Archive for December, 2013

  |  
December 15, 2013

Amazing Grace: Understanding Epilepsy — a First Person Perspective

Listen to a story of a girl called Grace and her fascinating and brave journey.

One in 26 Americans will be diagnosed with epilepsy sometime during their life.

Epilepsy is defined by a person having recurrent seizures, meaning at least two or more. Seizures can take many different forms.

Our regular conversationalists were privileged to have Grace Hugueley join us to tell about her experiences which began with easily dismissed temporary pain, then over time transitioning to some unusual behaviors, and eventually becoming unmistakable grand mal seizures.

This 17 year old tells a remarkable story she and her family experienced, of bravery, of a top notch diagnosis and treatment center in Memphis, Tennessee, of people that have touched her heart through the course of the condition and those to whom she reaches out.

This is a story worth listening to for a multitude of reasons. Whether it is to know how to recognize if someone is having a more subtle type of seizure, what to do if someone in your presence has a seizure, of support mechanisms for epileptics and their families, of a young woman’s bravery in face of brain surgery and that of her family, or just to hear her share a fascinating journey, we encourage you to listen, then tell others about what you learn.

As always, we hope our conversation inspires you to talk with your friends, family, and colleagues about this and other matters that matter.

Now, take some time and please join us also in listening to this special discussion with and of, as her father sometimes calls her, Amazing Grace.

Length: 50 minutes, 2 seconds

warning-iconThere have been reports that this audio file sometimes stops playing when accessed through this WordPress blog. It seems to play fine if you access it directly from http://www.apronetwork.com/amc/epilepsy-broadcast.mp3

We also invite you to read Grace’s father’s compelling story on his Goodbye Religion blog.

A cautionary note: someone with a prolonged seizure lasting more than 5 minutes may be in status epilepticus and should be taken to an emergency room immediately, according to the National Institutes of Health.

If you know someone with epilepsy, it is strongly recommended you learn more about the condition. Two good sources are National Institutes of Health and the Epilepsy Foundation.

Useful links:

First Aid for someone suffering a seizure

Epilepsy Partners support group

Grace’s blog

Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital

Posted in Community, Faith, Health, Podcast | Leave a Comment »

December 8, 2013

Control of suburban school buildings: county or municipality?

In late November and early December, five of the six suburban Memphis cities have come to agreement with the County Commission and Shelby County School Board regarding the future ownership and use of the school buildings within their boundaries and requesting the federal district court to dismiss a lawsuit over the issue of suburban school districts. The City of Germantown, however, in which there are eight Shelby County Schools has not reached such an agreement and is arguing for possession of those all those schools. The Shelby County system, however, says that because high percentages of the pupils in three of those schools live in the City of Memphis or unincorporated areas, it wants to keep and operate them as county schools. This is a major issue for Germantown, as the county wants to continue to operate its three namesake schools in question: Germantown Elementary, Germantown Middle, and Germantown High.

In A Memphis Conversation, our panelists discuss the ownership and operation of the schools at issue. The community, governments, and school boards seem to have different points of view and that holds true for our conversationalists.


Length: 42 minutes, 14 seconds

Note: As of December 16, 2013, all the suburban municipal governments of Millington, Lakeland, Bartlett, Arlington,  Collierville, Germantown, the Shelby County Commission, and the Shelby County School Board have reached agreements which cover the ownership and control of school buildings within the limits of the suburban municipalities. The agreements provide that the school buildings to be deeded to the suburban school districts are for $10 upon condition the suburban municipalities provide a local education authority for at least 25 years and the dropping of the pending federal lawsuit over suburban schools. The agreements also calls for the municipalities to provide payments to Shelby County Schools for the purposes of retiree health and life insurance liabilities in the amounts listed below:
Lakeland: $676,044 over a period of 12 years at $56,337 a year,
Arlington: $3.9 million over a period of 12 years at $333,333 a year,
Bartlett:  $7.2 million over 12 years at $608,000 a year,
Collierville: $6 million over 12 years at $507,819 a year,
Millington:  $2.7 million over 12 years at $230,219 a year,
Germantown: 4.3 million over 12 years at $355,453 a year.

 

Posted in Education, Podcast, Shelby County government | Leave a Comment »

  |