Week 9 - Pulling at the Heart Strings

The Valley City Times Record has been following the story of seven month old Paityn Elstrom who was born with a failing liver. Initially she received surgery to correct the situation. Unfortunately, the surgery was not successful and her only chance of survival is for a liver transplant.

The Valley City community has rallied around the little girl because of so many family connections in the community. Her parents grew up in and around Valley City. She has grandparents and other close relatives in the community.

Father Jason’s 5 year old cousin started a fundraiser in his elementary classroom to help fund the enormous medical bills. Before he knew it, he raised $1300. Since then there has been a benefit to help as well as an account at Bank Forward in Valley City. Dakota Medical Foundation’s Lend A Hand program matched $5000 during the benefit.

It’s such a heartwarming case of a good, hard working young couple starting their family with such challenges. And to see pictures of little Paityn you just want to help her get a fair chance of growing up big and strong.

Many parts of this story are amazing to me. First, how far medical science has come. I can hardly imagine have a piece of someone else keeping me alive. About 2 ½ years ago my 24 year old nephew found out he had only one kidney and that kidney was failing. He had no idea before a life insurance physical that there was anything wrong. His best shot was for a transplant and his older sister gave him life. He is doing great and living a full life – with a changed attitude. He was a bit inside himself much of his growing up years and all the sudden he’s so full of sharing and life – but that’s another story.

The other thing that amazes me is how even during very tough financial times, people will rally to help others with needs more than our own. It’s humbling to know that this little girl needs all of us to help her survive this. And even though it may be difficult to share the little we have, we will do it because it’s the right thing to do and we feel great doing it. Good human nature succeeds no matter what!

Week 8 Blog

The Ron and Jodi Hansen family are quite unique. This feel good story is about a family working and enjoying life together while building their dream life. The Hansen’s have five home schooled daughters who work with them on their ventures which include horse and dog boarding.


Last year they bought a piece of land next to the Sheyenne National Grasslands about 40 miles southwest of Fargo. They are developing the land into the Sheyenne Oaks Horse Camp and RV Park which they expect to open in April. According to the article, “Sheyenne Oaks Horse Camp and RV Park will offer 21 sites with sewer, water and electrical hookups, plus corrals for horse owners, on 120 acres.”

The Hansen’s have worked for years to get to this dream. At age 25 Ron went to engineering school while in the process of raising their family. It made Ron employable as a mechanical engineer at Loegering Manufacturing in Casselton and income to sustain the family. The job also gave Ron the expertise to develop their geothermal heat system used in their home.

The whole family is involved in all aspects of their lives from working with the animals and all the chores that go with that to haying in the summer for winter feed. And they sound happy! It appears the kids don’t mind the work. They don’t have TV and Ron says they don’t have time to watch it anyway.

This is a great story of an American dream come true. As a horse enthusiast, I see a real market for this. Every kid wants a horse growing up and this is the next best thing. The location of this business venture is perfect. Less than one hours from the fastest growing community in North Dakota. I think they have individuals and groups come to trail ride on their horses on a regular basis. Their location lends itself perfectly for an inexpensive day or weekend trip in a beautiful area of eastern North Dakota.

I think they’ve got a real shot at completing this part of their dreams. Those with horses will have great riding opportunities and those without will have a place to rent and enjoy the outdoors. Check out the photos and rates on their web site. I was impressed.

Week 7 - STRESS

In this week’s Valley City Times Record, an event coverage article give details about a “Lunch ‘n Learn” program given by Dr. Erin Klingenberg, “a licensed professional clinical counselor and director of Counseling and Human Resources at Valley City State University.” The programs are offered occasionally to the community on topics as varied as the hormonal issue presented at this week’s event. The programs are organized by the local Chamber of Commerce.

The topic for this program was how men and women react to stress and how they are similar or different. Dr. Klingenberg also presented strategies on how to cope with stress. “Fight-or-flight” versus “tend-and-befriend” were the descriptors given to the male/female reactions to stress. Which one are you?

How a person reacts has a specific connection to our hormones. The “fight-or-flight” reaction is triggered by the testosterone levels in our body. And the “tend-and-befriend” is triggered by the Oxytocin levels. Klingenberg noted that the reactions are not solely determined by your gender, although the hormones mentioned generally are.

Testosterone is produced in both the male and female bodies. However, 40 to 60 times more is produced by the male body.

When you look at Oxytocin, sources indicate its direct link to childbirth. This hormone plays a role in the female body that allows a child to be born and feed. That makes a lot of sense in its connect to “tend” to those in need during a stressful situation.

I’ve always felt that we don’t have to agree with everyone about everything. But if we know where they are coming from, and that it is their personality type, or hormone production as this would infer, then we can at least understand the hows and whys of what people do. I’ve learned about personality types and what they may do in varied situations because of facilitating with Corporate Adventures. Personality type study is one of their trainings they offer. It’s amazing how co-workers have been able to put certain people in certain positions because they know their personality type and who will best serve a specific situation. Until now, I didn’t realize hormonal levels can be just as strong.

Stress is huge in our lives. It is everywhere and how we deal with it can make or break situations in our family, work, and social interactions. Knowing when you are under stress and what we do to help yourself through it can make all the difference. Finding ways to cope before it runs our lives is important to our mental health also. My stress reliever is yoga – sometimes venting or retreating – but mostly yoga. I’m in the beginner stages of yoga but the back and joint relief it has given me is phenomenal.

Week 6 - Booooo

This week I decided to go more local and searched the Valley City Times Record for a local story of interest. So what did I find? My name referenced in an article regarding ghosts. Go figure.

According to the article, Schiffer Publishing Company was looking for someone to research and write a book about ghosts in North Dakota. Lori Orser answered the ad because of her very personal experience with her “third roommate” while in college at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. She and her roommate claimed to see the same ghost doing the same things.

Orser has located other stories in North Dakota. One ghost identified in the article include The Grey Lady of Sims who “is supposedly the ghost of an early 20th Century minister’s wife in Sims (North Dakota) who haunts the rectory as a caretaker spirit.”

A second is “Sister Boniface was the founder of St. Alexus Hospital in Bismarck and has supposedly been seen walking the halls, making sure everything is all right.” Searching the internet for Sister Boniface is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack – there are plenty of them. Needless to say St. Alexus doesn’t put their roaming ghost stories up front on their web page so finding anything about their founder was tough but I did find a bit on her history with the Hospital.

Through her research Orser contacted Wes Anderson at the Historic Museum about any stories in Barnes county. Well of course there would be ghosts in those brick towers on campus!

That brings us to why my name is in the article. The newspaper article author, Steve Browne called someone on campus who sent him to someone, who sent him to another someone, who sent him to me saying I had been here many years and would probably know of stories. I tried not to give him anything he could use but he still did!!! A lesson in saying “no comment” for me.

Anyway, I have a couple children who believe there are spirits among us and have felt their presence. I am on the side of spirits or angels and don’t believe most are here to harm us but to watch over us. I have a sister and niece who say a spirit sat on their bed at a cabin in Minnesota. When my sister asked her daughter what it was she said just to go to sleep because it wasn’t there to harm them. Then my niece left the next day. Kids!?

So if you are inclined and want to know more, watch for Orser’s book coming to a B ‘n N near you.

Week 5: Breastfeeding Mothers - More Power To Them!

One of the hot topics this week in the North Dakota Legislature is a law allowing women to breast feed in public. Bills presented in the past have not passed the ND legislature leaving it among the four (4) states without such a law.

A couple arguments against allowing public breast-feeding is that it makes others uncomfortable, or it is obscene.

The women that are testifying for the bill and speaking out have valid points. They are also the women who would, and have; breast feed their children in a non-offensive way. It’s the women that don’t care to be discrete that have created the references of obscenity in conjunction to breastfeeding.

According to the Fargo Forum Article, “Dr. Joan Connell speaks in support of the breast-feeding bill at a committee hearing in the state Capitol Wednesday in Bismarck. The pediatrician spoke of the health benefits of breastfeeding and related personal experiences in her testimony.”
According to Karen Ehrens, a spokeswoman for the North Dakota Dietetic Association, the national average of mothers who breast feed their children is 74%. In North Dakota it is 68%. Pediatricians nationwide recommend breastfeeding for one full year because of the health benefits it allows the child.

There are dozens of sites that indicate breastfeeding is beneficial to infants, including the women’shealth.gov site posted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and many other company based companies. These sites list not only benefits, but the risks taken by not breastfeeding. U.S.D.A. offers economic factors that make breastfeeding beneficial to more than just the baby and mother.

The US Department of Health and Human Services sites the following four risks:

HEALTH RISKS OF NOT BREASTFEEDING
· Breast milk has agents (called antibodies) in it to help protect infants from bacteria and viruses. Recent studies show that babies who are not exclusively breastfed for 6 months are more likely to develop a wide range of infectious diseases including ear infections, diarrhea, respiratory illnesses and have more hospitalizations. Also, infants who are not breastfed have a 21% higher post neonatal infant mortality rate in the U.S.
· Some studies suggest that infants who are not breastfed have higher rates of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in the first year of life, and higher rates of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, lymphoma, leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, overweight and obesity, high cholesterol and asthma. More research in these areas is needed (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2005).
· Babies who are not breastfed are sick more often and have more doctors’ visits.
· Also, when you breastfeed, there are no bottles and nipples to sterilize. Unlike human milk straight from the breast, infant formula has a chance of being contaminated.
The four basic points given here are pretty strong arguments supporting this natural activity.
So what’s the problem! If there are issues, post guidelines! Provide private, signed areas in public places! It’s not rocket science.

Although it wasn’t always easy, I breast feed my three children. Not only were there great health benefits I could automatically give to them, but an instant bond was created between us that only grew. And you know what, at 3:00 a.m., the milk is already warm.

Blog #4 - Warms My Heart

CANCER. Even the word sounds like a hungry creature out to devour anything it comes in contact with. That’s how cancer is. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been touched by this disease in one way or another. We’ve lost wonderful people in our lives and we feel cheated by that.

The American Cancer Society has many activities that work to raise funds for research to combat this disease. Because I’ve been affected by cancer so many times, I support many in one way or another. There is the relay for life in the summer and right now Daffodil Days is under way . Across the country volunteers are selling various packages of this beautiful yellow flower that show hope and brightness for renewing our spirits.

This article in the Valley City Times Record shows how the community and the local high school are working to promote and sell daffodils. It warms my heart to see people of all ages working toward a common goal. From small town to major cities, come March 26, you’ll see yellow everywhere. When I did a search in the Online Fargo Forum there were many articles about Daffodil days. So I went further. It was tough to find articles specifically on this fund raiser, but they are out there. Not only is it a great cause, but we are united as a nation by this cause. We are all affected which makes it easy to get involved.

It’s so heartwarming to see that even though we struggle with so many things in our country that we can come together when the cause is right. I saw that with President Obama’s inauguration. We know what needs to be done and American’s join together to do what’s right. Even many people who were not Obama supporters during the campaign put their differences aside and rose for the celebration that made history before our eyes.

Volunteering is an necessity that cannot be lost in our society. There are people in need of our help everywhere. Daffodil Days is just one that I encourage you to become a part of. It might just be buying a bunch. Or it might be asking others to buy a bunch. Check it out – I have signup sheets at my desk if you are in Valley City. If not you probably don’t have to look far to find someone that can hook you up.

Blog #3 - ND Heroes!

I found a story in the Fargo Forum that caught my attention. Partly because of the severe weather we’ve had in North Dakota the last TWO months without human fatalities because of the weather until just this past week. A 40+ year old man was found frozen to death recently. He had few cloths on, indicated he was suffering from hypothermia, which caused his death. And now a second incident that could have been fatal but was not.
A graduate school couple (nationality unknown but their names could suggest they are not North Dakota born) from UND were using their Global Positioning System (GPS) to locate a rural North Dakota home to rent/buy. With limited reception because of the grade of the land and few transfer towers, they turned the direction the GPS directed them. Unfortunately, they ended up stuck on a typical ND prairie trail. It was 4 degrees below zero with 15 mile an hour winds. All the signs for tragedy to strike were there.
They did everything right if there is such a thing if you are traveling in rural ND in sub zero conditions. They called for help with their cell phone although the service was not functioning 100%. Even with limited service the 911 operator knew they were in trouble. They had a full tank of gas with half of it left when they were found. They had winter clothing on to keep warm and were able to keep their vehicle running. They had their hazard lights blinking. And they were in North Dakota where authorities will risk their own lives to keep us safe.
The article reports that County Sherriff’s deputies from Grand Forks, Steele, Trail, and Nelson Counties were involved in the search. A U.S. Border Patrol Helicopter and a local farmer also assisted with the search and rescue. Wow! Check out the area the Grand Forks Border Patrol has to cover.
Now consider the weather in North Dakota and the history of lives lost in hazardous winter weather. Temperatures can be so extreme and adding the wind chill can be devastating. Sounds like another good reason to increase the amount of transmission towers to keep everyone who enters our state safe. It’s easy to get mixed up when you in rural ND whether you were raised here or not. Tragedy could have struck but our dedicated public servants kept going until they could guarantee a safe ending to this story. I hope all in need have people like this on the other end of the phone when they call 911. Kudos to North Dakota County Sherriff deputies, U.S. Border Patrol, and local farmers – where would we be without them?!