Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of the da Vinci Xi Surgical System.

The da Vinci Xi System was designed with the goal of further advancing the technology used in minimally invasive surgery.

• The System can be used across a spectrum of minimally invasive surgical procedures and has been optimized for multi-quadrant surgeries in the areas of gynecology, urology, thoracic, cardiac and general surgery.

By enabling efficient access throughout the abdomen or chest, the da Vinci Xi System expands upon core da Vinci System features, including wristed instruments, 3D-HD visualization, intuitive motion, and an ergonomic design.

• As with all da Vinci Surgical Systems, the surgeon is 100% in control of the robotic-assisted da Vinci System, which translates his/her hand movements into smaller, more precise movements of tiny instruments inside the patient’s body. The Xi System’s immersive 3D-HD vision system provides surgeons a highly magnified view, virtually extending their eyes and hands into the patient.

Key Features Include:

• A new overhead instrument arm architecture designed to facilitate anatomical access from virtually any position.
• A new endoscope digital architecture that creates a simpler, more compact design with improved vision definition and clarity.
• An ability to attach the endoscope to any arm, providing flexibility for visualizing the surgical site.
• Smaller, thinner arms with newly designed joints that offer a greater range of motion than ever before.
• Longer instrument shafts designed to give surgeons greater operative reach.

The da Vinci Xi System is an expandable technology platform that is designed to accommodate and seamlessly integrate a range of current technologies, as well as future innovations, in areas such as imaging, advanced instruments, and anatomical access.

• We are truly thrilled to be a leader in this field and look forward to continue bringing Woodbridge and Northern Virginia minimally invasive surgical options.

Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center is an accredited Center of Excellence in Robotic Surgery and Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology.

• The Sentara Weight Loss Surgery Center is a designated accredited Center by the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP).

For more information on minimally invasive surgical options at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, contact us at 1-800-SENTARA or visit sentara.com/surgery.

As children, many of us were encouraged to eat certain foods because they would help make our bones strong.

We were also probably cautioned from doing things that would cause them to break.

However, children are not the only ones who need to be reminded of the importance of keeping our bones strong.

Our bones provide support and protect our organs. They also store important minerals, such as calcium and phosphorus, which can be released when needed by the body.

If we don’t eat right and get proper exercise, our bones can become weak. Osteoporosis is a disease in which bone density and quality diminish.

The bones become more porous and fragile, greatly increasing the risk of fractures. People with osteoporosis most often break bones in their wrists, spine, and hip.

There are various factors that put people at greater risk of osteoporosis:

• After 40 years of age, people are not able to replace bone tissue as quickly as it is lost.
• Women, particularly white and Asian women, are more likely to get osteoporosis.
• Family history of osteoporosis is another risk factor.

While those factors cannot be controlled, other factors can be, such as diet, exercise, and other habits. To reduce your risk, follow a bone-healthy diet and exercise regimen, reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption and stop smoking.

Eating a well-balanced diet with foods that are rich in calcium, magnesium and vitamin D can help to keep our bones healthy. Calcium supports the structure of our bones and teeth. Magnesium and vitamin D improve our body’s ability to absorb calcium and aid bone growth. Good sources of calcium include:

• Green leafy vegetables (spinach, kale, okra, broccoli)
• Dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt)
• Chinese cabbage or bok choy
• Sardines/salmon with edible bones
• Apricots/figs
• Nuts (almonds, sesame seeds)
• Beans/legumes
• Foods fortified with calcium (Check the labels on tofu, soy milk, and orange juice.)
Good sources of magnesium include:
• Nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts)
• Green leafy vegetables (spinach, kale)
• Soy milk
• Beans/legumes
Good sources of vitamin D include:
• Fatty fish (tuna, salmon)
• Eggs (Vitamin D is in the yolk)
• Cheese
• Foods fortified with calcium (Check the labels on cereal, soymilk and orange juice.)

Likewise, proper exercise can help keep our bones strong. Weight-bearing exercises, such as weight training, walking, climbing stairs, and dance, are best for bone health. Non-weight bearing exercises, such as swimming and bicycling, are good for cardiovascular health, but they do not provide much benefit to your bones.

Talk to your doctor about bone-healthy exercise and foods that are right for you. To learn more about our orthopedic services, visit SentaraOrthopedics.com.

Even though we are seeing a decrease in deaths from the disease, it remains the number one cancer killer – more than prostate, breast and colon cancers combined.

• Part of the reason is that unless it’s caught at the early stages when the tumor is in one area, it spreads and is often deadly.

If it is caught at early stages, there’s good news – removal of the tumor can be done more efficiently than ever.

• Using robotic surgical tools, surgeons are able to perform minimally-invasive removal of lung tumors.

While not every lung resection (removal of part of the lung) can be done this way, due to the individual’s health and complexity of the situation, overall robotic surgery can be beneficial to patients.

• In addition to having more efficient surgical options, anyone with a history of smoking should schedule a lung CT scan to catch any tumors at the early stages.
• “I wish people knew more about the advantages of lung cancer screenings. There used to be no good way to screen and now CAT scans with low dose radiation make it much easier to have proof every year that the lungs are tumor-free,” said Dr. Bethany Tan, a general thoracic surgeon.

An annual lung cancer screening is recommended for anyone over 55 who has 30 pack-years (having smoked around a pack a day) or has been a smoker within the last 15 years.

• Of course, people who are currently smoking should be screened, and know that smoking is linked to 80 to 90 percent of lung cancers.
• To make your appointment for a CT Coronary Artery Calcium Scoring exam at the Sentara Heart & Vascular Center call 703-523-1980.

As Chair of the Board of Supervisors, it is important to work alongside leaders with different expertise in our community to best represent all the people of Prince William County.

• I have worked at many levels to make our county a better place for many years, and over the past few months, I have spent time listening to you, the residents of Prince William, and the leaders of our great community organizations.
• If I am elected on Tuesday, I want to focus on bringing vision, integrity, and inclusivity back to our county’s Board.
• I will fight for people from different backgrounds and make sure we work together to lead Prince William County into the future.
• I am honored to have received the endorsements of a diverse group of community organizations here in Prince William County.

I plan to work hard to keep our county a safe place to live and work, and I have been endorsed by our public safety professionals including:

• The Prince William Professional Firefighters
• The Prince William County Police Association
• The Virginia Police Benevolent Association

I am committed to increasing teacher pay and decreasing our class sizes. I have been endorsed by teachers, through:

• The Prince William Political Action Committee of Educators

I pledge to make it easier to do business in Prince William County by making sure we support the flourishing businesses that are already here and attracting new businesses to locate here. I have been endorsed by business organizations including

• The Prince William Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee
• The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce NOVA BIZPAC

I promise to work with labor organizations to make sure workers in Prince William County are treated fairly. I have been endorsed by several labor organizations including

• The Northern Virginia Labor Federation
• The Mid-Atlantic Pipe Trades Association
• IBEW Local 26
• Keystone Mountain Lakes Regional Council of Carpenters

I am committed to making our county more inclusive, and I have also received the support of advocacy groups that work on behalf of marginalized communities, including

• CASA in Action
• Emily’s List

I’m proud that every single group that has interviewed the candidates for Chair has endorsed my campaign. But the only endorsement that truly matters is the voters on Election Day.

• Please vote on Tuesday and thank you to the thousands of people I have met on this campaign who have shared with me their ideas and vision for our county.
• If elected, I will work hard to never let you down!

Paid for and authorized by Wheeler for Prince William County. 

Crystal Vanuch was the first to announce her candidacy and platform on managing growth, improving schools, safer roads, supporting first responders, and creating economic development as the Republican candidate for Rock Hill District Supervisor.

• If elected, she would also be tasked as Supervisor to handle the election redistricting in 2020.

Vanuch has a record of experience and service to the County serving on the Planning Commission for the past four years, in contrast to her opponent who just moved to the district one year ago.

• Rock Hill is one of the only election districts that has seen very little residential growth in the last four years.
• Crystal has advocated for years, while on the planning commission, that all development must pay for itself and not fall on the backs of the taxpayers.
• She has not voted for a single rezoning in Rock Hill her entire term on the planning commission.
• “I refuse to turn Stafford into Fairfax with high rise after high rise, crammed cookie-cutter houses, and astronomical taxes,” said Vanuch.

Back in July, Vanuch was the only Rock Hill Supervisor candidate to advocate for the July pay raise to address retention and recruitment for police, fire and rescue.

• After completing several Sheriff’s Office ride alongs she became very vocal about the discrepancies in pay compared to neighboring counties for our public safety personnel.
• “Many of these men and women start their career and are trained in Stafford only to be picked off by neighboring counties that pay a better salary. It is so costly to train a new deputy, firefighter, and EMT. We should be using that money to retain these individuals and the Board of Supervisors is the body that can do that by transitioning them to a public safety pay scale in order to better support their families. 
• “This is my hometown. So, to me, this election is about protecting Stafford County and our citizens or letting it turn into Fairfax. That is the choice voters have when they go into the ballot box on November 5.
  
  
• It’s about making sure our schools are places that our children can get a quality education like I did growing up. 
• It’s about retaining our teachers, bus drivers, police, fire, and EMS in Stafford County.This is why I am the recommended candidate of the Stafford Education Association and have the endorsement of the Sheriff and current Rock Hill Supervisor Wendy Maurer.
• I am the only one with a proven record of managing growth in a smart and strategic way.” 
• This election is about who has the knowledge, passion, and experience to fight for Rock Hill. It’s about protecting our rural integrity and being capable of having tough negotiations with businesses to bring in the revenue and desired shopping we need to spend our money where we live. Since January 14 I have personally knocked on thousands of doors every day after work until dark as well as every weekend. 
• No one has worked harder, or will work harder for Rock Hill, so I am humbling asking for your vote on Tuesday, November 5,” said Vanuch. 

This post was paid for and authorized by Friends of Vanuch.

By Supervisor Ruth Anderson 

According to the Virginia Department of Transportation, Virginia drivers spend more than 1.2 million hours in traffic delays per year on the 1 mile stretch of road on I-95 South before the Occoquan exit. 

• A considerable portion of those drivers are Prince William residents. 

That means 1.2 million hours of missed opportunities that compromise the quality of life for families and negatively impact personal, educational, and health outcomes. 

• That is unacceptable. 

When I began my term as Occoquan District Supervisor in January 2016, my vision was to Bring Prince William Home by bringing a fresh perspective to the big transportation issues facing our region that for years people said were too tough to solve.  

• After 3.5 years, the long road from that vision has delivered big results in 2019. 

What started as resident transportation think tanks held by my office in 2016 to brainstorm remedies for Old Bridge Road backups led to the question  of ‘What can we do to fix I-95 and in doing so ease congestion on Old Bridge Road too?’ 

• I took that question to our PWC Department of Transportation and they designed a solution using an I-95 southbound auxiliary lane from Route 123 to Prince William Parkway. 
• I made it my mission through community meetings, visits to the General Assembly and state transportation funding boards, and multiple speeches to put Virginia on notice that this dangerous bottleneck must be fixed immediately. 

My mission succeeded on January 29, 2019, when the auxiliary lane project overcame the odds of naysayers and a flawed Smart Scale score to receive state-negotiated funding from Transurban to be built in 2021.

I also defied the odds on other commuter projects. 

• After initially denying the project, almost 12 million was allocated in my district by the Commonwealth Transportation Board to realign the Occoquan Road-Old Bridge Road intersection. 
• In addition, we secured over $11 million in partial funding for Telegraph Road area improvements from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

Reducing congestion does not just mean road construction, but also making transit an affordable and accessible option so fewer cars are on our roads. 

• On November 4, two new OmniRide routes (8 round trips) will begin picking up commuters from two Stafford commuter lots for Pentagon and DC destinations to relieve our over-capacity commuter lots in Prince William County and keep more cars off the interstate. 
• Local bus service along Route 1 will also be expanded. 
• As Chair of OmniRide (PRTC), I was pleased to play a major role in securing the funds to make this happen.

My next transit mission is to Improve the Commuter Experience by making drastic improvements to our commuter lots and commuter technology. 

• That means updating lots to be ADA compliant, adding sidewalks and signage for safer slugging, and revamp the underutilized 1-95/123 lot to better serve commuters. 
• After a county-wide tour of our transit facilities this summer, I submitted dozens of recommendations to the Commonwealth Transportation Board, and several are now on their published list of possible I-95 corridor improvements. 

The work is far from over to ensure Prince William families can spend more time enjoying all our county has to offer and spend less time on the road. 

• Much of that work requires major reforms to state and federal policy to ensure Prince William has a seat at the table for congestion relief funding.
  
• However, the results I have delivered for the Occoquan District and our county in 2019 by looking at the root of our traffic problems give me optimism that years of simply enduring the status quo on our roads are over.

Visit ruth4supervisor.com and be sure to vote on November 5. 

This post is paid for and authorized by Friends of Ruth Anderson.

Another sleepless night, another miserable day.

• Your spouse complains about your snoring, but the real problem is that you gasp for air in your sleep several times throughout the night.
• You wonder if it’s nothing, or is it worth looking into?
• The answer: Yes, you should look into it. That’s because sleep apnea is more than just a nuisance — it’s a warning sign.
• “Long-term, undiagnosed sleep apnea can make a lot of other medical issues worse,” says Jennifer May, PhD, RPSGT, Manager of Clinical Neurophysiology at Sentara Sleep Center.

Despite the risks, people still avoid getting diagnosed and treated. In fact, about 10 million Americans have sleep apnea, but don’t know it, estimates the American Association for Respiratory Care.

Reaching A Diagnosis

If you, your spouse or your doctor decide you should be tested for sleep apnea, one of the first steps may include a sleep study.

• “Our brainwave patterns change as we fall asleep,” explains May. “During a sleep study we can see distinct changes for different sleep stages.”
• “For instance, we have rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Our bodies are somewhat paralyzed during this stage. Our muscles relax so we don’t move,” May adds. “Sleep apnea can be worse in different stages, like REM sleep, because of the relaxed muscles.”  

During the pause in breathing, your body’s oxygen levels dip slightly–although they could drop more significantly if the sleep apnea is severe.

• One of the tell-tale signs of sleep apnea is snoring.
• “With snoring, you might just have issues with your sinuses,” Dr. May says. “But snoring is also an indication of a blocked airway.”

Treatment Has Come A Long Way

People put off sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment for a number of reasons. But, getting treated comes with one major lifestyle benefit: “It gives you more energy.”

• Treatment for mild sleep apnea can include measures as simple as sleeping with a pillow that forces you into positions that increase airflow or using an oral appliance to open your airway.

CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure)

• A CPAP is considered the gold standard of sleep apnea treatment. It connects a mask to a tube that uses positive pressure to force the airways to stay open. During your sleep study, your sleep technologist will determine the right pressure for your CPAP.
• CPAP technology has come a long way since the days of having to store a clunky machine the size of an industrial vacuum cleaner next to your bed. Today, these machines are small enough to fit on your nightstand. And — perhaps most importantly — they’re quieter.

Surgery

For severe cases, surgery may be the best option. Surgical procedures range from having your tonsils removed to moving your lower jaw forward.

• A new surgical treatment implants a nerve stimulator that stimulates your tongue muscles during sleep to force your tongue forward enough to keep your airway open and reduce sleep apnea.
• Because your sleep isn’t interrupted during the night, you wake up more rested.
• Your spouse will appreciate it, too, especially if he or she is not getting much sleep because of your snoring.

My name is Ann Wheeler, and I know the people and the issues in Prince William County, and as Chair, I’ll make sure we work together to make our county stronger.

• I’m running to ensure we have the best schools here in Prince William County.

We have the largest class sizes in the state and the lowest-paid teachers in the region.

• When elected to the Board, I will make it one of my primary missions to make sure we build the schools we need and pay our teachers what they deserve.

I will also make Prince William County attractive and welcoming to large and small prospective businesses.

• My background is in business, and when elected, I will actively recruit businesses to come to Prince William County, create jobs and help our county realize its full potential.

Our residents spend too much time sitting in traffic.

• I will work to ensure less traffic and more transit options in Prince William County. When elected, I will make permanent improvements to Route 28 and push for a study to explore bringing Metro’s Blue Line to Woodbridge.

Before moving to Prince William County, I worked as a consultant in the energy industry.

• I graduated from Tufts University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, specializing in Finance.

Since I moved to Prince William County in 2001 with my husband and my two daughters, I have worked to make our county a better place.

• I recently completed a 2-year term as President of the Prince William County Committee of 100, a non-profit that provides public forums to discuss county issues.
• I’ve spent the last fourteen years as a NOVEC Board Member and the last two years on the Hylton Performing Arts Center Board.
• I also served as Chair of the Prince William County Board of Social Services for two years.

I pledge to bring inclusiveness for all citizens to Prince William County.

• As Chair of the Board of Social Services, I developed a clear sense of the key challenges facing our large and diverse county and the issues that must be addressed.

I am running for County Chair to make sure the future for all areas of the county is bright and prosperous.

• It’s time to give Prince William County a greater voice in Northern Virginia, and it’s time to make our county even more of a destination in the region.
• With strong leadership and a smart approach to problem-solving, we can achieve that.

Paid for and authorized by Wheeler for Prince William County.