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When it comes to home improvement, Janiela Montalvo-Linares and her husband are do-it-yourselfers.

On July 4, 2017, the Woodbridge couple was demolishing the flooring, taking it all the way down to the joints in their son’s second-floor bedroom. While it looked a mess, they were making progress, until Janiela made a horrible misstep.

“I was moving around the room and instead of stepping on flooring supported by a beam, I stepped on drywall and went right through the floor,” said Janiela.

Janiela fell from the second floor to the first. Initially, she couldn’t walk. She was rushed to the hospital where she stayed for three days with a fractured tailbone, severely bruised ribs, joint damage, and a host of other cuts and bruises.

While her injuries healed, she was left with chronic pain.

“The pain was always there. I couldn’t stand or sit for more than 30 minutes without being in agony. Bending, exercising, walking for long periods of time hurt. This went on for years,” she says.

Janiela had gone to other doctors, but their solutions never seemed to work. That’s when her Sentara Primary Care Physician, Dr. Benedict Sales, recommended she visit board-certified Chiropractor Dr. Kenneth May, at the Sentara Therapy Center.

In Spring 2020, Janiela made an appointment, but she worried too much time had passed to fix her chronic condition.

Dr. May was undeterred.

“When dealing with any injury or condition that has been present for a long time, six months or more, it just means the recovery, or response, to care is going to be slower, not impossible,” he said.

From the start, Janiela noticed a change.

“From the beginning Dr. May was different,” says Janiela. “He started adjusting my back and pelvic area. After the first appointment, I felt a lot better.”

Dr. May showed Janiela exercises she could do on her own, outside of her appointments, which would help her muscles get stronger and help decrease her pain.

In no time, Janiela’s life started to change.

“By the fourth week of treatment, I was 100%. I’m able to walk and run for long periods of time now. The pain is gone!” she exclaimed.

In addition to helping her physically, Dr. May also supported her emotionally.

“Dr. May not only helped me with my pain, but he also helped me gain my confidence back. He encouraged me to set goals, and together we achieved them. I will be forever grateful and thankful for the help he gave me,” she says.

For his part, Dr. May is proud to have made such a profound effect on Janiela’s life.

“That’s exactly what I want to hear. It’s not only my duty to help people heal, it’s also my responsibility to help them feel like it’s possible to heal and make it a positive experience,” explains Dr. May.

If you’re like Janiela and have been living in pain, Dr. May says it doesn’t have to be this way.

“The best way to describe my role is “Primary Spine Practitioner” this means you should make me your first choice when seeking care or direction on what to do with your spinal health unless it’s an emergency situation,” explains Dr. May. “But, in my opinion, it’s never too late to say never.”

Janiela agrees.

“Don’t give up. A person shouldn’t live in pain. There are resources and treatments that work, you just have to find the right one.”

To learn if Dr. May can help you, call 703-523-1680 or visit sentara.com/therapy to schedule your appointment today.

Sentara Healthcare has always been committed to improving health every day, for all people.

While volatility has always been part of the stock market, 2020 has certainly brought a lot of uncertainty in the market and the world at large.

Interest rates are currently at an all-time low, and it may be time for you to consider refinancing your existing home mortgage to take advantage of these lower rates. Doing so may substantially reduce your monthly mortgage payments.

Average mortgage rates have been declining since the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic first prompted stay-at-home orders in March.

Tuesday, volunteers filled 603 boxes in just three hours as part of Sentara Healthcare’s newly launched “We Care” initiative. The “We Care” model is to meet increased food insecurity in communities throughout Virginia.

These boxes have a five-day food supply for families. In addition to providing healthy, nourishing meals the boxes can be easily assembled to provide safe, low-touch distribution at existing locations managed by the Federation of Virginia Food Banks. In total, the “We Care” initiative will support the distribution of roughly 100,000 boxes.

“Sentara is committed to the communities we serve and is continually improving health every day,” explains Kathie Johnson, President, Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center. “By addressing these food insecurities, we’re looking at the bigger picture. It’s an honor to be involved in this ‘We Care” event because it’s really making a difference for our community.”

It was nearly three weeks ago, Sentara Healthcare and Optima Health, in partnership with Truist, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, launched the new statewide initiative. The “We Care” COVID-19 Virginia Emergency Food Support Plan is currently underway at food banks across the Commonwealth and will provide free, accessible meals and nourishment to families during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

This initiative is a collaborative partnership. The Commonwealth’s commitment of $1.4 million from the CARES Act funds and the start-up contributions of $500,000 each from Sentara Healthcare and Truist provided the first step toward establishing the program. Additional public and private contributions have brought the total to $2.6 million.

In light of COVID, Virginia’s food banks have responded to an unprecedented increase in demand. It’s estimated

Sharpen your treasure-hunting skills.

Someone in Prince William County will win $10,000 in the first of its kind business venture for the area.

Treasure Quest Adventures, a newly founded company in Manassas, will hide the cash in an undisclosed location. Treasure hunters, called “questers,” must solve a series of 15 to 20 clues in order to find the loot.

The first of what the company hopes is multiple treasure hunts, dubbed quests, will be on August 22 in Prince William County. Participants will need to pay the $55 per person registration fee to play the game, and they’ll need to use their smartphone to receive and solve the clues for what will be a largely independent treasure hunt.

The number of clues questers need to solve will depend on the number of people participating in the hunt.

“Things get more difficult as they go,” said Ian Lovejoy, the owner of Treasure Quest Adventures.

The more people who sign up to play the game, the more clues, puzzles, and riddles will need to be solved.

The treasure hunt will be an activity safe to practice during the coronavirus, with participants fanning out across the county on their won in search of the treasure. Unlike in some reality TV shows, due to the virus, there won’t be groups of people rallying for the questers, said Lovejoy.

The game will be played rain or shine, and Lovejoy will be at the end of the game to award the cash prize in person. The number of players will affect whether or not the game is played, so if too few people sign up, the quest may be called off and registrants’ money refunded.

To register to play, visit finishthequest.com.

The company was inspired by Forrest Fenn, an art collector who buried a $2 million treasure in the Rocky Mountains in 2010 and urged people to go find it. The treasure was uncovered in June after hundreds of thousands went looking for it — including multiple people who died seeking the riches.

If the Prince William quest is successful, Treasure Quest Adventures aims to hold similar events in Loudoun, Fairfax, and Arlington counties in Virginia, and Montgomery County, Md.

In addition to launching this new business, Lovejoy also is also seeing election to his third term on the Manassas City Council on November 3.

This is the second business for Lovejoy who also operates Reliant Hiring Services, which pairs job seekers with employers.

Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s “Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus” Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the proper use of medications and other stroke treatments aligned with the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. Before discharge, patients should also receive education on managing their health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions

“Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our stroke patients by implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” said Kathie Johnson, President, Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center. “The tools and resources provided help us track and measure our success in meeting evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed to improve patient outcomes.”

Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center additionally received the Association’s Target: StrokeSM Elite Plus award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. For those hospitals measuring Door-To-Device (DTD) times in at least 50% of applicable patients within 90 minutes for direct arriving and within 60 minutes for transfer qualified for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Advanced Therapy designation.

Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center additionally received the Association’s Target: Type 2 Honor Roll award. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed with more than 90 % of compliance for 12 consecutive months for the “Overall Diabetes Cardiovascular Initiative Composite Score.”

Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center has also met specific scientific guidelines as a Primary Stroke Center or as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department.

“We are pleased to recognize Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center for their commitment to stroke care,” said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., national chairperson of the Quality Oversight Committee and Executive Vice Chair of Neurology, Director of Acute Stroke Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. “Research has shown that hospitals adhering to clinical measures through the Get With The Guidelines quality improvement initiative can often see fewer readmissions and lower mortality rates.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.

To learn more about stokes, Sentara Stroke Center locations, and living well after a stroke, please visit sentarastrokeeducation.com.