health & wellness

Rehabilitation
designed to get
patients back to living.

Despite Crohn's disease, teen is
active in school and community.

Recovery begins with our state-of-the-art
rehab gym where our team can treat patients
recovering from orthopedic injuries, stroke
and neurological, cardiac, oncology and
pulmonary issues.

I

We offer:

• Complex medical care
• Intensive rehabilitation
• Skilled nursing

13 locations in the Greater Detroit area

Allen Park
Ann Arbor
Bloomfield Heights
Canton
Dearborn Heights
Grosse Pointe Woods
Livonia

Livonia NE
Oakland
Plymouth
Sterling Heights
West Bloomfield
Marvin & Betty Danto
Health Care Center

VILLA

HEALTHCARE

EXCEPTIONAL CARE. UNEXPECTED LUXURY.
PASSIONATE SERVICE.

Effective July 1, 2015, Villa Healthcare is excited to inform you that we have assumed
ownership of the Bortz Healthcare Facilities throughout Michigan.

Villa Healthcare is changing the landscape of post-hospital care by transforming long-term
care facilities into modem, post-acute care settings known for clinical sophistication,
quality medical care, unexpected luxury, and exceptional levels of comfort and service.

Our goal is to provide patients with the optimal pathway to restore heatlh vitality and
independence to its highest level. Our clinical programs include short-term transitional
care, rehabilitative care, specialized clinical programs, and long-term care.

THE VILLA AT WEST BRANCH
445 S Valley Street, West Branch, MI 48661
Phone: 989-345-3600

THE VILLA AT ROSE CITY
517 W Page Street, Rose City, MI 48654
Phone: 989-685-2442

THE VILLA AT TRAVERSE POINT
2828 Concord Street, Traverse City, MI 49684
Phone: 231-941-1200

THE VILLA AT THE BAY
1500 Spring Street, Petoskey, MI 49770
Phone: 231-347-5500

THE VILLA AT GREEN LAKE ESTATES
6470 Alden Drive, Orchard Lake, MI 48324
Phone: 248-363-4121

villahc.com

44 July 23 • 2015

Jay Leno Benefit

Heartland skilled nursing and rehab centers
provide a comprehensive regime of specialized
rehabilitation services, each one designed to
move you one step closer to your recovery
goals.

Robert Ortlieb

Special to the Jewish News

ust by looking at Noah Safian, 17,
of West Bloomfield, you'd prob-
ably never guess he lives with
and manages a chronic digestive health
condition — Crohn's disease.
The Cranbrook Schools senior is a
member of his high school lacrosse team,
plays guitar, creates music digitally and
is currently an intern with the Michigan
Round Table for Diversity and Inclusion in
Detroit. Noah's role as an intern includes
facilitating workshops on racism, femi-
nism and discrimination to young adults
across Metro Detroit. Naturally, his par-
ents are proud.
When Noah was 9, he began experienc-
ing stomach pain. His mother, Maureen,
recalls, "He was swimming competitively
and we just thought it was nerves. But
then he practically stopped eating. He lost
lots of weight."
Inflammatory bowel disease is charac-
terized by chronic, intermittent inflam-
mation of the GI tract. Both Croluis and
colitis can be managed, but there are pres-
ently no cures. They commonly require a
lifetime of care. Both dramatically affect
the quality of life for more than 47,000
Michigan residents, young and old.
It's estimated the incidence of Croluis
disease amongst Ashkenazi Jews is two to
eight times that of the general population.
Doctors and researchers likely attribute
this high rate to a genetic cause.
Noah and his family are members of
Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.
Today, his Crohn's is managed with
infusion therapy using Remicade every
seven weeks.
Before his Crohn's diagnosis, Noah
admits, "I became anxious about things
easily. I was a perfectionist. After the diag-
nosis, my perspective changed. I realized it
could always be worse. I'm actually more
positive now:'
Family means a lot to Noah. His mother
Maureen, a former nurse, and father,
Robert, a Beaumont cardiologist, have
three sons and a daughter. They are part of
a group called ConQuest dedicated to rais-
ing funds to support Beaumont Health's
treatment, education and research of
Crohris and colitis.
ConQuest's 2013 inaugural event with
Lily Tomlin raised more than $125,000,
resulting in the hiring of a clinical psy-
chologist for children with inflammatory
bowel disease, or IBD. They hope to raise
more funds with their second event, a

Noah Safian, 17, is managing his

Crohn's disease through infusion
therapy.

benefit featuring Jay Leno July 25 at
Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights.
"There is a profound stigma attached
to people with gastrointestinal problems,
due to diarrhea, vomiting, bloody bowel
movements, all difficult issues for adults to
discuss and even more so for children," Dr.
Safian explains. "Psychological counseling
is crucial.
"But since it's virtually impossible for
hospitals to fund the major support pro-
grams necessary to properly treat this
disease, we have to rely on external sup-
port and the goodwill of the community;
he says.
For Dr. Safian, the sweetest victory in
his son's health journey has been watching
Noah's inspiring evolution — both emo-
tionally, in becoming a kind, sensitive and
resilient young man, and physically.
"Old concerns about delayed growth
have been replaced with figuring out how
we're going to find the right shoes to fit
Noah's ginormous feet," he says. "At over
6 feet, he towers over me and his older
brothers and wears a size 14 shoe7
Crohn's and ulcerative colitis result in an
abnormal response by the body's immune
system. While Crohn's can affect any part
of the gastrointestinal tract, usually the
small bowel, ulcerative colitis impacts the
large intestine, also called the colon.
The causes of IBD are unknown, but
thought to involve genetic, immunologic
and environmental factors.

❑

General admission seats for the July 25 Jay

Leno performance are $25 for lawn, $35-$50

for pavilion. For tickets, visit www.freedomhilL

net/tickets/#amphitheatre or call (888) 929-

7849 Robert Ortlieb is in media relations with

Beaumont Health System.

