Hello and welcome to living in the Lehigh Valley, where our focus is your health and wellness.

I'm Brittany Sweeney.

And I'm Grover Silcox.

On this episode, there's a health problem that causes chest and stomach discomfort to those who suffer from it.

We'll look into a condition known as Gerd to understand how to treat it.

That's right.

Plus, there's a not so secret garden in the Lehigh Valley with breathtaking views offering healing and tranquility.

We'll take a tour of the spot before the last blooms.

Then we're heading into the kitchen to check out a healthy take on a classic recipe.

It's a meatless choice that the whole family will enjoy.

That's right.

Can't wait for that one.

But first, more than 20% of Americans experience discomfort in their chest after eating.

The condition, known as Gerd present, says heartburn, chest pain, and even regurgitation.

That's right, a local health network is breaking down the signs and symptoms and offering ways to treat the often painful condition.

Can you sit right here next to me?

The love between mother and daughter is evident when seeing Tracy Kinney laughing with her three year old Chloe.

I guess being a mom is an absolute dream.

There she.

Goes.

So when the Bethlehem Township woman and her husband decided to have a baby, she says she wanted to be the healthiest version of herself for her growing family.

There, I made the decision just to get well for my family.

Part of that undertaking was addressing a condition she lived with for the better part of a decade.

Gerd, which stands for Gastro Esophageal reflux disease.

My acid reflux journey began about eight years ago.

I was having a tremendous amount of acid reflux after eating even foods that were not spicy.

So initially, I'd have acid reflux coming up from my stomach.

But as my symptoms progressed, my food and the acid would almost sit in my chest so my chest would feel heavy, like an elephant was sitting on it.

You're burping.

You have discomfort after eating, and for me, it was even after eating, not spicy foods.

So it was just oatmeal or toast or foods that wouldn't trigger acid reflux.

Kinney says pregnancy only made it worse.

I would have to sit up and sleep.

Sitting up, I would have vomiting.

I would have inability to digest food.

So it was a really slow digestive tract because of the amount of acidity getting into my esophagus.

One of the tests they did run showed the potential for risk of cancer.

If I would continue to have that level of acidity.

After tolerating the discomfort for years, managing the symptoms with medications prescribed for short term use, Kenney knew it was time for a change.

There she is.

She sought help from Lehigh Valley Health Network, part of Jefferson Health.

Gerd, or acid reflux, is symptoms of of a burning sensation behind the chest.

You may have seen commercials for antacids, where patients have this burning behind their chest that they have to take medications to get better.

And, you know, that's one of the main symptoms.

Doctor Patrick Hickey is a gastroenterologist with he says another symptom is regurgitation, where contents come up the esophagus, sometimes into the mouth, leaving patients with a foul taste.

It's usually related to the junction or the joining of where the esophagus, which is the food pipe and the stomach.

There is laxity where or looseness where there wasn't before.

And that can lead to the ability of contents of the stomach to come up into the end of the esophagus, or even further and drive those symptoms that they have.

Hickey works with a team of doctors like surgeon Scott Beman, within the reflux Treatment program, to decide the best course of action for each patient.

We counsel our patients a lot about weight loss.

We also counsel our patients about positioning at bedtime, which can be important.

Elevating the head of the bed or sleeping on the left side can be advantageous.

And then we also talk about changes to diet.

If there are dietary triggers that you know about, that's very important.

And also avoiding meals before bedtime.

Yeah.

When conservative management isn't enough they can be treated with medications such as proton pump inhibitors, also known as PPIs or H2 blockers, which you may see on TV.

But when medicine and conservative management are not adequate, oftentimes people are treated with surgery.

In Kinney’s case, that came into play.

When people have symptoms where they can no longer swallow or have severe chest pain, then surgery is really the only option.

Surgery is scary, but in turn, knowing that I have a lifetime with my daughter and there are some severe medication risks from taking an acid reflux medication.

Year after year it was the safest option.

Oftentimes, people with reflux disease have what we call a hiatal hernia, which means that part of the stomach has moved above the diaphragm into the chest cavity.

Beman says the surgery is generally a robotic procedure.

We remove the stomach from the chest back into the cavity.

There are really three parts of the surgery where you put the stomach back where it belongs, in the abdominal cavity.

We close the hole in the diaphragm, which is oftentimes too large, and then we oftentimes do something to augment that failed lower esophageal sphincter or that failed valve.

Most people who opt to go under the knife spend a night in recuperation before heading home, and the recovery process takes about six weeks, according to the physician.

Completely off the medication.

I have no acid reflux.

I feel great.

This was maybe two years ago, so I continue to follow a healthy diet and try to be the best version of myself.

Of course, for my daughter and family.

Since the time of surgery, her symptoms have markedly improved and she's returned to her usual quality of life.

Come on sweetheart.

Since surgery a few years ago, the mom of one says she's put acid reflux in the rearview mirror.

I look and I feel great, and I'm just happy that I'm able to enjoy foods like everybody else does.

Ready to roll?

Let's go.

Say bye, everybody.

Doctors say most of the time people are one and done with surgery to fix the problem, although some patients may need follow up care.

I know an actually Gerd can trigger an asthma attack.

When the reflux comes up, the esophagus goes into the lungs.

You know, it can be very, discomforting and cause a lot of problems.

Kind of scary to, you know, it can cause a lot of problems with all different types of conditions.

I know that Tracy said when she heard the words esophageal cancer was when she was like, you know what, I really need to tackle this.

And it's a red flag.

Yes.

For sure.

Very scary, very scary.

But she got it treated and she's all good.

Great information.

And now on to our next story.

Visitors come to St. Luke's University health centers, Anderson campus for more than medicine.

They also come for the 60 acres of brilliant sunflowers and colorful cosmos.

Yeah.

Patients come for medical treatment at the 250 bed hospital and outpatient treatments as well.

But they also come to walk the five trails coursing through luxuriant wildflowers.

They come for their health and wellness.

Before St. Luke's University Health Center opened their Anderson campus in Bethlehem Township.

They decided that medicine in nature equal health and wellness.

So in addition to building a hospital complex, they also transform the property's vast cornfields into a natural landscape.

Since that time, it's blossomed into a beautiful outdoor destination for patients, families, community members, and visitors of all kinds.

Year round.

Thousands of sunflowers greet visitors to St. Luke's University Health Network's Anderson campus in Bethlehem Township.

On this bright, sunny day.

The campus features massive gardens and arboretum.

Purple martins warbling a fountain in the center of a glistening pond.

Butterflies walking trails, a gazebo and an enchanted forest.

Once a 500 acre cornfield, it's now a thriving medical center and an expansive natural landscape.

We opened the hospital in 2011.

We started converting the, the corn, the corn fields to more walking trails.

Half was a pond.

Ed Nawrocki president of St. Luke's Anderson campus.

And his colleagues kept finding ways to create trails, plant trees, grow tons of flowers, and inspire people to come and enjoy the great outdoors.

When I come home, I. I hear the birds.

I hear the fountain.

I see people walking quite a number.

People walking the trails right now.

So it's exciting to see people walking on property to really enjoy the outside.

Years ago the sunflowers were in the front and everybody would go there, but now they have like all these different paths and they have little spots for kids and all the chairs that they set up around here.

What began as a few trails carved in a cornfield kept evolving, with one new idea after another.

In 2013, some of our employees wanted to start an organic farm, and we said, well, we're first starting a hospital and we didn't want to do the organic farm right away, but then we talked to Rodale Institute.

So St. Luke's partnered with the Rodale Institute.

The Rodale Partnership is a great partnership where they come and they manage all the plots and the food, and then we are able to provide that food organically to our patients.

We have an orchard.

We have over 10,000 berry plans.

So we're really a vibrant part of our community.

Every hospital in the St. Luke's network gets some of our farm produce.

Three years ago, Ed and his team created an arboretum.

What does it have to be to be an arboretum?

Lady trees, of course.

And you need to document the trees.

And we added some more intricate trails.

We probably have 250 trees documented now.

So we're an official arboretum or a level two arboretum, which is really exciting.

Some parts, we want to plan bigger trees along the walking paths, so they create the shade for people.

Other parts are just closer to the windows so they look prettier, they flower more.

We have a bunch of cherry trees on the hill, so when people look out the cancer center, they can see those flowers.

Visitors to the Anderson campus appreciate the proximity to nature, but it's especially restorative for patients overlooking the gardens from the cancer center.

As up on the third floor for my infusions.

Yeah, I get to overlook and see these beautiful flowers.

Every time I come into my room, I move the chair just to face the window because it's just so pretty to look at.

We design the hospital.

We put the cancer center on the farthest southern side, so our cancer patients on the third floor can always see the sunflowers where the people walking the cosmo fields that we had before.

While people take in nature outside, St Luke's cares for patients inside.

The Anderson campus is about a 250 bed hospital.

We deliver on 3000 babies here a year.

We're a level two trauma center, a very busy, hospital.

We see about, 50,000 ER, patients a year, admit around 220,000 patients a year to the hospital every day.

We probably have 2000 patients this coming year for outpatient care.

Outside the gardens offers something special for kids.

So we're in the Enchanted Forest at the Anderson Campus Arboretum.

We're still in the early phases, so we're still doing a lot of plantings.

We want to have this ferns and these rolling hills.

The Enchanted Forest is a place where kids can go and be outside and and be creative and really use their imagination.

We have the throne that we had painted.

You could also count the rings, which we have size, to kind of let the kids get an idea how to figure out how old the tree is.

It's not swings and slides, it's just things around them.

And then we try to give them ideas to help make things fun for them.

These are the houses that the departments build to show the kids how to build their own houses.

We want to have people come to the campus year round if we can, and also for every year try to find something new.

So we're always trying to find ways to bring more children to the enchanted Forest.

Reading or making birdhouses.

Want to do that more next year?

You get more families out here.

We also probably want to do more.

Some bird talks, bird walks, talk more about the arboretum.

Get people out to see the arboretum, plant more trees, make the experience that much better.

We wanted to make this campus a destination beyond just health care.

Wow, that was absolutely breathtaking.

It's even prettier in person.

But let me tell you.

As Ed Nawrocki, president of the St Luke's Anderson Campus, told me, the landscape is always a work in progress.

They're continually trying new things, like planting cherry trees, where patients in the cancer center can see them flowering from their hospital rooms, or planting specific trees along the trails to give walkers more shade.

So it really is a destination.

Not just a campus, a destination these days.

I really got to get out there.

It looks like a great place to either take the kids to run around.

Yes, or your dog.

Walk the dog.

Yeah.

Absolutely beautiful.

We got to get there before the end of the season.

Exactly.

Sounds good.

Well, thanks so much, Grove.

We are taking living in the Lehigh Valley on the road today into the city of Allentown.

We have Allentown Health Director Dave Synnamon here from the Allentown Health Bureau.

Dave, it's great to have you.

Hi, Brittany.

So today we're talking about a neat initiative.

It's a free vending machine, but it doesn't have snacks and drinks.

It has health products.

So tell us a little bit about this vending machine.

Yeah.

So this is a, it's a Narcan vending machine.

But we are able to put other supplies in.

And as well as Narcan, it's free to the public.

And, yeah, it's over here at fifth and allen at the Conference of Churches.

Great.

And so what are some of the other products that we have in here?

Can we take a look in there?

Sure.

So normally it doesn't open up like this, but, here in the vending machine, the top two shelves, we have Narcan here at the top, which can be used to treat, overdoses due to opioids.

We have, feminine hygiene products like tampons.

We also have first aid kits.

We have male and female condoms, and we have larger wound care kits.

And the things that are in this machine can be changed out depending on the public's needs or what they, request.

And what we find that is most beneficial.

And this is all temperature controlled.

It's all secure.

It's, accessible 24/7.

Great.

Dave will have you shut that there.

And so how did this vending machine come about?

Where are the funds from?

How did it come into this place?

Yeah.

So we, along with a lot of other municipalities and counties, were awarded opioid settlement funds through the opioid epidemic.

And we can spend that in certain ways.

And one of the ways we chose to spend it was on a Narcan vending machine.

We know that opioid deaths are or death due to opioid overdoses are dropping.

One of the big reasons is widespread use of Narcan.

So the more ways we can get Narcan out of the out to the public, the easier we can get it to the public, the better.

What's the response been like so far?

Overwhelmingly positive.

People seem to really be into the idea of having something like this.

And, we hope to do more in the future.

Wonderful.

And so this is at this location here at the Conference of Churches.

But there's another location in the works, from what I understand, another vending machine.

Yep.

So we have another vending machine on order, and we are currently finalizing details of where we're going to put it.

But, we'll be in touch as soon as we get it all set up.

Awesome.

Dave, if somebody is walking up to this vending machine, can you kind of walk us through how it works and what they would do to get a product out of here?

It's super simple.

It's just like a normal vending machine.

Except it doesn't.

You don't need any money.

They need a, access code, but it's right here.

So it's not secret.

So it's a screen you put in your access code four, four, four, four.

You hit enter.

And then you select just like a normal vending machine.

So, I want row 117 for some Narcan type in 117.

Hit checkout.

Pretty simple and self-explanatory.

Greater than the Narcan comes out, and then they can take that on the go.

Who should be taking advantage of this?

Is there a specific person or people in the neighborhood?

Or is this for everyone?

It's for everyone.

So I mean, we put it in this neighborhood because, we looked at data that identify opioid overdoses and where hotspots in the city are.

But, anyone can come down here if they want free Narcan or if they want any of these products that are in the vending machine.

Now, we're also gauging interest of what else we can put in here that could benefit the community.

Yeah.

Dave, if people want to learn more about the initiatives at the Allentown Health Bureau, where can they go to get that information?

They can visit the city's City of Allentown’s website, or they can call the Allentown Health Health Bureau at 610437770.

Great.

So they can reach out again.

This location is at the Conference of Churches in Allentown.

And folks can reach out to the Health Bureau if they want to have some input.

Dave Synnamon Allentown health director from the Health Bureau, thank you so much for sharing this information with us.

Thank you.

Now we're breaking out the bowls and the spatulas for a delicious take on a summer classic.

This month, we're joined in the kitchen by local chef Janicca Covington, who whips up tasty vegan treats.

Take a look.

In the past decade, more people are turning to plant based diets to improve their health and just eat better overall.

Joining us today is Janicca Covington of Mama Nico's Homemade Things.

Great to have you, Danica.

Thanks for having me, Brittany.

I'm so excited to be here.

It's so wonderful to have you and Mama Nicca’s homemade things is a vegan treats company.

Yeah.

Pretty much.

We do savory foods and we do desserts, and everything is plant based.

Plant based.

All right.

Wonderful.

So when did you turn to the plant based lifestyle and why?

Okay, so I have two children and my first, my daughter was born in 2013.

And she did have milk, egg allergy.

So I started doing a little bit then, but I still could have some of it in my diet because it didn't affect her while I was nursing her.

But when I had my son in 2017, I completely had to go cold turkey because he could not tolerate milk nor egg, even through the press, through the breast milk.

So wow.

So that's kind of a family decision.

It really, really was.

And it's kind of turned into a hobby and then a business for yourself.

Yes, it has turned into a business thanks to Covid and me making my stuff for so many of my family and friends.

And they were like, girl, you got to sell this stuff.

Like it's it's really, really good.

A lot of people like the food because it's good and you really can't tell that it's vegan.

Sure.

So we're making a vegan recipe, a vegan favorite today?

Yes, yes.

What are we making?

It's called chickpea tuna.

Okay.

It's, you know, I play on tuna by using chickpeas.

We know chickpeas are an excellent source of fiber, protein, and a lot of nutrient, and it's delicious.

I can't wait to try it.

So let's get started.

How do we start this recipe?

Okay, in your words, it's really simple.

It's really simple.

It is this watch how fast it takes us okay I want to take this long.

So I'm going to have you.

These are easy can open chickpeas.

Great.

Also garbanzo beans.

And you could just toss these in the.

Wonderful.

Food processor.

For you.

Yeah.

And while you're doing that, they're.

Lovely assistant today.

Okay, I'll start with an onion.

You already.

So this is going to be two cans of, you know, the chickpeas.

And we have a red onion here.

And you're going to only need about, this is about a fourth.

Great.

And I just want to say we drained the chickpeas to you, so we're draining them.

Yeah.

And then drying it.

We're using a red onion today.

Yes, we're using a red onion.

And even though it's gone in a food processor, it's just a good idea to just slice it a little bit.

Okay?

You don't want to put it in our two chunky.

Gotcha.

Okay.

And so we put that in there.

Great.

And what's the hack to cutting onions I know this is a red onion.

It's not quite as strong but a hack to make sure that we're not weeping.

Oh we cut.

These.

Yes.

So normally you cut the onion and you run an out of cold water.

That's what my grandmother told me.

So we're running the onion under cold water before we chop it, so that we don't get those tears when we're chopping.

Yep.

Yes.

And then what you want to do, you want to pulse it?

You don't want to, like, let it be too fine because it'll essentially turn into hummus.

Okay.

And how much onion are we putting in here?

About a fourth.

About a fourth.

A cup of onion.

And if you like onion, you could put a little bit more.

But that.

Yeah, that's kind of how I start.

If you want to complete it we're putting a fourth in.

Yes.

We're passing it a little bit.

And have come up with this recipe.

Is that something you stumbled upon and just it became a family favorite?

Yeah.

So I love tuna.

My mom made tuna growing up.

We had tuna and potato chips like every week.

Oh, classic classic lunch right?

I love that one.

Yeah.

So.

We had that and I just love it.

And it's so easy.

And even the kids like it, so.

Yeah.

So it became a staple.

It became a. Staple.

Great.

All right.

So we just pulled it up.

It's not too fine.

Like you said, if you if you blend it up too much, it's going to become a hummus.

We want this a little bit chunky.

You want to have texture and you absolutely want to have texture in it.

So we'll take this out okay?

Okay.

And we'll put it in here.

Great.

And then you feel it goes quite a bit awesome.

Yeah.

And this looks absolutely delicious and smells delicious so far right.

Yeah.

And we didn't even add the extra ingredients yet.

Okay.

So here's where the magic happens.

Here's where the magic happens.

This is, Hellmann's has plant based, mayo.

Great.

Now that the, vegan trend has really caught on.

And as I said, people have been eating more plant based for the last decade.

You can find things in the store that are plant based now.

It feels like a lot of businesses are catering to this.

This diet trend.

Absolutely.

It's very, very I mean, even when I have my son, this stuff, this wasn't available, you know, like, which was that was 2017, right?

So that's eight years ago.

All of this.

So yeah, I probably should have measured it for you guys.

But you give it a la.

This is how I make my tuna salad to eyeball it.

Right.

You eyeball.

Just eyeball it.

So that looks like about a quarter cup of man.

Got a quarter cup of mayo.

You know, you take a couple of sprigs of dill.

It just gives it that anytime you can add fresh herbs to your meal it's.

Just elevate.

Is just going to elevate shot.

It's really really we're just giving it a little chopped.

Wonderful.

And is dill something you would typically put in your tuna salad.

Or does this just spice up the chickpeas a little bit.

This spices up the chickpeas.

You know you could put it in your tuna salad.

I had never did it before.

Yeah.

And my tuna.

Awesome.

But yep.

You just put a little bit.

And if you want to add relish you can add relish.

Some people put relish in there.

All right.

Yeah.

My husband's a tuna and relish guy.

So I bet you enjoy that.

Now this is this is a secret ingredient, okay?

It's not even secret, but it is.

You won't believe it.

That's why you have to taste it.

Okay, but it's Indian, black salt.

And it has, like, this sulfur taste that makes it seem that there's egg in here.

Gotcha.

Kind of like that's the trick, because you said your kids have egg allergy.

Correct?

Have you added this to other recipes?

Absolutely.

To make that egg.

To make that there.

Okay, great.

Yeah.

This is probably like a fourth a fourth of a teaspoon.

Okay.

And you can taste it.

You don't need too much.

You can taste it to see if you want more of that flavor to.

It, something like that.

Do you need a salt as well?

You don't need the salt.

Okay.

Nope.

You don't need the so and I actually I brought this out here to tell people some people are on the forward side, but you actually don't need salt in this because of that.

Gotcha.

Okay.

Yep.

You do add a little bit of black pepper okay.

And for a little bit of sweetness we just add some maple sirup.

And I feel like this is another secret ingredient I would never think of putting.

Yes sirup in my salad or my chickpea salad.

I know for that matter.

And it's just about, you know, about that much.

Great.

And then we give it a stir.

Got a tablespoon?

Yep.

That's when we're stirring it up.

What do you top your.

What do you, what do you put this salad on okay.

So we have romaine lettuce leaves.

Great.

Put me to work on.

Mix that up okay.

Your romaine lettuce leaves.

Awesome.

Okay.

And if you're thinking and smelling delicious.

Maybe less add a little bit more.

Right?

A little more mayo.

Yeah.

Like we said, you.

And like I said, this is when I'm making a mayo based salad.

I eyeball it as well.

You got to see how creamy you like it.

Some people like it a little bit dry or some people like it a little premiere.

This is looking awesome and the consistency really does look like a tuna salad.

Yes.

And to keep it, you know, you could do a croissant.

You could do some bread.

These all the way for you, let you top that.

Okay.

And Janicca what are some of the other vegan treats that you make?

Okay.

So some of the like fan favorites are chocolate, zucchini bread.

Oh that sounds delicious.

Bring that next time bring that.

That's that.

So it is chocolate zucchini bread.

Banana bread during that Thanksgiving I'll make pumpkin bread.

Potato.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Those are my top like sweet treats.

And then I do, I do, vegan mac and cheese, which in the fall, the still stacked sponsor, Lehigh Valley Vegan SmackDown.

And last year I came as the People's choice and the kids choice.

I love that and the kids choice.

That's that's the key there at a healthy rest.

The most.

Important.

Thing that the kids love as well.

Awesome.

So we're finishing this up.

Yeah.

And if folks want to try some of the treats that you make, they can try this recipe at home.

But they can also purchase some of your treats as well.

Yes.

I'm gonna give this a try.

Yeah.

You can get some information on your treats.

So I'm on Facebook as Mama Nicca’s homemade things.

I'm on Instagram as Mama Nicca’s.

And through both of those sites you can get my website.

Wow, this is awesome.

It's delicious.

We're just like, dude, you know, it's a little bit, a little a slight difference in the taste, but wow, the consistency.

And what do you think about that black sauce?

Oh it's delicious.

I definitely taste that.

It's a little hint of egg in there.

Absolutely delicious.

One more time.

The website the so it's you can go you can find the link on Facebook.

Mama Nicca’s homemade things or through my Instagram page, Mama Nicca’s wonderful.

These are absolutely delicious.

I know you do catering as well.

I do catering as well.

Best of luck to you at that vegan competition.

Thank you so much.

I'm out on top once again.

Thank you Janicca Covington, thank you so much for joining us and making this delicious treat.

Thank you.

Yum.

That did look good.

It tasted good too.

Really good.

A lot of viewers might say, oh gee, a meatless diet.

Where do you get the protein.

Yeah I think that's a big question for a lot of people who go vegan or, you know, start to take out the meat in their diet, but those chickpeas are jam packed with protein.

You'd be surprised how much protein legumes have.

They got you covered.

That's right, that's right.

It was really good.

I really would like to make it at home for my kids.

I think they'll like it.

I think so too.

I'm going to have to try some too.

That's right.

Well, that will do it for this episode of living in the Lehigh Valley for PBS 39.

I'm Grover Silcox.

And I'm Brittany Sweeney.

Hoping you stay happy and healthy.