Holistic Ovarian Cancer Care

Holistic Ovarian Cancer Care

The American Cancer Society estimates that nearly 20,000 new cases of ovarian cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year. Ovarian cancer is relatively rare, accounting for only about 3 percent of all cancers in women. However, ovarian cancer is currently the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the United States.

Ovarian cancer can be a very difficult and trying disease. It has a 47% five-year survival rate… meaning that more than half of those treated by conventional oncology do not respond favorably to the treatments. Furthermore, those patients who do enter remission are likely to be faced with a recurrent and persistent form of cancer that standardized protocols are not properly equipped to combat.

Crystal had dealt with numerous health problems since she was seven years old. Despite these issues, she had always maintained an active lifestyle. To her, life is precious and she was not willing to allow health concerns to stop her from the purpose God had for her life. In 2016, Crystal was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and had a partial hysterectomy. She refused chemotherapy as she still wanted to have children and was concerned about the possible long-term, negative effects chemo would have on her body. Instead, she started receiving high IV doses of vitamin C monthly. In March 2020, Crystal learned that the cancer had spread. Doctors scraped cancer from off of her organs and performed a complete hysterectomy.

Crystal started seeing an alternative cancer specialist in Minnesota who helped create a plan for testing, diet and nutrition. This alternative approach was aimed at discovering and treating the cancer’s root cause, not the cancer itself. While ’cause’ is usually ignored by standard oncology, the Centers for Disease Control lists numerous proven cancer causes found via laboratory studies, often post-mortem. They list a host of environmental toxins, bacteria, viruses, and numerous other organisms that can enter a cell and disrupt its replication cycle. Crystal’s plan included Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) to help with detoxification, aid in stimulating the immune system and recover health.

All of the cells in the body require oxygen to survive, even cancer cells. This fact has led to a common misconception that cancer cells thrive on oxygen and accelerate the growth of cancer, making Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy ill-suited in the treatment of cancer. Several recent studies have shown this not to be the case and confirmed that HBOT does not induce cancer growth, recurrence, or metastasis. When you have tumors in your body, they often outgrow their oxygen supply. Instead of failing to survive without enough oxygen, some cancer cells can actually thrive and even resist treatment, contributing to the further growth of the cancer.

According to these studies, low oxygen levels in a cell interrupt the activity of oxidative phosphorylation, a term for the highly efficient way that cells normally use to convert food to energy. Hypoxia, which is low oxygen levels, is present in many cancer cells, including ovarian cancers. HBOT is a great adjunctive therapy to compliment most cancer treatments. By flooding your system with concentrated oxygen in your bloodstream, HBOT can help make your cancer cells easier to kill with treatments like chemotherapy and radiation while also activating the body’s natural healing process.

Additional benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for cancer treatment include:

  • Triggering the growth of new blood vessels, which increases the flow of blood and nutrients to your tissue
  • Raises Ph levels in the body, making the body more basic and less acidic
  • Boosting the performance of white blood cells to prevent infection and kill bacteria
  • Reducing pressure, swelling, or pain in the cancer site
  • Reverses the negative effects and damage caused from radiation therapy

When receiving treatment for cancer, HBOT can work in synergy with chemotherapy, radiation, and a ketogenic diet. It may also mitigate the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation and decrease the recovery time after surgical procedures. The use of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to treat cancer side effects aims to reduce the damage to healthy tissue and blood vessels, helping the body become stronger and fight off the disease.

Her family was already familiar with HBOT as Crystal’s father had received treatments in a hyperbaric chamber in California years before to treat the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). They were aware of Sara’s Garden’s reputation as a successful alternative treatment center. She found the staff at Sara’s Garden to be very friendly, compassionate and knowledgeable. Crystal received 9 HBOT treatments at Sara’s Garden after her last surgery and another 8 treatments a few months later.

Following treatments, Crystal noticed that not only did her lungs felt stronger, she felt better overall. Small cuts on her hands healed in only a few days, where they would normally take at least a week. The effects were subtle, yet remarkable. Most importantly, her blood tests stayed on point. Her plan is to continue to come back for a few treatments each year as an annual maintenance plan to maintain her health and wellness and states that “What HBOT has done for me was so worth my time and money.”.

Ovarian cancer patients need to know about HBOT! It is vital for patients to begin treatment as soon as possible, so knowing the symptoms is crucial. A few of these symptoms include abdominal swelling, quickly feeling full, weight loss, fatigue and back pain. Women need to check with their doctor regularly and discuss any potential symptoms. Once diagnosed, any and all options must be considered, including Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy from Sara’s Garden.

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.

2022 Drive Fore Hope Recap

2022 Drive Fore Hope Recap

We would like to thank everyone today for the continued support of Sara’s Garden. This year’s Drive Fore Hope Charity Scramble couldn’t have been possible without the support of so many who sponsored, donated, played or volunteered for the event. We were blessed with beautiful weather and an amazing course at Ironwood Golf Course.

A special thank you to the following sponsors:

  • Platinum Title Sponsors:
    • Everence Financial
    • Farmers & Merchants State Bank
    • Returning American Warriors (RAW)
    • Rupp Seeds, Inc.
  • Gold Event Sponsors:
    • 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics
    • ACE Hardware – Wauseon
    • Circle K
    • Reitzel Ag Equipment
  • Silver Contest Sponsors:
    • Arrow Tru-Line
    • Auto Images
    • Babcock Flooring
    • Continental Plaza Car Wash & Drive Thru Carry Out
    • EagleCreek Staffing LLC
    • Holthues & Associates
    • Meyer-Badenhop Insurance
    • Miller Brother Construction, Inc.
    • Schuette Construction, Inc.
    • Subway of Archbold, Delta, Swanton, Waterville & West Unity
    • Terry Henricks Auto Group
    • Wauseon Machine & Helping Hands
    • Winzeler & Bok, LTD
  • Bronze Meal Sponsors:
    • Kinsman Propane
    • Pettisville Grain Co.
    • Swanton Welding & Machining Co.
  • O2 Tee Sponsors:
    • Beck Insurance Agency
    • Car 1
    • Cordy Insurance Agency
    • Creighton Electric
    • Edward Jones – Wauseon
    • Gearig Flooring
    • Golf Graphics
    • Grieser Transportation
    • Ironwood Golf Course
    • Krauss-Lane Electric
    • OK Electric
    • Rychener Seed
    • Tomahawk Printing Inc
    • Weeping Willow Florist

We would also like to thank Advanced America for donating the water and snacks for our players, ACE Hardware for donating a barrel pit that we were able to raffle off and Special Grounds Coffee Co. for the delicious lunch for everyone after the event!

Congratulations to Larry Zimmerman and his team from Continental Plaza Car Wash & Drive Thru Carryout for being the 1st place team for the event. A commemorative brick will be created for them and placed in the patio of our playground at NHA.

A complete photo gallery from the event can be found HERE on our Facebook page.

We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

2022 Wheel of Purses Recap

2022 Wheel of Purses Recap

We would like to thank all of the volunteers, participants and partners that helped make the 2022 Wheel of Purses event such an amazing success. We are so blessed by the turnout and continued support that everyone has shown. Over 40 designer purses were won at the event and it was great getting back out all together for a night of fun, support and love.

A special thank you to the following sponsors:

  • Title Sponsors:
    • Anderzack-Pitzen Construction, Inc.
    • Andres O’Neil & Lowe
    • Defiance Moose Family Center
  • Event Sponsors:
    • Defiance Meijer Store #189
    • Everence
  • Purse Sponsor:
    • Winzeler & Bok

We would also like to thank the following businesses who donated items for our raffles and games:

  • Azteca
  • Root Salon
  • Imagination Station
  • Weeping Willow Florist
  • Anna Martinez at Barre Beauty
  • Becca from Addington Crafts
  • Passion 4 Fashion
  • Marigold Market
  • Los Mariachis
  • ACE Hardware
  • Cedar Point
  • Beth Foor with Mary Kay
  • Stella Leona Artisan Chocolates
  • Jackie Marcinkiewicz with Norwex
  • Special Grounds Coffee Co.
  • Ten Thousand Villages
  • Megan Bialuk with Color Street Nails
  • Allison Bialuk with Purposely Repurposed Boutique
  • DJ Franki Jaye along with the many other anonymous donations.

A complete photo gallery from the night’s festivities can be found HERE on our Facebook page.

We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

Special Grounds Coffee Talk

Special Grounds Coffee Talk

Our NHA students are home on their summer break… but that doesn’t mean things slow down for the staff at Special Grounds. Our June and July summer camps at Sara’s Garden have given new groups of kiddos from both the Wauseon and Springfield campuses the opportunity to shine out at the coffee shop.

Each week, students have had the opportunity to gain valuable vocational skills and opportunities working at Special Grounds. These kids continue to amaze us! From behind the scenes tasks such as labeling cups and stamping sleeves, to making sandwiches, breakfast burritos, salads and delicious pastries, to working up on the line and register in the cafe… they’ve done an absolutely amazing job and put a smile on the face of everyone they serve and have the opportunity to work with! 

Thank You Donors!

Thank You Donors!

Sara’s Garden is SO blessed by caring Northwest Ohio organizations and businesses which are willing to help support our special needs kids and their families! A big thank you goes out to the Ohio Elks Cerebral Palsy (CP) Fund, the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities (DD), the Dollar General (DG) Literacy Foundation, and members of the Holland/Springfield Rotary Club for all you do for Sara’s Garden, New Horizons Academy and all of its special needs students and their family members!

Thank You to the Ohio Elks Association, its CP Fund, and the Toledo-Sylvania Elks Lodge #53! The Ohio Elks CP Fund donated $13,700 for rehabilitative and conductive education equipment for our special needs students with CP and other neuromuscular disorders at our New Horizons Academy (NHA)-Springfield Township Campus and Greater Toledo Area. The lifts, swings, pads, and bars will assist our students from across Northwest Ohio with their conductive education (CE), occupational therapy (OT), and daily life skills needs, especially helping them with their changing and toileting routines. This equipment is very important in meeting the therapeutic, treatment, and independent care needs of our special needs students and Summer Skills Camp participants, who are from 25 different school districts and nine different counties from across Northwest Ohio.

The Ohio Elks Association provides financial aid to established Cerebral Palsy Treatment Centers, and Sara’s Garden is honored to be one of their chosen programs. Every year, Ohio Elks Lodges from across the state raise money to support organizations, which provide care, treatment, training, and rehabilitation for individuals with CP. We are so grateful to the Ohio Elks Association, the CP Fund, and the Toledo-Sylvania Elks Lodge #53 for this grant. For more information on the Ohio Elks Association or the Toledo-Sylvania Elks Lodge #53 or to make a donation to the CP Fund, please call 419-841-6653 or log onto https://www.elks.org/lodges/home.cfm?LodgeNumber=53

For the first time ever, the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities (DD) awarded Sara’s Garden a $10,544 Mini Summer Camp Grant to purchase four Rifton Adaptive Tricycles for our Springfield Summer Camp’s CE Program. They will be used to meet the physical education and wellness needs of our special education students.

Rifton Adaptive Tricycles are created and customized to meet the needs of children with disabilities. The frame, seat, handlebar, and backrest pad make bicycle riding possible, comfortable, and easier for children with disabilities. The tricycles are physically adaptable for kindergarten to high school students with a wide range of physical and neurological disabilities.

The benefits of adaptive tricycles are endless. They include lower extremity strengthening, reciprocal leg motion patterning, balancing skills, using visual, spatial perception for steering, and social interaction with peers including building relationships, modeling dignity, sharing ordinary spaces and activities, and making choices together. These Rifton Adaptive Tricycles will certainly improve our students’ physical, emotional, and social health. For more information on the Lucas County Board of DD or any its programs or services, call 419-380-4000 or log onto https://lucasdd.org/.

Though changing their format for meetings, the members of the Holland/Springfield Rotary Club are staying active and involved in their communities. The Rotary Club members donated $1,000 to help support the vocational and job skill needs of our NHA-Springfield Campus students. Their donation, along with over $15,000 of vocational funding, helped to cover the cost of a motorized coffee cart, which will be used to practice and develop vocational skills while meeting the morning caffeine needs of NHA parents and area businesses. Our middle school, high school, and PACE students will be selling and delivering our own Special Grounds Coffee in and around our Springfield Campus. Watch our New Horizons Academy Facebook page for our Opening Coffee Day!

With Dollar Generals across Northwest Ohio participating in the Summer Literacy Grant Program, Sara’s Garden is so grateful to the Dollar General Literacy Foundation for supporting the development of its Special Needs Library Section with a $3,000 grant, which will be used by summer camp participants and NHA students throughout the school year. The literacy focus is on meeting the educational and intervention needs of students with specific learning needs including those preschool children to young adults who may use braille, large print, sensory-processing, tactile, and low-literacy books and educational materials. They will be utilized for one-on-one, individualized reading intervention, small group story time activities, and for reading comprehension assessments.

Special recognition needs to be given to NHA teacher Kelsey Barton and librarian Melissa Valentine for assessing and evaluating the special literacy needs of all of our NHA students and for developing a wish list for our Special Needs Library Section. Thank you, Kelsey, Melissa, and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation for meeting the specific reading and learning needs of our kiddoes! For more information about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, log onto https://www.dgliteracy.org/.

Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy rely so heavily on the generosity and caring of Northwest Ohio businesses organizations, so please take a moment during your busy day to thank the Ohio Elks Cerebral Palsy Fund, the Toledo-Sylvania Elks Lodge #53, the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, and members of the Holland/Springfield Rotary Club for all they do for Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy!

Donations continue to be accepted and fundraising efforts continue for the inclusive outdoor playground at our NHA-Springfield Township Campus in Holland. The goal is for our special needs children and students from the Greater Toledo Area to play on, enjoy, and utilize a multi-sensory, fully accessible, playground with therapy space for physical education programs, play groups, conductive education classes, recess, and rehabilitative activities. For more information on the playground project or to donate to it, please call 419-335-4NHA or email info@sarasgarden.org.

NHA Students Head Back to School

NHA Students Head Back to School

NHA Students Head Back to School with Open Houses on August 15 & 16!

We are so excited to welcome back to school all of our New Horizons Academy (NHA) students and parents at our Annual Open Houses on August 15 at our Springfield Campus in Holland and on August 16 at our Wauseon and Career Center Campuses!

To make the Open Houses a little less overwhelming for our special needs students and to give them and their parents more time to find their rooms and to talk with their teachers, principal, therapists, conductors, and classmates, NHA will be staggering its open house schedule by age groups across the two nights.

Monday, August 15
Springfield Campus—6201 Trust Dr., Holland

  • 6:00-6:30 p.m.—STARS Preschool Classes
  • 6:30-7:00 p.m.—Developmental Elementary Classes
  • 7:00-7:30 p.m.—Middle School & High School Classes
  • 7:30-8:00 p.m.—Conductive Education (CE) & PACE Program

Tuesday, August 16
Wauseon Campus—220 Lawrence Ave.

  • 5:30-6:00 p.m.—STARS Preschool Classes
  • 6:00-6:30 p.m.—Developmental & Elementary Classes
  • 6:30-7:00 p.m.—CE, Room 115 & Middle School Classes

Wauseon Campus—620 W. Leggett St.

  • 7:00-7:30 p.m.—Junior High & High School Classes

Career Center—854 S. Shoop Ave.

  • 7:30-8:00 p.m.—Career Center Program

NHA Principal Marty Friess wants to extend a special invite to all of our students and parents, “Please join us in kicking off another GREAT YEAR at New Horizons Academy in Wauseon and Springfield. We have missed all of our students over the summer, and we are so looking forward to seeing everyone at our Open Houses and starting back to school on Wednesday, August 17. Please join us at the Open Houses and help to get this year off on the right foot.”

NHA still has a few openings for this school year and is still accepting students in select classrooms at its regional special needs campuses. Classes do begin August 17; so if you are interested in enrolling your child, please contact the school today to get the enrollment process started.

At New Horizons Academy, all of our classes and programs are designed to meet the individual needs of our special education students, including their academic, behavioral, and social needs. NHA accepts both the Autism and Jon Peterson Scholarships as payment in full for our students’ tuition and therapy services during the school day. Cost is not and should not be the reason that special needs children miss out on the early intervention (EI), special education, or vocational training experiences that they so desperately need.

Is NHA Right for Your Child?

  • Regional special education classes for students aged 3-21 from over 25 different school districts from across Northwest Ohio’s 9 different counties,
  • With less than a 1:2—staff to student ratio,
  • Individualized, personalized education,
  • Strong academics, community involvement, life skills classes, vocational skills, work site placements, and job coaches,
  • Helps students to reach their full potential and become as independent as they can possibly be,
  • Including EI, CE, sensory integration, occupational therapy (OT), speech/language pathology (SLP), music instruction, and the College Credit Plus (CCP) Program,
  • Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) School,
  • Vocational opportunities through the Special Grounds Coffee Shop & Coffee Cart

Time is short. The next school year is just around the corner with Open Houses on August 15 & 16; so, call Admissions Coordinator Ronda Rupp at 419-335-7272 or email her today at rondar@sarasgarden.org to schedule a tour and get the admissions process started.

For more information on NHA or on any of its open houses, please call the school offices:

  • Wauseon—419-335-7272
  • Springfield—567-703-1322.

Support Josey Hrosko (Lashley)

Support Josey Hrosko (Lashley)

Thank you for all the support of our family over the past four years since Josey’s birth and especially recently as we dealt with some unexpected medical issues in our family. Here is an update on Josey’s story and current circumstances.

We were surprised to learn at a routine ultrasound at 38 weeks gestation that Josey was small. After being referred to maternal fetal medicine for a more in-depth ultrasound, we learned she had intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR). They said she was less than 4lbs and I could choose to have her “today or tomorrow”. Luckily tomorrow worked out, and after all my worry about her health throughout the pregnancy, when she was born, the worry disappeared because she looked absolutely perfect and healthy, at a small 3.6 lbs. She spent 16 days in the NICU for basic monitoring. We also learned that Josey has trisomy-21 (Down Syndrome).

IUGR is a pathological restriction of fetal weight. Placental insufficiency causes the reduced fetal weight and growth during pregnancy. The fetus is also deprived of an adequate supply of oxygen which can also cause impaired brain function. Josey was also discovered to have a small hole in her heart, a Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO), which we learned will close on its own, probably around the age 5 or 6. The degree to which these things have affected her development are unknown, but we feel that they have had some role. We do know Josey is a fighter with a strong spirit. It is a miracle for her just to be born and survive all the supposed odds stacked against her.

When we came home with Josey as a newborn, we started the county funded home therapy program. It never felt right to me, and Josey thoroughly despised it. We were told “Josey doesn’t want to do ‘xyz’ because it’s too hard”. We felt this wasn’t true, that there was another barrier to her development. At the age of 1, Josey was still an infant developmentally, and we stopped those services. We also looked into some alternative approaches to therapy, Josey had some small gains developmentally. We stuck with this method called ABM/Anat Baniel Method, which is rooted in neurodevelopment, over the year with a lot of breaks due to the pandemic. At the age of 2, Josey was still at infant level. We discovered Brain Bright in Toledo when Josey was around 2.5 years old. Brain Bright uses a holistic approach to treat the root cause of a diagnosis through neuroplasticity, essentially helping to “rewire the brain”. At almost 4, and in combination with a healthy whole foods diet, supplementation in needed vitamins and minerals, Josey is now showing us who she is! She has become an affectionate, giggly girl, and she has just starting hugging this year! It feels like a gift from God to get a hug from Josey.

Developmentally, Josey has not advanced when compared to other similarly aged peers with down syndrome. At this moment, our near 4-year-old is still mostly dependent like a baby. She can now sit on her own and can eat finger foods.

During our time at Brain Bright, we decided she was ready for physical therapy. And after a very stressful 4-5 months and no changes from a PT perspective, we had to take a break. It was during this time I remembered a conversation I had with a person when Josey was a newborn. They told us about a place called Sara’s Garden. They had known a child with down syndrome who attended there for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) and it helped tremendously. For Josey’s 4th Birthday in August, I would love to do HBOT for her. Everyone around her can see she is ready for more.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has been very successful in treating individuals with developmental disabilities. However, in the United States it is not recognized as being therapeutic for these treatments and is therefore not covered by insurance. That is why we could really use your help. HBOT for Josey’s condition is only $100 per treatment at Sara’s Garden (as opposed to $1,500-2,500 per treatment at a hospital). However, since our plan is for her to receive at least 40 HBOT treatments that cost adds up quickly.

If you could assist us with the cost (or even just part of the cost) of a single $100 HBOT treatment it would help reduce our overall expenses greatly. 100% of the funds received go into an account in Josey’s name and will be used for her treatments. Any contribution made would be considered a tax-deductible donation as Sara’s Garden is a 501(c)(3) non-profit facility. Checks can be made out to Sara’s Garden with Josey’s name on a sheet of paper accompanying the check. Please do NOT write her name directly on the check. You can also donate online via credit card by clicking on the DONATE NOW button below.

We are prepared to pay out of pocket like usual for Josey’s alternative therapies, but as they say: “If you don’t ask, you don’t know.” We would appreciate any donations to Josey’s new hopeful oxygen therapy, given that her mom also has another surgery scheduled this fall.

We love you all and thank you again for your continued support and understanding.

John, Jill, Jake and Josey

Sara’s Garden is a 501(c)(3) organization. Your charitable contribution is tax deductible under 501(c)(3) of the IRS code, to the extent allowed by law. A receipt will be sent to you after your pledge has been received to use for tax purposes.