medication. I returned to school gradually, starting with half-days and working my way up to full days. Once I could regularly replace the bandage, I ordered a black-andsilver bejeweled eye patch online to wear until I got my prosthetic one in six to eight weeks. On Dec. 2, my family and I traveled down to Torrison Eye Care in Omaha, where the ocularist, David Greer, fitted me for my custom-made eye. It was an all-day process. In the morning, he made an impression of my eye socket and did the first fitting. Then my family and I left to have lunch while he made the mold. We returned in the afternoon for the painting process. He painted my artificial eye to match my left eye. We left to go Christmas shopping and returned for the final fitting. I returned home that night with a new eye. It was incredible looking in the mirror and seeing two identical eyes for the first time. I am pain-free for the first time in years and I feel normal again. I am free to do what I want and go where I want. My eye no longer restricts me from pursuing my dreams. I can attend college and not have to worry about missing class due to pain or doctor appointments. This New Year, Take A Proactive Approach To Help Maintain Your Health! vBy Erin Olson Erin Olson is a senior at Yankton High School and works as a news intern at the Press & Dakotan. vMARATHON continued from page 11 her qualifying time in Spearfish at the Leading Ladies Marathon. Jackie finished in 3 hours, 37 minutes, and 44 seconds. Boston caps the entrants at 40,000 so any entrants that are less than five minutes under their qualifying times are allowed to register on the last day. Jackie sent in her registration and waited an agonizing week until she found out if she had made the cut or not. “Those of us registering on the last day are known as ‘squeakers’ and I did just barely squeak in as the cut off was just 7 seconds slower than my qualifying time. Every second counts!” “You can’t train for a marathon without it changing your life. Marathon training has caused me to prioritize so many things - time management, my nutrition, listening to my body, weighing risks, developing a plan, staying consistent, giving myself grace, it’s all part of it.” Jackie says it’s not just about her, but her two kids. They are watching her work at setting a goal and working hard to accomplish it. “I hope that they are learning the concepts of hard work and how real, personal successes are earned, not given.” Melissa McKinnon now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah but graduated from Bon Homme High in 1995, and is running the New York City Marathon on November 5th. NYC Marathon will be Melissa’s second marathon as she ran her first marathon in September of 2016. NYC Marathon is not a qualifying marathon but instead is a lottery system. There are a lot of runners in the lottery but if you run for a charity and raise money, you get an automatic entry. Melissa decided to run for the charity Team for Kids. Though Melissa didn’t have the struggles to qualify for her marathon; Melissa’s struggle has been weight loss. Melissa weighed 250 pounds and knew she needed to do something. She became a regular watcher of Extreme Weight Loss with Chris Powell and started to truly hear what he was saying. Melissa started to make small promises to herself to better herself and that’s when the transformation happened. Melissa started with a cardio program that worked with walking and running, a couchto5k program. From there, she just kept going. She learned to love running and kept training to reach her goals. “When I started running, and finally decided to call myself a runner, a marathon seemed impossible.” Melissa kept at it and realized she could do hard things. She has now completed eighteen half marathons and one marathon. Once she set her sights on marathons she hired a coach and put her fate into her coach’s hands. “Now I can happily say I am not only a runner; I am a marathoner.” Training for a marathon entails running about 25-30 miles a week, strength training twice a week, getting enough sleep, and eating the correct foods to get the appropriate amount of fuel. “I won’t lie, it hurts, and there are days vMARATHON continued on page 14 Need something innovative that works amazingly well in helping your body to work at it’s optimal level? Think again. Try DRINKING WATER. One of the best solutions is also one of the easiest! Your body needs water to regulate body temperature and to provide the means for nutrients to travel to all your organs. Water also transports oxygen to your cells, removes waste, and protects your joints and organs. Be sure you have water handy at all times by keeping a bottle of water with you when you are working, traveling, or exercising. If you get bored with plain water, add a bit of lemon or lime for a touch of flavor. To continue with good health maintenance, it’s also important to have a mammogram and colonoscopy at age 50, watch your fat and sugar intake, take an aspirin daily after age 40 and have an annual check up with your doctor. At Yankton Surgical Associates, P.C., we’ll be here if you need us, in the meantime, take care Kynan C.Trail, MD, FACS of yourselves! 2525 Fox Run Parkway, Suite 204, Yankton www.yanktonsurgical.com 605.668.9670 HERVOICEvJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017v13