health & wellness »

continued from page 42

It
on the
the
It may
may be
be beautiful on
outside
what's on
on the
the
outside but
but it's
its what’s
inside
counts
inside
that that
really
counts.

regentstreetwestbloomfield.com
www.meridiansenior.com

*HSS\Z[VKH`H[

4460 Orchard Lake Road
>LZ[)SVVTÄLSK40

HEALING ARTS
Marcus said she also finds much support
in Karmanos’ Healing Arts Program,
which provides free, complementary
therapies at its Lawrence & Idell Weisberg
Cancer Treatment Center in Farmington
Hills. These include art therapy, guided
imagery, meditation, Reiki (a Japanese
technique for stress reduction), yoga
and massage. The programs are funded
through the Leah A. Davidson Healing
Arts Fund and the Ralph C. Wilson Jr.
Foundation Endowment for Cancer Care.
“I want to do everything I can do to
improve,” Marcus said. She said she espe-
cially enjoys creating collages in the art
therapy class.
“It’s not just doing that; it’s building a
community with others,” she said.
“You’re pouring out your heart, and
you’re not letting negative feelings build
up. The healing arts programs give you the
opportunity to realize you’re not the only
one with a problem. It’s a sharing with oth-
ers, and it’s an opportunity to unload the
‘poison.’”
Marcus said that though she deals with
chronic pain, she keeps herself busy. She’s
been asked by those at a Tampa-area hos-
pital to work as a mentor for other head
and neck cancer patients, and she is con-
templating working in a consulting capac-
ity in education, which is her professional
background. Marcus is a retired adminis-
trator in the Royal Oak Public Schools.
“To see someone like Zoe go from being
grief-stricken to now mentoring others
is a privilege,” said Kathleen Hardy, an
oncology social worker at Karmanos. “Our
Women’s Wellness Group, the Healing Arts
program and especially art therapy have
supported her in making this transforma-
tion. Karmanos’ integrative therapy pro-
gram is open to anyone in the community
living with or recovering from cancer.”
Marcus mentions she also plans on
sticking around to watch her children,
who are in their 20s and 30s, pass their
own life milestones.
“I hope that I’m going to be the No. 1
witness to my children’s lives and the won-
derful things my children are doing with
their lives. I owe my family everything.”
Those wishing to contribute to the Leah
A. Davidson Healing Arts Fund can go
to karmanos.org/leahfund. Checks can
also be mailed to the Karmanos Cancer
Institute, Leah A. Davidson Fund, Code
VE01FS, 4100 John R, Detroit, MI 48201.
For information about Karmanos, call
800-KARMANOS, (800) 527-6266), or
visit www.karmanos.org. For information
about supportive services at Karmanos,
contact Kathleen Hardy at (248) 538-4712
or email her at hardyk@karmanos.org.

*

Ask about our dedicated Memory Care Unit

44 October 27 • 2016

Elizabeth A. Katz is the manager of external mar-
keting & communications at the Barbara Ann
Karmanos Cancer Institute.

Hillary Kener of JScreen

JScreen Program Screens
For Jewish Genetic Diseases

The JScreen genetics screening
program employs an at-home educa-
tion and carrier screening program
for Jewish genetic diseases. It is a
national nonprofit effort based out
of Emory University’s Department
of Human Genetics in Atlanta, in
which testing is performed by a
certified laboratory and test results
are reviewed and reported to partici-
pants by genetic counselors.
The kit can be used to test carrier
status for more than 100 genetic
conditions, many of which are most
common in people with Ashkenazi,
Sephardi and Mizrahi ancestry,
including Tay-Sachs disease, Familial
Dysautonomia and cystic fibrosis.
“Screening is very relevant for
anyone considering having children,
whether they are currently single,
dating or married,” says Hillary Kener,
assistant director of national out-
reach. “By requesting a kit online at
$149, the kit is shipped to an indi-
vidual’s home where they provide
a saliva sample and send it back
using the prepaid shipping package.
In approximately three weeks, the
person being tested is contacted by
a licensed genetic counselor from
JScreen to discuss the results.”
To learn more or to request a kit,
visit www.JScreen.org.

*

Chances Of Inheriting A Trait

For a child born to a couple who both
carry a mutated gene, the expected
outcome for each pregnancy:
• A 25 percent chance the child is born
with two working genes (not affected
with that disease).
• A 50 percent chance the child is born
with one working and one non-work-
ing gene (carrier, without disease).
• A 25 percent that the child is born
with two non-working genes (affected
with the disease).

