Your Health is Your Choice with Sara Troy and her guest Dr Paula Gordon, on air from August 8th
Dr. Paula Gordon is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of British Columbia. She is a passionate clinician, researcher and educator. In the 1980’s her research on ultrasound-guided breast biopsies enabled accurate diagnosis of breast masses, and allowed women to forego surgery for non-cancerous abnormalities. Her research in 1995 was the first to show that ultrasound could find cancers missed on mammograms. This has led to a paradigm change in the management of screening women with dense breasts that began in the USA in 2009, but is now spreading to Canada, the UK, Asia, Australia and Europe.
Dr. Gordon is widely appreciated for her mentoring of medical students, radiology residents and fellows in breast imaging, as well as teaching her individual patients and the public. She is a popular instructor at “Hands-on workshops” at the Radiologic Society of North America where doctors learn how to perform needle biopsies and other procedures with ultrasound guidance, and has done so every year since they were first introduced in 1993.She is a sought-after speaker, and has given hundreds of invited lectures locally, nationally and internationally, as well as participating on and chairing scientific panels throughout North America. She volunteers as Medical Advisor to DenseBreastsCanada.ca and DenseBreast-Info.org, and as Vice President of the Board of the Canucks for Kids Fund. In 2014, the Canadian Women’s Executive Network named her one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada, in the Trailblazers and Trendsetters category. She has received numerous prizes for teaching and research, Queen Elizabeth Diamond and Platinum Jubilee Medals, and the Specialist of the Year Award from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, among other awards. She was invested in the Order of British Columbia in 2013, and was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2022.
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Raising Our Gifted Children with Sara Troy and her guest Michaela Gaffen Stone (Mikki), on air from August 8th
I have been a child advocate since I was a child myself, living in uncertain and frequently unsafe circumstances. I learned early on to gauge people’s moods and anticipate their behaviors in order to know when to hide and when to run to keep myself safe. As I grew older, my sense of justice and a need to protect others became quite fierce. Then I had children. We traveled the world encountering different cultures, learning the norms, rules and restrictions placed on the child and dictating the role of the parent. I intentionally parented my own children differently from my peers and have since made it my mission to help other parents learn ways to do better with their children than they received from their own parents. This is not about blaming anyone for what they cannot help, it’s about cycle breaking.
Born in England, I am a lifelong learner and nomad. Having lived in eight countries to date, I consider myself to be a Global citizen – where I come from is a story, not a place. Home is wherever I am, right now. I took my expertise in tropical diseases nursing from London, UK, to Bangladesh to volunteer in an orphanage, later singlehandedly running a High Commission’s medical clinic and caring for upwards of 300 people. I became a Montessori assistant teacher in Belgium so I could work in the same system my kids were in. I studied Buddhism and mindfulness with monks in Singapore. My quest for more took me from Bhutan, India, Ladakh, and Sikkim, to Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. I took my love for learning to college in the USA, becoming a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst. The science of behavior change ignited in me a deeper understanding of human potential. Diving into Doctoral studies fueled my desire to share my extensive knowledge of human behavior with people open to receiving all that I have to offer. Throughout my travels, raising my two sons to be responsible global citizens was a priority and sharing what I learn though experience and study is what I am here for.
MIKKI HAS JOINED US ON OUR FORGOTTEN CHILDREN’S BOOK, COMING 2024
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Sara’s View of Life with Sara Troy, on air from August 8th
This is an excerpt from my upcoming book “My Self Discovery” coming out soon. “I see possibilities in people and situations, and this ability is more than just a superficial observation. It’s a profound understanding of the potential that lies within each individual and circumstance. By recognizing this potential, I can guide others to see what is possible for themselves, even if they might not see it at first. Reflecting back what I see is a powerful tool in this process. It’s not about telling people what they should do or be, but rather showing them what they could achieve. This reflection can be a mirror to their own abilities, wisdom, skills, and passions.
It’s about creating a safe space where they feel comfortable enough to open up and share these inner treasures. When the heart is open, it’s like a door to the soul, allowing the spirit to be ignited. This isn’t just a poetic metaphor; it’s a real, tangible experience that can lead to profound personal growth and transformation. An open heart allows wisdom to flow freely, not just from the mind but from a deeper, more intuitive place. This wisdom isn’t confined to serving the individual; it extends to serving others who need guidance, support, or inspiration. In essence, this approach is about more than just seeing potential; it’s about nurturing it, encouraging it, and allowing it to flourish. It’s about connecting with others on a deep level and helping them to realize their own greatness.
“The knowingness of our very being is a place of trust, wisdom, and peace, for there is no other intellect other than divine that can reside there, and it is there you find that peace, and meaningful purpose we all seek. Peace does not mean standing still and abstaining from the world, but a knowingness of knowing what, how, and for whom you are our doing.it for”
It’s a journey of discovery, growth, and ultimately, empowerment for both myself and those I interact with.”
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Our Global Veterans Stories with Sara Troy and her guest Peter Michael Johnson, on air from August 8th
Set mostly in Latin America, it’s a semi-autobiographical tale of an idealistic, naïve Peace Corps volunteer who suffers a series of traumas abroad, leading to unlikely friendships. At 23, Peter has enlisted in the Peace Corps and finds himself teaching beekeeping in a tiny village in Paraguay. When a lynch mob kills several people in his local village after a disagreement over harvest proceeds, Peter flees with his 12-year-old homeless friend in search of safety—taking him through an indigenous community, a Mennonite colony, a squatters camp, and finally the lawless, chaotic city of Ciudad del Este, where he meets a kind transgender sex worker.
Nearly two decades later, a midlife crisis compels the protagonist to return to Paraguay and find the friend who had helped to save his life so many years before. Through this journey, Peter discovers some hard truths about himself, his faith, and the fluidity of memory.
Peter discusses:
Lessons learned in the Peace Corps
How living abroad can foster spiritual growth
When helping hurts: How good intentions in charity and international development can hurt the people we set out to help
How his experiences in Africa and Latin America helped mature his understanding of love
Interesting facts about the small, seldom-visited country of Paraguay
Peter Michael Johnson grew up in Colorado, Wisconsin, and Alabama. He studied English and philosophy at New York University before serving in the Peace Corps in Paraguay, where he taught beekeeping to rural subsistence farmers. After the Peace Corps, Peter moved to Senegal to compete on the amateur beach wrestling circuit. He has worked for a variety of nonprofit organizations for most of his adult life. His writing (all focused on his experience in Paraguay) has appeared in literary journals including Dappled Things, Seven Hills Review, and Rock & Sling and in a feature-length essay in the April 2017 issue of Christianity Today. He makes his home in Southwest Florida with his wife, Ashley, and three children.
Their Story Matters with Sara Troy and her guest Ruth Smith, on air from July 25th
I was born with water in my veins – or so it seems.
As a child I often wished that gills had been standard issue for humans. Water and I have always had an inseparable connection. For forty-two years, teaching and coaching of swimming in pools in Australia and overseas has been my genius. At 14 I became an active Australian Surf Life Saving Club member and the first professional female Beach Inspector in New South Wales. My professional and volunteer hours were…wet. In my early career in the disability-care field I was fortunate to be introduced to hydroptherapy, The Halliwick Method and numerous influential mentors. Water is my ‘impact vehicle’, the medium through which I facilitate the transformation of lives, especially when children with intellectual or physical challenges are added to the mix. As National winner of the 2022 Australian ‘Teacher of Aquatics – Access & Inclusion’ award my work leading the Aquatic Therapy industry in Australia has been recognised by our national peak body.
What is Aquatic Therapy? Put simply it’s a water-based healing modality that utilises specialised equipment and techniques to enhance students’ proprioception, motor planning, self-regulation, fine and gross motor skills, cognitive focus, muscle tone, communication and co-ordination. Water safety and propulsion is a common therapeutic goal.I’m inspired working with ‘neuro-diverse’ and physically challenged youngsters. It’s a soul-driven mission that I can’t explain. Simply, it’s a privilege from which I derive inexplicable and immeasurable satisfaction and sense of self-worth.My legacy is to remain at the cutting edge, develop both research and university-level post graduate courses and continue the development of the next generation of aquatic professionals. While ever I’m physically capable I’ll continue to have water logged skin and smell like a chlorine advertisement. Working with this challenged cohort is often like looking into another’s soul. At other times it’s like they have allowed me to cross over their threshold and am invited into their world. Maybe only fleeting at times, but it is there I have my greatest impact.My WHY.This if two fold.
Aquatic therapy – using the magical medium of water to work with students 1:1 with challenging behaviours which precludes them from participating in the traditional group swim class. For example, cerebral palsy, downs syndrome, autism, non verbal, hearing impaired, other rare conditions. AT uses the water to developed proprioception, motor planning skills, fine and gross motor skills, focus, pro social behaviours, co-ordination, etc. AT uses specialist equipment and has a multidisciplinary approach.
Around the world there is an increase of students with challenging behaviours into our traditional swimming lessons. Our teachers here in Australia are not well prepared for this neurodiversity within their lessons. I am concerned that we may lose more teachers from this industry if we don’t have them feeling empowered, confident and competent to work with this population. I, with my colleague Lyn, we are Aquatic Mentors and we are setting about providing training and support to swim school operators and their staff around this very subject.
It all started at Uni. I was doing Sport Science and was heading to the Australian Institute of Sport where I would be THE person to create the fastest swimmers on the planet. I was always interested in the way the body moved in water. I took an elective which saw me working with a pediatric physio who used the water as her therapy medium. I was hooked. Later in my travelling the world I was fortunate to work with James McMillan in England who developed the Halliwick method of teaching “handicapped” people to move efficiently throu the water. Returning home, another touch point was working with allied health professionals in the transport accident rehab facility – head injury unit. Again, water was used by the physios and OT’s for rehabilitation.Those years stayed with me as I grew a family. I continued to be involved with teaching, coaching while helping people with disabilities finding employment. I found it easy to be amongst the neurodiverse community and in 2015 I was able to combine by love of the water and my gift of working with students with challenging behaviours in my own swimming centre.I continued to travel and learn more and more after doing all I could here in Australia. I travelled to the USA and Canada and hope to plan another study tour to the Phillipines where they are doing interesting things in this space as well. My dream is to have a Centre of Excellence for Aquatic Therapy, a purpose-built pool in Australia where the allied health professions can have rooms for their clients as well. It would be a multidisciplinary approach for clients from around the world all under the one roof. It would also be a place where people can come and train to be aquatic therapists from all around the world.
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