The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

jgfcgg tribune february b 1991 pv7 i markham woman dots locally to help sister fight heart disease benefit from over 65 years experience complete line of lumber building supplies for contractors homeowners 6403440 33 edward st stouffville markham- stouffville community credit union limited 6245 4560 main st hwy 7 stouffviile markham 6402811 9401147 insurance brokers 59 main street markham 2940722 help support the on going efforts of the heart stroke foundation frannie lipson correspondent elizabeth mchenry has already beat en the odds she has made it past 40 in spite of having two strokes one collapsed lung and open heart surgery shes had many other episodes of sudden illness including severe back spasms and dislo- catedknees mchenry has marfan syn drome a hereditary condition that affects five in 10000 canadians of all races she has a tremendous sense of humor and thats what really helps her said her sister markham resident ann brown she added that mchenry is a figltter who wont give in and who reiyelsj in life when shes well the disease causes the bodys connecting tissues to stretch abnormally and lose their elasticity it causes heart disease strokes hemorrhages displaced lenses in the eyes and many other medical prob lems some more critical than others mchenry who lives near ottawa in luskville que wasjdiagnosed with a heart abnormality when she was five but only when she was 1 6 or 17 didshe learn she had marfan by then she was already suffer ing tlie extreme fatigue of serious heart disease after her first stroke about seven years ago she realized there was no sup- port systemih place for people with her condition stissaralhe felt alone i was lying th unable to talk but i could think ma television program about and i didnt want something like tliis so hap pen to other people she began working to establish the canadian marfan association which was launched in january 1987 an organization with chapters all over 1 u vv annbrown acting locally to help her sister with marfan syndrome sound wave tests to measure the size of the aorta and are given anticlotting drugs they also undergo cardiover sion electric shock to the heart when needed to stop irregular heart beat v even tiny muscles and lig aments can be affected mchenry wears thick glasses because her lenses have slipped out of place brown said one of the high lights of her sisters life was when she got contact lenses as a teenager she had been selfconscious withher coke- bottle glasses the stress on the family is enormous brown said dur ing one crisis the whole family parents and all nine rildren were called to mchenrys bedside from all over canada int think shed make it brown said shaki- ly but she did she shows the same determination she desenbes m her sister brown said mchenry gets tremendous support from her ihusban i dont know if theres an award for husband of the year brown said but if there is he should get it and the family is close in spite of geographical dis tance wm brown said tlieyre lucky to have each other pulling together when the going gets rough tlieyre also lucky that only one in nine chudreii3tejttpie dis- heart anp stroke foundatdn of ontario l mcneil pharmaceutical 5691 main street stouffviile ontario company ease the duke of markham supports the on going efforts of the heart stroke foundation markhams only neighbourhood pub 5 washington st 4725704 die western world die associations aim is to educatelpat leir families and the public andt kite research to fight the disepl local groups in which people et to share expe riences and kriov about the newest treatmentsand st medical help until recently as been known tostartal about the diseas- las always been hard to diagnosjbegjse the symptoms vary from persmqspsfn and many of them fit into otbesjaje patterns what is knowiif a person has the genejdlof itbicliildreni have a 5050 chance of inheriting it and about mapici byfgenemutationev n though neither parent seems to have it oii of the worst conditions caused by marfan syndrome is the tend wallof a the main brown wants tc ksr familys supportive amtude now working start a local support group she said there are several in the metro areaata- ontario but she knows o vo local residents main st stouffville ontario 6422855 m honi8 health services inc home care and nursing services give until it hurts 4720709 i iam artery the heart to thiii out balloon and rup ture this can cause massive hemor- rhage and instant death ryp american olyrnplvolleybail player flo hyman dropped dead on the court five years ago never haying been diag nosed marfan syndrome is often called the silentkiller because of such inci dents other lifethreatening consequences are heart failure and clot formations to prevent these threats patients are con stantly monitored with echograms who now travel beyond die markham area to reach their groups otpllf welfare canada con- tnbtbdoo a year toward the asso- ajperational costs and members fpjpfdues per year brown said this semy covers little more than newslet ters meeting space rental and other sun- lldries utile is left to provide therapy or equipment for patients or for research brown and the national president of the association aeneas lane will pn sent their case at the next meeting of the markham kinetie club they are looking for funding andpeo- ple who want to join a new marfan groiro m the area the meeting is already full but any one interested in joining a new support group can phone the york region branch of the canadian marfan associ ation at 14168984613 or kinetie club president marylou grozelle at 294- 4170 v give generously 20 amber 4798646 budget towing services ltd have a heart give generously markham 2942422 24 hour service temporary 9 serylcesiuot give generously to the continued efforts of the heart stroke foundation 5071 highway 7 suite 205 1 markham ont l3r1n3 4164796900 fax 416 4794258 serving all your temjjoraryl needs in stouffviile markhamj and richmond hill restaurants hwy7 just e of mccowan 2948522 help improve the odds against canadas 1 killer give generously s