Dr. Brian Wilson can help adults with a wide range of emotional issues, from PTSD to Covid-19 fears and more, with his telehealth practice based in Tampa Palms. (Photos by Charmaine George)
There’s little doubt that, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the past two years have been especially tough to deal with for most of us.
For many people, whether or not to wear masks everywhere we go, whether or not to take a Covid-19 vaccine and not being able to go out to eat, to a movie, sporting event or concert has put more strain on us emotionally than perhaps any other situation in most of our lifetimes.
That’s where Brian Wilson, Ph.D., of Tampa Palms Psychology, comes in. Dr. Wilson (no relation to the co-founder of the Beach Boys rock group with the same name) says that although he doesn’t treat couples, adolescents or young children, he can help individual adults with a wide range of emotional problems — including depression, anxiety, work stress, aging, surviving abuse, dementia, compassion fatigue, insomnia, grief, relationship concerns and more — deal with their issues.
He also offers ongoing psychological treatment for people with chronic medical problems, including geriatric patients.
“These are challenging times,” he says, “so working with a skilled psychologist can help you navigate them with success. I am focused on helping you cope with the demands of the modern world through compassion, careful listening and comprehensive psychotherapy.”
Dr. Wilson graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Florida in Gainesville and earned both his Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. He also completed a psychology residency at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Hospital, where he specialized in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as an adult generalist.
He has been practicing since 2003, and moved to Tampa in 2009 and to New Tampa in 2013. He says his private practice today is exclusively telehealth and, to that end, says that it was important to invest in good technology, with a nice computer and fast internet, even though he does also have a physical office location in Tampa Palms. He isn’t sure when he will begin seeing patients again in person, but says that transitioning to a telehealth-only practice hasn’t affected his ability to help his adult patients.
“The ripple effect of the Covid-19 pandemic is that everyone’s overall stress level is up,” Dr. Wilson says. “Even without Covid, however, many adults feel that there is often not enough time in the day to both accomplish our goals and care for ourselves. Responsibilities and commitments can be overwhelming. Raising children, pursuing career advancement, helping aging parents, retirement and coping with losses can leave us emotionally depleted. Such stressors and setbacks can feel even more difficult to manage with the state of affairs in the world.”
Because of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act) rules, Dr. Wilson doesn’t offer online testimonials but he says he has had a lot of success treating veterans and others with PTSD, and says that many people’s fears and concerns about Covid-19 (especially for those who have lost loved ones or seen them hospitalized long-term, as well as medical professionals treating Covid patients) have caused many of the same issues.
“It helps to have a professional to talk to about these concerns,” he says. “A lot of my current patients have been referred to me by a friend or family member I’ve been able to help.”
And, while he says that word of mouth is still the best way to build a practice in his profession, he has had a lot of success with his ads in this publication, too.
“Building a practice is very much a grassroots thing,” Dr. Wilson says. “But, I’ve found that the Neighborhood News is the best way to do that locally. My ads have generated a lot of calls.”
Dr. Wilson’s wife, Jessica, is a psychologist with the Department of Veterans Affairs and they have a six-year-old son who attends Chiles Elementary in Tampa Palms. And, even though he’s no Beach Boy, Wilson says that he enjoys not only playing, but also buying, selling and refurbishing guitars (“to fund my habit”) and working out.
For appointments with Dr. Brian Wilson and more info about Tampa Palms Psychology, call (813) 491-9343 or visit TampaPalmsPsychology.com.
K-Bar Ranch resident Pete Radigan has a story to tell, and he’s been waiting 20 years for people to read it.
On Oct. 4, Tragedy to Triumph: The Story of Tom’s Heart will be officially released for sale by Red Penguin Books.
“Oh my God, I can’t wait,” says Radigan, who moved from New Jersey to K-Bar Ranch in 2019. “If there was ever a made-for-TV (story), this book is it.”
Decades in the making, it is the personal story of Radigan’s battle with his health, his life-saving heart transplant and Jan Mauk’s healing from the loss of her son Tom, the teen whose heart keeps Radigan alive, and the rare relationship between the parent of a donor and the donor recipient.
Radigan says he and Jan have talked about writing the book for many years. Radigan, who had kept a journal during his long hospital stays while waiting for a transplant, had written his version of it years ago, and Jan surprised him with her version at Christmas in 2018.
A friend of Radigan’s, writer Jim McGrath, weaved it all together.
“Over the last 10 years, when was the last time you heard of a major story about organ donation?,” Radigan asks. “They are few and far between. This book talks about what the experience is like from the view of the mother of a deceased donor — how she felt and went through the grieving process — and also about the recipient and what they go through together. It’s the first time something like this has been catalogued in a book. I feel like it’s a healing guidebook for those on both sides of the organ donation process.”
Born on Staten Island, NY, in 1965 and raised in East Windsor, NJ, Radigan’s story certainly is unique.
In 1987, he was first diagnosed with hypertrophic cardio myopathy, which is an enlargement of the heart. It was later discovered he was actually suffering from Emery Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, which affects the heart.
By age 30, Radigan’s health had deteriorated to the point where he was having difficulty walking up stairs. He says he was teaching a corporate class in Orange County, CA, and couldn’t even wear shoes because his feet hurt so much. He was unknowingly already in end-stage heart failure.
“I thought, ‘When did I get in such bad shape?,’” he recalls. “I was embarrassed.”
Radigan returned to the east coast and underwent a battery of tests that made it official. He needed a heart, or, his doctors told him, he was going to die.
That led to months in the hospital. His first transplant was canceled after Radigan, surrounded by his family, had been prepped for the surgery. The heart he was to receive, doctors said, was damaged.
A week later, at 7:15 p.m. on Aug. 4, 1997, a new donor heart had been found, and Radigan received his heart at the New York Presbyterian Medical Center.
Just two days earlier, 16-year-old Tom Mauk was driving his motorcycle when a car struck him and sent him flying more than 150 feet.
Jan says she struggled for a day with the decision to donate Tom’s organs, but knew that was what her son would have wanted.
Jan listening to her son’s heart. Pete described the moment as one of the most emotional of his life.
On Sept. 13, Radigan walked out of the hospital with a cane and a new lease on life.
Jan mourned.
That’s the tragedy. The triumph came more than a year later, when, after a few letters back and forth, Pete and Jan agreed to finally meet on Feb. 5, 1999, in Niagara Falls in Toronto.
Radigan says it was one of the most emotional moments of his life. He brought Jan flowers and asked her if she wanted to listen to her son’s heart. She leaned in and pressed her ear to his chest.
“It was not like listening to the quality, rhythm, or rate of a heartbeat or detecting arrhythmias, which I practiced as a nurse,” she wrote. “Listening to his heart brought a connection to Tom, joy to my soul, in contrast to the previous sadness, as tears formed in my eyes….The sound of his heartbeat was a melody to my ear, as I wanted to permanently affix my head to (Pete’s) chest to hear it continually. It brought comfort to me.”
Radigan says that the last third of the book details their friendship, and includes the letters and emails they wrote to each other over the years.
“When I asked Jan what made her want to write the book, her answer was pretty simple: ‘It gave me the opportunity to leave a legacy for my son, the man he was and the gifts he provided,’” says Radigan.
For Pete Radigan, it was another chance to say “thank you.”
To purchase the book or for more information on donor and tissue donation, visit TragedyToTriumph.net. Tragedy to Triumph will also be available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Google Books.
“The Nutcracker” is in its 22nd Dance Theatre of Tampa season, and this year will be held Friday-Sunday, December 17-19, at the USF Tampa College of Arts Theater 1.
Whether you or your child likes to dance for fun or dreams of a career on stage one day, the New Tampa Dance Theatre (NTDT) offers dancers a world-class, professional experience that is unmatched in the Tampa Bay area.
Located on Cross Creek Blvd. (across from Heritage Isles) in New Tampa, the 7,500-sq.-ft. NTDT is the largest professional dance training facility in the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area. Owner and artistic director Dyane Elkins IronWing is in her 27th season of creating dance memories and futures for her students, many of whom have gone on to study dance in college and/or dance professionally.
“As always, I’m so proud of our students,” says Elkins IronWing. “Our dancers become excellent college students, with their impressive time-management skills, perseverance and creative thinking. Our hearts are bursting with excitement, seeing our beautiful students again. We are continuing to give back to the community during this pandemic with our “Pay It Forward” program and offering all new students $25 per month tuition for every class!”
NTDT’s complete schedule of classes is being offered with in-person classes. Elkins IronWing says that the safety of her students has always been her top priority, so social distance guidelines, extra disinfecting nightly with hospital-grade products and wearing masks are all required at this time.
“Our students are extremely excited being back dancing at the school again and spending time with their dance family,” says Elkins IronWing. “We’re extremely proud of our faculty and students’ dedication and perseverance during this pandemic. They are all truly living up to the NTDT motto of ‘Respect, Responsibility and Teamwork.’”
A Chance To ‘Do As I Have Done’
Elkins IronWing says she started dancing at age 5, later trained in New York City and performed with Ballet Metropolitan in Columbus, OH.
She moved to Tampa in 1995 and immediately opened NTDT in the Pebble Creek Collection. In 2002, she purchased the current NTDT property on Cross Creek Blvd, and moved her school to the new building in January 2006.
With the bigger location, Elkins IronWing was off and running, offering smaller class sizes and larger, more varied schedules.
She says NTDT also has a larger pool of students today, with the ongoing explosive growth in Wesley Chapel, as well as in New Tampa.
“Our name might say New Tampa,” she says, “but our location is much closer to Wesley Chapel than one might assume. We are extremely convenient to all of the current growth (there). Wesley Chapel families are shocked to discover just how close we are and are excited because of how quickly they can drive to our school.”
All Ages & Experience Levels
NTDT caters to both the recreational dance lover as well as the devoted pre-professional — and every level in between.
The studio’s leveled curriculum offers multiple art forms for students to explore. Through personalized attention and professional expertise, NTDT’s professional faculty strives to provide a positive educational experience.
Children ages 3-4 can participate in the school’s Early Childhood Program, ages 5-8 can take part in the Children’s Program and ages 9-18 are invited to join NTDT’s Youth Program.
Located on Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa, the 7,500-sq.-ft. New Tampa Dance Theatre is the largest professional dance training facility in the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area.
In addition to classical ballet, NTDT offers full programs in creative movement, modern, jazz, tap and hip-hop.
Each program has its own directors and specific syllabuses guiding students in a structured manner through their studies.
The facilities at NTDT are as top notch as the instructors, and include maple flooring for the tap classes, 20-25-ft.-tall mirrored walls, student locker rooms and a large studio space that can accommodate up to 200 people.
Sprung floors provide shock absorption to protect the dancers’ joints and an on-site physical therapist ensures the health of the dancers. NTDT also features a café offering light meals, snacks and drinks.
The Training You Need
NTDT has developed a reputation for creating strong, professional dancers with alumni who have moved on to highly respected dance companies, Broadway productions, national tours and even the Walt Disney Company.
Because NTDT students learn to be proficient in multiple art forms, these students have an edge in the competitive world of dance and many of them have been accepted into prestigious summer intensive programs, including the School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theater in New York City, The Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago and the Boston Ballet.
“With just passing our milestone 25th 2.0 anniversary celebration season, it’s a time for reflection with extreme gratitude and love for all the amazing people who have been a part of our dance programs and family,” says Elkins IronWing.
One local former student certainly agrees with that assessment.
“I credit all of my success as a professional dancer to the foundational training I received at NTDT from ages 6-18,” says Victoria DeRenzo, who today is a professional dancer and choreographer who has toured internationally in 28 countries on four continents, most notably with the renowned Pilobolus Dance Theatre in Washington Depot, CT.
“I loved every second of my experience growing up there,” DeRenzo adds, “but I had no idea how spoiled I was until I graduated. Not many people receive a top-notch dance education in multiple artforms during their lifetimes, let alone at the age of 6.”
If a student doesn’t choose to pursue a career in dance after high school, they can still reach a level of artistry to be accepted into many college dance programs, says Elkins IronWing.
“Believing in yourself, respecting the process of working towards a goal, and having a well-rounded dance education give our students the tools and confidence to continue discovering new passions throughout their lifetimes,” she says.
Great Productions, Too!
All students have the opportunity to perform in NTDT’s “Spring Production” and — through the studio’s nonprofit partner, the Dance Theatre of Tampa (DTT) — in the winter production of “The Nutcracker,” as well as the “Summer Concert Series,” held in June at the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus.
DTT provides more than 300 free tickets to NTDT’s corporate sponsors, local community supporters, alumni members and students. A small costume rental fee for productions is the only cost over the tuition that parents have to pay at any time — Elkins IronWing says there is never a requirement to buy advertising or pay performance fees.
New Tampa residents Gary and Charity Hartley relocated here in 2018 from Virginia, and enrolled their daughter Hope at NTDT.
“The New Tampa Dance Theatre and the entire staff were the linchpins for our transition into the New Tampa area,” Charity says. “The warmth of the studio, quality of instruction and wonderful students have made us feel right at home. We especially love the way (NTDT) manages the educational aspect of their DTT company members, ensuring they have exposure to various dance forms in their weekly training, master classes and dance performances they attend as a group.”
Every holiday season, Elkins IronWing says local residents look forward to the community’s largest and longest-running interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet, “The Nutcracker,” now in its 22nd DTT season. This year, it will be held Friday-Sunday, December 17-19, at the USF Tampa College of Arts Theater 1.
“It’s all about the children at NTDT, always has been and always will be,” she says. “We are a company that enables children to succeed. The key is setting high expectations, all while having fun and building self-confidence. With the transition season ahead of us, we would like to thank all of our trusting and loyal families over the years and the organizations that continually support our vision. Without their recognition and time, NTDT wouldn’t be the magical place it has become!”
The New Tampa Dance Theatre offers year-round free trial classes for prospective dancers of all ages. To tour the facility or to rent it for a meeting, party or function, visit NTDT at 10701 Cross Creek Blvd. For more information and to check out the exciting lineup of fall 2021 classes, visit NewTampaDanceTheatre.com, call (813) 994-NTDT (6838) or see the ad on page 27. You also can follow NTDT on Facebook and Instagram at “New Tampa Dance Theatre.”
Very soon, New Tampa will have no party stores, as the Sweet Party store located at 20310 Trout Creek Dr., west of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (behind Burger 21) will close, most likely sometime immediately after Halloween (Sunday, October 31).
Owner Maher Alagal says that although Sweet Party is still making money, he is ready to retire and spend more time with his family. He also has been looking to sell the store, which became the only party store in New Tampa after the Party Scene store in the Pebble Creek Collection on BBD closed in 2017.
“People said I put Party Scene out of business when I opened, but I actually tried to buy that store from its owner before it closed,” Maher says. “I honestly believed that there was room for two party supply and costume stores in this area.”
But now, with Halloween less than six weeks away as this issue arrived in your mailbox, Maher says that everything in his store must go, including his huge selection of Halloween costumes for men, women and children. And yes, at our press time, the selection of available costumes at Sweet Party was still pretty sizable, but moving fast, especially with the entire inventory of costumes up to 70% to 80% off their regular prices.
Maher says similar savings are available on party supplies, balloons and other unique merchandise — but don’t blame me if anything mentioned here is gone before you get there!
For info, call Sweet Party at (813) 994-4900 or visit SweetPartyTampa.com. — GN
Jeremiah’s To Expand To Wesley Chapel
Congrats to partners Pete and Dru Patel, who opened their first Jeremiah’s Italian Ice franchise earlier this month at 7936 Gall Blvd. in Zephyrhills.
Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, which was opened at its original location in Winter Park, FL, in 1996 by founder and Philadelphia native Jeremy Litwack, now has 60 locations in Arizona and throughout Florida.
The good news for Wesley Chapel isn’t just because of Jeremiah’s unique gelati (Italian ice layered with soft-serve ice cream), but also because the partners also plan to open two Wesley Chapel locations. Visit JeremiahsIce.com or call (813) 438-5754 for more info.
Deputy William Mellana (left) and Wharton High nurse Alicia Robertson helped save a student’s life at the school on Aug. 17 (Photo courtesy of Hillsborough Schools)
Saving A Student’s Life: All In A Day’s Work
On any “normal” day on a high school campus, the most extraordinary things can happen.
On Aug. 17, a Wharton High student started experiencing a medical emergency, and the school’s resource officer and nurse are credited with jumping in to save the student’s life, working together until paramedics arrived.
Video from Deputy William Mellana’s body camera was released by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, showing him performing CPR on the student with the assistance of an automated external defibrillator (AED), which he continued until paramedics arrived. Prior to his arrival on scene with the AED, school nurse Alicia Robertson already had started CPR.
Thankfully, the student has since returned to school.
Alicia deflects any praise directed toward herself and Deputy Mellana, saying it was a team effort to aid the student.
“Several educators and a student who sought out an adult, who initiated help, all played roles in responding in a timely manner to assist the student that day.”
Hillsborough County Public Schools released a photo of the pair and said, “We could not be more proud and thankful to have these two incredible people at Wharton High School to protect our students and staff.”
King High Seniors From New Tampa Collect, Disperse School Supplies
Three King High seniors from New Tampa have launched the Road to Success School Supply Drive to support students and teachers in their school and throughout the wider community.
Toluwa, Onella and Emma launched the drive with collection boxes at businesses, including Mahana Fresh in New Tampa, Staples and The Salvation Army in Wesley Chapel, and the Ice Dreammm Shop in Lutz.
Their goal is to support students who need tools to be successful in school, and supplement teachers who often have to pay out of their own pockets to keep their classrooms stocked with basic supplies.
The drive was to benefit the Hillsborough Education Foundation (HEF), a local nonprofit that distributes school supplies to the county’s schools and students with the greatest needs, with some of the collected supplies directly benefiting King High, where the students attend.
Although their collection for the drive has ended, the teens invite supporters to donate to HEF online at EducationFoundation.com/programs/donate/ and note that it’s part of the “Road to Success School Supply Drive” in the instructions section.
For more information, visit RoadtoSuccessDrive.com and see the latest news about the drive on Instagram @roadtosuccessdrive.
Wharton Physics Experiments Soar To 80,000 Feet
Wharton High physics teacher Christopher Hart says his AP Physics C class jumped at the chance to develop an experiment that could be tested during the launch of a weather balloon up to 80,000 feet at an educational event held at Tampa’s MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry) on Aug. 28.
The launch was organized by Space Trek, an educational company based out of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Merritt Island, FL, and was part of a Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) event encouraging students to get excited about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) concepts.
Hart says HCPS executive director of science education Larry Plank invited his students to design and place and experiments in the balloon, knowing of Hart’s previous experience with the type of programming required to execute them.
AP Physics C is one of four Advanced Placement physics classes offered at Wharton, and Hart says the students in the class have previously had at least one or two years of physics prior to entering the class.
But, it still wasn’t an easy feat to start school on August 10, and have everything designed and ready to launch less than three weeks later.
The class brainstormed a wide range of ideas and came up with two different experiments. One used four ultraviolet sensors to test different brands of sunscreen, while another measured how the size of different volumes of foam insulation changed with temperature changes as the balloon rose.
Hart says 80,000 feet is teetering toward the edge of space, where the highest-flying spy aircraft fly.
“There are pretty dramatic temperature changes, from below zero in some layers of the atmosphere, to spike really high when leaving the atmosphere,” Hart explains.
He says he told his students that the items they touched in designing the experiments would go to the highest point away from earth, farther than anything they’ve ever touched.
“They outsmarted me,” he laughs, saying that one of his students touched a moon rock at MOSI just to prove him wrong.
He says opportunities like this can be inspirational for students.
“It shows them the real world application of what they’re learning in the classroom,” says Hart. “They’re taking something that is very math-oriented and sometimes very abstract, and they can see it, feel it and touch it. It shows them how that math is applied, and hopefully encourages them to continue their education in this path.”
The students who participated in the event include Dillon Cao, Alex Lopez, Sean Grass, Adriana Salazar, Alex Devers, Dane Devers, Timothy Norwood, and Harshavardan Yuvaraj.
