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BTB Advertiser Highline Athletic Club & The BNI B-Town Business Builders Health & Wellness Power Team will be holding their second annual “Health & Wellness Fair” at HAC on Saturday, Feb. 25 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

This fair is FREE and open to the public so mark your calendar, invite a friend and be sure not to miss this exciting event.

Here’s more from our friends at HAC:

Dona Forrester, General Manager of Highline Athletic Club shared that her BNI “Health & Wellness” Power Team partners started this event last year to bring awareness to our community on the many different forms of health care. This is a collaborated effort and will bring you the best of the best from our community. Attendees will be able to talk to vendors; learn from each treatment professional what is unique about their service as well as share their passion for their industry.

The BNI – Business Builders Power Team bringing you this event consists of: Dona Forrester, Highline Athletic Club; Susan Parko, Rodan and Fields Dermatologists; Bryn Karlberg, Licensed Massage Practitioner; Dr. Kyle Beffa, Beffa Dental; Dr. Spencer Wade, Collins Chiropractic; and Patricia Eslava Vessey, Integrity Coaching & Training Systems.

In the Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park, West Seattle areas we are quite fortunate to have many forms of health and wellness services available to us, including Highline Athletic Club. The health and wellness fair will also have dentists, Licensed Massage Practitioners; Acupuncturists, Chiropractors, Family doctors, Mental-health providers, Nutritional advisors, skin care consultants, healthy eating options & much more. Our current list of vendors include: Vitality Chiropractic; Lake Burien Physical Therapy; SHIBA/Senior Services; Highline Therapy Services; Flourish Acupuncture & Wellness; Moss Chiropractic; Roxbury Spine & Wellness Clinic; Integrity Coaching & Training Systems; Eating Well: Living Well; Face to Face Euro Spa & Healing Hands Massage; Beffa Dental; Bryn Karlberg Massage; Rodan & Fields Dermatology; Collins Chiropractic; Triton Team Nutrition; Xocai Healthy Chocolate; Normandy Park Senior Living; Ren; Skin Secret; Human Being More; Somantic Education – Feldenkrais; Freggies Organic Produce; Change Front; Seahurst Chiropractic & Wellness Center; Synergy Home Care; Town Square Dentistry; One Earth Natural Medicine Clinic; Karuna Arts Yoga Studio & the Tag Zone.

Each person attending this Health & Wellness Fair will be eligible to win a variety of great prizes donated by the vendors that you will not want to miss out on!

The demographics of our community cover a wide age range and we’ve taken this into consideration when planning our vendor list. We have provided a list of vendors, however we continue to add more as we approach our event and a current list will be posted on our Face Book page which is available if you search for Highline Athletic Club Health & Wellness Fair.

Please plan to join us – it is an event you won’t want to miss. Saturday, February 25th, 2012 from 10am-3pm. Mark your calendars!

Highline Athletic Club is located at 125 South 156th Street, Burien, WA 98148; 206-246-9000; www.highlineathleticclub.com.

Brian Aston

by Mark Neuman

We spoke recently with our friend Brian Aston. Readers may recall that Brian is the young man who quite suddenly lost almost all of his vision about eight years ago at the age of 20 (read our previous coverage here).

The reason: A genetic disease called Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON).

The Highline High School graduate recalled the day his sight began to go away, eight years ago.

“I was at a memorial golf tournament in memory of my father who had passed three years earlier. I was on the 18th hole. I drove the ball down the fairway, got in the cart and drove to my ball,” Brian said.

“When I reached my ball I then looked for the pin or flag to take my next shot and I could not find the flag. I was with my Stepdad and we were basically arguing back and forth about where the flag was and we eventually walked to where he said the flag was and suddenly about fifteen feet away from the flag it appeared right in front of me.

“Just like that, in a matter of moments, my left eye was almost completely blacked out.”

Sight in his right eye deteriorated months later.

Brian is, however, experiencing recent improvement in his eyesight.

“I’ve been taking a vitamin called Idebenone, and in the last six months I have improved my vision tremendously. I’m sitting in the same spot at home I was sitting in when I did my KING-5 interview (last spring) and I can now see the blue lights on my cable box.

“I can’t read the numbers from this far back, but instead of just a big black blurry blob I see the cable box, I see our stereo system, I see the subwoofer behind it all.

“Six months ago I would not have been able to work with the ease and normalcy that I’m working (with) now.

“In the eight years since I’ve lost my vision I’ve only held a normal job for about six months” Brian said. “I now see way well enough to take the bus to work every day.

“I take the bus from where I live in the Kent Valley to the Southcenter area where I work at a call center. When I started just a little over a month ago, my nose was almost touching the (computer) monitor so that I could read people’s names when a call comes up.

“Now I’m over a foot away,” Brian told us. “My detailed reading sight has improved greatly.”

Brian started wearing glasses about three weeks ago. He’s been involved in a genetic therapy study for almost a year now.

He and many others with LHON could use our help.

“The National Eye Institute is where the funding for our study comes from. We need to raise about $60,000 as soon as possible. An outside consultant needs to be hired to finish the paperwork that will be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”

Rules prevent anybody directly involved with the study from writing the paperwork, which could amount to a thousand pages in length.

“So we have to hire a writer at a cost of a hundred grand,” Brian said.

“We need about $60,000. We need that money as soon as possible, so that we can get this guy hired and get the paperwork written and submitted to the FDA.”

The goal is to have the FDA come back with approval to begin human trials in the beginning of 2013.

For more information, go to Brian’s website:

www.TheGeneticHouse.com

Click on “Fundraising” to learn how to donate (direct link here).

BTB Advertiser Highline Athletic Club wants to know if you’re getting tanked this Thursday, Dec. 15th?

That’s right, getting tanked – not as in drinking too much – but getting your body composition, including bone density tested by being dunked in a tank!

A mobile ‘Fat Truck’ will at HAC from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Thursday, conducting hydrostatic analysis of body fat/lean mass. Hydrostatic analysis is an underwater method of accurately determining a persons’ ratio of body fat to lean tissue.

Each test takes about 10 minutes. Bring swimsuit and towel.

The cost for this test is only $49, retests are only $35.

Appointments can be made at HAC’s front desk (HAC is located at 125 South 156th Street, Burien, WA 98148).

You will get wet so bring suit & towel.

You do not have to be a member of HAC to get tanked.

“This is a great way to motivate yourself for the new year!” reads a flier.

The test will provide you a detailed report, including:

• A reference table showing where you are and where you could be for setting achievable goals.
• Your resting metabolic rate and total caloric burn during specific exercise.
• Accurate assessment of your body fat % and lean mass.
• Detailed tracking of previous tests ?DEXA bone density tests also (only $88 for both test).

More info at their website, and be sure to “Like” them on Facebook here.

Call 206-246-9000 to make an appointment or stop by the front desk.

• Handwashing facilities unavailable
• Operating without a valid permit
• Imminent health hazard: no sanitary facilities available

“The establishment will be reopened once all issues have been resolved,” reads the county’s website.

The Public Health Food Inspection Closures homepage is online at www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/ehs/foodsafety/inspections/closures

No, that's not drug paraphernalia – that's Janet Grella "exercising" her lungs by blowing in the Spirometer. Photo by Carolyn Rosenfield.

On Sept, 28th, The B-Town Blog’s ‘Sales Diva’ Janet Grella had a very serious open chest surgery repairing an aortic arch aneurism discovered earlier this summer. Dr. Joe Temply and his team successfully performed the surgery with some post-surgical complications to Janet, including post-surgical swelling delayed the closing of the chest cavity for five days.

Several BTB Readers have been asking how she was doing, so we asked Janet for an update:

“I have been home from Swedish Cardiac Hospital for five weeks. I spent two weeks in the hospital, one of them in a drug-induced coma due to complications. I know nothing about this! I celebrated my birthday in the hospital, but decided it didn’t count since I was in a coma.

My at-home recuperation started on October 9 with my husband and care-giver Michael lifting me out of the chair and walking me. He showered me daily. Our first walk we went about 20 feet. Now I’m walking perhaps up to 200 yards. Michael has been on call to make my breakfast smoothies and distribute the drugs twice daily. Over the weeks, drugs have been removed from the regimen and we’ve added muffins and rolls to the breakfast. One constant in my recovery has been the Spirometer…..that nasty little machine that you blow in 10 times a day to promote good lung health. It’s amazing how those little balls in the Spirometer seem to weigh as much as a bowling ball!

During my first few weeks at home, we had many wonderful friends visiting, watching out for me (giving Michael a break to shop or walk) and bringing comfort food. I’d like to thank them all!

Two weeks ago Michael was relieved from his lifting duties and I was allowed to use my hands when getting up (the use of hands could rip the breastbone and impede healing). I also “sprouted wheels,” or I have been allowed to start driving again. I’ve also done a little bit of cooking–no more than I used to do!

For the past three weeks, we’ve started going back to lunches and happy hours in Burien and to the movies. Life as we knew it is returning to us. It’s been a tough six months – from the shock of learning about the aneurism to the repair of it and the recovery of the surgery – and I’d like to thank all BTB readers for their thoughts and prayers, as well as thank my friends country-wide for their prayers and good wishes.”

BTB Advertiser Serenza Salon and Spa is coordinating with Puget Sound Blood Center to host a mobile blood drive on Wednesday Nov. 30th. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“We’re so excited to do something great in our community but we need your help,” reads an announcement. “Our goal is 36 donors and we know with the help and support of some willing volunteers we can get there!”

Here’s more from their announcement:

Giving blood is a selfless act and can truly change the life of another. Sadly, only 8% of Americans give blood each year and a big percentage of those are high school students.

Please help us out and donate an hour of your time to a wonderful cause and help change a life.

For more information on eligibility for donating or for what appointment times we have available please give us a call at 206-244-8886 and ask for Jackie.

We hope to see you there!

Serenza Salon and Spa is located at 120 SW 160th Street in Burien; their phone number is 206-244-8886.

The City of Burien will be sponsoring a Blood Drive from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16 in the 1st Floor ?Multipurpose Room, of City Hall, located at 400 SW 152nd Street.

Please note that it will be closed for lunch between Noon – 1 p.m.

Donors are asked to reserve a time with Janet Stallman at (206) 248-5508 or email JanetS@burienwa.gov.

“Right now there are people in your community who need the help you can easily provide simply by donating blood,” reads an email. “Why Give Blood? Because your community needs you; trauma injury patients, cancer patients and transplant patients don’t take a day off. They rely on volunteer donors like you. You Can Make a Difference in Your Community!”

Public Health – Seattle & King County wants our Readers to know that they are awarding mini-grants worth $750 for community groups who participate in parks clean-up events between now and the end of the year. 

Groups who choose to participate will hold a cigarette butt clean-up event at one of several identified parks (download a PDF list here). Each event pays $750. Groups do their own organization, including purchasing gloves etc. but instructions are provided.

Organizations are considered eligible and may apply if:

• They have a federal tax ID number.
• They have not already received $4,250 in funding from any King County Department.
• They don’t already receive funding from tobacco or alcohol companies.

Eligible organizations may apply for more than one event and may suggest parks for future events.

This mini-grant opportunity is part of a larger regional effort to support parks who want to implement tobacco or smoke-free policies. Tobacco/smoke-free policies in public places are widely supported by the public. They help protect park users from exposure to second-hand smoke, save on maintenance costs for the parks, and provide healthy spaces for people to live and play.

More information on this grant opportunity is online here.

If you have any questions, please send an email by clicking here.

Tasty Dogs III is located at 14905 4th Ave. South in Burien:

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“Keep your family healthy this winter,” reads a press release. “Get your free flu vaccine! Flu vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from flu.”

Tukwila Community Center? is located at 12424 42nd Ave South? in Tukwila, WA 98168.

• Flu vaccine is for people 6 months and older — especially children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with health problems like diabetes and heart disease.
• You will not be asked for proof of health insurance or citizenship.
• Interpreters available

For more information, or for registration forms, click here.