Kokomo Magazine May 2024

Happy Mother’s Day

Olivia Straka, DDS

Justin Roberts, DDS

MAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

People might recognize the name Rebecca Vent for her many years of service to the Kokomo area as a family law attorney. Recently she was appointed as Howard County Superior Court II judge by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, replacing retired Judge Brant Parry. However, besides having a fulfilling professional life, Vent knows firsthand what it’s like to give and receive nurturing care. It’s a Mother’s Day story of the best kind - how yielding to unselfish love resulted in outcomes that continue to be a blessing for all involved.

After graduating from law school at Ohio Northern University, Vent was a member of McIntyre, Hilligoss, Vent, O’Keefe, & Welke, LLP for 23 years. When its office building was sold to Crossroads Community Church, she left the firm, but continued as an attorney for four more years. In the fall of 2023 she was asked by Governor Holcomb to fill the vacancy in Howard County Superior Court II. Vent hopes to continue in the job by winning in the May primary election.

“While still in school, I clerked for two years for a brilliant trial court judge,” she says. “I saw what a difference a good judge could make. Judge Rumor was firm but also had the grace to give second chances. He took me under his wing and pointed out to me how important it was for an attorney to be well-prepared.”

Throughout her career, Vent has advocated for children. Her area of expertise became family law, and she handled adoptions, guardianships, grandparent rights, divorces and custody cases. She represented the Kokomo School Corporation for 15 years. Other attorneys in the area noticed her aptitude and word of mouth spread. She was asked to be guardian ad litem for hundreds of cases. In that role she represented the best interests of children involved in legal proceedings, by taking steps such as making home visits and speaking to teachers.

After getting married in her mid-30s, Vent and her husband began planning for children of their own. When life circumstances made it difficult for her to be a biological mother, she and her husband opted to take the path of adoption. Unfortunately, the journey did not go smoothly.

“After some time of spreading the word to adoption agencies and attorneys, we were selected by a birth mom to be the parents of

her little boy,” she says. “We set up a nursery and were invited for the birth, which involved cutting the umbilical cord. We spent two nights at the hospital giving the baby his first bath, holding and rocking him, but when the time came for her to sign the papers, the biological mother couldn’t do it. Although I couldn’t blame her, I have never experienced that kind of loss and heartbreak.”

Almost nine months later, a second call from a birth mother came. Vent’s daughter was born just three weeks later. This time, a challenge still presented itself.

“Because of the first experience, my husband and I did not go to the hospital,” Vent says. “We decided not to lay eyes on her until the papers were signed. Then we got the word that the birth mother wanted one more night with her baby. I spent the night down on my knees praying.”

The next morning, the Vents got the call that the papers were signed. They hopped in the car and drove to meet their daughter. They walked into the room to see the birth mom both crying and smiling.

“There is no greater gift, not even your own life, than giving up a child so they can have a better life,” Vent says. “The birth mom was in her teens and had been raised in foster care. She had no parents or grandparents. Over the years we kept in touch through letters.”

When Vent’s daughter was in eighth grade, she expressed the desire to meet her biological mom. Initially, Vent was hesitant. However, she had always told her daughter what a sacrifice of love her birth mom had made.

“On the day of the meeting, I saw that it had all come full-circle,” Vent says. “This time I was the one with the puffy eyes and the red nose. It turned out to be joyful for all of us. We had a wonderful time sharing and finding out the many things they both had in common.”

In the years following the adoption, Vent’s daughter’s birth mother had two sons of her own. She met a wonderful man who wanted to adopt the boys.

“I represented her and her husband in the adoption proceedings,” Vent says. “It was the most fulfilling adoption I ever took part in, except for my own! I am convinced raising kids is not about biology, but pure and simple love.”

The goal of Whole Body HealthCare and Wellness LLC is, as the company motto suggests, “healing from the inside out.” Owner Dr. Renee Hartman is passionate about finding overlooked missing pieces in her patients’ journey back to health.

As an immunologist, she has earned Ph.D. degrees in integrative medicine and natural medicine, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in natural health and nutrition. Working in tandem with patients’ physicians, Dr. Hartman’s practice offers high-quality, advanced health care treatments and therapies that work with the whole body non-invasively.

Dr. Hartman believes modern medicine, much of which uses drugs to treat illness and injury, is necessary, but she feels that health care should be more than just listening to symptoms and giving medicine. While in medical school, personal experiences caused her to rethink her career path. Her daughter almost died due to a severe adverse reaction to a minuscule amount of a common fever-reducing medicine. A few years later, medical treatments her father was receiving for lung cancer failed. Finally, when a physician who taught her pharmacology and pathology classes said a doctor’s focus is listening to patients’ symptoms and addressing them with medications. She knew there had to be a better way to help individuals achieve overall health.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

DR. RENEE HARTMAN OF WHOLE BODY HEALTHCARE AND WELLNESS PUTS THE PATIENT AT THE FOREFRONT

Writer / Julie Yates

Photography Provided

“There is a need to do something beyond just giving medicine,” she says. “There should be a way to get to underlying causes which lead to root issue of each patient’s illness. Whole Body HealthCare and Wellness personalizes, customizes and gets to bottom of issues. It’s like peeling back layers of an onion. Doctors should work with the immune system first. The body has the innate ability to heal itself. There are so many little things people can do, such as adjustments to diet and lifestyle, including therapies that work to release built-up toxins and excess stressors. Everyone is different. What works for one might not work with the next [person].”

“I offer several health options for patients such as immunology, integrative and traditional naturopathic medicine,” she adds. “Included are anti-aging therapies, several health scans, biological medicine, biofeedback sessions, and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Other options are emWave Pro HeartMath, pain management, restoring nutritional therapy, ultrasound cavitation, plus more. I also provide mental, emotional and spiritual coaching.”

Dr. Hartman offers far infrared system with chromotherapy. Chromotherapy is the science of using colors in our everyday lives to support overall body functions, mental, emotional, and physical well-being, and the improvement of overall health by

creating positive changes within the body. It can be used for chronic pain, swelling and inflammation, and helps to lower blood pressure. It also improves circulation, lymph flow, sleep and immune functions, and accelerates overall healing, decreases muscle tension, along with many other benefits.

One important tool that Dr. Hartman uses is a food scan. It assesses an individual’s ability to absorb, assimilate and metabolize foods and additives. Although it is not a food allergy, sensitivity or intolerance test, it gives patients direction on getting the most health value out of the foods they eat. It can be a catalyst for weight loss and an aid in achieving a healthy digestive system.

Dr. Hartman uses an advanced health scan to find areas of main concern. It scans all organs, glands and systems, while conducting a review of the symptoms patients are experiencing. It is intended for those who have long-standing problems and/or unexplained issues, and have exhausted all the medical field has to offer, such as multiple tests and medications. For those who feel that nothing has worked and have never gotten a real answer as to what is going on, it helps to uncover the missing pieces.

Committed to her patients and the Kokomo community, Dr. Hartman values her patients’ input and is deeply invested in helping them through their health journey

while providing needed support to achieve goals. Office visits, including virtual meetings, and appointment hours, are flexible to meet individual needs. She has donated her time to several organizations and health fairs, and is available to speak on nutrition, the immune system and anatomy, among other topics.

“True healing is finding out what is going

on, addressing it head-on, and then working with the body to help it heal naturally, the way God made our bodies to be,” she says. “I believe we need both medical and natural medicine, but I don’t believe in quick fixes of any kind. This is a process that can’t be rushed, as most health conditions don’t happen overnight. These challenges are usually a long time coming due to poor lifestyle, diet, low immune activity, choices,

and the over-suppression of immune functions. It is not easy to get to root causes, as many patients have several layers they must go through to heal.”

For more information, visit drreneehartman. com. Call 765-860-2144 to schedule an appointment.

Happy Mother’s Day

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OBERYN & GRIFFIN HOWELL TOBY WILLOW WINNIE

Happy Mother’s Day