Around Town

Mount Auburn Hospital Starts Breast Cancer Survivorship Clinic

By |

Mount Auburn Hospital is pleased to announce the start of its Breast Cancer Survivorship Clinic to provide guidance and support for breast cancer patients after cancer treatment.The clinic will be led by Nurse Practitioners and Co-Directors, Kelly Dusenbery, FNP and Laura Myers, FNP, along with Dr. Susan Pories, Medical Director of the Hoffman Breast Center and Chair of the Breast Center Steering Committee and Dr. Lisa Weissmann, Chief of Oncology and Chair of the Cancer Center Steering Committee. Survivorship care and follow up will focus on the following key areas of recommendation:

Providing each patient with an individualized survivorship care plan that includes details of their cancer treatment and guidelines for monitoring and maintaining their health
Increase awareness of short and long term side effects post treatment and develop a plan to address the patient’s needs and concerns
Surveillance for breast cancer recurrence
Screening for second primary cancers
Assessment and management of physical and psychosocial long-term and late effects of breast cancer and treatment
Health promotion
Care coordination

“We have developed a unique assessment tool to be incorporated at the patient’s Survivorship visit, highlighting the above recommendations,” said Dr. Pories.  “Being told you have breast cancer can be a life-altering experience. It is common to have concerns about how to move forward after treatment ends. It is the goal of the Breast Cancer Survivorship Clinic to help every patient regain their health and strength again. In coordination with our multidisciplinary team, our Nurse Practitioners provide each patient with an individualized survivorship care plan that includes details of their cancer treatment and guidelines for monitoring and maintaining their health.”

Breast cancer survivors represent an estimated 3.1 million women living with breast cancer in the US.

Around Town

Watertown Library Part of Harvard Study of Libraries as Center for Family Engagement

By |

When Harvard University researchers wanted a good example of a public library that fosters family engagement, it looked to the Watertown Free Public Library. 

The town’s library was one studied for the Harvard Family Research Project’s paper, Public Libraries: A Vital Space for Family Engagement by M. Elena Lopez, Margaret Caspe and Lorette McWilliams. The study looks at ways that libraries can promote family engagement which in turn promotes learning for children. For the study, Harvard partnered with the Public Library Association (PLA). They surveyed library directors around the country about their family engagement practices, met monthly with a learning community of nearly 20 librarians interested in family engagement, according to the paper. Watertown Library Director Leone Cole told the Town Council recently that she and her staff were pleased to contribute to Harvard Family Research Project’s study.

Around Town

Watertown Runner Runs Falmouth Road Race for Brain Injury Association

By |

Julia Doucett of Watertown participated in the 2016 New Balance Falmouth Road Race on Sunday, Aug. 21, on behalf of the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts (BIA-MA) with nine other teammates, BIA-MA announced. Doucett, a prospective physical therapist, was inspired to run by the survivors she works with every day that touch her heart and persevere against all obstacles. While the Falmouth Road Race was not intended to be a charity race, their “Numbers for Nonprofit” program allows organizations like BIA-MA to race and raise funds through FirstGiving, the race’s official fundraising partner. Donations to Team BIA-MA support leadership, support services, advocacy, and prevention and education programs.
BIA-MA is one of the first and oldest organizations in the state to offer support and resources to brain injury survivors and their families, in addition to prevention programs, education, and legislative advocacy. Their mission is to create a better future for survivors and their families, and their work will continue with three walks held across the state in September.

Around Town

MassDOT Moving Toward Electric Tolling, Demolishing Toll Booths

By |

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Board acted Monday to move ahead with plans to completely demolish Interstate 90 toll plazas by the end of 2017 as a milestone in the state’s progress toward All Electronic Tolling (AET) along Interstate 90 (the Massachusetts Turnpike), the Tobin Bridge, and Boston tunnels, the DOT announced. At today’s Board meeting, MassDOT announced that AET will “go live” on October 28. The Board approved toll demolition contracts, reviewed data security and retention proposals and instructed MassDOT to proceed with public hearings on proposed toll rates designed to be revenue neutral and minimize changes in toll charges for current commuters. “The AET system will improve driver convenience and safety and reduce greenhouse gas-causing vehicle emissions,” said MassDOT Highway Administrator Thomas J. Tinlin. “When toll booths have been removed, AET will allow drivers to maintain regular highway speed as they pass under AET gantries, eliminating the need for drivers to sharply reduce speed and idle in toll booth lines.”

The Board-approved contracts provide that tolls booths will begin to be demolished as soon as AET goes live and all work to remove toll plazas and reconstruct roadways is to be completed by the end of 2017.

Around Town

Registration Open for Sports Program for Children with Special Needs

By |

Registration is open for the Belmont Watertown SPORTS, a program with activities for children with special needs. The SPORT (Special Programs Organized for Recreation Time) program runs through the year and is available to children of all ages, and has a wide range of sports and activities to participate in, including soccer, yoga, flag football, self-defense, skating, swimming and much more. To register, contact Belmont SPORT Directors Susan Weiner and Heidi Barberio at the Belmont Recreation Department, 617-993-2760. For more information go to www.belmontsport.org

 

Around Town

Health Department: West Nile Virus Mosquitoes Found in Watertown

By |

Mosquitoes found in Watertown have tested positive for the West Nile Virus, according to the Watertown Health Department. Town health officials were contacted by the state Department of Public Health about the positive tests, according to Deb Rosati, the Director of the Watertown Health Department. “This virus has been detected in mosquitoes in neighboring towns since July and it was inevitable that we would actually see some of these same affected species testing positive for WNV in Watertown,” Rosati said in a letter to Town Manager Michael Driscoll and the members of the Board of Health. The hot dry weather has created an environment that helps spread the virus, Rosati said. The Health Department already issued a Mosquito Health Advisory in mid-July due to reports of WNV in nearby towns.

Around Town

Registration Open for Girl Scouts, Volunteers Also Wanted

By |

Attention Watertown Families: The Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts are ramping up for our new 2016-2017 Membership Year and we have so many opportunities for young girls to get involved with Girl Scouts in Watertown. The Girl Scouts have troops starting at elementary schools across the town, as well as community-wide troops for girls to get more involved and discover, connect, and take action in their communities. The scouts plan to stop by schools, community events, and filter information throughout the town this fall. If you are interested in volunteering, registering your girl, or would like more information please don’t hesitate to reach out to Angela Scott at ascott@gsema.org.  You can also get started with registration at www.gsema.org/join.