This pic of Zammy went viral after it was posted on reddit, and Todd Pitner says it has been viewed more than a million times.
On the social media site reddit, there’s a “subreddit” called “aww” – as in, “things that make you go AWW! –like puppies, bunnies, babies, and so on…” And on that subreddit, you’ll find a picture of one local pup, named Zammy, hanging out at the Shops at Wiregrass mall. His photo, titled “Girls loving this huge fluffy sheepadoodle,” has gotten more than a million views and 11,000 “up-votes” on the site.
A “sheepadoodle” is a fairly new breed that is a mix between an Old English sheepdog and an extra large standard poodle. Zammy is just a year old and already weighs 100 pounds.
His owner is Todd Pitner, a resident of K-Bar Ranch off of Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa, where he lives with his wife, Yana, and youngest daughter Vlada, who is 13. His other three daughters are adults who live on their own.
Todd says that Zammy is so “visually unique” that he tends to attract a lot of attention. He says he often takes Zammy for walks around the Shops at Wiregrass.
“Everyone goes nuts over him, wanting to pet him,” says Todd. “It takes me a couple of hours to do a loop around Wiregrass.”
During a walk over the Thanksgiving weekend, he snapped the photo that would soon go viral. Two girls at one of the outdoor dining areas asked to pet Zammy. Todd snapped the photo, posted it to his Instagram account, and it took off. “
The photo is just pure joy,” Todd says.
While Zammy had about 600 followers before his photo hit reddit, he now has more than 12,500. “It went from 600 to 1,000 overnight, then 2,000 in a week, then 9,000.”
Todd says he set up the Instagram account @ZammyPup because all of his daughters use Instagram, so he thought it would be a fun and interactive way to share pictures.
In fact, it was because of one of his daughters that Todd has Zammy today. He first came across a sheepadoodle while walking through Manhattan on a trip with his daughter, Alix. He saw someone walking a sheepadoodle and was fascinated. “I asked for breeder information and contacted her,” says Todd. “Turns out Zammy is that dog’s brother, from the same parents.”
Todd says Zammy was born on Dec. 17, 2015, and delivered from that breeder in California on Valentine’s Day. “It seemed like every day he grew a pound.”
Todd wanted a new dog in his family because, at the time, his beloved German shepherd, Rio, was aging and in fact, has recently passed away. So, Zammy’s family now includes a new German shepherd puppy, Zeus, and a 12-year-old schnauzer, Jocko.
Zammy is actually short for “Kazaam,” a nod to Todd’s college years, when he performed as a magician, and eventually nicknamed his older girls “Abby Cadabra” and “Alix Kazaam.” Since it was on the trip with Alix that he was introduced to the sheepadoodle breed, it was her nickname that ended up inspiring the dog’s memorable name.
When asked if he considers himself something of an ambassador for sheepadoodles, he denies he’s trying to make any kind of statement.“I love the breed,” he says. “Zammy’s just a really special dog, with a special personality, and he brings joy to people.”
Considering that my birthday is in January, I always find the New Year to be a time of reflection, even more so for me than it is about resolutions for the year to come.
We have an awful lot to be thankful for here at the Neighborhood News. We continue to thrive in a market saturated with other publications, we helped launch WCNT-tv and we have provided our 100,000+ readers in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel with more news and information about their communities than any other single media source. I’m not making that up — virtually every day, someone seeks me out to tell me that and thank me for what we do.
It’s been a while since I gave one business our “Advertiser of the Year” award, but there’s no doubt in my mind that one local business has not only spent the most money with us in 2016, it also is at the epicenter of life in our area — Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC). FHWC’s marketing director Tracy Clouser has not only purchased ads in both editions of the Neighborhood News for the hospital, she also stepped up to be the Studio Sponsor for at least the first 16 episodes of WCNT-tv. That sponsorship has allowed my partner — Craig Miller of Full Throttle Intermedia — and I to create 14 episodes of that show to date and not have to worry about losing our shirts while trying to reach a new audience with something so fresh and innovative.
Tracy Clouser
But, FHWC is about so much more than just advertising. The hospital’s presence and visibility on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., a little more than a mile north of the Hillsborough-Pasco county line, has been a major reason why the Porter family has been so successful in developing the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI).
Yes, we’re also happy that the Shops at Wiregrass mall (which opened a couple of years before the hospital), Pasco Hernando State College’s Porter Campus, North Tampa Behavioral Health, Raymond James Financial and The Beach Assisted Living — and some of the most beautiful, new neighborhoods in Wesley Chapel (Estancia and The Ridge at Wiregrass Ranch, etc.) — have all found their way to the Porter Family Trust’s 5,000+ acres, but I honestly believe that FHWC is literally the heartbeat of our area.
The hospital’s CEO Denyse Bales-Chubb also has been visible and approachable and FHWC itself is as technologically advanced as any hospital in the country. Perhaps best of all, the upwards expansion of FHWC already has getting ready to open and will be completed soon, probably before the end of January. I will admit that I did not know much about the Seventh Day Adventists before this jewel of a hospital opened on BBD, but I appreciate and even admire the kind of investment they have made in both of our distribution areas.
Don’t forget that in addition to FHWC, the Adventist Health System also took over what used to be called University Community Hospital on BBD and Fletcher Ave. The renamed Florida Hospital Tampa (FHT) also has been a prominent advertiser in these pages (predominantly in our New Tampa issues), so it’s hard for me to not sing the praises of both local hospitals, especially knowing how many improvements also have been made at FHT — and are still to come in the future.
And, A WCNT-tv Feature Report!
Craig and I have been waiting for the go-ahead from Tracy (who also just completed her year as the Board Chair of our exclusive WCNT-tv webcast partner, the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce) to produce a complete segment about the hospital’s expansion, but it is currently available for viewing now in WCNT-tv’s Episode 14, debuting on YouTube on Jan. 6.
We’re excited to take you on an exclusive video tour of everything FHWC is adding (including some amazing drone video footage from Brad Hall Studios) to make life in our area even better.
Saturday, January 14, 4 p.m.-9 p.m. — we hope you’ll check out the “Light Up the Night” event to raise awareness of and combat human trafficking which is being co-sponsored by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) and the Shops at Wiregrass mall.
The event starts with the “Radiant 5K” road race, which will kick off from Pasco Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch at 4 p.m. An awards ceremony will be held immediately following the race at the mall, which also will host the Light Up the Night “Main Event,” starting at 6 p.m., with music, lots of great educational information and a great Kids Zone.
Proceeds from the 5K race will benefit four nonprofit organizations fighting human trafficking, including Bridging Freedom (logo above), the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking, The Porch Light and Redefining Refuge.
Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) is virtually ready for another grand opening. Oops. Make that ready for a virtual grand opening.
After drawing an estimated crowd of 8,000 people to its initial Grand Opening in 2012, FHWC is set to unveil its new $78-million, 118,000-sq.-ft. expansion to the general public via social media. FHWC marketing director Tracy Clouser says that because the hospital now has patients being treated everywhere, it isn’t possible to allow thousands to stroll through the corridors, checking out the new rooms and advances in technology.
However, everyone can still attend the Grand Opening of the expansion virtually, via both YouTube and Facebook, on Monday, February 6, 10 a.m.-11 a.m. Clouser says the public will even be given the opportunity to ask questions of FHWC CEO Denyse Bales-Chubb.
“We’ll be showcasing some of the areas people wouldn’t ordinarily get to see,’’ Clouser said during an interview with Neighborhood News editor Gary Nager for the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce Featured Business Segment on WCNT-tv, which hit YouTube on Jan. 6. She added that those who RSVP will get the first look at some of the expansion that is expected to even further enhance the hospital’s standing in the local (see pg 3) and medical community.
FHWC, constructed in the shape of a “W” with North, Center and South wings, is doubling the size of the Center wing, which now has six floors instead of the original three. A three-story connector wing, called the “Southeast Connector,” between the Center and South wings, also is nearly complete.
The extra floors will allow the hospital to expand from 83 private patient rooms to 143.
Emergency room space also is nearly doubling, from 18 rooms to 35. That may be the best news for area residents, as even the influx of urgent care centers in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa hasn’t stopped the FHWC emergency rooms from overflowing some days.
Clouser said there was no true original timetable to expand, but the top brass with FHWC’s parent company, the Adventist Health System originally estimated there would be a need for expansion within 5-7 years when FHWC first opened. But, the unrelenting brisk business at the hospital hastened the need for expansion to within only three years.
“We have been very, very busy,’’ Clouser says. “Obviously, there has been a need in this area for quality healthcare close to home for (local) people.”
Even More Technology
The new patient rooms at FHWC are Cerner Smart Rooms, which offer better workflows for hospital personnel, with instant bedside access to real-time data for doctors, while providing better communication between patients, their providers and visitors.
Visitors will be able to see if the patient is with their doctor, resting or does not want to be disturbed before entering the room, while FHWC staff will know, for example, which of their patients have allergies or are fall risks.
“It’s all right at their fingertips outside the room,’’ Clouser says, adding that the older rooms at FHWC will be retrofitted with the Cerner technology as well.
The new rooms also have the Get Well Network, another technology that bridges the gap between patients and doctors and empowers patients and their caregivers to participate in their healthcare. It also helps track the care patients are receiving — like dosages of medicine or blood tests — while they may be sleeping, right down to knowing when hospital personnel are washing and sanitizing their hands.
Clouser also said that some of the expansion already has been completed. A second heart catheterization lab opened in March, and a new wing with 20 additional beds in the Southeast wing opened in October. That third-floor wing will be an all-women’s wing when all of the other new rooms have opened, all expected by the end of this month or early in February.
The majority of the new rooms and technologies will be on the new fifth and sixth floors. Clouser also said that, for now, the fourth floor will remain as shell space, until future growth dictates adding 24 more patient rooms. Until then, the fourth floor will feature conference and classrooms that will host many of the free community health and wellness programs FHWC currently hosts at the hospital’s adjacent Wellness Center.
Clouser also noted that the expansion, which will be completed by the end of the month or early in February, will attract new physicians offering new procedures, since FHWC will now have more space in the new operating rooms. “That means new treatments, new services and new programs,’’ Clouser says.
Doctors also will soon have access to the MAKO platform, which is a robotic-arm-assisted system that can perform orthopaedic surgeries like partial knee or hip replacements. FHWC also has the daVinci System, another robotic-assisted device that specializes in minimally invasive surgery, such as removing a gall bladder or performing a hysterectomy through a patient’s belly button.
“We are the only site in Pasco County able to do that,’’ Clouser said “Surgeons like it because it’s minimally invasive, there’s less scarring, less pain, shorter recovery times and less blood.”
FHWC also will feature a tech room that allows doctors to enter via keyboard the patient’s name and type of surgery being performed, prompting a shelf to open up that provides all of the tools needed to perform that particular operation.
To RSVP for the virtual FHWC expansion Grand Opening, please visit FHInspiredByYou.com. The event will be on YouTube and Facebook, on Mon., Feb. 6, 10 a.m.-11 a.m. Check out the drone footage and much more inside FHWC from Brad Hall Studios on Episode 14 of WCNT-tv on YouTube now!
Frank Skoviera and his dog Max drove more than 12,000 miles in 53 days together to raise awareness of — and more than $13,000 for — the Facial Pain Research Foundation in Gainesville.
On October 10, Tampa Palms resident Frank Skoviera had an idea. As a two-year volunteer communications director for the Facial Pain Research Foundation (located in Gainesville, FL), he had heard from thousands of people across the country suffering from a condition called trigeminal neuralgia, a debilitating pain that is caused by irritation of the trigeminal nerve, which carries sensation from the face to the brain. People struggling with trigeminal neuralgia can experience severe pain while chewing, speaking, or brushing their teeth.
Frank’s idea was to visit as many people as possible across the country to hear their stories in person, while also educating people about the condition and raising financial support for the foundation.
Ten days later, on October 20, Frank and his dog, Max, set off on their journey in Frank’s SUV, which he had wrapped with marketing messages to support the cause.
Over the next 53 days, Frank and Max trekked across the country, meeting with people, driving through a total of 37 states on a journey of 12,400 miles.
Frank’s role with the Facial Pain Research Foundation is not only one of service. He is a passionate advocate for people who suffer from trigeminal neuralgia because he also is a patient.
Frank’s Pain
“I’ve had chronic pain for the past 15 years,” Frank says. “At first, I spent months going to different types of doctors and dentists and an array of professionals, while the pain was getting worse, more frequent and spreading.”
Meanwhile, he was also trying to balance his career as a project manager at IBM with taking care of his family, and says the only word he can think of to describe that first year was “hellacious.”
Frank says the medical community has categorized this disease as a “suicide disease” and as, “the worst pain known to mankind.” It is often misdiagnosed and mistreated by professionals in both the medical and dental fields, who often mistake trigeminal neuralgia as a toothache. Frank says many patients have had root canals and teeth pulled, only to find the pain had worsened afterwards.
“I know how difficult it is and how it affects patients and their families,” Frank says. “I know how lonely it can be.”
He explains he is often in too much pain to even speak to his wife. At the end of the day, when she comes home from work, his pain is often at its peak. It can be frustrating for him and many families like his.
“There isn’t an area of your life that goes untouched,” Frank says. “Everything that you formerly knew as normal is now changed. It’s truly horrific.”
Supporting The Foundation
Frank took a medical leave from his career at IBM, then subsequently retired. About two years ago, he began volunteering as the communications director of the Facial Pain Research Foundation, which is funding research across the country to find a cure for trigeminal neuralgia.
Trigeminal neuralgia is rare, estimated to affect just over 100,000 people in the U.S. It is caused by a blood vessel pressing on the trigeminal nerve as it exits the brain stem, which wears away the protective coating around the nerve. This can happen as a result of injury or a variety of factors.
On his nationwide trip, Frank met with some of the researchers who are working on the five projects currently being funded by the foundation, which include work being done at the University of Florida in Gainesville; Duke University in Durham, NC; Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ; and at the University of California at San Francisco.
“We’re making great progress,” says Frank. “The scientific team and consortium of researchers we have working on this is staggering. They are world-renowned pain research specialists, and they are hugely committed to finding a cure.”
Frank says his trip was completely self-funded and that, in addition to raising awareness, he also set a goal of raising $10,000 for the Facial Pain Research Foundation. He reports that he expects to exceed that amount by at least 30 percent, once all of the pledges have been received and the final tally is made.
“Every dollar that we raise comes from the private community,” Frank says. “All of our staff — from the people who write the thank you letters to our trustees — everyone is a volunteer. So, 98.2% of the money we raise goes to research. We only pay for stamps and for our post office box in Gainesville.”
The money that was raised on this trip will go directly to supporting the research. Frank says the foundation fully expects the research to lead to a cure for trigeminal neuralgia by 2020.
The hope of a cure is one of the things that inspired Frank to get out and talk to people across the nation, especially those who are suffering from this disease. “I know how much pain you’re in,” he says he told them. “Hang in there. Research is in play and we hope to have something to help you (soon).”
53 Days of Driving?
When Frank returned home on December 11, he had held 75 meetings spread out over 37 states. In addition to meeting trigeminal neuralgia researchers and patients, Frank’s son Aaron was instrumental in setting up meetings with statewide golf associations, where he could share his message of awareness with staff members, who then passed information on to their hundreds of thousands of members through newsletter articles.
In the short 10 days he planned his trip, Frank had his car wrapped with bright teal decals inviting people to learn more about his “Drive Away the Pain” campaign. Frank says his car caught the attention of passers-by in major cities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and even New York City, where he says thousands of people noticed his car at the corner of 5th Avenue and 15th Street, with many stopping to see the car’s messages.
As Frank traveled, he invited the people he met with to write a message on a four-inch circular teal decal that he then applied to the car, in a sense carrying that person with him the rest of the journey.
Frank says he spent all day driving, often with two or three meetings throughout the day, then ended at a hotel room, where he mapped where he was going next, and arranging meetings with the people in those locations who had requested he visit them.
“The skills I had cultivated in my career as (an IBM) project manager were very useful in organizing this trip,” he says.
Frank says he was in pain throughout the trip, but that he’s, “too hard headed” to let that stop him. “I take a small amount of medication, which helps a bit,” he says. “I use massage therapy, breathing exercises, tai chi, soft music, anything that relaxes the central nervous system. I also use distraction therapy. I’m fortunate that my mind is busy and I stay busy with the foundation.”
He adds, “Reaching out to others with the condition is helpful, too, because it takes some of the focus off myself.”
To learn more about the Facial Pain Research Foundation, visit FacingFacialPain.org. To see pictures of Frank’s journey or learn more about his nationwide campaign, look for “Drive Away the Pain” on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Todd says he set up the Instagram account @ZammyPup because all of his daughters use Instagram, so he thought it would be a fun and interactive way to share pictures.
