Local surgeons and doctors host open discussion about equal access to care
Loved ones who lost family members to cancer were at Thursday evening's discussion advocating for more time and options when it comes to treatment.
'Get screened, don't ignore symptoms. We've lowered the screening rate down to 45 years old,' shared Kimberly Schoolcraft, a volunteer with Fight Colorectal Cancer, advocating for more time with loved ones and your options when it comes to treatment.
Local physicians and surgeons highlighted advances in cancer care during a discussion at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. Kimberly lost her husband 8 years ago to colon cancer.She's one of many in the crowd at the Mercy Hospital and Sister Caritas cancer event, raising awareness about the disease. She adds, 'If you're under 45 and feel like something is wrong, also get screened, don't ignore symptoms.'
The screening age for colon cancer is no longer 50, it's now 45. Kimberly shared with 22 News that the disease is often seen as an 'older person's disease'. That's no longer the case.
Dr. Sarah McPartland with Trinity Health told 22News, 'Doctors discussing care makes a difference, so much so that the organization that credits cancer programs, the Commission on Cancer, mandates that these conversations happen through what are called room reports.'
Sister Caritas is the only cancer center in western Massachusetts that is accredited by the Commission on Cancer. The team reviews new patient cancer cases every week. 'Easter is coming up,' Kimberly says. 'People will be getting together, on any holidays, make sure you know family history because that plays a part in a lot of diseases. Colorectal cancer is one of them.'
Cancer screening can detect the disease at early stages before symptoms occur. That's critical for prevention, and it's most treatable during the early stages. A woman should begin breast cancer screening with mammograms at age 40, and cervical cancer screening should start at age 25.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Forbes
16-07-2025
- Forbes
The Hottest New Fitness Craze Is One Of The Oldest—Because It Works
Rucking, or walking with a weighted pack, can be done in the city, the country or the woods, and the ... More simplicity is one of the reasons it is suddenly so popular. With over two million copies sold to date, the health blockbuster Outlive by Peter Attia, MD is currently Number Eight on the New York Times Non-fiction Bestseller List. But the impressive number is not eight, it's 107. That is how many weeks the book has been on the list, having already reached the Number One spot and remained a bestseller for more than two years since. Among many other things, Outline helped drive the hottest new fitness craze. The Hottest 'New' Fitness Craze Many readers of Outlive, including me, made systemic lifestyle changes, from the medical tests they get to what they eat to how much they exercise. But in particular Dr. Attia helped re-popularize one specific form of exercise, 'rucking,' or walking around with a weighted pack. Of course, he was not alone in making one of the oldest forms of exercise hot again. In a single 2-day span last month both the Times and rival Wall Street Journal ran long articles with nearly identical titles on why 'weighted vests' are suddenly hot. They both kind of got it wrong as the articles really described rucking, and weighted vests are largely a different thing in the fitness world, but they were both right about it being a hot trend. You don't have to enlist or join special forces to benefit from rucking, but there is a reason why ... More every major armed force in the world uses this as a primary form of fitness. Another NY Times bestselling author and former Men's Health magazine editor, Michael Easter, champions rucking in his book The Comfort Crisis, going so far as to practice the activity, normally associated with hiking or walking, while vacuuming his home and on a treadmill. Easter has been rucking regularly for well over a decade and while the pursuit is suddenly hot, he was an early adopter. He told me, 'As a health and wellness journalist I always took an evolutionary look at what we do. When you look at modern fitness, a lot of people run, which is something humans evolved to do. But very few people carry, which we also evolved to do, and in my opinion is even more important. So, I started throwing on a backpack with weight, it's so simple. You burn anywhere from 20-30% more calories than just walking, it's uniquely good for burning fat and building muscle, and it's a full-body exercise. When you run you just get cardio but not necessarily strength, with rucking you get both, building muscle while losing weight. And I feel very confident saying it has a much lower injury rate than running, it's closer to walking.' 'Everyone has tried running, and it works for some people, but others get hurt or just don't lie it. Rucking is just more approachable and easier.' Comfort Crisis author Michael Easter and his dog getting ready to ruck. Easter cites the work of expert Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman, a widely acclaimed evolutionary biologist known for his research on running and walking in humans. It was Lieberman who coined the term 'born to run' about barefoot running cultures, later borrowed as the title of yet another big fitness bestseller. In his own fascinating book Exercised, Why Something We Never Evolved To Do is Healthy and Rewarding, Lieberman praised these evolutionary roots of rucking, explaining that the ability to carry weighted loads over long distances voluntarily (without having them strapped to us like a donkey) differentiates humans from every other creature on the planet and is a huge part of our species success and of being human. Rucking is the act of walking or hiking (or for the devout using a treadmill at the gym) while wearing a weighted pack. It has been the primary fitness exercise of choice for most of the world's military forces for centuries (or longer), and the term comes from the name from a widely used military backpack, a rucksack. 'Rucking is very much a military term,' says Easter, 'and some people hear military jargon and think 'that's not for me,' but humans have been carrying weights for thousands of years, and it has always been good for us.'Michael Easter out on a training ruck. It differs from backpacking mainly in that it is intentional exercise, not something you have to do to carry the gear needed to camp in the wilderness. People strap on a weighted pack and walk their dogs or stroll around the neighborhood or go on hikes, in order to accomplish two fitness goals: burning more calories in the same duration of walking, and building muscle strength, while in turn improving bone density while becoming generally fitter. There is also a difference from backpacking in the packs and how you bear the weight, but what predominantly makes it rucking is intent, and that intent is to become healthier and stronger. But the best thing about it is that it is simple, and thus arguably the easiest new exercise routine to incorporate into your life, something many people struggle to do with all sorts of workouts. If you want to start a new fitness regimen tomorrow, I can't think of many things that are effective that are easier to do than adding rucking to your life, and ease of adoption is incredibly important in the success of any new plan. This is especially true if you already walk at all. I've always praised the health benefits of owning dogs, which need to be walked every day, and mine don't care if it's hot or cold or raining or snowing, they get my wife and I out for an hour or more each day, including many days when we would blow off the walk in bad weather if we didn't have dogs. After reading Outlive about a year ago, I started rucking almost every day when I walk my dogs, and I was doing that anyway, so I needed to add exactly zero extra time to get a better workout. Rucking is not just good for you, it's also an incredibly efficient way to exercise. Easter also rucks when he walks his dog. Pack manufacturer GoRuck has helped develop hundreds of local Ruck Clubs around the country so ... More people can work out in social groups. Many people, even those without dogs, already do some sort of fitness walking, and rucking is a natural addition to this. Of course, if you don't walk already, you have to add it to ruck, but you should be adding walking anyway (unless you run instead, and most experts do not recommend ruck-running). I also ruck when I hike, within reason, usually on hikes of 90-minutes or less. On longer hikes I am wearing a pack with gear and water anyway. It's lighter, but still added weight. Rucking has been an extremely popular form of exercise used by the military, and is currently employed by just about every armed force on earth. The reason it has lasted so long and continues to be so widely used is because the military sees the results, thousands of times each year, and knows it works. Special Operations Forces Prep Coach is a coaching programmed designed to help those trying out for U.S. special forces units (Navy Seals, Delta Force, Green Berets, etc.) make the cut in the highly selective, competitive and rigorous physical training programs required for admission. On its site, the coaches ask 'How important is rucking? There are three studies in the past three decades on SFAS [Special Forces Assessment and Selection] and each of them found that rucking performance was the greatest predictor of getting selected, more than any other physical factors like running, pull-ups, or A.P.F.T scores.' Rucking is so popular with elite special forces soldiers that in his New York Times bestseller Can't Hurt Me —with over 7 million copies sold—former Navy SEAL David Goggins used heavy load rucking to train for both the SEAL teams and to later become one of the top ultra-endurance race competitors in the world. Goggins remains the only soldier ever to complete the elite training programs of the SEALS, Army Rangers and Air Force Tactical Controller, and was named the 'The Fittest (Real) Man in America' by Outside Magazine. Even bestselling fictional SEALS use rucking—in Jack Carr's hugely popular series of Terminal List novels (turned into a Chris Pratt series on Prime) his ex-Navy SEAL protagonist James Reece gets back into shape by wearing a weighted pack up and down mountains. Rucking packs come in a variety of sizes depending how much you want to carry. But you do not have to be a special forces operator to benefit from rucking, and one of the great appeals is that almost anyone can do it, as you can start with small amounts of weight. 'The bearded dudes going into Afghanistan carried 120 pounds. I carry 45. My mom goes rucking with me and she uses 10 pounds,' says Jason McCarthy, a former special forces soldier who started GoRuck, the biggest company in the niche field of rucking gear, with his wife Emily (former CIA). I spoke to McCarthy over the phone while he was out rucking around his Florida neighborhood, and it's how he manages his time to stay hyper-ft and get his workouts in while running a company. 'You can train wherever you are, city rucking is just hiking in the city, and while we've been talking I just got in 3000 steps. This morning, I rucked while I walked my dog. Now I don't have to carve out time to go to the gym. It's about finding time to exercise.' 'Why does it work? It's always worked, since the beginning of time. I'm trying to create a 'new' fitness category that's actually been around forever. Nike started with running at a time when no one had heard of running, it was just for crazies and weirdos.' To that end, in addition to making rucking gear, GoRuck puts on several hundred public rucking events each year and has helped build a grassroots network of about 700 'ruck clubs' across the country to help newcomers join a community. 'People are starving for real world connections, and we have to create alternatives that make it fun and healthy to make those connections. The vibe is inviting and they are free. At first no one in the media wanted to cover it because it isn't a $2000 piece of gym gear or high-tech. The whole beauty of rucking is that it is simple and it works. If you believe walking is great, getting outside is great, getting stronger is great or having a healthier heart is great, then it is for you. Every form of human movement gets harder when you add resistance, and this adds resistance.' You can even practice rucking while traveling. This is the GR-1 backpack, the best carry-on bag I ... More have ever had and the one I have carried for the past few years. For someone who sells rucking gear, McCarthy surprisingly recommends starting by not buying any. 'When you were in college you probably walked around campus with a backpack full of books. I see people in the airport with these really heavy backpacks. A lot of people are rucking and don't even know it, because it's so natural. Don't go buy a bunch of expensive stuff. Start with what you have and for most people I recommend 20 pounds. If you put a dumbbell in a school backpack it's going to bounce off your back and you'll hate it, so maybe start with a bag of rice.' I tell my friends who are starting out to use multiple water bottles, because if the pack proves too heavy once you get out on the trail, you can just pour some out. Easter seconds this beginning approach. 'The beauty is simplicity, and unlike some other fitness and gear programs there is no paralysis by analysis. You own a backpack. You own something that weighs something. You have water bottles. Ideally you want the weight close to your back and higher up, so I tell people to put a yoga block or equivalent in the bottom of their pack and then put the weight on top of that to get it higher. If you use a dumbbell or weight plate, wrap it in a towel for cushioning. Go get started and then if you keep doing it, decide if you want to move on to more specialized gear.' I have done a lot of backpacking and hiking and gear reviews and probably have more packs than anyone should own, but I got a specific rucking pack from GoRuck, because it does make a difference. Backpacking packs are specifically and technologically designed to use a substantial hip belt and transfer weight to the lower body. That makes it more efficient and easier to carry loads long distances over uneven terrain, but the point of rucking is exercise, and to make your walk harder, not easier. The rucking pack has no waist belt, and is very low profile, so as Easter says, it holds the weight (I use metal plates and tubes of sand) close to your back and high up (Easter also uses GoRuck packs for his rucking). I was already familiar with the company because I use and write on luggage for all travel and sports, and in my many years of questing to find the perfect carry-on bag for my very frequent travel around the world, I've ended up with the GoRuck GR-1. I've had this for a few years, longer than I have been rucking, and like all their products it is overbuilt to truly last a lifetime. I put the GR-1 in my 2024 Father's Day luggage buying guide here at Forbes as the top carry-on and wrote 'The GoRuck GR-1 is simply the best carry-on bag for active travel (or any travel) I have found.' NY Times gear testing site Wirecutter also picked the GR-1 as 'The Best Buy It For Life Backpack' and wrote, 'It isn't just tough, it's nearly indestructible.' It's bigger and doesn't have a dedicated metal plate pocket, but you can definitely also use the GR-1 as a rucking pack if you want to buy just one thing. Because I keep my carry-on loaded for flights all the time, I use a separate rucking-specific pack, the GoRuck Rucker 4.0 20-liter. This way I can just leave the weights in it and not move things around daily. All their stuff is made to military grade and practically indestructible. GoRuck makes rucking-specific packs in three capacities (15, 20 and 25 liter) and several sizes for different heights. Easter says, 'I tell people to never go over a third of your body weight, and I carry about 20% of my body weight. I don't like vests where weight is on your chest because that affects your breathing, I only go on my back. If I'm training for big backcountry trip, I'll get on a treadmill with a very heavy pack, like 60 pounds, crank up the incline to a steep setting and walk slowly for 45 minutes, that's a great workout.' I've been carrying 21-24% of my body weight. You can also use the packs to add to your bodyweight exercises such as push-ups and pull-ups. Just to clarify the misleading verbiage of the recent newspaper articles, there are also weighted vests, as Easter mentions, that carry weight on the front and back. GoRuck makes these as well, as do many fitness gear companies, and these are far more widely available than rucking-specific packs, which may cause the confusion. Weighted vests have traditionally been accessories used at the gym for serious strength training, mainly to add resistance to body weight exercises such as pull-ups and push-ups. With strength training, to increase the workload you can do more repetitions, lift heavier weights or both, but body weight exercise is generally limited by your body weight. Most of us would struggle to do 10 pull-ups, but if you get to the point where you can do, say 30, you can either keep doing more or add weight, and a vest is the way to do that. For rucking, keep it on your back. But you can also use these rucking packs in the gym (or stopping for pushups on your hike) in lieu of a vest for most bodyweight exercises. The recent Wall Street Journal article said that carrying 10% of your body weight burned 8.5% more calories, while going to 20-30% jumped that to 19.7 and 32.2%. They also said carrying weight activated muscles in your back, shoulders, abs and lower body. The Journal also cited studies showing that rucking can prevent or reduce bone density loss while ageing. When you exercise regularly and eat well it is very difficult to break out the effect individual lifestyle elements have on your overall health and performance, which is why anecdotal reports are not a reliable source of training information. In addition to rucking I am also doing regular strength training with weights, hiking, cycling and doing high intensity interval training, plus myriad other activities. Nonetheless, I have been doing most of those things for a long time, and a year after I added rucking to my fitness mix I am at the leanest, fittest state of my adult life, I've had no pain or soreness or injuries related to rucking, my tangible performance at endurance events such as long distance cycling and hiking has improved, and I have to believe that my frequent rucking (60-90 minutes 4-5 times a week with 35-40 pounds) has made a difference. Just the fact that over the year I have been able to increase the weight when it gets easier seems to prove that strength and endurance are being built along the way. For most of my life, the primary focus of health-based exercise was aerobic, but in recent years studies have shown that strength training is much more important to long term health than many people thought, possibly even more important than cardio, and directly related to bone density. But for a well-rounded fitness routine you want cardio and aerobic exercise and full body strength, and most of us want to burn more calories. Rucking does all of this, in a way that is easy, efficient and time effective compared to many other kinds of exercise. But it should not take the place of strength training and other exercise but rather makes a perfect addition to those. It can also be highly social and is fun and easy to do with friends. 'I'm already going to go for a walk or walk the dog, so I might as well throw on the pack and get a lot more benefit from the walk,' says Easter. This simplicity and efficiency is a big part of the reason why rucking is the hottest new fitness craze.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Private Donors Give $350,000 To Precision Medicine Study for Colorectal Cancer Patients
Ron and Martha Doornink have partnered with Fight CRC to support innovative research focused on tumor profiling metastatic colorectal cancer. Ron and Martha Doornink Quote Springfield, Mo., June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Philanthropic support from private donors is what's helping fund a new study focused on advancing precision medicine for metastatic colorectal cancer patients. The Ron and Martha Doornink Foundation is giving $350,000 to help support a feasibility study led by the national nonprofit Fight Colorectal Cancer (Fight CRC) in partnership with biotech company First Ascent Biomedical. The study will utilize First Ascent's xDRIVE tumor profiling platform, which integrates functional drug testing, genetic analysis, and artificial intelligence to deliver rapid, personalized treatment insights. First Ascent's xDRIVE platform enables clinicians to understand tumor biology in real time, providing a clearer path to treatment personalization. Outcomes of the study will lead to increasing understanding and access to a patient's biomarkers, which are unique markers inside a tumor that are essential to identify when it comes to personalizing treatment options. 'Ron and Martha have both been personally impacted by colorectal cancer, which fuels their deep passion for advancing research and improving outcomes for patients facing this disease,' said Anjee Davis, CEO of Fight Colorectal Cancer. 'Their advocacy and support have been instrumental in making this project possible, and we are grateful for their generosity and trust as they team up with Fight CRC to make this happen.' 'We believe in the power of innovation to change lives,' said Ron Doornink, a Fight CRC emeritus board member. 'Supporting this study gives us hope that patients will benefit from more effective, personalized treatment approaches.' The study began enrolling patients in 2025 and will include 25 individuals with metastatic colorectal cancer seen in Rochester, Minnesota. The study is expected to complete enrollment within nine months. Leading the clinical efforts are Hao Xie, MD, PhD, gastrointestinal cancer specialist and precision medicine expert; and Dr. Boardman, a nationally recognized researcher in colorectal cancer. Dr. Boardman previously received a $200,000 research grant from Fight CRC, also supported by the Ron and Martha Doornink Foundation. Noah Berlow, PhD, Chief Technology Officer at First Ascent Biomedical, serves as the study's principal investigator. Additional details will be available on as the study progresses. 'This collaboration with Fight Colorectal Cancer represents an important step toward more precise, timely interventions for patients with advanced disease,' said Jim Foote, founder and CEO of First Ascent Biomedical. This is the 16th research grant Fight CRC has awarded to cutting-edge colorectal cancer research in its 20-year history; several of the awards were privately funded by philanthropists like the Doorninks. To learn more about how to partner with Fight CRC in funding research, contact Michell Baker at PhilTeam@ Attachment Ron and Martha Doornink Quote CONTACT: Savanna Doud Fight Colorectal Cancer 703.548.1225 savanna@ in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
United Way hosts diaper drive to aid families in need
GREENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region (UWFH) is sponsoring a diaper drive for families in need through June 30. SNAP and WIC cannot be used to buy diapers, and can cost as much as $100 per month per child, with prices continuing to rise. In a study conducted by researchers at the University of Vermont and the Greater Boston Food Bank, around 36% of Massachusetts families with young children could not afford enough diapers for their children. Youth in Springfield showcase mental health in photo exhibit UWFH is looking to collect 20,000 diapers to distribute to 14 local agencies in their service area for families in need. While they accept all brands and sizes, donors are asked to give larger diaper sizes for children that are often harder to come by at local pantries, specifically sizes 4, 5, and 6, as well as pull-up training pants. There will be a standout on Saturday, June 21, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Stop & Shop in Northampton and Saturday, June 28, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Stop & Shop in Greenfield, where donations will be accepted. Greenfield Savings Bank is sponsoring the diaper driver and is matching all monetary donations up to $10,000. Online donations can be made WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
