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SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3 | SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4â2016
SUNDAY BREAKFAST ILLUSTRATION BY BARRY BLITT
We sit down with Wally Hayward who launched a sports-based sales and marketing company with the Ricketts family. P26
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CRAFTY SAILORS
SPORTS
New Trier senior golfer Justin Choi is off to a terrific start this fall. P22
The Park Avenue Boating Beach held itâs annual a on Cardboard Boat Regatta. P16 FOLLOW US:
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NEWS
Jumping Worms Invade North Shore BY EMILY SPECTRE DAILYNORTHSHORE.COM
W
hile most people view earthworms as a friend of the garden, Amynthas agrestis, an invasive species of worm from Asia known as âcrazy wormâ or âjumping worm,â has been discovered at a residence in Wilmette and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Aptly nicknamed, these worms jump and thrash wildly when handled. They tend to be larger than typical earthworms and can be up to 1.5 to 8 inches long. A narrow band around their body (the clitellum) is milky white and smooth â unlike other species, which have a raised clitellum. So whatâs so bad about jumping worms (other than the jumping)? These earthworms consume the top layer of soil and mulch, depleting the soilâs nutrients. They lay a thick layer of castings (poop) over the soil that is high in nitrogen. Their activity changes the composition of the soil into grainy castings that look like coffee grounds or cooked ground Continued on PG 12
A SURVIVORâS STORY BY JULIE KEMP PICK
HIGHLAND PARKâ hrough chemotherapy, brain surgery and paralysis former Wayne Thomas Elementary School nurse Roni Weiss never gave up. Today she is not only grateful to be in her third year of remission but also for the ability to walk without a brace or cane. Weiss recently completed a two-week session as a nurse at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. She also volunteers at NorthShore University HealthSystem Highland Park Hospital, and is the director of community development at Friends For Health Supporting North Shore Health Centerâs mission to ensure quality healthcare for community residents regardless of oneâs ability to pay. Sheâs come a long way since she began her battle in February 2013. When Weiss was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), she decided to âhave a positive attitude and beat this cancer from the start,â she said. According to the National Cancer Institute, âacute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a type of leukemia (blood cancer) that comes on quickly and is fast growing. In acute lymphoblastic leukemia, there are too many lymphoblasts (immature white blood cells) in the blood and bone marrow.â Weiss was in NorthShore University HealthSystem Evanston Hospital for three weeks during initial treatment therapy â the induction stage. âThe goal was to put me in remission and after that I received outpatient chemo on a weekly basis,â she said. âI was
T
Steve and Roni Weiss. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
never told that you have a five percent chance of living. The doctor said that with the induction there is a 98 to 99 percent success rate. All I thought about was going into remission and getting better.â Two months later Weiss suffered a stroke. Weiss said the doctors werenât 100 percent sure, but the stroke might have been a side effect from one of the chemo therapeutic drugs. Weiss was transferred to Evanston Hospital, where
surgeons removed a portion of her skull due to excessive brain swelling. She lost the ability to walk, and she had left sided weakness, which meant that she couldnât use her left hand or arm. âWithout the help of my husband, Steve, and friends and family in the community, I wouldnât have gotten through this,â said Weiss. âMy husband was really the strongest advocate anyone can ask for. When youâre sick your spouse or whoever youâre with is really the one who is dealing with the day-to-day
treatment, trying to figure this all out. It was very hard on him.â Weiss is also grateful for the support of her three boys. Though her illness affected all of the boys, she felt it was most difficult on her youngest son Marc, who was a sophomore at Highland Park High School at the time. âMy husband would see me every night after work, so Marc had to take on a lot more responsibility earlier than the other two,â said Weiss. âHe had to fend for himself by getting dinner
ready, and my husband and I couldnât go to his swim team and water polo events.â Weiss regrets missing her oldest son Danielâs graduation from University of Illinois at Chicago, âbecause I was at RIC and too weak to go, but two years nts at Evanston Hospital. Weiss sends âa big thank youâ in recognition to the medical team at the Kellogg Cancer Center at Evanston Hospital (which is part of NorthShore Continued on PG 12
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