Health Battle

By Ashli Findley Life can seem overbearing for patients dealing with sickle cell disease (SCD). Tanisha Hackett was diagnosed with the blood disorder at age 9. She has learned to cope in ways that alleviate much of the discomforts, including staying calm, praying, relying on her support system, and meditating.“That doctor talked to me and taught me how to meditate,” says Tanisha about her initial diagnosis. He asked her, “What is something that you really enjoy? What do you like?”She told him she loved the sound of rain, that it calmed her.“The doctor said whenever [...]

By Ashli FindleyNancy Bailey is a wife and mother of two teenagers. She runs her own company: Bailey Safety, a consulting and training firm for construction companies. She is also an avid lover of the outdoors. You’ll find her doing anything from tending to her chickens and dogs on the family’s 52-acre property to wakeboarding and surfing.Photos by Patti Hartog All the while, Nancy struggles with obesity. “It is exhausting,” she says. “Trying. Painful.”More than one-third of all U.S. adults are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). After the birth of [...]

By Ashli Findley It’s easy to greet Ebony Sykes, receive the warmth of her smile, and believe she’s having a normal day. Yet her normal, albeit a good day, may have included her husband helping her into the shower and her 9-year-old son grabbing her shoes from under the bed for her.Her normal is different, living with lupus. Ebony was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease at the age of 24. With lupus, the human body has difficulty differentiating between foreign tissue and necessary tissue. In return, the body attacks itself. Soft tissues to organs may [...]

By Mary Ellen Bianco Linda Williams (left) and Missi Quiggins didn't realize their health issues were attributed to sleep apnea.  Missi Quiggins and Linda Williams both have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a potentially serious disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. Their quality of life has greatly improved since they started treatment. Although they work at a medical office that specializes in pulmonary and sleep disorders, the cause and diagnosis of the apnea surprised them.Missi, age 44, is the patient care coordinator at Chest Medicine Associates and Sleep Medicine Clinic. The Louisville [...]

By Mary Ellen BiancoMarilynne Locke Rowland, age 65, speaks with passion and determination about finding the cause of her constant pain and fatigue. “I ended up flat on my back three years ago,” she says. “I finally found a doctor who listened to me about my symptoms. I never took ‘no’ for an answer.”Pain and illness has affected Marilynne since she was young. It got worse when she was in her 40s. “I knew something was really wrong, but I didn’t know what,” she says. “I’ve always been a go-getter and never stopped.”Marilynne and her [...]

By Mary Ellen Bianco Rosemary DeLaney monitors her health and maintains a regular fitness regimen.  Rosemary DeLaney, 62, is a certified Pilates instructor who has owned Pilates of Louisville since 2001. She is also an aesthetician at the Institute of Anti-Aging Medicine (IAAM). “I’ve always been an active person and take care of myself,” Rosemary says. “I learned that I have to be my own health advocate and to trust my doctor.”As a Pilates instructor Rosemary sees there is much more to staying healthy than just keeping fit. “The social part is where people make [...]