still be welcome. The number to call is (970) 593-1177. +

November 7, 20098:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Alpine ear, Nose & Throat, P.C.3820 N. Grant Ave., Loveland

(970) 593-1177 call ahead to reserve your time slot

screeninghEad & NECk CaNCEr SCrEENiNg

11Th aNNual FrEE


hoLidAy dANgERSto YoUR pet

vete

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hOliday daNgErS

When Sue Wilson adopted a new kitten as a Christmas present for her daughter, she had no idea that her family was about to embark on a $2,000 ordeal that would turn their holiday into a nightmare.

at emergency hospitals,

caseloads always

increase around the

holidays, as pets

manage to find new

ways to get into trouble.

Some of these cases

can be humorous,

but many are life

threatening.

by Jon geller, DVM

H olidays like Halloween, Thanks-giving, Christmas, and New Year’s can generally be fun for families with pets. In a recent survey of pet owners, 50 percent

indicated that they buy Christmas gifts for their dogs and cats.

As the Wilsons found out, holidays can also be times of trouble for pets. At emergency hospitals, caseloads always increase around the holidays, as pets manage to find new ways to get into trouble. Some of these cases can be humorous, but many are life threatening, as

the Wilsons discovered.Probably the most common cause of holi-

day problems that end with pets in the emer-gency room is feeding leftovers (intentionally or unintentionally) to pets. Dogs have been known to show unexpected athletic ability in crawling up on counters and tables to salvage turkey carcasses. Cats will circle high chairs, while toddlers happily throw large quantities of food scraps overboard.

Enterprising dogs may raid unattended bowls and bags of Halloween candy and ingest enough chocolate to have seizures and cardiac

arrhythmias. Dark chocolate or baker’s choco-late is especially toxic. (Cats are usually more discriminating when it comes to chocolate.)

A Christmas tree can provide hours of de-light as well as a smorgasbord of potentially deadly temptations for a pet. One dog that we X-rayed had chomped through an entire string of Christmas lights. Others have swallowed ornaments of various sizes and shapes, often not discovered until they are deposited in the yard a day or two later. Newly opened pack-ages containing slippers, dolls, or clothing can be irresistible to some dogs.

Dr. Geller, D.V.M., emergency veterinarian at Fort Collins Veterinary Emergency Hospital and P.E.T.S. of Northern Colorado in Greeley


The Wilsons enjoyed watching their new kitten play with the tinsel on the Christmas tree. They laughed as she pulled at the tinsel with her mouth, and chased it as it wrapped around her tail. However, when the Wilsons woke up Christmas morning, their new kitten was throwing up, lethargic, and in pain.

Twelve hours later, their kitten was prepped for intestinal surgery at the emergency hospi-tal. The tinsel had pulled through the walls of her small intestine as the muscle wall tried to propel it along. Two hours and $2,000 later, two feet of intestines had been removed, and the Wilson’s kitten recovered from its surgery. It was truly a Christmas to remember.

Other holiday dangers threaten pets. House plants like poinsettias, holly berries, and lilies can be toxic to cats, sometimes causing irre-versible kidney failure. Thinking of grilling a turkey? Grilling utensils and brushes, as well as skewers and charcoal ash have found their way into dogs’ stomachs. (These make for in-teresting X-rays.) Punch bowls and unattended mixed drinks can lure some dogs, who may then be found staggering drunkenly around the house (they will later recover).

Enjoy the holidays by being vigilant about potential dangers to your pets. Although emer-gency hospitals are open 24/7 during the holi-days, we hope that you get to spend them at home enjoying your family and pets. +

Dr. Geller is an emergency veterinarian at Fort Collins Veterinary Emergency Hospital and P.E.T.S. of Northern Colorado in Greeley, as well as a freelance writer. His work has ap-peared in Dog Fancy Magazine, Bottom Line Personal, and Mother Earth News. In addi-tion, he has a current blog at thebark.com and medhelp.org, and answers dog owners’ questions online at Dogchannel.com.


StEm cELL thERAPyfoR pets

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STEm CEll ThEraPy

“I believe this is the biggest breakthrough in veterinary medicine since the introduction of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID’s).” says Dr. Downing, Hospital Director of The Downing Center for Animal Pain Management, and director of Windsor Veterinary Clinic.

“There are applications

under development and

investigation that promise

to be huge advancements

for pet health, including

chronic kidney disease.”

Robin Downing, D.V.M.,The downing Center for animal

Pain management

by connie hein

In the interest of celebrating, protecting, and sharing the love of the animals in our lives, much research has gone in to making Adult Stem Cell Regenerative Therapy a reality. The procedure is being used with much success

by Robin Downing, D.V.M., to bring better quality and longevity of life to many family pets.

Since the regenerative therapy is so new, Dr. Downing is one of the few veterinarians in the area that is performing the procedure. She says she is very proud to be able to bring it to the Northern Colorado area to help her veterinary clients.

She says the precise term for adult stem cell therapy is actually adipose-derived regenerative cell therapy. The current application for dogs and cats is in treating osteoarthritis.

“It is a much less invasive procedure than, for

example, a total hip replacement for a dog with advanced hip joint osteoarthritis, and much less costly as well. The idea that we can regenerate tis-sue is very nearly mind-blowing.”

She says there are no problems with body re-jection in this procedure because the patient is also the cell owner. And there is no ethical controversy involved, as there is with harvesting embryonic cells in which an embryo must be destroyed. And since regenerative cells live in both animals and humans, this is the leading edge of science that could also help humans with organ or tissue disease.

“The undifferentiated cells used in the therapy are cells that do not yet know what they want to be when they grow up.”

She says these stem cells are found in body fat in animals as well as humans, and can be prepared

to develop into nearly any tissue or organ and can be stimulated to develop into cartilage when in-jected into joints.

“In other words, they become whatever is needed in the body,” says Dr. Downing.

“We have five times more undifferentiated cells in our fat than in our bone marrow (same in dogs). This makes the fat a great source for cells that can be prepared and then injected into the body to develop into needed tissue.”

She says to begin the procedure, 60 to 80 grams of fat is harvested from the patient under general anesthesia, and is then put into special transport tubes and sent to Vet-Stem, the company outside San Diego that developed the process.

“The fat is then processed to extract the undif-ferentiated cells and prepare them for injection into


joints. An intravenous (IV) dose is also prepared, and then any extra cells are ‘banked’ at Vet-Stem for use later if needed,” says Downing. The doses are then sent back to the veterinarian for injection into the affected joints.

The technique was first used with great suc-cess by Vet-Stem to treat horses with tendon and ligament injuries, osteochondral defects, and os-teoarthritis. They then moved forward to success-fully treat degenerative diseases in dogs. Dr. Down-ing says that Vet-Stem is gathering data about every case that is done in order to compile facts and figures and keep track of what is happening in patients.

“There are additional applications under devel-opment and investigation that promise to be huge advancements for pet health, including chronic kidney disease, which is the most common disease process in dogs and cats over the age of eight,” says Dr. Downing.

In the near future, Dr. Downing believes these innovations will be able to benefit humans as well as animals.

“I know that one potential application of this technology for humans is in the treatment of mul-tiple sclerosis. But Parkinson’s, osteoarthritis, and other degenerative diseases are applications that may have strong potential.”

“As it turns out, dogs and humans share many similarities,” she says.

Many members of America’s reported 69 mil-lion pet-owning households already knew that. Recent surveys indicate that more than 50 percent of pet owners treat their dogs and cats like one of their own children. To have procedures that can help our pets have less pain and a longer life is, as Downing says, “very nearly mind-blowing.”

“I look forward to providing regenerative cell therapy to many more dogs and cats with degen-erative joint disease to help extend and improve their lives.” +

Connie Hein is a freelance writer living in Windsor and the author of the Toliver in Time se-ries of children’s books.

Max Wood works out in the underwater treadmill. Max’s nerve-muscle degeneration made him weak in his rear legs, necessitating a wheelchair. But severe osteoarthritis in his elbows soon made using the wheelchair very painful. Stem cell therapy in his elbows has changed Max’s life. He is now stronger than ever in his front legs and back to enjoying life.

Internal MedicineEllen Miller, DVM, MS, DACVIM

Lauren Prause, DVM, MS, DACVIM

RadiologyJennifer Lowry, DVM, MS, DACVRSandy Van Camp, DVM, DACVR

SurgeryChad Devitt, DVM, MS, DACVS

Brian Van Vechten, DVMTara Britt, VMD, DACVS

DentistryClarence Sitzman, DVM, DAVDC

DermatologyComing Soon

SPECIALTY MEDICINE, PERSONAL CARE

Peak Veterinary Specialists4630 Royal Vista Circle, #11

Windsor, CO 80528970-674-1775

fax: 970-674-0900www.peakvetspecialists.com

Please contact your family veterinarian for a referral to Peak Veterinary Specialists

See the Difference a Specialist Makes

phys

icia

n pr

ofile

jamES SPrOwEll, m.d.

James Sprowell’s, M.D., career took a U-turn two-and-a-half years ago. He was diagnosed with an illness that makes him susceptible to common infectious illnesses and eventually made it impossible to continue seeing patients. Despite this disappointment, he stepped into a leadership role as Executive Director of Associates in Family Medicine, P.C. (AFM), allowing him to continue to advocate for the patients he loves.

“i believe in focusing my

knowledge, talents, and

energy on improving the

lives of those who are

closest to me, because

that is where i have the

most influence.”

James Sprowell, M.D.,Executive director,

associates in Family medicine, P.C.

Dr. James Sprowell has been enjoying his new leadership role at AFM, after spending most of his career as a suc-cessful family physician. “This change was precipitated in part by my long-

standing interest in medical leadership, but also unfortunately by a rare chronic immune disorder characterized by a deficiency of antibody produc-tion, somewhat like an adult version of the ‘bubble baby.’”

“Although I miss my patients very much, the op-portunity to provide leadership for an outstanding organization like AFM has made the switch easier.”

Dr. Sprowell says his love of medicine and peo-ple comes from his father, a retired physician, whose easy-going, hard-working, and compassionate na-ture served as a terrific role model. “My father is 83 years old and people still seek his counsel.”

After watching his father gain a very broad base of general medical knowledge through career changes and education, Dr. Sprowell says he want-ed to have that same base of knowledge. “I chose

family medicine because I enjoyed the challenge of incorporating knowledge from multiple disciplines into the provision of medical care, and welcomed the chance to develop long-term relationships with patients.” He says he believes it is important for pa-tients to have a physician they get to know - some-one they trust and can look to for advice during life’s turbulent times.

Dr. Sprowell was raised in Ames, Iowa. After at-tending college and medical school at the University of Iowa and completing his residency at the Univer-sity of Minnesota, Duluth, he practiced for five years in Wisconsin and one year as the only physician on Lopez Island, Washington, “My family goes back three generations in Colorado and Wyoming, so I eventually followed my family roots back to Colo-rado.”

He and wife Clare have been married for 31 years. “Clare is a wonderful wife and mother and has served as a great inspiration to me and helps keep my work life and home life in balance. She also keeps my life interesting and keeps me guessing.”

Clare started her career as a pediatric nurse, she then got her elementary education degree and worked as a teacher, and later got her law degree and pursued that career, but quit when Dr. Sprowell started getting sick. She is now pursuing an entre-preneurial career with her sister. “I often joke that I’ve been married to a nurse, a teacher, and a lawyer, and I’ve been married only once and to the same woman.”

The couple have three children: Andrew, 23, and twins Paul and Madeline,18. “All three graduat-ed from Fort Collins High School and are all seriously addicted to outdoor activities - skiing, backpacking, hiking, mountain biking.” Andrew graduated from CSU in 2008 with a degree in Microbiology. This fall, Paul will attend the University of Northern Colorado majoring in trumpet performance and Madeline the University of Colorado in Boulder majoring in saxo-phone performance. He says it doesn’t seem that any of his children will follow in his medical foot-steps, but “they are young and you never know what they will pursue.”

Besides being a very busy father, husband, and administrator for the seven locations of AFM, Dr. Sprowell has many other interests and says his new position has given him a bit more control over his time to be able to pursue them. “My wife and I recently started road biking, and this summer will ride for the second year in the Courage Classic Bike Tour in Summit County, a three-day fundraising event for Children’s Hospital. AFM sponsored our team last year and a number of AFM physicians and family members are riding again in July.” “I also love to ski, although work and family constraints have kept it from becoming a true passion. I love coach-ing sports, and have coached youth basketball in years past. Now that our twins will be off to college, I would like to become more involved with coach-ing.”

He says his real passion, though, is helping people - patients, family, friends, and co-workers. “I believe in focusing my knowledge, talents, and energy on improving the lives of those who are clos-est to me, because that is where I have the most influence.” +

Connie Hein is a freelance writer living in Windsor and the author of the Toliver in Time series of chil-dren’s books.

seRving patientsdESPitE chALLENgES

by connie hein


LITY

Your locally owned leader in health care is a national role model for excellence.

Poudre Va lley Hea lth System has

received the 2008 Malcolm Baldrige

National Qua lity Award- the highest

Presidential honor g iven to United

States businesses and organizations

that demonstrate performance

excellence.

Thank you to our treasured patients

and families, incred ible volunteers, staff

and physicians, and the many regional

organizations who support us in

achieving our vision to provide world

class health care.

Were here for you.

POUDRE VALLEY HEALTH SYSTEM

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