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Friday, Sept. 12, 2014
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Newton, Iowa
NFD never forgets
City may address more traffic safety concerns Council to hear 2 more stop sign proposals By Jamee A. Pierson Daily News Staff Writer
Kate Malott/Daily News Ryan Volk, Blaine Lefler, Mike Browning and Mike Salyers, members of the Newton Fire Honor Guard, participate in the retrieval of the colors at the closing of the 9/11 Memorial Service hosted by the Newton Fire Department on Thursday evening, the 13th anniversary of 9/11. The event honored and remembered first responders for their duty. Newton Fire Chief Jarrod Wellik, fire marshall Mike Knoll, city council member Steve Mullan and fire chaplin Merle Smith gave speeches, and the Newton Professional Firefighters Pipes & Drums performed music.
Two more uncontrolled intersections will be considered for stop signs at the upcoming Newton City Council meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall. The City Traffic Safety Committee believes there are safety concerns at both intersections. The intersection at South 15th Avenue West and West 16th Street South is near a city park as well as several multi-unit housing complexes. South Seventh Avenue West and West Seventh Street South is near Woodrow Wilson Elementary School. The committee already recommended a stop sign for the intersection at East Second Street South and South Third Avenue East, which is near the south side of the downtown business district. The council will also consider entering into an agreement with the Iowa Department of Transportation for the construction of a COUNCIL See Page 5A
Walking through the pain How walking changed a Newton woman’s life By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer If you walk into the hallway of Sue Anderson’s home in Newton, you may notice a wooden mirror with an angel’s head carved into the design. If the mirror wasn’t eyecatching enough, around the angel’s neck, you’ll find four road race medals Anderson has earned. While the medals may seem decorative, they mean much more to the 62 year old. Anderson didn’t start actively competing in road races until 2012, which was two years after she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a condition that causes body-wide pain; she estimates she’s suffered from it for the last decade. “It’s really a painful disease. It affects the nerves all over your body and muscles. Your joints also hurt. Practically everything hurts, you know? It also causes a lot of fatigue,” Anderson said. According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, 5 million Americans over the age of 18 suffer from this disease and it primarily affects women. Making matters even more arduous is the fact that the disease is incredibly difficult to diagnose, as there is no sure-fire method of doing such. “I’ve heard that there’s a test for it, and I don’t know how accurate the test is, but the test costs like $744,” Anderson said. In 2010, Anderson said she was frustrated. Her doctors didn’t know what was
Submitted Photo Sue Anderson, pictured here with her husband Scott, was 35 pounds overweight and was having trouble doing even basic functions due to fibromyalgia, a condition that causes body-wide pain.
wrong with her, she was 35 pounds overweight and her physician at Skiff Medical Center, Dr. Zach Alexander, had just given her a handicap sticker to use on her van due to her having trouble walking. In addition, she was taking medication for both high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and was prescribed a number of pain medicines as well. “Generally, pain pills do not help me. Some people take pain pills, but they don’t help me and a lot of medicines don’t help,” Anderson said. Finally, after being recommended to a rheumatologist later that year, it was discovered she had fibromyalgia. “I had all the symptoms,” Anderson said. She said she displayed symptoms like temporomandibular joint or TMJ — which
is problems involving the jaw, irritable bowel syndrome and migraine headaches. Now that she had a name for the condition that had been tormenting her, Anderson pondered what to do next. There is no cure for fibromyalgia, however, one treatment is exercise and physical activity. To some, exercise may seem like a simple solution but at the time Anderson could barely walk around the downtown square in Newton on her own. Soon, she began physical therapy at Skiff and she found her motivation to get in shape in the form of her therapist, Robyn Friedman, who she calls her “inspiration.” “I was treating her because of pain issues and she was having some frustrations with her health at the same time,” Friedman said. “We worked
Submitted Photo Sue Anderson got into speed walking road races after meeting her former physical therapist, Robyn Friedman. Now the 62-year-old has dropped the weight, and is racking up medals for winning road races while battling her illness with fitness.
through some of her pain issues and we got her started out on some aquatic therapy with some other therapists at Skiff Medical Center.” Anderson said Friedman had her doing regular exercises every day and aquatic therapy twice a week. In the midst of therapy, Anderson discovered Friedman’s passion for road races and it peaked her interest as well. Friedman said Anderson approached her one day and
said, “I think I’d like to be able to walk the whole distance of a 5K.” “So, then I educated her about what a 5K distance was, and we talked about races that are out there for walkers and runners — she didn’t know she could actually just walk a 5K. She thought you just had to run those,” Friedman said. ANDERSON See Page 5A
House of Apparell helps high school kids in need
NCMP decks Dowling, Roosevelt
After the original clothing closet at Newton Senior High School closed, it created a void, and two NHS staff members decided to reopen it and call it House of Apparel.| 7A
Riding a wave of emotion, NCMP’s Aquagirls powered past rival West Des Moines Dowling Catholic and Des Moines Roosevelt in a double dual swim meet. | 1B
INDEX Local News • 2A 7
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Calendar • 3A Obituaries • 3A
Police Blotter • 3A Opinion • 4A
Comics & Puzzles • 6A Dear Abby • 6A
Classifieds • 4B Astrograph • 5B
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Volume No. 113 No. 82 2 sections, 14 pages