Insider Health

Dan Van Buskirk suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, the result of his service as a Marine in Vietnam. But everything changed after the 62-year-old picked up a guitar. In December 2007, Van Buskirk began weekly guitar lessons with Patrick Nettesheim. After just one lesson, he noticed a surprising change. “Taking guitar lessons helped me find calmness. I was able to sit still for longer periods each day,” says Van Buskirk. “It helped calm my anxiety because I had something soothing to focus on.” The impact of these lessons inspired the pupil and his teacher to create Guitars for Vets, a…

If you watch a cycling road race in Wisconsin this summer, you might just be witnessing Lance Armstrong’s next teammate. Case in point: Matt Busche from Wauwatosa rode for the local team sponsored by ISCorp Cycling last year and this year was recruited to ride for Armstrong’s team. “Stories like Matt Busche are the reason we place emphasis on and heavily support development teams,” says ISCorp president and CEO Mike Weber. Busche is not the only rising star. Others include national criterium junior champion Sarah Huang and up-and-comers like Katie Antonneau, Chad Hartley and Samantha Schneider. All ride for teams…

In a sport where getting a hit just 30 percent of the time is considered success, mental toughness can be the difference between winning and losing. Ask any major league baseball club. “More and more are employing sports psychologists,” says Dr. Peder Piering, president of Ignite Your Life, a sport psychology consulting clinic in Milwaukee. “They see that mental training really does work.” Dr. Jack Curtis worked as a mental skills coach with the Brewers from 1987-1992 and again from 2002-2004. He would do a group presentation during spring training and then consult with interested players individually. In Curtis’ view,…

Teemu Laakso knows injuries. In February 2009, the 22-year-old Milwaukee Admirals defenseman suffered a season-ending injury to his right shoulder. “I hit a guy during a game, and my shoulder popped out,” Laakso remembers. His pain was intense, and team doctors determined Laakso had torn cartilage. They repaired the tear surgically, and he needed five months of intense rehab. Fast forward to December 2009. Laakso made contact with an opposing player in a game against the San Antonio Rampage and felt a similar tear in the same shoulder. He immediately pictured another major surgery and months of rehab. “He was…

When Don Bogart was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease six years ago, the medications his neurologist prescribed did a good job of controlling his symptoms. But over time, the meds became less effective, and Bogart was left searching for solutions. Bogart, a 59-year-old pharmacist, says that at the beginning, one dose would give him more than five hours of relief from the symptoms of his disease, which include rigidity in his arms and legs, painful muscle spasms, and jerky, involuntary movements. But that symptom-free period gradually diminished until he got just three and a half hours per dose. “The end of…

Eileen Arbiture knows the toll diabetes can take on a person’s health. “I saw the ravages of that disease throughout my entire family,” says the 71-year-old Mequon resident, who lost her mother, grandmother and several other family members to the condition. Last year, when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, she decided to take control. Arbiture began tracking her blood sugar and keeping a detailed diet journal, noting the way her body responded to certain foods. She ramped up her walking routine and focused on eating vegetables, fruits and whole grains. She read as much as she could about…

It’s 5 a.m. in early January, still pitch dark, and a dusting of snow will become 10 inches by day’s end. Temperatures are in the teens, and Dennis Johnson is heading out in search of homeless veterans. Every Thursday morning it’s the same routine. Working with a driver and a van from the National Association for Black Veterans, Johnson searches little-known hideaways – bridge underpasses, urban forests, abandoned warehouses. This outreach is part of an innovative program, the Milwaukee Homeless Veteran Initiative, begun in June 2008. “Hello, anybody there?” Johnson gently announces at “Tent City,” a forested spot along a…

Dee Schwaiger is not your typical personal trainer. Her goal isn’t to help people lose weight or run a marathon. Her passion is people with disabilities.“I wanted a challenge,” Schwaiger says. “I never wanted to be Susie Spandex.”In April 2009, Schwaiger launched “Moving and Grooving,” a dance class designed for those suffering from Parkinson’s disease. The class – the first of its kind in the metro area – is offered in Wauwatosa at Wisconsin Athletic Club and Mount Mary College, in Whitefish Bay at the Jewish Community Center and in Franklin at Next Step Dance Studio.Parkinson’s disease is a chronic,…

When Ann Schueller was pregnant with her fourth child, she noticed a change in her hearing. “Why do you have that up so loud?” her husband would ask, walking into a room where she was watching a Brewers game on TV. A 40-year-old Shorewood resident, Schueller hadn’t experienced this problem during previous pregnancies. She checked with her obstetrician, who suggested she get her ears evaluated after delivery if her hearing was still bad. It was. At night, Schueller wouldn’t hear the baby crying, only waking when her husband returned to bed from tending to him. Her right ear was much…

In 2008, Tim Russert seemed to be at the top of his game. The high-profile TV journalist and host of “Meet the Press” had been voted one of the 100 most influential men in the world. Surely a man as successful as this would have had access to the very best medical care available. But then, suddenly, he dropped dead of a massive heart attack. How could this be? “Several months before he died, he had the best, most state-of-the-art stress test available,” says Dr. Donald J. Meyer, a clinical lipidologist with a private practice in Cedarburg, Wis. “He passed…