Travis Wilson had no time to react and almost no warning before his parachute collapsed, sending him plummeting 200 feet to the ground. All the veteran remembers is a sound he describes as a “ruffling” — and then the bone-shattering impact.

It wasn’t the first serious injury he’d sustained as a member of the United States Army Special Forces. It also wouldn’t be the last. The punishing combat and training he’d experienced as a member of the group nicknamed the Green Berets later led to two knee replacements.

He struggles to speak when he thinks about the plight of former soldiers like himself: Ones with injuries as severe as their jobs are demanding.

“It’s not just the Green Berets,” he said Thursday. “It’s veterans as a whole that are kind of forgotten about. … We’re the quiet professionals.”

The icing and compression machine Wilson uses to help his recovery from knee replacement cost thousands of dollars. He might not have been able to get it if not for the help of the Green Beret Foundation — an organization dedicated to supporting former Green Berets and their families after they leave the service.

It’s support that’s necessary, national GBF board member Fran Wesseling said, because they often don’t receive everything they need from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“When you’re a Green Beret doing the kind of missions they do, they come back with chronic or complex injuries that don’t necessarily fit the standard of care,” she said.

Wesseling knows firsthand. Her own son, Darrin, had brain trauma after experiencing two car bombings in nine days during his service in Iraq.

Longterm, it led to severe deterioration. He can no longer speak and is essentialy quadriplegic, his mother said.

“Before he lost his ability to speak, he said, ‘Do it for my brothers,’” she said.

So she does. Events Wesseling leads in greater Cincinnati have raised more than $800,000 over the course of four years.

“We want to honor him,” she said. “Let people never forget the sacrifices they make, any of the military make for us when they go into combat.”

For Wilson, its value is simple: “The Green Beret Foundation doesn’t forget.”

The Green Beret Foundation has multiple events scheduled in Cincinnati for 2019. Anyone interested in attending can learn more on the foundation's website.

NEW YORK (AP) — If you want to skip meat, a new era of options is here.

Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are among the companies racing to tap into the massive U.S. market of meat eaters by more closely mimicking the taste of beef than vegetarian patties of the past. Others are working to grow meat in labs.

So are the plant-based patties better for you or for the planet? Here's what you might want to know before taking a bite:

ARE THEY HEALTHIER?

As with many questions about diet, it depends. For better or worse, patties from Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods can be nutritionally similar to beef.

Beyond Meat's 4-ounce patty is listed at 270 calories , while Impossible Foods' is listed at 240 calories . Ground beef's nutritional profile can range, but a similarly sized patty with 80% lean meat has around 290 calories .

Protein content is about the same, while other nutrients vary. Some may like that the plant-based patties have fiber, but dislike that they're higher in sodium.

For overall diet, what matters more might be how the patties are served, whether it's at Burger King , White Castle or elsewhere.

At Umami Burger in New York, for example, a burger with two Impossible patties, cheese and fixings tops 1,000 calories. Few would call it healthy, especially if served with fries and a soda.

"People are going to be fooling themselves into thinking these are not just better, but healthy," said Yoni Freedhoff, an obesity expert at the University of Ottawa.

People also may not realize the saturated fat content can be similar to beef burgers, he said.

WHAT'S IN THEM?

Beyond Meat's ingredients include pea protein and canola oil. Impossible Food's patties have soy protein and coconut oil. Impossible says its patties have a flavor and hue similar to beef partly because of soy leghemoglobin , a protein the company makes by genetically modifying yeast.

The meat industry, meanwhile, is appealing to people who prefer simpler ingredient lists.

"A beef patty is one natural ingredient: beef," says the North American Meat Institute, which represents meat makers.

HOW DO THEY TASTE?

Taste is subjective, but reviews generally say Beyond Meat and Impossible burgers taste similar to meat.

Christian Acosta, who works in New York, said he's had the Impossible burger several times and can't tell the difference.

"It tastes exactly like meat," he said, while waiting in line to get the burger for lunch.

Unlike with a steak, any discrepancies in taste between beef and the plant-based burgers may be masked by buns, cheese and toppings. Both Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have also updated their recipes, and may keep doing so to get even more like meat.

HOW MUCH DO THEY COST?

The idea is to eventually make Beyond and Impossible burgers cost the same or less than beef. For now, expect to pay more.

At a Whole Foods in New York, two Beyond Meat patties cost $5.99, roughly double the price of two ground beef patties. Impossible burgers aren't yet available in grocery stores. But at a Bareburger restaurant in New York, it's an extra $3 for either of the plant-based patties.

ARE THEY BETTER FOR THE EARTH?

Beef is considered taxing on the environment because of the resources it takes to grow crops to feed cows. Cows also produce the greenhouse gas methane, mostly through burps .

Though grazing animals can play a positive role in the ecosystem, that's not how most animals in the U.S. are raised, said Christopher Field, who is at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and who knows the founder of Impossible Foods. But he noted people don't have to give up meat entirely to make a difference, and that pork and chicken have much smaller environmental footprints than beef.

WHAT'S NEXT?

On the horizon is meat grown in labs by culturing animal cells, but it will be some time before people can get a taste.

Right now, the solutions used to help cells grow are expensive and limited since they're mainly made for medical therapy purposes, said Bruce Friedrich, executive director of the Good Food Institute, which advocates for meat alternatives.

Still, regulators have taken notice and the meat industry is watching and mobilizing to "protect beef nomenclature."

Already, Beyond Meat's debut as a public company may be confirming the meat industry's concerns. Years ago, a beef group had listed Beyond Meat as an issue to watch, according to public records obtained by the Associated Press.

CINCINNATI — Sometimes you just get a little curious about something new in your environment. That’s why I’m writing this story.

The place where I work out introduced a new piece of equipment that has allowed people across the country to get a high-tech look at themselves as they work to lose weight and gain muscle. The Styku 3-D Body Scanner was introduced in 2012 as a way to measure the body for custom clothing.

But by 2015, it had morphed into a metric for health and fitness. As of this month, 900 of the scanners are active across the country – including one at my workout home, It's Working Out in Columbia Tusculum, or IWO for short.

How does it work? Why do you use it? Do people think it’s effective?

To answer some of those questions, a 23-year-old mom allowed me to track her scan journey.

To fully understand her path, you have to know Katie Roberts’ recent past. She had a baby not even a year ago.

“I’m healthy, but I’m not as healthy as I could be,” Roberts said.

So she blended her before-and-after scan with a slim-down challenge at IWO studio. She hoped the scan would allow her to track her progress, and keep her honest through the challenge.

The Styku technology isn’t a truth serum, but it might as well be.

Images that the scan grabs highlight your issues. For instance, you can actually see your posture. A physical therapist at the Jewish Hospital says the visual is a helpful tool in combating what some call “text neck” – a forward bend of the head due to device-use that can cause neck pain and headaches.

If you see it, you know you might need to do something to prevent it.

“Change of position is always highly recommended," said physical therapist Tom Long. "Once every 15 minutes. Once every 30 minutes.”

Roberts’ first scan in April showed slight “text neck.” And in body composition, the scan gave her an average ranking.

“She’s trending toward the higher end of average," said IWO Owner Kristen MAuliffe. "At risk is 31%. She’s at 28.”

Roberts said it told her that her body fat percentage is a lot higher than she would like it to be.

To come up with metrics, a Styku rep says the scanner uses infrared technology to collect millions of data points, capturing hundreds of pictures as you rotate on a platform. Fat and muscle measurements from the body scanner are made possible by regression analysis of data in the system – all to produce a very telling picture of you.

“This is really cool. I’ve not seen this before,” said Mercy Health certified and licensed athletic trainer Miki Stakely. She sees the benefits of using the scanner to give someone like Katie a map on just what needs attention.

“It can help in making up your exercise routines, and it can help where you are concentrating your workouts and your diet," Stakely said. “So if you’re not paying attention to what you’re eating while you do the fitness challenge, it’s probably going to be a waste of a challenge."

Roberts amped up her workout routine, and she kept her eating clean. Despite her busy life as a working mom, she stayed committed to the challenge. Part of that was knowing she had a second scan coming.

It showed she’s still in the average zone. But her fat mass came down, she lost about five pounds, and she trimmed inches off her frame. In a scan overlay, you can see her green-colored post-scan is smaller in places than her red-colored pre-challenge scan.

“3.3 Inches were lost in five weeks which is really exciting," Roberts said. And that was just in her lower torso. The scan says she lost more than 7 inches from her entire body frame.

McAuliffe said this scan gives much more nuanced information than a typical scale.

“This will allow us to say you might have lost three pounds on the scale, but you lost a lot of fat, and replaced some of that with muscle,” she said.

Better health is the overall objective of the 3-D Body Scan. For example, you can see where you’re carrying your weight, and you could learn that extra girth around the middle section could hurt your heart.

The company told me it hopes the scanner motivates someone as it holds him or her accountable while it tracks fitness progress.

If you’re interested in getting a scan, It’s Working Out offers the before and after for $60.

On that first day in the emergency room, fresh off the news her daughter had Type 1 diabetes, Becky Chouteau thought Alli would recover eventually. There would be a point at which her body no longer needed insulin to live. Right?

“This is her life now,” Chouteau recalled the doctor telling her. “She’ll be on insulin forever.”

That meant it was Chouteau’s life, too. She helps 14-year-old Alli count carbs every day and pays thousands each year for “liquid gold,” the insulin Alli’s body can no longer produce on its own. Without regular injections of the crucial hormone, Alli and millions of other diabetics will — not might, will — die.

“Financially, what that means for us is, we pay right around $4,800 a year for insulin,” Alli said in a recent interview with WCPO.

Dramatic increases in insulin prices in the United States, which have not so much risen as skyrocketed over the last 20 years, have driven some diabetics to ration their insulin, sometimes fatally. Others are traveling from Minnesota to Canada in search of a better deal.

The Chouteau family hopes they won’t have to go that far.

Instead, Becky Chouteau said, she and her daughter would like to see Ohio lawmakers put a co-pay cap on the drug, limiting how much patients can be required to pay out of pocket.

Colorado made it happen in March. Regardless of how much insulin they need or how much it would cost in another state, Coloradoans with insurance pay no more than $100 for their monthly supply. Although researcher Inmaculada Hernandez told NPR that insurers’ attempts to recoup their losses would likely lead to higher premiums for non-diabetic patients, she said she supported efforts to push down the hyperinflated price.

Insulin manufacturers argue they have worked with pharmacies and attempted to find financial solutions for patients, but rebates and other cost-saving efforts are not well-publicized. Other arguments cite market dynamics, blaming the environment rather than manufacturers for boosting costs.

Researchers with the American Diabetes Association, however, found in 2018 that the cost of creating insulin had not significantly increased in decades. What drove the price up, they argued, was a multi-tiered pricing system that incentivized people at every level to begin asking for a larger cut. Patients' payments aren't just for the drug. They're for manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacy benefits managers.

Whatever the reason behind the steep price hike, families like the Chouteaus need a solution badly — and fast.

“I just sometimes worry that we won’t be able to have, um—“ Alli began during the interview, then cut herself off, face crumpling.

Then she cried.

CHEVIOT, Ohio — When Brittney Suedhof took her daughter to a Children’s Hospital clinic in February, the first set of doctors she saw tried to send her home. It was a fever, she recalled them telling her. Elliana had become more tired than usual, needed her diaper changed less often and lost interest in eating or playing, but all of her swabs were normal. She would recover.

“That wasn’t enough for me,” Suedhof said Wednesday.

Her decision to seek a second opinion at the main Children’s Hospital campus likely saved her daughter’s life that day. Multiple hours, X-rays and blood tests later, they had a diagnosis: Dilated cardiomyopathy. An enlarged heart. Elliana’s case was unusually severe.

“At 9:30 p.m., the doctor walked in and admitted us,” she said. “Said, ‘Your daughter’s heart is a 10 out of 10. We’ll admit her now. This is very life-threatening.’”

Suedhof said she had seen posts on Facebook about children with similar conditions, families fighting similar battles. Now she’s the one running a GoFundMe, scribbling down medical terms in a notebook and appealing to the kindness of strangers as her own family makes the long, slow climb toward what they hope will be a more permanent solution than Elliana’s toddler-sized VAD: A heart transplant.

The first months after the diagnosis were alright, Suedhof said. Elliana’s name went on a transplant recipient list, and the toddler herself went on a regimen of medications that she seemed to tolerate. She was herself again, according to her mother: “Very sassy, loving and caring.”

Things changed for the worse in April. By Wednesday, as Suedhof spoke to WCPO, Elliana had been “deactivated” as a potential heart recipient because of a kidney injury.

The family’s goal now is to get her back to her post-diagnosis normal and get her name back on the list. It’s hard, her mother said.

“There’s so much that we have to prevent before we have to get a heart transplant that we’re just like, ‘Can we do this?’” Suedhof said. “‘Can we make it? We can make it. Let’s do this.’”

Sweet, sassy Elliana is also exhausted with being in cardiac intensive care unit, she added. Suedhof, who works part-time, tries to spend every possible moment there with her — but she can’t afford to do that without financial help. She also has another child to care for.

So, for now, she lives on hope, alternates between home and the hospital, and keeps writing in her notebook.

“This notebook is my dictionary,” she said. “Like my memory log. Anything I need to know is in this notebook.”

She hopes the help her family needs is out there in the world.

“My baby looks so thriving on the outside,” Suedhof said of Elliana. “The inside is just trying to make it. Trying to make it.”

The family will celebrate Elliana's second birthday Aug. 7

Anyone who would like to donate to the family can do so via Suedhof's GoFundMe.

NEWPORT, Ky. — Former Navy sailor and Newport Aquarium diver Bruno Lanman almost had to give up the water for good when he was diagnosed with heart failure. Diving was just too hard on his body, his doctors told him.

It’s true that heart attacks are a particular concern for divers. If a diver with an existing condition goes into cardiac arrest underwater, potentially overwhelmed by the intensity of the exercise, their odds of survival are low. Lanman knew that.

Still, “it was hard to hear after so many years in the water, diving,” he said.

While he waited for a heart transplant, he clung to a smiling Buddha statue gifted to him by a friend and received an implanted pump called a left ventricular assist device — an LVAD — at Christ Hospital. The Buddha helped him keep his spirits up. The LVAD helped his weak heart pump blood.

And something amazing happened, Lanman said.

“It was a birthday,” he said. “A rebirth. Miraculous.”

Although it wasn’t as effective as a transplant, the LVAD was good enough to let him do things he hadn’t in years, such as horseback riding. When he did receive a transplant and began diving again, he felt so indebted to the LVAD and to Christ Hospital that he appointed himself sherpa to other patients grappling with the same thing.

He gives each patient he mentors a smiling Buddha of their own. He also counsels them through the process of receiving and living with an LVAD.

“Dear Bruno,” one patient later wrote to him in a letter. “Mere words cannot express what your visits have meant to me.”

Lanman teared up reading it to reporters.

His new mission earned him Christ Hospital’s Mentor of the Year award for 2019. He said his experience with heart disease taught him a lesson he tries to pass on to his mentees.

“Instead of what I can’t do, I always tried to look at what I could do,” he said.

The personal mantra that gets him through it all isn’t original, he added. It’s a quote from “The Shawshank Redemption.” But it’s well-suited to his journey.

“Get busy living or get busy dying.”

Ah, summer! The perfect time to get outside with the family, go to concerts with friends and become a living buffet for literal hundreds of bloodthirsty mosquitoes.

Wait — you don’t like that last part? Bad news: Mosquitoes become especially hard to avoid in July and August, typically the hottest and most humid months of the year, and Cincinnati weather has been especially kind to them in 2019.

“We had kind of a wet, warm winter, and we’re kind of relatively having a wet, warm summer,” University of Cincinnati biology professor Joshua Benoit said Friday. “It’s really great conditions for them to kind of grow and develop.”

And once they’re here, they have a built-in system for finding human snacks.

“Natural selection has delivered them a sensory system that allows them to track the carbon dioxide from our breath,” according to professor Mark Willis of Case Western Reserve University.

So how can we keep them away? There are no sure-fire ways to deter all mosquitoes from making your body into a picnic lunch, but experts recommend two steps to ward off the majority and reduce chances of being bitten.

First: Bug spray. Like sunscreen, it should be applied to every exposed part of the body. Consumer Reports recommends using your hands to apply insect repellent on sensitive or hard-to-reach places, such as ears, face and neck, avoiding eyes, mouth and nostrils in the process. It also advises paying special attention to the knees and ankles, which are especially attractive for both mosquitoes and ticks.

RELATED: With summer comes the mosquitoes: Which spray is best?

Second, avoid standing water and get rid of any on your property. According to Benoit, mosquitoes don’t need much more than a tablespoon of water to begin laying eggs.

Larges sources of standing water, such as a swimming pool or kiddie pool, “can be hotbeds for mosquitoes, and you could have thousands that are emerging out of there,” Benoit said.

That’s thousands every week, he added. Gross.

Although no mosquitoes in Cincinnati have tested positive for West Nile or Zika viruses this year, health officials found West Nile-carrying mosquitoes in nearby Symmes Township and Madison Township at the end of July.

MONTGOMERY, Ohio -- Debbie Copeland-Bloom said she couldn’t tell her heart was only functioning at 25 percent.

But her smartwatch could.

Copeland-Bloom’s heart wasn’t getting the right electrical signals, which affected how it pumped blood. Her smartwatch showed her heart rate was at 155 to 165 beats per minute. (A normal resting heart rate for adults is 60 to 100 beats per minute.)

Copeland-Bloom didn’t believe she had a high heart rate, until a second device showed the same thing.

Her doctor ran some tests and sent her to the emergency room, but it could have been much worse.

Copeland-Bloom’s Apple Watch helped her catch a potentially dangerous heart rhythm at a point where doctors could correct it, Mercy Health Cardiologist Jefferson Burroughs said.

Burroughs said it’s becoming common for people to use smart gadgets to track their heart rhythm remotely and send the data to physicians.

“These types of devices help us more frequently manage arrhythmia we know exists,” Burroughs said.

Copeland-Bloom said she knows at least one person who bought a smartwatch after her scare, and she continues to wear hers.

“I believe that the watch saved my life,” she said.

A federal judge overseeing litigation related to the nation's opioid epidemic ruled Tuesday that lawsuits targeting Purdue Pharma and other drug companies can move to trial even as the OxyContin maker tries to reach a settlement.

The ruling was one of several issued by U.S. District Court Judge Dan Polster, who is preparing for a trial scheduled for Oct. 21 over claims from the Ohio counties of Cuyahoga and Summit.

It would be the first federal trial seeking to hold drug companies, distributors and pharmacies accountable for an overdose and addiction crisis that has killed more than 400,000 Americans since 2000. More than 2,000 local governments have sued the industry, with most of the cases gathered in multidistrict litigation under Polster. The first trial is partly intended to answer legal questions that could arise in others that would follow if a settlement can't be reached.

Polster issued six rulings Tuesday denying motions for summary judgment from various groups of defendants, who had hoped to have at least some claims against them tossed out. While it's not a surprise that Polster denied the requests, the decisions strengthen the plaintiffs' positions with the initial trial less than two months away.

He ruled that civil conspiracy claims against the companies that make, distribute and sell opioids can remain in the case. In his opinion, Polster wrote that it's for a jury to decide whether there is enough evidence to show the companies' actions meet the criteria of a conspiracy claim.

Some of the defendants also sought to have claims tossed out because of conflicts between the underlying state and federal laws; Polster denied those, as well.

Polster also made rulings specific to certain defendants or groups of them. He found that claims should not be dropped against Mallinckrodt, Teva and Actavis, three makers of generic drugs.

They argued that there was no proof they had marketed their generic opioids during certain time periods, but plaintiffs in the case responded that the companies had indeed done marketing. They pointed to their sponsorship of patient advocacy groups that called for more access to pain treatment.

The judge also ruled against a group of smaller drug distributors. They had argued that lawsuits against them should be tossed out because their involvement in the opioids industry was too small to make a difference.

In recent weeks, Polster has ruled against several efforts to keep expert witnesses from testifying on behalf of the local governments.

It's not clear just which defendants might be included when the trial begins. Last month, drugmakers Endo and Allergan settled claims with the two Ohio counties, and more settlements could come in the weeks ahead.

Purdue, a company strongly associated with the opioid epidemic through its OxyContin drug, has proposed settlement terms that would have the Stamford, Connecticut-based company file for a structured bankruptcy and pay $10 billion to $12 billion to settle all claims against it. The Sackler family, which owns Purdue, would pay $3 billion under the proposal and contribute an estimated $1.5 billion more from the sale of another company they own, Mundipharma.

Since details of the deal became public last week, some local officials and state attorneys general have pushed back, saying the amount of money offered is too small. Others have said they want people affected by the opioid epidemic to have a chance to address company executives in court.

Last month, a state judge in Oklahoma ruled that Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries must pay $572 million in the first state-court verdict on the opioid crisis. Purdue and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries settled with the state before the trial began.

Meanwhile, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has sued to stop the trials involving the Ohio local governments' claims, saying the state's lawsuit should go first.

COLUMBIA TWP., Ohio — The first medical marijuana dispensary in the Interstate 275-loop opened its doors Wednesday morning in Columbia Township.

Verilife, a medical marijuana dispensary company owned by the Illinois-based Pharmacann, opened the dispensary at 5134 Ridge Ave. between Pleasant Ridge and Oakley Wednesday at 11 a.m.

"We are looking forward to meeting the medical cannabis needs of Ohio's patients seeking relief," said Chaz Mize, general manager of the Cincinnati Verilife dispensary.

The dispensary offers a wide range of medical marijuana products for the medical needs of people in Cincinnati.

"Whether it's tinctures for the senior citizen with cancer receiving chemotherapy, or vaporizers for the patient with chronic pain, we want to ensure our patients are empowered to find what works to meaningfully improve their lives," said Mize.

Patient consultation rooms and access to patient care representatives are also available at the dispensary.

RELATED: What to expect from Ohio medical marijuana dispensaries

About Wellness, located in a strip mall at 1525 Genntown Dr. in Lebanon, Ohio, was the first of seven medical marijuana dispensaries to open in Greater Cincinnati.

“We believe there are folks that don't have dispensaries close to them," Mize said. "And then we believe that there are a considerable number of people here in the Cincinnati market that just haven't had the opportunity to use their card yet."

Michael Harris, a medical marijuana patient living in Hamilton County, said Verilife's new location is about 30 miles closer to his home than the Lebanon dispensary.

"I have chronic pain in my legs, in my shoulder and in my back," Harris said. "I have a herniated disc."

He said medical marijuana doesn't make his pain go away, but it makes it manageable, so he can live his life. He said living closer to a more accessible dispensary has made a big difference for him.

Ryan Hoover, another medical marijuana patient, said he uses medical marijuana to treat his PTSD, Crohn's Disease and IBS. He's tried different prescription drugs over the years, but said nothing has worked for him as well as medical marijuana.

"Medicines, some of them work," he said. "But it’s just a matter of time before they stop working or you catch a lot of the side effects from it. I don’t like taking pills so this is really going to help me.”

Medical marijuana is not a prescription, but the state of Ohio allows certified physicians to recommend medical marijuana to patients with certain medical conditions. Patients are provided a card, not a prescription to fill, and can purchase it from state-certified dispensaries.

Butler County could also see its first dispensary soon. Bloom Medicinals said it plans to open a dispensary in Seven Mile before the end of the month.

October will always have special meaning for me because it is the month I took action on some horrible news that ended up changing my life for the better.

I had something called ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS.

It was a very early form of breast cancer. Because of my history and my risk, I made the decision to have a mastectomy on my right side. In the words of friends, doctors built a better boob for me.

The surgery, which moved belly fat to the breast area, lasted about nine hours. The physical recovery took four weeks. But four years later, I still get emotional about Oct. 9. It is not just the day I took on cancer; it is the day that marked the beginning of a personal effort to be better about living.

When I heard those words -- “You have cancer” -- my mind immediately went to the things I hadn’t seen or done. The people I hadn’t spoken with in a while. The list.

And then I wondered, why haven’t I made the time?

That’s the thing about cancer. It’s tough, terrible news. But it’s liberating, too, because it is a bold reminder of what’s most important, and that becomes your focus.

I worried less about the small things. I made sure to live large in the big moments -- trying to embrace each, not allowing them to pass me by as I had before my diagnosis. I call that prioritizing the right stuff, and with all the things competing for your attention, it takes extra effort. That’s why the more removed you become from your bad news, the easier it can be to fall back into old life habits. That’s when other people keep you on track.

This time, it was my co-worker and friend Tasha Stewart. She came over to my desk to ask if I might be interested in doing a story on her first mammogram. New to the experience, she hoped her own process would take the fear and the mystery out of it for other women. And she had a reason: Doctors recently diagnosed a good friend of hers who was just 38 years old at the time.

“You want to do something,” Tasha said. Her way of “doing something” was to focus on breast cancer prevention. She knows catching it early makes it so much easier to fight. So in her 40^th year, she put her first mammogram on TV with the hope of sending that message.

“Breast cancer happens to so many people around us," Tasha said. "People you are working with. People you’re experiencing life with every day.”

Her words compelled me to have conversations with two of my co-workers who’ve had pink ribbon journeys of their own.

Meteorologist Sherry Hughes recently, bravely shared her breast cancer diagnosis with the Tri-State. Preventative testing found her problem.

“I’d like to say the strength I have on the inside, I own totally. But I feel my mom’s presence with me,” Sherry said. “And I feel God’s presence. There’s where my strength comes from.”

And she has people right at work who understand her path. Anchor Timyka Artist is a 14-year breast cancer survivor. She says pursuing the knowledge that can give a patient peace of mind, or the power to act, is so important.

“Fight like you know what – like H-E-double hockey sticks, and just do it,” Timyka said. “It is scary, but you have to know.”

I’m grateful Tasha took us along on her journey to know.

I hope you’ll join us for “9 On Your Side at 11” on Oct. 24 for a special piece this Breast Cancer Awareness Month on the pink ribbon stories right within WCPO’s walls.

But even more, I hope you’ll encourage a woman who you love to take charge of her health. Remind her that in this busy world, in her drive to take care of a lots of people and things, she needs to take care of herself first.

• If you are uninsured or underinsured (have high deductibles), Mercy Health has financial need-based assistance programs available to help. Call 513-686-3300 for more information.

New research shows U.S. teens who use electronic cigarettes prefer ones made by Juul Labs, and mint is the top flavor for many of them. That suggests a shift after Juul's sweeter flavors were removed from retail stores.

The results are in two studies published online Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. They include a U.S. government report based on a survey indicating that the U.S. teen vaping epidemic shows no signs of slowing down.

An estimated 28% of high school students and 11% of middle schoolers surveyed earlier this year had vaped within the past month. That amounts to over 5 million young users, versus about 3.6 million last year.

The results follow the Trump administration's call in September to ban virtually all vaping flavors.

CINCINNATI — A rash and joint pain may have saved Lily McBreen's life by getting her to the doctor in time for a breast cancer diagnosis. Although many other survivors choose implants after their mastectomies, she's adamant that she won't. Having almost lost her life once, she's worried the side effects of receiving breast implants could endanger it again.

“After breast cancer your biggest motivation is to survive and you know that to survive you have to become healthy and whole again," she said. "So the idea of putting something in your body that’s potentially going to make you sick again is something you’re not going to be willing, or want to do."

McBreen was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a few years ago. When she noticed rash and joint swelling in her wrists, she went to her doctor, who sent her to a rheumatologist to perform a full body scan. That’s when she saw it: a lump inside her breast. She was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer.

“I just started spinning mentally," said McBreen, a registered nurse. "I really honestly can’t verbalize. I just started bawling."

She started chemo within a week of the diagnosis and had her last round on her birthday in November.

“That’s either a gift or not a gift,” she said.

That was followed by a bilateral mastectomy a month later. Then came another big decision: Should she get breast implants?

“By now, I heard people tell plenty of just anecdotal accounts of implant syndrome,” she said.

It’s why she elected to instead have a flap surgery, which uses the patient's own tissue to reconstruct the breast.

“I wanted to avoid the rheumatological symptoms that have been out in the news for so many decades," she said. "There has been so many accounts of women complaining of problems with them."

Those symptoms, which women are calling “breast implant illness,” are among the many reasons the United States Food and Drug Administration could soon take extreme measures when it comes to educating the public about implants.

FDA investigates breast implants

In March 2019, at an FDA conference about breast implants, women, doctors and surgeons shared harrowing stories of complications connected to receiving implants after a mastectomy.

“I experienced extreme exhaustion, rapid weight gain, paralyzing brain fog,” Julie Elliot testified.

“I was completely bedridden, waiting to die,” said Terry Diaz, who described herself as a breast implant survivor. “I couldn’t even walk up a flight of stairs.”

The women said their implants caused these issues. Others experienced an even more serious complication: A rare form of cancer called breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma, or BIA-ALCL, in which lymphoma develops in the tissue around the implant.

“Life as I knew it ceased to exist,” Terry McGregor, a BIA-ALCL survivor, told the FDA panel. “Four years ago, I was diagnosed with ALCL from breast implants that were six years old. My diagnosis was stage four. The joy of life was cut short by a profit-driven, man-made cancer."

The FDA released more findings about BIA-ALCL in July, months after the conference. According to U.S. and global medical device reports, there have been 573 reports of BIA-ALCL. Thirty-three patients died.

Of those cases, the FDA said a majority are linked to a single pharmaceutical manufacturer, Allergan, and its textured BIOCELL implants. The company recalled the implants on July 24.

“Patient safety is a priority for Allergan," the company said in a news release announcing the recall. "Patients are advised to speak with their plastic surgeon about the risks and benefits of their implant type should they have any concerns.”

In October, the FDA proposed adding a black box warning to all breast implants warning patients about the potential side effects of breast implant illness and BIA-ALCL.

Spencer Platt

Women file class-action lawsuit against Allergan

By January 2020, women from 37 different states had signed onto a class-action lawsuit against Allergan, including one woman from Ohio and another from Kentucky.

The lawsuit, which was filed by Berger Montague PC, Sauder Schelkopf LLC and Mazie Slater Katz and Freeman LLC, accuses the company of negligence and claims it knowingly withheld information that the recalled implants were linked to cancer.

The lawsuit seeks to cover the cost associated with removing and replacing the patients' implants.

As part of the recall, Allergan said in a press release that the company would “provide Allergan smooth device replacements for free … As part of this program, Allergan will not provide surgical fee assistance to revision patients.”

“Our clients and the many women who have contacted us should not have to deal with the anxiety of living with a recalled breast implant," said plaintiffs’ attorneys Joe Sauder and Matt Schelkopf. "We look forward to fighting on their behalf in seeking a resolution that provides them with peace of mind.”

In a statement to WCPO, the company said it has followed FDA regulations and acted transparently: “Allergan has a demonstrated history of dedication to the health and safety of patients and a strong record of compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations and requirements. Allergan has followed FDA regulatory reporting procedures and acted transparently with patients about textured breast implants.

"We paid close attention to reports of a link between textured breast implants and BIA-ALCL, shared reports of patient complaints with regulators, and worked with the FDA to determine that a BIOCELL textured implant product recall was an appropriate step. We’ve worked hard to keep patients and surgeons informed about the recall and continue to encourage a full dialogue between patients and their doctors about the benefits and risks of breast implants."

Doctors say implants are safe, for the most part

Several doctors in our region told WCPO that breast implants are safe — for the most part.

“Breast implants are one of the most-studied medical tools because we’ve had so many of them for so long,” said Dr. Neil Kundu, chief of plastic surgery at Mercy Health. “The real key is to make sure that there’s a good dialogue and expectations and understanding are made.”

Kundu said that when discussing BIA-ALCL, the numbers need to be put into context.

“We’ve had hundreds and thousands of breast implants," he said. "And these implants have been in for decades, and of the hundreds of thousands of implants, the FDA has only seen 530 some unique cases of this ALCL."

Kundu also noted that he rarely uses textured implants, which are most commonly linked to ALCL. Still, a handful of his patients have come in to have their implants removed because of the recent news.

“I’ve had three patients that I’ve removed implants on for concern of this," he said. Kundu explained that the numbers aren't higher "because not every patient needs to have them removed."

He believes the black box warning is key for education, which is necessary for anyone choosing to undergo a surgery.

“Breast implants are safe,” he said. "The most important thing is education, and before having any procedure, or any implanted device go into your body, you should have a thorough understanding of what the device does and the risk and benefits of every device that you have.”

University of Cincinnati assistant professor of plastic surgery Ryan Gobble echoed that sentiment.

“I think the idea is more transparency is better," he said. "And that making sure patients know that there are real risks associated with using implants."

As for women specifically choosing implants after surviving breast cancer, Mercy Health breast surgical oncologist Amy Moldem said the decision — and discussion — should be no different.

“I think we would offer the same implants, whether or not it’s an augmentation versus a reconstruction,” she said. “I think the important thing is that we educate them. We can educate them that there is a black box warning when we do their consent but also relay that fact that this disease has never been associated with the implants that we’re going to use.”

Draft warning includes a patient check list

Currently,the black box warning exists only as a draft while the FDA continues to consider its implementation.

The draft warning outlines three main concerns.

First, “breast implants are not considered life time devices" and women may require more surgery if complications occur.

It also states that implants have been associated with BIA-ALCL.

“This cancer occurs more commonly in patients with textured breast implants than smooth implants, although rates are not well defined," the warning reads. "Some patients have died from BIA-ALCL.”

Finally, it describes how some patients have reported a variety of symptoms, including “joint paint, muscle aches, confusion, chronic fatigue, autoimmune disease and others.”

The FDA is also proposing a patient decision checklist, which would include situations in which the device should not be used, considerations for a successful breast implant candidate, risks of surgery, the importance of using an appropriate physician, the risk of BIA-ALCL and other symptoms and discussion of other options.

Still, some have said these proposals don’t go far enough, including Diana Zuckerman who is President of the National Center for Health Research. The center initiated the Breast Implant Working Group, which is made up of six experts including patient advocates and plastic surgeons.

“The FDA’s draft Black Box warning is too vaguely worded on BIA-ALCL and breast implant illness, and includes jargon that will not be understood by all patients,” the working group said in a statement. “The FDA draft Black Box states that 'breast implants have been associated with the development of a cancer of the immune system called breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL).' Association implies correlation rather than causation. In fact, the evidence is clear that breast implants can cause BIA-ALCL.”

FDA recommends a black box warning on all breast implants

What’s next?

It’s unclear when or if the FDA will decide on implementing the black box warning. The agency declined an interview with WCPO.

However, McBreen, who is now breast-cancer-free, has a warning of her own she is standing by.

“That black box warning means, ‘Hey, this could be really deadly. Take it seriously,’” she said.

And to women considering implants?

"Her health is so much more important," McBreen said. "And lymphoma is no joke. There isn’t one (cancer) that is a walk in the park.”

If you’re looking for a luxurious vacation that doesn’t require you to empty out your bank account, Thailand is the destination for you. It’s one of the most budget friendly countries you can visit, and it is also quite safe for solo travel.

Full of gorgeous beaches, delicious food, and plenty of incredible sights, Thailand is the perfect place for a real getaway. Here’s how you visit make the most out of your trip while only spending $20 a day.

Want to easily get around in a fun and affordable way? Rent a scooter! You can get one for 24 hours for only $2.30 (฿75 baht). Make sure you budget for gas! A tank will cost $1.50 (฿50 baht) and you’ll be good to go.

Do some research ahead of time in order to be aware of the laws, and be mentally prepared for fellow scooter drivers to be quite bold. Also make sure that your traveler’s insurance covers scooters!

For the most important meal of the day, you should absolutely sample local Thai breakfast options. Thai iced coffee is incredibly delicious — but be prepared, it is very sweet. Start off the day with seafood noodle soup, rice and watermelon. This will all cost about $1.80 (฿60 baht).

There are plenty of fun activities you can partake in that are absolutely free. Going on a hike to take in the stunning sights is a great place to start. For example, you can take a visit to the Tiger Cave Temple and hike up the 1237 stairs to the top of the mountain. There you’ll be greeted by the huge gold Buddha shrine, as well as a breathtaking view of Krabi.

After hiking and sightseeing, surely you’ll have an appetite for lunch. Try the famous local street food. You can sample delicious dishes like pumpkin and coconut soup, shrimp and tofu spring rolls, fish cakes, Pad Thai, and wash it all down with coconut juice. For dessert, you can find many coconut and red bean flavored delicacies. All of this will only cost between $1.50-$2. Really!

Even though you’re traveling on a budget, you can still get some souvenirs because they are quite affordable. You can buy beautiful jewelry for under $5.

At the end of the day, you want to have a great place to stay and rest for your next day’s adventures. Book a hostel for just $5-$10 per night. If you don’t mind paying more than $20, you can get an incredible deal for a 5 star hotel, but there are also lots of great hostel options that will help you stay in your budget.

The Great White North, as Canada is known, is a wonderful destination for a vacation whether you’re a nature-lover, city dweller, or anything in between. The massive country has every type of terrain you could look for, and it just beautiful. It boasts 16 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, so you’ll never run out of exciting places to visit. Of course, Canadians are known for their friendliness, and this reputation exists for a reason. Ready for your trip to Canada, eh?

Many people wonder when it the best time to visit Canada. Of course, it’s known for its cold weather for a reason. In order to enjoy fair weather and avoid the busy crowds that summer attracts, it’s best to visit Canada in the fall months of September and November. This way, you’ll also get to experience the gorgeous foliage as well.

You can also choose to visit in July so that you can catch the Calgary Stampede, which happens to be the largest rodeo in the world. Anyone who’s a fan of cowboy culture will surely get a kick out of this experience.

Of course, for lovers of winter outdoor sports, visiting during colder months is easy to do, since the winter is so long here. Two of the best mountains for skiing are Mont Tremblant and Whistler, but there are plenty more you can check out as well.

Of course, the cold weather means that throughout the years, Canadians have had to come up with delicious, warm fare to keep them satiated through the grueling winter months. Nowadays, you can experience a lot of delicious Canadian staples through its bustling food truck scene, which is especially prevalent in British Columbia.

So what should you eat? Make sure to try out poutine, an incredible dish made up of fries, cheese curds, melted cheese, and gravy. It’s sinfully delicious. BeaverTails are irresistible fried dough breads that come with any topping your heart desires, from Nutella to M&Ms and cinnamon sugar.

Another staple is Pâté Chinois, which is similar to shepherd’s pie but also has creamed corn inside. Lastly, you can’t visit Canada without trying a Caesar Cocktail, which consists of vodka, tomato and clam juice, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce.

You may have already heard of this place, but if you’ve never experienced a doughnut and coffee from Tim Hortons, you certainly must have a try. Of course, Timmies has expanded to other places around the world, but trying it out while in Canada is a must.

British Columbia’s largest city, Vancouver, is a must-see. This is seriously one of the coolest cities out there, with a vibrant food scene, bustling craft beer center, and of course, breathtaking landscapes.

Toronto is another great city to visit, as it is one of the most diverse cities on Earth. There are over 140 languages spoken here, with more than half of its residents having been born outside of Canada.

Quebec City’s culture incorporates elements of Europe, North America, and Canada. Most of its residents speak French, and you’ll find breathtaking architecture here.

Montreal is the largest city in Quebec province, and it’s a classic massive metropolis with beautiful buildings. Set on an island in the Saint Lawrence River, this beautiful city has plenty of museums and cultural sites to visit.

Getting married anytime soon or want to help an engaged friend plan out the perfect bachelorette party? There’s no better to celebrate with your best friends than with a fun trip to an incredible destination. If you’re not sure where you want to take that bach trip to, don’t worry, because we’ve rounded up the best spots to head to for the perfect girls getaway trip. Check out the best bachelorette destinations here!

Palm Springs

This gorgeous California destination is one of the best for a bachelorette trip. The retro glamor of the hotels will win you over, and don’t forget to book a spa treatment. Of course, you can stroll down El Paseo Drive for the perfect souvenirs.

Las Vegas

Of course, Las Vegas is the ultimate bachelorette destination. You can enjoy gambling, excellent night clubs, and the lap of luxury that Vegas has to offer. Visit the Seven Magic Mountains, the Las Vegas Art District, as well as the Neon Museum.

Austin

Austin is a fantastic destination, especially if you’re not into flashy locations. It is one of the friendliest cities in the country, and it has an excellent food scene. It’s also known as the live music capital of the world, so make sure to grab some concert tickets while you’re there. This is the perfect spot for music and food lovers alike.

Tulum

Tulum is one of the most gorgeous destinations in Mexico and is perfect for the tropical getaway. Tulum is full of yoga retreats, boutiques for fun shopping, and delicious dining options.

New York City

There’s really no place in the world like New York City, so why not choose the City That Never Sleeps for your bachelorette weekend? From the excellent nightlife to the endless culinary options, NYC is always a good decision.

Bali

For those who can splurge a bit more, Bali is a fantastic option. This tropical paradise is literally right out of a movie. You can enjoy yoga retreats, surfing, and luxury resorts. This is one destination that you’ll never regret choosing for your bachelorette party.

If you’re anything like us, you’ve been fascinated with Egypt since learning about it in grade school. With one of the richest and vibrant histories, from the pyramids, ancient mythology, and scientific advancements way ahead of their time, it’s no wonder so many of us were budding Egyptologists. Not sure how to go about planning a trip to Egypt? Here’s our advice.

Getting A Visa

American citizens can receive a visa to enter Egypt upon arrival, which will cost $25 (cash only!) and can be purchased at a special window before you head through immigration. If you book a guide in advance, they should take care of your visa ahead of time, and you’ll get to skip the line.

No Drones Here

Drones are illegal in Egypt, so do not plan on bringing one with you. They are not legal for fly and they are illegal to even bring in. Unless you want to be questioned at the airport for several hours, just leave it at home.

Review Ancient Egyptian History

While the sights are incredible no matter what, you’ll have that much more of a deeper appreciation for everything you’ll see if you know the history behind it all. You can listen to the “History of Egypt” podcast that will fill you in. The first five episodes will have Cairo and Giza covered.

If Traveling Solo, Consider A Guide

If you want to feel safe and also know that you are getting to see everything that’s important, getting a guide is the right way to go. Not only will you get a much more in depth background in the rich history of Egypt. Also, you should know that you’ll need cash most places around the country, and most ATMs have a max withdrawal of $250.

The Sights: Highlights

There’s so much to see in this incredible country, but of course there are sights that absolutely cannot be missed, especially if it is your first time visiting. If you’re basing your trip in Cairo, these are the highlights that you absolutely cannot miss: the Pyramids of Giza, Saqqara Pyramid, Coptic Cairo, Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, Mosque of Muhammad Ali, Alexandria, and Khan el Khalili Souk. That’s just to name a few!

We take an interest in stories for many reasons.

In the case of this report, I stumbled on a friend’s post on social media.

Turns out she lost her dog suddenly to something called dilated cardiomyopathy or DCM. The veterinary paperwork described that as an enlarged, diseased heart and that recently they have seen a "weak association with patients being fed a grain-free or limited ingredient diet.”

As a pet owner, I Googled the topic, and found articles on the potential link between grain-free, or “BEG” canine diets and dilated cardiomyopathy. I also learned the FDA was investigating a potential connection. Until that point, I hadn’t heard anything about it.

That is exactly why I’m doing this story, which begins with a trip to Columbus and an interview with Mollie Fankhauser, the woman who shared the story of her dog, Linus, on social media.

Linus collapsed Feb. 6 while Mollie was at work. She got a call and rushed home.

“I immediately picked up his face, and tried to give him CPR, but I could just tell he had been gone for a little while," Mollie said. "He was still warm, but his eyes were just…I could tell it happened immediately."

His heart failure was not a complete surprise. Two years prior, Linus’ vet found a murmur, but that’s all. Then, in late 2018 for precautionary surgery prep, a MedVet cardiologist did an echocardiogram and diagnosed Linus with suspected dilated cardiomyopathy. The 7-year-old dog had an enlarged, diseased heart.

The reference to grain-free dog foods jumped off the page for Mollie and her wife, Kelly.

“He had a funny tummy as a puppy, and we put him on a grain-free diet when he was nine months to a year old,” Mollie said.

It helped Linus’ tummy troubles, so he stayed on that diet -- which is known for ingredients like potatoes, peas or lentils with a meat protein -- for five and a half years. But was it the cause of his sudden collapse and death?

MedVet Veterinary Cardiologist Maggie Schuckman can’t say for certain, but offered perspective.

“We are certainly seeing an increased frequency of dilated cardiomyopathy in pets,” she said.

She also told us the cardiology community actually noticed a spike in cases like Linus’ across many breeds. That increase appeared to be tied to what she calls “BEG” diets. That’s an acronym for Boutique companies, Exotic ingredients, or Grain-free.

“We assume there is a link because they’re on a BEG diet, you change their diet, and they improve significantly. It’s obvious there’s a link. It’s just identifying what that is, is still the tough part,” Schuckman said.

The Food and Drug Administration is working on it. It even has a portal for people to report their pets’ cases (“How to Report a Pet Food Complaint [fda.gov]."), with 300 so far. The vast majority of those came after the FDA went public with its investigation which has found this:

In 196 cases “in which dogs were fed only a single, primary diet…approximately 90 percent of the foods were reported to be labeled ‘grain-free.’”

It raises questions that have yet to be fully investigated.

Michele Hobbs, who founded Pet Wants, a made-fresh pet food company in Cincinnati, says her customers have been asking about DCM. She says her experience in the industry tells her, “it goes back to a lot more things: The dog, the food, the quality of the proteins.”

She advised pet parents to learn and talk about food options.

“You need to have your meats first," Hobbs said. "And you need to have a good quality meat first. That’s kind of the issue with some of this. It’s a falsity that a grain-free diet will give you more protein. It’s not necessarily true."

If you’ve already made “BEG” diet choices to fend off allergies, or just in the best interest of your dog’s health, and you’re worried now, there are a couple things you should know.

“This is typically seen in dogs who’ve been fed a ‘BEG’ diet for a long, extended period of time – so typically over a several year period,” Schuckman said. She also said changing a pet’s diet, along with supplements and medications, can improve the heart health of a “great majority of dogs.”

But there are no definitive reasons or answers because this is still under investigation. The word “potential” is always used when authorities discuss the subject, one Schuckman describes as complicated.

“It’s very complex in terms of the actual nutritional component of it,” she said.

While the investigation continues, Mollie is talking about DCM to protect man’s best friend in other families.

“People need to have more information,” Mollie said, “Even if it’s not definitive yet, at least it’s a caution.”

The FDA told WCPO it is “working with the pet food industry to better understand whether changes in ingredients, ingredient sources, processing or formulation may have contributed to” what it calls an outbreak of DCM."

Should you change your dog’s diet? That is a question for your vet – especially if you observe symptoms such as extreme lethargia, exercise intolerance, coughing and labored breathing.

Cancer care for older Americans is getting a makeover.

When the elderly learn they have cancer, doctors have often assumed they're too frail for treatment. Or they instead recommend harsh therapies tested only in younger patients. But there's a move afoot to change that with special age-related fitness exams.

New guidelines from cancer specialists recommend the evaluations before making treatment decisions for Americans aged 65 and up.

The exams evaluate physical and mental health and social support. They also take into account the patient's desires for life-prolonging treatment regardless of how much time might be left. The idea is to find ways to help patients tolerate treatment, not rule it out.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said in a radio interview that he deliberately exposed his children to chickenpox so they would catch the highly contagious disease and become immune.

During a Tuesday interview on Bowling Green radio station WKCT, Bevin said his children were “miserable for a few days” after contracting chickenpox but said “they all turned out fine.”

“Every single one of my kids had the chickenpox,” Bevin said in the interview. “They got the chickenpox on purpose because we found a neighbor that had it and I went and made sure every one of my kids was exposed to it, and they got it. They had it as children.”

Bevin and his wife, Glenna, have nine children, four adopted.

Public health authorities strongly discourage the practice of deliberately exposing children to chickenpox, a medical expert said Wednesday.

“It’s unfortunate and not an example for any of us,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

“We should vaccinate all our children. It’s a great triumph of public health in the United States. Let’s not take a step backward,” he added in a phone interview.

Bevin’s office did not immediately respond to an email request for additional comment Wednesday. Bevin is seeking a second term as governor in this year’s statewide elections in Kentucky.

The Republican governor said Tuesday that parents worried about chickenpox should have their children vaccinated. But he suggested that government shouldn’t mandate the vaccination.

“Why are we forcing kids to get it?” Bevin said in the interview. “If you are worried about your child getting chickenpox or whatever else, vaccinate your child. ... And in many instances, those vaccinations make great sense. But for some people, and for some parents, for some reason they choose otherwise.”

Kentucky requires that children entering kindergarten be vaccinated for chickenpox, but parents may seek religious exemptions or provide proof that a child already had the disease.

Bevin’s comments followed reports this week of a chickenpox outbreak at a Kentucky Catholic school.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends two doses of chickenpox vaccine for children, adolescents and adults who have never had chickenpox and were never vaccinated, according to its website. Children are routinely recommended to receive the first dose at 12 through 15 months old and a second dose at 4 to 6 years old, it said.

“What the governor and other like-minded folks are unaware of is that there are potentially serious complications of chickenpox,” Schaffner said.

Complications from chickenpox can include bacterial infections, pneumonia and encephalitis — inflammation of the brain, according to the CDC. Complications aren’t common in healthy people with the disease, it says, but high risk groups for complications due to a serious case of chickenpox can include infants, adolescents, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems.

CINCINNATI — Andrew Porter believes the cancer treatment he received as a teenager in Indiana did more than banish his brain tumor. It set him on a new path — one that would eventually lead him to the University of Cincinnati’s Proton Therapy Center, where he helps patients experiencing the same struggle with disease.

"I think it did more than save my life,” he said. “It kind of started my life."

Proton therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses proton radiation rather than the standard radiation found in x-rays, according to UC Health. As a result, it’s more precise, safer to use in higher doses and poses less of a risk to healthy tissues in the patient’s body.

Porter said the group of radiation therapists who helped him through his cancer treatment became like family.

“I just always remember feeling like they were doing something so special for me that I wanted to return that to someone else going through this,” he said.

So he does, hoping that his personal experience helps make the process easier for patients.

At least one — Donald Jeffrey Van Winkle, who was receiving treatment on Porter’s 10-year remission anniversary — can tell.

“These folks and their compassion, they just seem like they know what I was going through,” he said.

CHEVIOT, Ohio — Professional cardiac technician Melissa Leath never expected to find herself on the other side of the tests and recitations that made up her working days. On Feb. 14, 2018, however, it happened without warning.

No pain. No tightness in her chest. Just the heart attack, which forced her younger sister to perform CPR while they waited for emergency responders to arrive and shock Leath five times with a defibrillator.

“When I woke up in Mercy and I heard them spitting out words I knew, I said, ‘Are you talking about me?’” Leath said Tuesday night. “It was surreal waking up in that situation.”

Only about 10 percent of people who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital will survive it, according to the American Heart Association. The National Academy of Sciences estimates the real number may be even smaller: 6 percent or below.

Leath and other members of that tiny fraction gathered at a Tuesday meeting of Cheviot City Council to thank the people who saved their lives.

“It was a full-circle moment (that) brought a lot of closure,” Leath said. “It’s been a hard year mentally as well as physically. It does a lot to you mentally when you have something traumatic like that.”

Seeing the faces of the people who helped keep her alive, coaching her sister through CPR over the phone before they arrived in person, helped.

Unlike Leath, Deerfield Digital Printing owner Tim Roedersheimer had symptoms before his cardiac arrest — but like her, he’d never truly anticipated one. He sat light-headed and sweating at his desk, barely able to move, for 15 minutes before he told someone else to call 911.

“I wanted to not believe I was having a heart attack,” he said. “Wanted to think I’d be OK.”

Despite the heavy snow the night before, Cheviot Life Squad arrived within 10 minutes, he said. The full-blown heart attack hit as soon as they wheeled him into Mercy Hospital.

“They had to shock me with a defibrillator 15 times,” he said. “Brought me back. I guess, overall, there’s a reason why I’m here.”

Roedersheimer has attended rehabilitation at Mercy since his cardiac arrest. He said Tuesday night he had begun to feel like himself again.

“I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my life,” he said. “Being 65 years old, I think I’m ready to move on to bigger and better things.”

According to the American Heart Association, symptoms of cardiac arrest can vary depending on the victim’s sex, and many patients may not correctly guess the underlying cause.

Both men and women experience chest pain, cold sweat, lightheadedness and shortness of breath. Women are more likely to have co-occurring symptoms such as nausea and back or jaw pain.

In some cases, the AHA writes, this may cause them to assume the heart attack is really a less dangerous health condition such as acid reflux. That kind of gambling isn’t worthwhile.

“Learn the signs for heart attack, and remember: Even if you’re not sure it’s a heart attack, have it checked out,” the group recommended on its website.

CINCINNATI — Insulin is a need, not a want, for millions of diabetic Americans like 7-year-old Sammy Kemphues. Without it, Kemphues’s body will rebel against itself, potentially leading to health problems as serious as heart disease, nerve damage and kidney failure.

According to the American Diabetes Association, the cost of the life-saving substance has grown exponentially since the turn of the century.

A study conducted by the same organization found the cost of production had not significantly increased in that time, but the medication pricing structure encourages stakeholders at every level — manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacy benefits managers — to increase the cost to the patient in order to maximize profits for themselves.

“There is no cure, so we need to get prices to come back down,” Sammy’s mother, Erin Kemphues, said Wednesday.

The Kemphues family is fortunate enough to afford the $500 monthly bill attached to Sammy’s insulin, glucose monitor, insulin pump and other diabetes-related supplies. Many others are not.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation executive director Melissa Newman joined Kristyn Hartman Wednesday in WCPO’s studio to talk about the broken system that drives insulin prices ever-upward and the actions that can be taken to fix it.

According to a recent

report,




cesarean sections, or 'C-section', rates are the highest in nearly two decades.

The Cleveland Clinic said the trend is so high that 1 in 3 babies in the U.S. are now born via C-section.

"It's a significant health burden, it's a significant medical burden and economical burden," Dr. Selena Zanotti said. "1 in 3 is definitely a high rate and there are things we can do to lower that rate."

Dr. Libby Buckley, dentist in Berea, is a mom of two. She gave birth to both of her children via C-section.

"Both of my kids wanted to stay inside me forever. They didn't want to come out."

Dr. Buckley said her doctor decided to induce her during her first pregnancy because her son was a week overdue. However, she wasn't dilating. Then came the emergency procedure.

The surgery itself went well, however it was her recovery that was a bit rocky.

"I was shaking a lot. Then they gave me my son and I was scared. I didn’t want to hold him I was afraid I was going to drop him. I was kind of freaking out a little bit," Dr. Buckley said. "I think it was the pitocin. Coming off of that was a bit rough."

So when Dr. Buckley was pregnant with her daughter about two years later, she wanted to try to give birth naturally.

“I didn’t want to pick out the date of my child’s birth," she said.

But naturally, her daughter was also a week overdue, so again she gave birth via cesarean.

Dr. Buckley's story is just like so many others across the country.

Dr. Zanotti said there are several contributing factors to the increase rate, including obesity, the number of older first time mothers plus a change in the medical legal system.

"There are a lot of physicians who practice safer medicine. There's a lot of fear of being sued in this country and because of that cesareans may be getting done earlier than before," Dr. Zanotti said.

However, the rising rates is catching the attention of national agencies, like the American College of of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’, ACOG.

The ACOG recently updated their opinion called

'Cesarean Delivery on Maternal Request.'




In the opinion, it states "in the absence of maternal or fetal indications for cesarean delivery, a plan for vaginal delivery is safe and appropriate and should be recommended."

Dr. Zanotti said the Cleveland Clinic is also working towards reversing the trend. She said last year the Clinic had a 22% rate for cesareans for first-time moms.

“Which is fantastic. That’s taken a lot of work on our part as well," she said.

Dr. Buckley's advice - give birth naturally if you can.

"To me, it’s not worth it. A surgery is a surgery, I’d rather do it the way we’re supposed to unless the doctor comes in and says this is the only way to go," she said.

But it is important to remember, C-sections may be the only option for some mothers for a chance at a healthy baby.

“C-sections are needed, c-sections are definitely indicated in a lot of medical conditions but we just need to be cautious on how many we’re doing,” Dr. Zanotti said.