The Empty Wheelchair

The Empty Wheelchair

Most people spend the first week of a new year with great intensions of making healthy, life-changing goals and resolutions, and then worrying about how long it will be until they break them. For Mary, 2015 brought with it completely new and unexpected goals: survival and recovery.

Just after the first of the year, Mary suffered a series of severe strokes that left her fighting for her life. The result of the oxygen deprivation to Mary’s brain tissue had devastating consequences as she was no longer able to use her left arm or leg. When she was stabilized, Mary was transferred to a long-term care facility where she could receive intense therapy services in hopes of regaining her lost motor function.

Before Mary’s strokes, she enjoyed a very active, independent lifestyle both around her house and out in the community. She also was very conscious regarding her diet and physical health. For Mary, now being confined to a wheelchair was mentally and emotionally draining. Instead of healing and recovering from her strokes, Mary’s family watched her slip further and further away and feared that she might never reclaim her independence. They grew increasingly concerned that the medications she was now taking were having an adverse effect on Mary. Her cognitive abilities became obscured and she felt confused about almost everything. She sensed that she was literally losing her mind. Instead of rebuilding her motor skills, Mary began losing upper body trunk control and was no longer even able to even get out of bed on her own.

Most people have experienced a close relative or friend who has suffered a stroke that has left them crippled or unable to function by themselves, or without the ability to eat, understand or communicate. The end result of these severe strokes is often the same; patients with significant disabilities need round-the-clock advanced care. As in the case of Mary, the needs of the patient and family members after a stroke are enormous. Mary’s family knew that they needed to act fast or they ran the risk of watching her continue on this downward spiral into a complete loss of independence.

They began researching additional treatment and therapy options for Mary. What they discovered was that through the use of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), medical researchers have found a way to restore a significant amount of neurological function in brain tissue long thought to be permanently damaged by stroke, traumatic injury, and metabolic disorders.

The brain typically consumes 20 percent of the body’s oxygen, but that is only enough oxygen to operate five to ten percent of neurons at any one time. The regeneration process needed for healing following a traumatic brain injury requires much more energy. The significant increase in oxygen levels during Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy supplies the necessary energy for rebuilding neuronal connections and stimulating inactive neurons to facilitate the healing process. This neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.

Additionally, when cells in the brain die, either from trauma or lack of oxygen, blood plasma leaks out into surrounding brain tissue causing swelling and reducing blood flow. These otherwise normal cells go dormant because they can’t function without the appropriate amount of oxygen. HBOT dramatically increases the amount of oxygen being carried in the blood plasma, making oxygen available to heal damaged capillary walls, preventing plasma leakage and reducing swelling. As the swelling decreases, blood flow can be restored to the dormant tissue (neovascularization) giving these cells the potential to function once again.

Research indicates that HBOT can lead to significant neurological improvements in post stroke patients even at chronic late stages. The neurological improvements observed in these late stages demonstrate that neuroplasticity can be achieved and activated by HBOT even years after a brain injury occurs.

In February, five weeks after Mary suffered her strokes, she started Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at Sara’s Garden. After the first hour of treatment she began lifting her left leg. Her daughter wept. A few days later, her family checked her out of the rehab center and took her home. The following week Mary regained the use of her legs enough that she began walking again. After three weeks she was able to shower on her own. During the fourth week of treatments, Mary was back to making bread and doing the dishes. As time went on, Mary continued to get even stronger. She was able to return to a schedule that was very close to her life before the strokes.

Thanks to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at Sara’s Garden, Mary finally has her independence back. The wheelchair that served as a frustrating reminder that life was never going to be the same is now empty. It was hard work and her family pushed her, but they contend that it was the services she received at Sara’s Garden that ultimately gave Mary her life back. No matter what you’ve been told, there is hope… for this and many other conditions. HBOT is treatment without drugs… without surgery… without pain.

Year End Thanks; New Year’s Hope

Year End Thanks; New Year’s Hope

We can hardly believe it! Another year has come and gone right before our very eyes. We stand at the forefront of 2016, yet somehow feel like it was just yesterday that we were opening our doors for the very first time. We feel so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to serve so many amazing clients and families. Since our inception, we have been blessed beyond measure with overwhelming donor generosity and community support that has allowed us to continue this mission.

2015 was an extremely busy year for Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy, and perhaps why we feel the year flew by so quickly. We’ve achieved new goals and faced new challenges, all while experiencing one of the most rewarding and fulfilling years in our history. We know none of this would be possible without the unending grace from our heavenly Father and the generous support from our donors, dedicated service from our staff and selfless sacrifice from our volunteers. We owe you all a warm and sincere thank you!

We are honored that so many of you have trusted Sara’s Garden with your gifts and donations! We know that many of you have made sacrifices this year in order to to continue supporting Sara’s Garden and for that we are so thankful. We consider you our partner in providing hope and changing lives. Please know that every single dollar that you contribute to Sara’s Garden is valued. It is our mission to use your gifts wisely to serve families and clients from across the country. Despite the economic challenges facing our country and its economy you have been faithful and have blessed Sara’s Garden and its mission.  We appreciate you more than words can express!

Because of your generous support, we are in a position to do something that we’ve been looking forward to for a very long time… Beginning January, 1 2016, we will be lowering our rates for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy treatments from $110 per hour to $100 per hour. We want these treatments to be as affordable as possible. Our hope is that this reduction in rates will help to ease the financial stress on families raising money for these life changing treatments. 

On behalf of the entire team here at Sara’s Garden, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to everyone who has helped make 2015 such a memorable year for us. Thank you for trusting in our ministry.  We treasure your partnership. You are instrumental in providing hope, help and healing to families from across the country!

From our family to yours, Thank You!

Matt Rychener CEO/Executive Director

The Garden Continues to Grow

The Garden Continues to Grow

It is both exciting and concerning to an organization when it realizes that there isn’t enough space to adequately serve its clients and that a larger facility may be needed.

The old Kurdziel Iron foundry office building in Wauseon has served as the home for the hyperbaric center at Sara’s Garden ever since our first chamber arrived in 2004. It was perfect… the building was made entirely of concrete and cinderblock. While that made running the necessary conduit and piping needed for operations a challenge, it was ideally suited to withstand the weight of the heavy chamber.

As Sara’s Garden has grown throughout the years, we’ve performed multiple expansions to the building to make room for additional staff and another chamber. This has allowed us to serve more clients safely and effectively while also creating added flexibility in scheduling. Unfortunately, this growth has also brought with it additional challenges that expanding the building have made even more difficult and problematic:

  • Building Access: As we’ve grown, we have pushed clients farther and father away from the building’s front entrance. This entrance is regrettably situated in the far corner of the property, farthest away from any available parking. It provides for no ability to create a safe, covered drive-up and drop-off area. Clients carrying children with disabilities, elderly clients with walkers or in wheelchairs have to now walk even farther to arrive at the front door in order to gain access to the building. At one time, we had allowed clients to utilize the building’s back door so that they could get inside much quicker. Sadly, industry regulations no longer allow for that ability due to more stringent safety and security guidelines. This problem is especially difficult for clients arriving for treatments during the winter or on rainy days.
  • Client Parking: More clients means more cars. We’ve expanded the parking along the street, closest to the front entrance as much as possible. When that is full, clients are forced to park in the Hope Center parking lot or in the employee parking lot on the other side of the building. While we now have adequate space for cars to actually park, clients and their families then have to walk much further in order to arrive at the front door to the center.
  • Client Assessment Room: The space that has served as our client assessment room has been tweaked and modified through the years. We’ve knocked down a wall to create additional storage space for client belongings in order to free up valuable floor space in the room for clients to sit. We’ve also moved the door into a larger hallway in order to help with congested traffic with clients starting and finishing treatments. With all of this, we still end up tearing down the conference room every other month in order to create additional space for clients to be assessed by the nursing staff before and after treatments. Many times, nurses have to leave incoming clients in the lobby until the previous clients have left because there is not enough room for everyone. In some cases, nurses are forced to do their assessments out in the lobby itself because there is simply too much congestion in the assessment room.
  • Client/Family Space: Client and family comfort is extremely important to us. We know exactly what it feels like to travel around the country for these services. Our families do not come for a short appointment and spend only a few minutes here waiting for their loved ones to finish treatments. Most spend 2-4 hours with us for 1-2 months at a time. That is a lot of time spent in our client waiting room. While the prior expansion helped create more amenities for families such as a small kitchen, dining area and handicap accessible restroom, it did very little to increase the amount of space that was available for clients and families to sit before treatments and during breaks. Many times there is simply not enough room in the waiting area to adequately seat the clients and families coming for services.

We are now at a point where performing “band-aid” expansions are no longer an option if we intend to continue to serve families as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Plans are now in the works for a spring 2016 expansion to the hyperbaric center which will address all of these growing pains. We will be creating a new parking lot off of Leggett Street dedicated to clients receiving hyperbaric treatments. This parking lot will feature a drive up, covered entrance for clients needing assistance entering the building. The building will feature a new main entrance with a large client waiting room and dining area. Clients will have access to larger men’s and women’s restrooms as well as a separate private family restroom with a powered changing table.

We hope to further enhance our clients’ treatment process by constructing separate, larger pre and post assessment rooms to accommodate the flow of clients arriving and departing from treatments. Each assessment room with have its own bathroom and access to a larger central storage area for each client’s personal belongings.

In preparation for future growth and expansion, we will be building a new chamber room which will have the capacity of housing an additional multiplace chamber if it is ever needed. Our existing chamber room will be converted into an adult therapy room for providing Conductive Education, Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language pathology to our adult clients throughout the day instead of only being able to serve them in the Hope Center after school is over. It is our hope that this addition will provide clients and their families with a fantastic resource that will make their time here at Sara’s Garden as comfortable and effective as possible.

Proposed HBOT center expansion.

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Click on thumbnail to enlarge.

We are still committed to the construction of an onsite housing project for families to stay in while traveling to Sara’s Garden for treatments. Families are stronger when they are together, which helps in the healing process. By providing onsite housing, families will be able to be close by and can keep up with their treatment schedules without worrying about travel to and from Sara’s Garden or the cost of costly long term hotel lodging.  This onsite housing project will make a difference in the lives of families through a few of the following ways:

  • By continuing to reduce and/or eliminate costly fees to the disabled (who are least able to pay and the most disadvantaged).
  • By allowing clients and their family to stay together onsite here at Sara’s Garden.
  • By reducing and/or eliminating travel, lodging and meal costs between visits.
  • By allowing for the maximum opportunities to recover the maximum functions through our healing services.

On some occasions, when we were traveling around the country seeking treatments for our loved ones, we were fortunate to be able to stay at a Ronald McDonald House.  It was comforting to know there was a “home-away-from-home” that allowed us to stay close by at little or no cost.  We want to provide that same comfort and assurance to our clients. To date, we have raised over half of the estimated $800,000 it will take to complete this onsite housing project and hope to begin construction of the facility in 2017.

We are so thankful to everyone who has supported Sara’s Garden and made these project’s possible!

Living with Essential Oils 101

Living with Essential Oils 101

You’ve been curious about essential oils… maybe you even have a bottle that a friend or coworker gave you as a gift… but you’re still not quite sure what to do with them.

  • Which oils are best for soothing a headache?
  • How do I know what to look for when choosing an oil?
  • Is it possible to use too much of an oil?
  • Do they really work?

If you’re asking yourself these questions, we have a class for you. A bit of basic knowledge about essential oils will go a long way, and taking a class is one of the best ways to empower yourself and experience the healing power of essential oils firsthand.

On Saturday, February 6, we’re going back to school as Sara’s Garden will be hosting its next FREE class on Living with Essential Oils. This free educational class will address the myriad uses of essential oils for better living. You will learn what they are, why they work, how to use them, and different ways they can help.

Event Date:Saturday, February 6, 2016
Time:8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Cost:Absolutely FREE!
Location:The Hope Center at Sara’s Garden
 North East Entrance
 220 Lawrence Ave., Wauseon, OH 43567
Deadline to RSVP:Monday, February 1, 2016

Class Overview
We will begin the class together as one group, discussing general topics that are applicable to all attendees. We will then split the class into two tracks focusing on more specific topics and uses. The following is a list of topics that we plan on covering in this class:

8:00 – 9:00 (45 minute session with 15 question & answer time)

  • Essential Oil Safety
  • Essential Oil Constituents
  • How Essential Oils are Made
  • History of Essential Oils
  • Everyday Uses for Essential Oils
  • Aromatherapy First Aid
  • Relaxing with Essential Oils

9:00 – 10:00 (45 minute session with 15 question & answer time)

Track 1 – Essential Oils in the Classroom Great for parents and teachers who want to learn how oils can help in the classroom.
  • Improve Concentration
  • Enhance Mood & Energy Levels
  • Fight the Flu & Germs
  • Hand Washing
  • Cleaning Surfaces
Track 2 – At Home with Essential Oils Great for anyone who want to learn more about how oils can be useful within their homes.
  • Oral Care
  • Healthy Cooking
  • Natural Cleaning
  • Home Purification
  • Natural Protection

Please RSVP with Jackie by Monday, February 1 to secure your seat in this valuable class! Call 419.335.7272 or email to jackier@sarasgarden.org.

2016 “Drive Fore Hope” Charity Golf Scramble

2016 “Drive Fore Hope” Charity Golf Scramble

Sara’s Garden would like to invite you to participate in the 2016 “Drive Fore Hope” Charity Golf Scramble. We have put together a fun-filled day at Ironwood Golf Course in Wauseon, Ohio and hope to see you there!

Event Date:Friday, May 27, 2016
Event Location:Ironwood Golf Course, Wauseon, Ohio
Event Format:4-Player Team Scramble
Event Cost:$75 per Player ($300 per Team)

If you would like to download a flyer for this year’s event to print, post and promote click on one of the links below:

  • “Drive Fore Hope” Promotional Flyer – DOWNLOAD

All proceeds from this event are being donated to Sara’s Garden’s onsite family housing project. Sara’s Garden is a recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and is the only facility in the United States to offer Autism Intervention, Conductive Education, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Sensory Integration and Speech-Language Pathology services.

Registration Includes:

  • Scramble format (4-player teams)
  • Green and cart fees
  • Range balls
  • Goodie bag
  • Contests and prizes
  • Awards for top teams
  • Lunch Buffet
Time
Schedule of Events
7:00 a.m.
Registration
Range Open
8:00 a.m.
Shotgun Scramble
1:00 p.m.
Lunch Buffet
2:00 p.m.
Awards
Silent Auction Closes
Partnership Opportunities:

Platinum Title Partner – $1,500

  • Includes one foursome, event promotion, platinum title partner signage and program recognition.
  • This level of sponsorship will provide 15 hours of HBOT treatments or up to 43 hours of intervention services.

Gold Event Partner – $900

  • Includes one foursome, gold event partner activity signage and program recognition.
  • This level of sponsorship will provide 9 hours of HBOT treatments or up to 25 hours of intervention services.

Silver Contest Partner – $500

  • Includes one foursome, silver contest partner signage and program recognition.
  • This level of sponsorship will provide 5 hours of HBOT treatments or up to 14 hours of intervention services.

Bronze Meal Partner – $350

  • Includes bronze meal partner signage and program recognition.
  • This level of sponsorship will provide 3.5 hours of HBOT treatments or up to 10 hours of intervention services.

O2 Tee Partner – $100

  • Includes O2 tee partner signage and program recognition.
  • This level of sponsorship will provide 1 hour of HBOT treatments or up to 3 hours of intervention services.

For additional information regarding partnership opportunities or team registration for the Sara’s Garden “Drive Fore Hope” Charity Golf Scramble please contact Jackie at 419.335.SARA or via email at jackier@sarasgarden.org.

Please join us for a great day of golf filled with fun, great food, auction items, skill contests and fabulous prizes. Take a day off work for a great cause and meet some of the amazing people you are golfing to help!

“A Bench for Caps” Project Update

“A Bench for Caps” Project Update

KEEP ‘EM COMING… BUT KEEP ‘EM CLEAN!

Your support of our “A Bench for Caps” project has been overwhelming!

As we explained in last quarter’s newsletter, our local Girl Scouts have partnered with Green Tree Plastics in collecting bottle caps and lids to be recycled and transformed into benches for our playground here at Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy.

This is an exciting program wherein bottle caps are transformed into 100% recycled park benches that will last a lifetime. This is the most-perfect-real-life example of sustainability and it happens quite naturally as the kids can’t wait to share the story of their bench.

When we first started this project, our goal was to collect 200 lbs. of bottle caps in order to create one 4′ long bench. With your help, we have collected almost 1,000 lbs. of bottle caps to date!

Simply AMAGING!

We are going to continue collecting caps until March 1 and try and create as many benches as possible for families to enjoy when they come to the playground.

Until then, you can continue to collect your caps and lids and bring them to Sara’s Garden. We have collection bins in the lobbies of both the school and hyperbaric center. The Girl Scouts will do the rest. It’s that simple.

With that being said, the Girl Scouts have asked that we reiterate exactly what is (AND ISN’T) acceptable to collect.

  • Caps MUST BE plastic. ABSOLUTELY NO METAL pop tabs or can lids. We are getting a lot of sharp metal lids turned in which can not be used.
  • Caps MUST BE clean and free from food and trash debris. We are getting a lot of caps turned in that are still full of food and condiment residue. Green Tree will only accept clean lids and caps free of all debris.
  • Caps CAN NOT be from soap or lotion bottles. We have received a tremendous amount of lotion and soap pump bottles. These are no able to be recycled.

It is taking the Girl Scouts a lot of time to sort some of the bags that are being turned in and we want to make sure they are safe and be conscious of their time and efforts.

Examples of caps and lids that are unacceptable:

NO METAL CAN TABS
NO DIRTY LIDS OR CAPS
NO SOAP/LOTION CAPS
NO METAL BOTTLE CAPS

If we turn in any caps and lids such as the ones shown above they will not be accepted by Green Tree Plastics and the entire bag will be thrown out. Below is a complete list of what can and can’t be collected.

Acceptable caps and lids:
  • Medicine bottle caps
  • Detergent caps
  • Deodorant caps
  • Flip-top caps (ketchup and mustard tops)
  • Mayonnaise jar lids
  • Ice cream bucket lids
  • Coffee can lids
  • Drink bottle caps
  • Hair spray caps
  • Spout caps (mustard caps)
  • Cream cheese container lids
  • Butter container lids
  • Milk jug caps
  • Toothpaste tube caps
  • Ointment tube caps
  • Cottage cheese container lids
  • Peanut butter jar lids
  • Cool Whip container lids
Not acceptable caps and lids:
  • Metal caps/lids of any kind
  • Trigger sprays
  • Fast food drink lids
  • Soap pumps
  • Lotion pumps

Below is a list of the past golf outing sponsors that we would like to honor. Thank you for your support!

Hope in the Midst of Life ~ Jan. 2016

Hope in the Midst of Life ~ Jan. 2016

Holiday times always look so pretty on TV, but while there may be moments of joy, not every part is always warm and fuzzy for most of us. What I know about life is that it is good and joyous and incredible! It is also disappointing, and very hard at times. So how do we keep on?

Let me introduce myself, I am Janet Miller the Employer Outreach Coordinator at Hospice of Northwest Ohio. What that means is that I get to create programs and teach them to whatever group gracious enough to have me! I teach about stress management, with the focus being – how to help caregivers take care of themselves so that they don’t just survive the caregiving, but that they thrive in it. It is my privilege to write to you – persons who are caregivers to wonderful people who often times require a lot of help. I don’t have to tell you that you have stress. But through this newsletter, I would like to give you some ideas that are not only do-able but actually make a difference.

We all know that we should be positive. But what nobody tells us is that there are simple things we can do – so that our brain chemistry improves and then we just ARE more positive. We won’t have to wear fake smiles.

  1. Every day, list (in your head or on paper) three very specific things you are thankful for. (Not… “I am thankful for my husband.” But… “I am thankful for my husband who cleaned up the kitchen last night.). Once you’ve listed a specific thing – there are no repeats. We can also help our children to do this. It’s the fastest way of teaching optimism.
  2. Pick a good memory you have, and review it. This causes our biochemistry to become positive and helps us stay healthy. It also makes the memory stronger in our brain. If we think about something positive or ”happy” before we study something – learning will be much easier.
  3. Exercise. Even if you go for a gentle walk you will feel better. 15 minutes of cardiovascular exercise a day is the equivalent of taking an anti-depressant. Your brain gets to record a victory and becomes more positive because you did it! Plus your cardiovascular system is healthier! (Shawn Achor)

May you choose to live more intentionally amongst the list of “have-tos” and “shoulds” AND, “on purpose” begin to do these things in your holiday time and throughout the year! You will feel better!

Janet Miller  MA LPCC

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