Local teen tops national wheelchair tennis rankings

By Sandy Lippe, La Jolla Village News

Sunday, November 22, 2009

University City’s Dana Mathewson, 

a women’s wheelchair tennis champion, 

is now attending the University of Arizona.

What would you expect from a high school senior, who is a gifted tennis player, a community volunteer with 200 hours of service her senior year and a 4.1 grade point average at a prestigious private school like Bishop’s? You might answer that the sky’s the limit.

Dana Mathewson graduated from Bishop’s last June and set her academic and athletic sights on the University of Arizona, where she is adjusting to dorm life, tennis competition, academics and everything a college freshman deals with. The sky is the limit for Dana still.

Dana is ranked the No. 1 Open Player in the United States Women’s Wheelchair Tennis.

“I haven’t checked my international ranking in a few weeks, but last I checked I was ranked No. 22 in the world for Women’s Open singles as well. I’m pretty pleased with myself as of late. Hopefully, I can keep up my rankings, though, in the off-season,” Dana said.

Growing up in University City, she attended Mission Bay Montessori Academy and absolutely loved it. After graduating from sixth grade, she went to Bishop’s and had to repeat seventh grade due to numerous medical absences.

“I got ’sick’ or injured when I was entering sixth grade and it took my body and mind a long time to adjust to my new situation, I guess,” she said. “I say I got sick because the reason I’m in a wheelchair is a bit of a weird one.”

When Dana was 10, she contracted a rare neurological disease known as Transverse Myelitis (TM).

“I think I remember doctors saying only five in one million people contract it each year. Lucky me!” she said. “I was at soccer practice running sprints at the very end when I felt a sharp pain in my lower back. It almost felt like someone was stabbing me, and then my legs started to feel weaker and proceeded to get a ‘pins and needles’ feeling like when a limb falls asleep. The rest is a flash of random memories, but I do remember crying in the car on the ride home, being helped into the living room, and then lying on my living room floor. In a matter of minutes, I was completely paralyzed from my belly button down.”

Transverse Myelitis affects the spinal cord and causes the immune system to attack a certain area. It attacked a very low region of her back. In some cases, TM has been known to go as high as the neck region, which leaves victims quadriplegics. With onset very fast, Dana’s parents, both physicians, raced her to Children’s Hospital’s emergency room, where she was treated with steroids. She credits the steroid treatment as the reason she is able to feel her legs now and stand/walk very limitedly.

“Initially I was told that any sort of return was impossible, so I consider myself to be extremely lucky,” she said.

When asked if she felt questions dealing with her medical situation may have been too insensitive, Dana responded promptly and pleasantly: “Please don’t feel rude by asking me these questions. They used to bother me, but I’m at a stage now where I’d rather educate people about what happened to me instead of hiding it.”

Dana has been playing tennis for 5 ½ years; the last three years she’s played competitive basketball, too. She credits her mom for getting her into sports. Her mom drove her to various sports camps, while Dana admitted to screaming all the way, only to find herself two hours later with a huge smile on her face.

“I fell in love with wheelchair sports immediately,” she said.

At San Diego Adaptive Sports Foundation (SDASF), Dana met Marla Knox, a woman she credits for her athletic success.

“She introduced me to the SDASF basketball team, called San Diego Hammer,” Dana said. “I played the last two years in high school for that team and finished second in the nation.”

Dana’s mom took her to a Coronado tennis camp several years ago. Once again Dana balked at the idea at first, but after only five minutes, she loved the camp. While she didn’t feel as though she would be a great player, she says that something clicks inside of her when she is out on the court.

“It’s scary being out there by yourself, but it is incredibly rewarding, too,” she said.

University of Arizona is the only American university that has a reputable wheelchair tennis team. Many colleges have basketball and track teams, but in the United States, tennis is less popular, unlike other nations. Dana is part of the wheelchair tennis team as well as the women’s basketball team. She travels with each team to various tournaments locally or nationally. In regard to her academic major, she is leaning toward speech pathology.

When Dana comes home for her Thanksgiving break, she will probably visit some of her mentors, including Steve Halverson, a private tennis coach who helped fine-tune her game. She might peek in at basketball practice at Muni gym in Balboa Park on a Saturday to see some wheelchair basketball practice. No doubt she will also open some books since she is enrolled in the honors college at U of A.

Her tennis tournament season will run from February to September, although the team trains year-round. Basketball is “good cardio for tennis,” according to Dana. Her life is busy with two sports and mandatory study halls for athletes.

Dana has a keen zest for life. She has memories of trips overseas at places like Nottingham, England last summer, where she distinguished herself at World Team Cup, analogous to Davis Cup. The sky is the limit and then some for this young woman, whose enthusiasm should be bottled and sprinkled on the rest of us.

Source 

Virginia Teen Athlete In Wheel Chair After H1N1 Vaccine Shot

    A teenage Virginia athlete is in a wheel chair now after suffering Guillain-Barre Syndrome within hours after receiving an H1N1 swine flu vaccine shot.Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is the name given to anyone who exhibits a particular set of neurological symptoms including muscle weakness and muscle spasms. 14-year-old Jordan McFarland developed severe headaches, muscle spasms and weakness in his legs after being injected. He will need “extensive physical therapy” to recovery, reports MSNBC. Plus, he’ll need the help of a walker for four to six weeks. NaturalNews) A teenage Virginia athlete is in a wheel chair now after suffering Guillain-Barre Syndrome within hours after receiving an H1N1 swine flu vaccine shot. 14-year-old Jordan McFarland developed severe headaches, muscle spasms and weakness in his legs after being injected. He will need “extensive physical therapy” to recovery, reports MSNBC. Plus, he’ll need the help of a walker for four to six weeks.

  Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is the name given to anyone who exhibits a particular set of neurological symptoms including muscle weakness and muscle spasms. GBS is now increasingly occurring following H1N1 vaccine injections. It was diagnosed in thousands of patients following the 1976 swine flu vaccine scare, and it appears to be recurring here in 2009 as the swine flu vaccine makes it into more widespread distribution.

  Health authorities, however, remain adamant that H1N1 vaccines are never the cause of GBS, and that such diagnoses are “pure coincidence.” This blatantly unscientific P.R. tactic is designed to dismiss any and all concerns over the neurological side effects of H1N1 vaccines by simply denying they exist. To date, the CDC has received reports of five additional people being diagnosed with GBS following swine flu vaccinations, but it dismisses them all as coincidence. “It’s much less than we’d expect,” says CDC official Dr. Claudia J. Vellozzi. (Which is sort of interesting all by itself, because it reveals that the CDC expects a lot more people to get GBS following vaccine injections…)

  At the same time, part of the reason the CDC isn’t receiving many reports on neurological disorders caused by H1N1 vaccines is because they participated in a massive media brainwashing event that prepped the population to dismiss all side effects by pre-announcing the bizarre idea that “side effects experienced after vaccine injections are not related to vaccines.” 

  This was an organized, nationwide media brainwashing campaign engineered by the CDC, FDA and drug companies. It sought to pre-program health consumers to automatically dismiss serious side effects that appeared in the hours after receiving swine flu vaccine injections.

  The campaign worked. In fact, even the GBS of this young man, Jordan McFarland, wasn’t submitted to the CDC. It only came to light when his step-mother submitted details to MSNBC.com’s reader reporting tool. In other words, this was citizen journalism at work, where a parent submitted information directly to the media.

  For this to occur is exceedingly rare. Most parents would simply wait for their doctor to submit such information to health authorities, not knowing that submitting reports of vaccine-related side effects remains voluntary in modern medicine.

  No requirement to report vaccine side effects...
You read that right: There is no requirement that doctors send reports of vaccine side effects to any health authority at all. 

  And that raises the question: So how do they really know how many people are suffering neurological side effects from the H1N1 vaccines?

Couple ready to hit road in customized van

By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item

Published October 05, 2009 11:19 pm -  



Barbara Schaffer and her husband, Paul, arranged for Harvey, their customized van, to have enough room for trips to music festivals around the country.
Liz Rohde / The Daily Item

NORTHUMBERLAND — If you happen to see a large white van parked outside Paul and Barbara Schaffer’s King Street home, you’re looking at Harvey. Harvey is actually a Sprinter van that’s been customized to accommodate Barbara’s wheelchair.

“We named it Harvey after the big white rabbit in the movie,” Barbara said with a chuckle. “Maybe we’ll paint a pink nose and whiskers on it some day.”

Actor James Stewart starred in the 1950 movie, “Harvey,” about a man who befriends an invisible six-foot tall rabbit, or pooka.

The Schaffers never thought they’d ever be interested in a recreational vehicle or a second home, but after a visit to Arches National Park in Utah a couple of years ago, they changed their minds.

“We really wanted to sleep out under the stars,” said Barbara, “but we just couldn’t do that.”

Since 2001, the couple has enjoyed attending half a dozen music festivals every year, and they wanted to be able to join friends who camp at the events and take part in the after-hours jams they’ve only heard about.

“We started thinking about it, but no one builds any that are handicapped-accessible,” Paul said. “What we wanted just didn’t exist.”

Barbara, 60, who suffers from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, a debilitating nerve condition, has been using a battery-powered wheelchair for a number of years as her condition has changed. Paul, 63, took early retirement to care for her following her 1987 injury.

They did see a few motor homes that could have been adapted, he said, but they were all very large luxury units, so large that they would have had to tow their Dodge Caravan behind to transport Barbara from the campground to an event. Besides, those units were way outside their price range. Even an Internet search for a used vehicle came up dry, since their particular needs couldn’t be met in a used vehicle without extensive modifications.

“We decided we had to start fresh,” Barbara said.

She decided they should find the right lift unit to get her and her wheelchair into the vehicle. However, they didn’t want a unit that would occupy space inside the vehicle. She finally found a company, Creative Controls, in Madison Heights, Mich., that assured them they could mount their lift beneath whatever vehicle they chose for their motor home.

Next they found a custom builder of motor homes, Sportsmobile, in Huntingdon, Ind.

“They make custom vans, not RVs,” said Paul. “These are the people who, in 1961, modified the first Volkswagen vans into campers.”

The Schaffers found a perfect ally in Sportsmobile. The company provided an online floor plan that allowed the couple to develop a floor plan using the components the needed where they needed them. For example, instead of a right-hand front seat, a power-operated tie-down for Barbara’s wheelchair was specified.

Because Barbara cannot step over the entrance to the bathroom, they changed the layout so the commode is next to the doorway. She can sit on the commode, then lift her legs and pivot into the space. To make that change work, the hot water heater had to be downsized and relocated.

Working closely with the design team at Sportsmobile, it took nearly two months to get the interior layout completed.

“There was a lot of problem-solving by phone.” Barbara said.

They had already settled on the Sprinter, a vehicle designed by Mercedes and sold by Chrysler in this country, but it took some time to locate a 24-footer, the largest one made, and then have the necessary windows installed. The vans are shipped into the U.S. with only the windshield and door windows, so other doors and windows had to be installed after they purchased it.

The truck was purchased in Michigan and delivered to Creative Controls for installation of the wheelchair lift, then taken to Indiana for the rest of the work. The Schaffers went to the Sportsmobile plant to be present as workers installed the bathroom and kitchen modules to be certain the wheelchair would fit where it was supposed to.

“They were wonderful to work with,” Barbara said. “They wanted to be sure everything was right.”

At one point, the locking mechanism to hold her wheelchair would not work correctly, and a technician from Creative Controls came to Indiana to correct the problem. They wound up having to take the vehicle back to the plant to get it right, which held up work at Sportsmobile for a day or so.

The results, the couple agree, have exceeded their expectations.

They demonstrated the lift, which folds out from beneath the vehicle. Barbara backed her wheelchair onto it, and it hoisted her up to floor level. She backed in and turned around near the folding table where they can take meals. Then she moved forward and the electronic lock snapped into place. She pulled on her seat belt and was ready to go.

In the middle of the unit, the compact kitchen, complete with stove, refrigerator, microwave and sink, faces the lavatory, which features a sink, shower and commode. Behind them are two couches that quickly convert to beds.

“We’ve also got air-conditioning and a furnace,” Paul said, as he swung the rear doors wide to reveal a fabric screen across the doorway that will let them indeed sleep outdoors. There’s also a generator for lights, and they will be able to use it to charge the batteries on Barbara’s wheelchair.

“People told us we couldn’t do this,” she said. “We were persistent, and we found the right people to help.”

The couple drove the unit back from Indiana, and Paul said the 5-cylinder, three-liter diesel engine with a five-speed automatic transmission gave them better than 20 miles per gallon.

“A piece of you asks why you’re doing this,” he said, as he contemplated the cost of Harvey. He wouldn’t say exactly how much it cost them. “This cost more than either of the homes we’ve owned, but will let us do something together that we both enjoy.”

 Source 

Disabled sailor taken to hospital

Page last updated at 21:54 GMT, Saturday, 6 June 2009 22:54 UK

A quadriplegic yachtswoman was taken to hospital after suffering the effects of cold off the west Wales coast.

Hilary Lister, 37, from Kent, is aiming to become the first disabled woman to sail solo around Britain.

The Fishguard RNLI lifeboat took the sailor off her boat after the weather deteriorated and she had a check-up at in hospital at Haverfordwest.

Her boat was eventually towed to shore by her support boat under the supervision of the lifeboat.

A spokesman for Ms Lister said there had already been a plan with the RNLI to take Ms Lister off her boat when she reached Fishguard but this was brought forward.

There had been no radio contact after the yachtswoman failed to arrive in port at the appointed time.

Peter Kedward from the RNLI at Fishguard explained: "Eventually the coastguard managed to make radio contact and established that she was two miles north of Strumble Head and under tow by her support boat.

"Conditions were becoming very difficult and the tide had turned against her."

The support boat with four on board requested assistance from the Fishguard lifeboat which stood alongside as the tow continued.

Mr Kedward added: "With force five winds and with wind over tide, the sea state became very demanding and the lady requested to be transferred to the all-weather lifeboat as she was becoming hypothermic."

Assistance was requested from a Stena ferry, which was approaching inbound Fishguard from Rosslare.

The RNLI crew made radio contact with the ferry and requested a weather lee so they could transfer Mrs Lister into the lifeboat more comfortably.

But in the end the transfer was not possible because of the conditions and the tow continued into Fishguard harbour where Mrs Lister was transferred to the inshore lifeboat in calmer waters and then taken onto Withybush hospital by ambulance.

Mrs Lister, from Faversham in Kent, is disabled from the neck down.

She is trying to become the first disabled woman to sail solo around Britain, and - in the process - the first disabled sailor - male or female - to conquer the Irish Sea.

On her website today, she said she arrived at Fishguard at 0130 after an "excellent sail followed by a very difficult end," and that they were remaining in port for another week.

The start of the current bid in Plymouth last month was delayed after she developed breathing difficulties.

She had to abandon her first attempt last August because of technical problems and bad weather.

Ms Lister uses a "sip-and-puff" system of straws to control her boat.

Her specially-adapted vessel, an Artemis 20 called Me Too, has been designed to be operated through three "straws".

Ms Lister, a biochemistry Oxford graduate, became the first quadriplegic sailor to sail solo across the English Channel in 2005 and two years later was the first quadriplegic woman to sail around the Isle of Wight.

She was wheelchair-bound at the age of 15 because of a progressive neurological disorder, reflex sympathetic dystrophy.

Injured soldier, bride ready to face hurdles together

The couple squeeze their wedding in before the groom's next surgery.

By Kevin Haas

RRSTAR.COM

Posted May 29, 2009 @ 10:01 PM

---

ROCKFORD —

Four days before Sgt. Joseph Mershon was scheduled to return home from Iraq and propose to girlfriend Hillary Krueger, he was seriously injured when an improvised explosive devise struck his troop.

The couple were able to follow through on wedding plans today by tying the knot in a small ceremony inside the chapel at SwedishAmerican Hospital. Hillary works as an aide for the hospital’s medical imaging services.

“It’s been canceled twice,” said Mershon’s mother, Christine. “He was supposed to come home Feb. 23. Then he was supposed to come home in March from the hospital for 30 days, but that got pushed back because of his injuries.”

Joseph Mershon proposed on March 6, and the ceremony was held less than three months later so the couple could get hitched before his next scheduled surgery.

“It all happened like a whirlwind,” Hillary Mershon said. “All our parents and family and friends, as soon as we set (the date), they sprung into action.”

On Feb. 19, the explosive device ripped the meniscus in Joseph Mershon’s right knee. He also suffered a traumatic brain injury and suffers from reflex sympathetic dystrophy, which causes chronic and progressive pain in his right ankle, Christine said.

Joseph Mershon moves mostly by wheelchair now, but he stood to take his wedding vows.

His next surgery is scheduled for June 22 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, and there is still a 50-50 chance he could lose his right leg from the knee down, Hillary Mershon said.

“I’m relieved,” she said. “But there are plenty more hurdles we have to clear. But we will, together, holding hands.”


Staff writer Kevin Haas can be reached at khaas@rrstar.com or 815-987-1354.

GREAT Information....Please Share!!

Hey everyone....I am going to share with you a couple of AWESOME information that will help you, or your loved one, or even your neighbor. So please share with anyone and everyone you know, because maybe they know someone that will benefit from either or both of these resources!!

Are You A Woman Battling Cancer?

When you are battling cancer, a clean house isn't just a matter of aesthetics, it's a matter of health. A clean environment is essential when an immune system is compromised.

That's why the "Cleaning for a Reason Foundation" offers FREE monthly housecleaning services for four months to women undergoing cancer treatment.

To donate or request services,
visit: www.cleaningforareason.org

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Do You Need A Wheelchair Ramp?

If you, or someone you know that lives in Texas and are in need of a wheelchair ramp in order to get in and out of your house, this information will make your day!!

"The Texas Ramp Project" - Building Freedom For The Home-bound, can provide you with that much needed wheelchair ramp for FREE!! That's right....for FREE!!

To find out how to have the volunteer's from "The Texas Ramp Project" give the gift of freedom to you or someone you know, or if you want to be one of the volunteer's in your area....

visit their website: www.texasramps.org or

if you want to send them a note,
email them: info@texasramps.org or

if you would like to give them a call,
dial: 972-235-7309

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I have to tell you, I am completely impressed with both of these organizations!! These are the type of organizations and volunteer's we need to see more of!!



If you know of an organization that is doing things like this, please share them with us.

Have an Amazing Day....Every Day!!