Impact Stories

Healthy Together Fitness is a Family Affair for Three Generations To say that Mia Ciotola is close to her mom, Donna Allen, and her grandma, Dolores Thomas, is an understatement. The three women text and phone each other frequently and get together as often as they can. “We are definitely a close-knit family,” Mia says. “Not a day goes by that we are not in touch.” So when Donna learned about the “Weigh” To Go! class offered by Sun Health and asked her daughter and mom to join her, Mia says they all readily agreed. The trio took the 12-week class in late 2017, finishing right before Christmas. “I thought this would be a very unique opportunity to combine spending time together with my mom and grandma, but also learning together and growing together,” Mia says, adding that all three of them were weighed and had their body mass index, or BMI, measuredat the start of the class. By the end of the 12 weeks, Mia says she, her mom and grandma all had “significant weight loss” along with a drop in their BMIs. “We learned about the importance of mindful eating and implementing some type of movement or exercise. The Sun Health instructors who taught the class were so encouraging — they said that when it comes to exercise, quantity is not as important as quality and that we shouldn’t over-do it.” As the result of taking the class, Mia says the three of them now have pedometers and are mindful of how many steps they take each day. We all try to get out and do something every day, whether it is walking at the mall or at a track in Sun City Grand.” While she is at work, Mia says she also now strives to get up

Seeing the Glass Half Full Glenda Lee sees the glass half full, its contents brimming with positivity and energy. That persona comes out as she makes small talk, reminisces about life or brags on her grandchildren. Occasionally, she hits the brakes mid-sentence and says, “I’m sorry if I’m talking too much.” Glenda’s energy, sense of humor and a solid faith help her cope with the ups and downs of being the main caregiver for her husband Jim who has vascular dementia, a condition in which blocked or reduced blood flow to the brain causes cognitive difficulties. Jim suffered a stroke in 2009, which led to the vascular dementia diagnosis. He struggles with speech and memory loss. Glenda jokes that she has “half heimers” while Jim has “all heimers.” She knows it’s not politically correct humor, but says, “I deal better with funny.” Jim spent his career driving long-line trucks and later started his own trucking company with his brother. The “silver fox,” which was his CB-radio handle, projects a strong, silent-type image, a sharp contrast from his wife’s exuberance. “Jim’s always been quiet,” says Glenda who stayed at home when the Lee’s two children were younger and then worked 21 years as an elementary school secretary in Phoenix. The couple, who recently celebrated 57 years of marriage, spend most of their waking hours together. They run errands, visit friends and family, attend church or relax at home. “We still love each other,” Glenda says, gazing at Jim who nods and slow rolls a smile. Glenda attributes their bond to their faith, hope and the support of many friends, family and health professionals. Their son lives out of state but keeps in touch. Their daughter lives close by and is a big help to her mother and father. One of the

Sharon’s New Way of Life Every day, Sharon Wachs is on a mission to keep her prediabetes in check. The goal: Healthy living. The strategy: Nutritious meals, daily exercise, and the buddy system. At the core of Sharon’s plan is Sun Health’s Center for Health & Wellbeing and its Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). Struggling to take charge of her diagnosis, Sharon enrolled in the program and then convinced a friend to do the same. Designed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 16-week DPP program, followed by six months of maintenance sessions in a support group format, focuses on education, healthy eating and the benefits of staying active. For Sharon, a program that stretches over many weeks is vital for success. Otherwise, she said, “you fall off the wagon.” “I knew a lot about these different things, but had never been able to quite put them together,” Sharon said. “Sun Health did that for me. They put all the different benefits together in a package for DPP participants.” “The DPP program has changed my style of eating completely and now I think that way,” she said. “I like the long term process of the program.” Every day, Sharon scoots her dogs out the door for a nice long walk. When the weather warms up, she heads to the recreation center with her headphones and gets moving. Sharon used to walk about 1.5 hours a week and now she has doubled that. She rarely misses a day of exercise. “I feel really good about going out and walking,” she said. Many evenings, she meets up with her friend to cook healthy dinners. They work together to make nutritious meals, and help each other say no to temptations like potato chips and desserts. So far, Sharon has lost about 30