Mike Dulakis was progressing through his normal workout Feb. 3 at Taylorville’s Lock Up Gym, lifting weights from a seated position, when everything changed. The 39-year-old guard for the Taylorville Correctional Facility was “training to failure,” a common weight-lifting strategy.…
Christina Nation knew she could face her battle with breast cancer. She had already endured the most difficult thing a mother or father could face—the death of a child. Certain moments in our lives are so earth-shattering, whether the news…
We hear it every day—work-life balance. But what is it? It’s defined as a state of equilibrium between an employee’s primary priorities of their job and their private life. In today’s busy world where most people are juggling a career…
It’s a moment 18 years in the making—sending your child off to college with all the emotions at full throttle. Joy! Sadness! Excitement! Fear! So much to do—so little time! Cynthia Mester, PhD, LCPC with Memorial Behavioral Health, offers one…
If you grew up with a sibling, chances are you had some form of competition with one another. You wanted to be smarter, better, faster or stronger. It’s normal for the most part, but sometimes the competition can go too…
For the first time in nearly 13 years, Tandra Perkins of Urbana woke up and didn’t have to think about dialysis. It had been her routine three times a week, four hours at a time. On June 10, the 44-year-old…
Summertime celebrations often have us gathering around the grill, which can wreak havoc on our plans for healthy eating. We go to these events with the best intentions, only to leave feeling as though we’ve failed, or worse—our entire healthy-eating…
Preparation. It’s the key to a smooth childbirth. Whether you’re a new mom finding comfort in the structure of a birth plan, a dad-to-be learning how to console his wife during labor or even the doctor in charge of delivery,…
The week leading up to Father’s Day—this year, June 15-21—is known as National Men’s Health Week. It’s a chance to encourage guys to seek regular medical advice and raise awareness for prevention and early detection of preventable health problems. Greg…
Friends come and go. A true friend, however, is invaluable. They stick up for you, never judge and are with you in good times and bad. And when times get really bad, it helps when that true friend is the…