Lake Country This Month

Page 2A • FREEMAN & ENTERPRISE LAKE COUNTRY JULY 2014 Circulation Dept. To reach the Circulation Department call 542-2501 or go to www.gmtoday.com/wfhelp. MANAGEMENT Bill Yorth - Editor-in-Chief.............................513-2671 byorth@conleynet.com Arthur Thomas – Managing Editor...............513-2657 athomas@conleynet.com Jim Baumgart - Freeman Group Ad Director 513-2621 jbaumgart@conleynet.com Tim Haffemann - Circulation Director....513-2640 thaffemann@conleynet.com Matt Marlett - Plant Manager......................513-2633 mmarlett@conleynet.com Patricia Scheel - Prepress Manager...........513-2690 pscheel@conleynet.com NEWS DEP ARTMENT Local News - Arthur Thomas........................513-2657 athomas@conleynet.com Sports - Dan Mike............................................513-2667 dmike@conleynet.com Death Notices - Shana Duffy.......................513-2618 obits@conleynet.com Newsroom Fax....................................(262) 542-8259 CLASSIFIEDS: 542-2211 Hours: M -F 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. PHOTO REPRINTS Color reprints are $25 each. Call 542-2501 PAGE REPRINTS Go to www.gmtoday.com/freemanreprints 262-542-2500 Hours: M-F 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. 801 N. Barstow St., P.O. Box 7, Waukesha, WI 53187 The FREEMAN How to reach us Lake Country T H I S M O N T H If you have a news tip from the Lake Country area, contact Arthur Thomas at 513-2657 or athomas @conleynet.com To advertise in "Lake Country This Month," call the advertising department at (262) 513-2624. To subscribe to the daily Freeman or weekly Enterprise, call 542-2500 Freeman subscription rates • By in-county mail 13 weeks..............$36 26 weeks..............$66 52 weeks............$120 • Out-of-county mail 13 weeks.............$51 26 weeks............$99 52 weeks..........$192 Easy buy .....$10 a month with credit card Electronic edition ......$10 a month with credit card & ENTERPRISE Enterprise subscription rates • Oconomowoc ZIP code 6 months.....$21.00 1 year..........$35.00 2 years........$68.00 • Ashippun, Ixonia, Neosho, Rubicon, Okauchee,Watertown and Sullivan ZIP codes and other Waukesha County addresses 6 months.....$25.00 1 year..........$43.00 2 years........$84.00 • All other addresses 6 months.....$29.00 1 year..........$51.00 2 years........$99.00 2 3 6 6 4 4 0 0 3 CC's PAINTING 262-527-1822 CC's PAINTING 262-527-1822 Discount applies to labor only. Discount will be included in estimate. Expires 7/31/2014 Summer Special 15% OFF www.ccspainting.com Local • Insured • References • Interior & Exterior Painting • We paint Vinyl, Aluminum & Steel Siding • Interior & Exterior Painting • We paint Vinyl, Aluminum & Steel Siding • Faux Finishes • Cedar Staining • Water Damage • Basement Sealing • Faux Finishes • Cedar Staining • Water Damage • Basement Sealing FREE Estimates 237922001 • Deck Refinishing • Pressure Washing • Wallpaper Removal • Concrete Cleaning & Sealing • Deck Refinishing • Pressure Washing • Wallpaper Removal • Concrete Cleaning & Sealing August 16 & 17 Mukwonago American Legion Post 375 Celebrate our 58 th Annual Maxwell street days flea market FIELD PARK, MUKWONAGO - Hwys 83 & NN OVER 600 SELLERS Offering a Variety of Goods (Buyers allowed on grounds after 7 am) Reasonable Off-site Parking Available (Pets, Bicycles & Skateboards Prohibited) For information and 2014 schedule: www.maxwellstreetdays.net www.mukwonagochamber.org Always FREE ADMISSION FOOD & REFRESHMENTS Available on Grounds 238175005 K i t c h e n s | B a t h s | D e n s | C a b i n s | O f f i c e s | R e c R o o m s Work With Experienced Design Professionals "We Specialize in Cabinetry" 1005 Richards Road, Hartland | 262.367.9439 www.kitchencreators.com Cabinetry For every Room, Every Budget! STOP IN NOW AND SEE OUR NEW GREEN BAY GREEN AND GOLD DISPLAY. WE CAN DO ANY TEAM COLORS! MANY OTHER NEW DISPLAYS 239192017 HUGE SHOWROOM CLOSEOUT SALE Displays must go to make room for new displays *Call Kitchen Creators today for details while supplies last! We Beat All Big Box Stores and all Competitors | Visit Our Showroom By Appointment Heroin From Page 1A The addiction can even begin at a young age, Opper said, because high school athletes may be prescribed a strong pain pill for an injury and when they are no longer able to get the pre- scription, they might turn to heroin. "They think they are invincible," she said. The police officers, Opper and members of Lake Coun- try Fire & Rescue also shared their frustration with the supplies provided for free through a needle exchange program, includ- ing bur ners, tour niquets, alcohol wipes and a drug called Narcan that counter- acts a heroin overdose. Opper said she has heard of friends who have called each other to locate Narcan instead of calling 9-1-1. Awareness is important, Nyren said, suggesting that when a doctor prescribes a strong pain pill, the patient could ask if something like aspirin might work as well. Opper said awareness must also be increased in the medical community and work is being done locally with the Medical College of Wisconsin. Lake Country Fire & Res- cue Chief Jack Edwards suggested having an exit plan prepared for young people when they are exposed to heroin. "Everyone thinks it's the big city problem, but it's not," he said, adding almost all of the LCFR paramedics have heroin overdose expe- rience. By Matt Masterson Freeman Staff WAUKESHA — It was during a trip to Encinitas, California — a place to which he would soon return — when Dan Vrakas was told he had prostate cancer. On a visit to the home of his daughter, Paula, the Waukesha County executive received a call from his doctor with the results of a biopsy he had undergone on his prostate the week prior. "Saturday morning the doctor calls and says the biopsy came through and six of the 12 core sam- ples were pretty loaded with can- cer," Vrakas said. "When I learned that, I was in shock, disbelief." Vrakas already had plenty of experience with cancer in his life. He lost his brother, Tim, to a par- ticularly aggressive form of leukemia in 1980 at the age of 26. Since then, Vrakas has always con- sidered himself a cancer fighter. After receiving his diagnosis on Feb. 1, Vrakas spent the next month weighing his options — either remove the prostate or irra- diate it — eventually settling on the latter. There were only 12 locations in the U.S. where he could receive the proton treatment he needed, and the site with the best doctors and the newest technology just happened to be at the Scripps Pro- ton Therapy Center in San Diego — 45 minutes from Paula's residence. Vrakas embarked on a four-day, 2,000-mile plus drive by himself back to his daughter's home — a "spiritual journey" which he said helped him come to grips with his situation. "To have to face (cancer) myself has really been a bit of a personal battle," he said. "But while it has been a battle, it has not been a struggle because I had so much support from people." 'Dealt a bad hand' One of those people who offered a great deal of support was County Board Chair Paul Decker, himself a cancer survivor. At 45 years old, Decker under- went a routine chest x-ray during his annual checkup after his doctor noticed a history of heart disease and diabetes in his family. What was found instead was a mass in Decker's lung. Doctors believed it was a fungus or some sort of other non-life threatening anomaly, and it was not until he was on the operating table that they realized the truth. "By the time they went in and took the biopsy, it was not only can- cer, but it had started to spiral so that it filled the entire right lung," he said. "They went after the lymph nodes — took three of them and sections of two others — until they did not find any more cancer cells." Despite never smoking a day in his life, Decker lost his entire right lung and was still not out of the woods, because the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes. "(The) doctor said, 'You were dealt a bad hand, but your body fought this.' A tumor this size start- ed 10 years (before)," Decker said. He was put on an experimental chemotherapy treatment at Froedtert Hospital and was told that even if it was successful, at best, it would give him another two or three years to live. Twelve weeks of chemo, eight weeks of radiation and seventeen years later, Decker is as healthy as any 62-year-old out there. "I was mentally, at least, pre- pared," he said when thinking back on his ordeal. "Physically, we underestimate our capability to be as strong as we are. The body is remarkable at recovery. All you have to do is really help it — that is where nutrition, diet, exercise, mental and spiritual stimulation (come in). Your attitude is a big part of your healing." Finding the next rung on the ladder Ever since Vrakas was diag- nosed, Decker was there to offer support and advice to his friend and colleague. The two communicated several times each week via phone calls, email and texting while Vrakas was in California. Decker also filled in for Vrakas at functions and meetings while the county execu- tive was away. That type of support and cama- raderie is something Decker said helped him tremendously when he was in Vrakas' position. "One of the things (Dan and I) really get along on is the fact that we really love this community, and you know you are living for not just yourself," Decker said. "If it is all about you, that is a tough fight." While living with his daughter in California, Vrakas underwent 40 treatments of radiation over two months. He spent an hour each morning on a conference call with his office, but still had the energy to carry out a brief workout and watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean each day. Vrakas said during his phone calls with Decker, the County Board chair would remind him to listen to his body, not to push things too far, and there were going to be both good days and bad days with his treatment. "I always say, you have to know what your next rung of the ladder is, because as soon as your name and cancer come together in the same sentence, you are going to go to the lowest of the low," Decker said. "You have to know what some of those rungs are. I call that one of the benefits of going through it because you get to do an internal self-examination." The long drive to recovery Following the conclusion of his treatment at the end of May, Vrakas began his 2,000-mile jour- ney back from California to Waukesha. He said he left on a Tuesday, hug- ging Paula, who's his eldest daugh- ter, and drove straight to Western Lakes Golf Club in Pewaukee where his youngest daughter, Sara, works before he even stopped at home. "it was kind of neat because I went from hugging my one daugh- ter to hugging my other daughter," he said. "There was kind of a com- pleteness there." On June 2, he returned to his office at the Waukesha County Courthouse and has worked pri- marily on putting together the county's budget over the last month. The radiation is still doing its job in Vrakas' prostate, and he will need to undergo semi-annual checkups for the next five years. But his cancer seems to have been caught early enough to prevent any further, serious damage. Vrakas said if nothing else comes out of his journey, he hopes to at least encourage others to go to the doctor and get an annual check- up. "That is how Paul found out, that is how I found out," he said. "My doctors have all been very appre- ciative of the fact that I have been public with this. One doctor said, 'You are going to save a life.' I feel a personal responsibility, especially in a position like mine, to get the message out as a public service to people." Email: mmasterson@conleynet.com Kindred spirits against cancer Decker, Vrakas have each survived disease Matt Masterson/Freeman Staff Waukesha County Board Chair Paul Decker, left, himself a cancer survivor, shared support and advice with Coun- ty Executive Dan Vrakas, right, as Vrakas underwent treatment for prostate cancer in California earlier this year.

• Cover