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

I'm your host, Brittany Sweeney.

On this episode of Victoria Celebration for a local little girl facing some serious health problems, we will meet her at her school.

Celebration of America's 250th anniversary.

Plus some healthy treats as the country marks the milestone.

A nutritionist from giant is showing us how to make a patriotic spread that's not only delicious, but good for you too.

Then the health issue millions of women experience, but few talk about why pelvic health deserves your attention.

Now to our first story.

As we celebrate America's 250th anniversary, many institutions are incorporating that into their own celebrations.

That's exactly what a Lehigh Valley school did, as they themed their end of year concert with patriotic songs.

But one original song stood out as they honored one of their own special Americans Stars of glory.

Music has a way of bonding people winning just for you, as the soothing sound of piano tunes fills the air at Saint Anne's School in Emmaus.

Store brand its student and teacher who are coming together to share a song.

And for ten year old Victoria Russell, this piece is more than a melody.

She's been singing in our chorus since third grade, and I've watched her journey and her struggle.

Russell was born with sickle cell disease, a group of inherited blood disorders that cause red blood cells to become misshapen, rigid and sticky, turning into a crescent or sickle shape, according to the National Institute of Health.

Her mother, Chantal Russell, says they were able to manage symptoms of the disease until a few years ago.

Two and a half, three years ago, we were admitted at Lehigh and they found out that she had pancreatitis and that's what she was diagnosed like admitted for.

And then they found out that she had this autoimmune hepatitis, liver disease type of thing that the body was attacking the liver and basically her bile ducts.

I guess there were two narrow to like flush out that would be in there.

Then this past fall, Victoria's condition got worse.

There were a couple of times that she fell asleep on my chorus risers, and I couldn't, couldn't really wake her up.

And I would just put a blanket over her.

And I went and told, call her teacher and let her know she's down here and and kept an eye on her.

And and that was tough.

She was having pain, like, way more than she would have normally.

For sickle cell disease, just seeing a child in so much pain is is is hard.

Doctors determined that the little girl's liver was shutting down.

She was added to the transplant list in the fall, and by early 2026, it was time.

The 23rd of January, we did the transplant, which runs in over to the next day, was about thinking 11 hour surgery.

Victoria prevailed because my liver was starting to fail and it was starting to make me really, really sick.

So I needed a new one.

With healing underway, the staff and students at Saint Anne School looked for a way to welcome her back when she came.

Schultz enlisted the Sing Me a Story foundation to help the organization pairs composers with choirs to create songs for children in need.

They will have an ensemble who's interested in commissioning a new work.

And that's what this is, is commissioning a new piece of music, which is not something that every ensemble gets to do, and they will generally reach out to a child in need in the area of that ensemble and work with that child to write a story.

And then and they'll find a composer to turn that story into a song for then the for the ensemble to perform.

She likes to write.

She's always writing, she's always coloring, she's always drawing.

And I figured if we get involved in something like this, it will be beneficial for us, beneficial for, you know, for her, for anyone involved.

And that's how we became a part of Sing Me a Story.

And so the making of Victoria Song was underway.

I created from Victoria's wonderful and inspiring story.

I created lyrics for a choral piece, and then Miss Schultz's choir at Saint Anne's School learned that piece.

Tom Helm was commissioned to compose the piece.

I received Victoria's Story, she wrote a beautiful and inspiring two page story about her challenges and about overcoming the challenges.

And I spent time with that story and got to know Victoria through that story.

And then from that, I created lyrics which would ultimately be sung by the choir.

And then from those lyrics, I just thought about the meaning behind the lyrics and how to celebrate Victoria and just put that to melodies and harmonies.

What I like about what he's done is he has taken kind of her whole experience and the the journey, and boiled it down to just this couple of minutes song that encompasses her support system.

I took inspiration from Victoria herself because her name means victory, and so I called the piece Victory Victoria.

I played it for the chorus and there they were, amazed.

They were blown away.

They, they were very excited and I gave them all the music.

And then it was a process of just teaching them.

In the process of learning the song, Victoria returned to class and the choir.

It felt amazing.

After the liver transplant, I felt more energetic.

The first time she came back.

She came over to me with this big hug and she just she bounced across the cafeteria to give me a big hug.

And it's like Victoria.

It's almost like a completely different kid.

She comes in and gives me a big hug every morning for chorus.

So every week, yeah, it's it's wonderful.

Back and feeling better than before.

Victoria was ready to take her place on the risers for the end of year concert celebrating America's 250th and the return of Victoria.

Victoria show where hope is all.

I love that he has really incorporated Victoria's classmates in their role as her cheerleaders.

In the part of the song is the chorus members soloing throughout across the chorus.

One thing here, one six there, and they're all calling to her and cheering her on and helping her through this journey with a song to celebrate her and a bill of health, allowing her to return to do what she loves.

The school year came to a close with a victorious conclusion.

Victoria, she's all I can say.

She's amazing.

And she literally, you know, like being here and she likes to chill off to school and she loves her teachers and her friends.

I couldn't ask for a better mom in a better school because they're really nice and sweet.

Now, Victoria still has some health hurdles to overcome with sickle cell disease, but her mom says the transplant improved her quality of life tremendously.

And a cool little tidbit typically, the choir and the child in need are not associated.

This was the first time that Sing Me a Story created a song for a child in the choir they were working with.

We are celebrating America's 250th birthday here in the living in the Lehigh Valley kitchen.

I have giant dietician Shayna Schultz here and we have a beautiful barbecue spread.

Sheena, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you for having me.

All right.

So our celebration is a barbecue here for the 250th birthday of our beautiful country.

And we're starting with barbecue.

Yes.

The are we're doing some barbecue chicken.

Okay.

And don't get me wrong, I love the hamburgers.

They'll have dogs.

They are great, but I think chicken's a fun one to introduce to the cookout group.

A nice lean protein option.

And barbecue sauce lends really well to that, as well as the celebration of America, because barbecue sausage can really be highlighted all over the different parts of the country with different flavors.

Yes, and we have our red, white and blue barbecue sauce today.

So we're starting with the red.

We'll start with the red okay.

All of the ingredients for both the blue and the red.

You're just going to throw in a pot and let simmer then blend up.

So I've already so easy.

So we do it.

You can do it.

You totally like I can do it really great.

So what's in our red sauce.

Yes.

So this is the spicy chipotle barbecue sauce a lot of heat okay.

We've got some kick to this.

We do.

And the reason behind that would be this right here the chili peppers in adobo sauce are going to give that really nice spice to this one.

And then the red is brought out even more with some canned tomato sauce.

Great, great.

All right.

Go ahead right here with this tomato sauce.

The great thing about that, even though it's canned, it's also low sodium.

We have no solid added varieties.

So not only are these things easy, but you're in control of the ingredients too.

So we can watch the salt content and a lot of nutrients even in the cans that fruits and vegetables.

Yeah.

So in canned tomatoes we're going to find a lot of lycopene.

Lycopene having a lot of benefits in the way of prostate health as well as heart health.

And this time of year there's some potential to help with sunburn too.

So this is a good one for everybody in the family.

Yes, indeed.

Okay.

So now we'll go to something a little sweeter here.

Okay.

Moving on to our blue sauce.

Our blue sauce is blue because of blueberries.

Wonderful.

Oh, blueberries and barbecue sauce.

You never think about that.

But it sounds delicious.

Yes.

So I feel like this can be very representative of the northeast states.

Okay.

Maine loves their blueberries.

As to everybody else, and blueberries are going to be adding a lot of nutrition to our sauce.

That's right.

What's the heat scale on this one?

One's very mild okay okay.

Here.

Right.

It's going to be a sweeter sauce because blueberries naturally our sweet they also call excuse me.

They also contain anthocyanins which can be very helpful for both our heart as well as our brain.

Great.

So if you're looking for some ways to improve your memory, your clarity.

Blueberry blueberries okay.

Your friend that okay okay.

So we have we have our spicy sauce.

We have our sweet sauce.

And then we have our white.

Yes.

So this is going to be more of a mild sauce a little bit of flavors from both directions of heat and sweet for this one.

This is a white Alabama barbecue sauce.

Great.

Okay.

So we're going to the south where they're known for their barbecue.

We're going to build this one here okay.

Now what do we think we have here in this chart.

What's making this one white.

Well initially I would think Manny.

Yes, but I see your container over here.

Are we using Greek yogurt?

We are.

Okay, so whenever you're cooking, whenever you're baking, you can swap mayonnaise for Greek yogurt 1 to 1.

Okay.

It's going to be the healthier alternative.

Correct?

It is.

It's going to be a little bit less and fat as well as give you a bunch of protein too okay.

Especially if it's the Greek yogurt.

All right.

So we have that in there.

Now we're going to be adding some more ingredients to it.

So I'll let you do the honors here.

First up we have apple cider vinegar.

And just pour that right in.

Then some lemon juice as well as some horseradish okay.

This is going to give us a little kick.

You might need that spoon.

Yes.

So that's where that little bit of heat comes in like you just mentioned.

Yes.

Great.

All right.

And then we have just a touch of sugar okay.

So this is sugar.

It is.

It's only three quarters of a teaspoon of sugar.

Great.

And then a little bit of salt and pepper okay.

Awesome.

You can go ahead and then mix that up.

Then after you're done with all of your ingredients.

All right.

And I love making barbecue sauces because you know we've talked about salt.

We've talked about sugar.

It puts you in control of the ingredients right.

Oftentimes if you're buying a barbecue sauce is going to be high in sodium.

It's going to be high in added sugar.

But here today you have control.

We have that control.

Wonderful.

We're going to pour these on in just a little bit.

But let's move on to our salad.

Yes.

Let's check out our American flag salad over here.

Great.

So we've started the salad already with some watermelon and different types of cheeses.

And then we of course have to get those blueberries out.

That's right.

Again.

All right.

So I'll let you build that here.

Right.

Well I try to build this a little bit more.

I love watermelon on a salad because it's going to bring that nice refreshing sweetness to it.

Okay.

But if you're looking at this and you're like, I'm not having a watermelon on my salad, that's okay too.

You could replace the watermelon with tomatoes.

You could do something like black olives instead of the blueberries.

There's endless possibilities with this, but it's a nice way to round out our barbecue.

Right?

So pretty.

Look at that.

And this could also be.

I mean, you could eat it as a salad.

You could put toothpicks in it.

You could eat it as an appetizer.

I love that that's really versatile and beautiful.

Okay.

And then we're finishing off our meal with a dessert.

All right.

So you got, like, dessert.

You have to have dessert, right?

Right.

So as a dietitian, I, of course, love all the good desserts too, right.

But it's awesome to give people another option.

So fruit lends that sweetness to us.

So I'm just going to fill our cones here with some berries.

Okay.

Now of course we want to go with the red and blue.

You could do strawberries in here if you want, but I'm sticking to just raspberries and blueberries because I don't want to have to cut it up.

If you have a garden, these are really in in right now.

They're in season.

The blueberries are so delicious.

The raspberries are right off the vine.

Delicious.

And then are we we're getting out the whip.

Cherries.

That's my daughter's favorite.

Okay.

All right, well, cherries are coming up.

I'll put the whipped cream on, and then I will let you do the honors of putting a cherry on top.

Awesome.

Okay, great.

All right, so we'll put these right out front here, and we'll put our cherries on top.

Yep.

I love that.

And while we're doing that tell us about the dietitian program at giant.

Yeah.

So the dietitians we do a lot of things out in the community as well as teaching some online classes.

You can check them out on our website and register for them for free there.

You do earn choice points for attending those classes there.

Everything from things like we just covered better for you cooking as well as heart health, diabetes, weight management.

We are there as your resource to help you out.

Wonderful!

That's a great resource to have while we're finishing up, why don't we drizzle some barbecue sauce on our chicken?

Shall we?

Yes.

And if folks want to check out that program, how can they get more information?

So always head to our website.

That's going to be your best way to find us with all of those classes and information to get Ahold of us.

If you have any questions or want to let us know about some events in your community that we can help out with.

You can find that all there.

Wonderful!

We have a beautiful spread to celebrate America's 250th birthday.

I can't wait to have a little barbecue and introduce these healthy treats.

Shayna Schultz from giant.

Thank you so much for being here.

That spread was absolutely delicious.

Now on to another topic.

Setting a high standard for student wellness through its brand new student hub.

That's what Moravian University is doing with a building designed with a wellness first philosophy, recognizing that students have massive workloads and need a place to recharge without leaving campus.

From a high tech mindfulness suite to a career center.

Moravian has built a one stop shop for student success.

As Megan Frank reports, the design is putting Moravian on the map as a leader in student support.

Between a full course load, internships and planning for a career, the modern college student schedule looks a lot like the 40 hour workweek on the fourth floor.

Oh, to keep up with that pace, Moravian University has ditched the old school student lounge concept in favor of a wellness hub.

This high performance space is designed to help students de-stress and stay on track.

It's also the first building in the Lehigh Valley to earn a global Well Pre certification.

Think of it as a gold medal for architecture and a guarantee from the international Well-Being Institute that the environment is scientifically proven to improve a student's health.

What that means is every design choice in this building, from the air and water quality to the materials that were used, there's evidence behind the fact that those materials support better health.

The natural lighting that exists in this building, even the views.

You will find terraces around this building to take in the external.

We're right next to McAvoy field.

All of those things embodies the, well, spirit, if you will.

That's behind the whole institution, the way we think about not only our students, but also our community and the staff that work here.

Nicole Lloyd is the dean of students and chief operating officer at Moravian.

She says the hub is packed with resources, including a career center, a dedicated military lounge and a student food pantry.

There's even a 24 over seven mindfulness suite equipped with sound machines and diffusers for those who just need to hit the reset button.

The president and I were having a conversation, and we talked about how the whole building needed to feel very intentional about what was on every floor, and so I walk on every floor and have that moment of this is exactly what we hoped would happen.

So for example, on the first floor is our counseling and health center.

That was very deliberate to have access and normalize taking care of yourself, because what we know for students and for all of us is that we can't get to higher level thinking, reasoning classes unless you're taking care of your mental and physical health.

Just around the corner from a multi-faith prayer room is the Mindfulness Suite, a favorite spot for sophomore and political science major Kate Donaldson?

There's a lot that you do as a student.

I know for me, I'm a student athlete on top of that per semester.

The amount of rigorous work you do studying lab time was that we're also maturing.

We're also becoming adults and figuring out things.

And I think that in order to process everything that you experience, the accessibility of this space as a decompression zone makes it really helpful to compartmentalize what we're experiencing, what we're feeling, everything that we're going through.

And it's a resource that allows us that that space and that comfort.

Creating comforting spaces for students is a trend that's taken off across higher ed.

According to a 2026 campus mental health survey from The Princeton Review, over 90% of universities now report integrating some kind of wellness resources into residential and student life.

Here's Kiara Barclay, interior designer for Moravians hub.

We actually have multiple projects right now larger state types of schools as well as private schools.

I would consider Moravian middle sized school across the board.

A lot of them are talking about it, and a lot of them are not sure how to define it yet.

And so it's very it's been very rewarding to kind of be a part of shaping what that could mean for each individual school.

Barclay says that by completing the hub, Moravian is doing more than just following a trend.

They're helping define a new blueprint for campuses nationwide.

She says it's a shift that reflects a much larger change in how society views mental health.

Having an outlet, I think just across the board, the the, the discussion and the willingness to talk about whether it's mental health, just, you know, self-care, all of those things, the conversation and the willingness of society to be able to talk about those things in today's world is starting now.

We're starting to see it show up in the spaces that we create for students.

I think that's extremely valuable.

The hub is now the epicenter of student wellness at Moravian, and the timing couldn't be more critical.

According to the National College Health Assessment, over 60% of college students face overwhelming anxiety, and universities are realizing that more support systems are needed.

For junior Emily L'Ange having mental health, career prep and community all under one roof isn't just a convenience, it's a game changer.

Life can get pretty messy, and we're at a point in life as college students that a lot is going on, whether it be our classes, personal life.

Career, and having that resource so easily accessible to us, and valuing that wellness aspect is something that can be overlooked from time to time.

But the fact that it's never a a a reach here, it's always accessible to us is, is really, really important.

By giving students a space to breathe.

Moravian is ensuring that the new heartbeat of campus life is a healthy one.

Thanks to our reporter, Megan Frank, it's great to see students taking advantage of the mindfulness suite throughout the day, and the American Psychological Association reports that taking micro breaks can actually prevent mental burnout.

So Moravian is giving these students the exact environment they need to practice healthy habits.

And finally, it's a part of the body many women don't talk about until it starts affecting their daily lives.

A Lehigh Valley physician is gaining popularity on social media as she continues to talk about why pelvic health matters and how treatment can improve comfort, confidence and quality of life.

Walls lined with sports photos and Nerf guns are a dead giveaway that a boy mom lives here.

I have two boys that are nine and seven.

You got one card.

They are very much sports boys, so we do soccer, wrestling, baseball.

They'd love to play football.

They're just very active.

As Jenna Schnabel's children became more active.

The Boyertown mom says something was holding her back from participating.

I had the stress incontinence where you had to sneeze or cough.

It was, you know, it starts off smaller and it was getting worse.

So there were times where my kids were like, let's have a run race.

And I couldn't, you know, race them.

Instead of settling with the condition, Schnabel decided to seek help.

I know it's very common for a lot of women, and I just think it's not a normal thing that everybody talks about.

Or they might be embarrassing, but I decided I just needed to get it taken care of sooner than later.

As a nurse herself, she knew where to go and turned to doctor Nabila Noir for treatment.

Somehow we have normalized women's suffering.

Whether it be pain, whether it's leaking urine, whether it's leaking stool, or having something literally coming out of your vaginal walls.

She's a Euro gynecologist and pelvic reconstruction surgeon at Lehigh Valley Health Network, part of Jefferson Health, who is passionate about advocating for women's health.

I do take care of women with pelvic floor disorders.

So the next question is what is pelvic floor disorders?

Because not a lot of people are aware of it.

Or pelvic floor essentially is a combination of muscles, ligaments, connective tissues that forms the base of our torso, which is basically the floor of our body.

And that helps support all the pelvic organs.

Doctor Nora explains those organs include the uterus, bladder, rectum, and intestines.

We also need our pelvic floor for bodily functions.

So things like when you're urinating or when you're having a bowel movement or with intimacy.

Right?

So when your pelvic floor is not working well, number one, all the organs that I mentioned doesn't function properly.

And also the bodily functions we're talking about doesn't work properly.

The physician goes on to explain that many women downplay symptoms at a younger age, only to need more drastic treatments as they age.

It actually started when I was in high school.

I was an avid gymnast and cheerleader, and when I was doing tumbling passes, there would be some leakage there too.

But it was nothing.

It got much worse when I had my two kids.

A lot of my patients that I see on a day to day basis are people who are suffering with leakage of urine or having difficulty with urination as of stool, not being able to control stool, pelvic organ prolapse where essentially your pelvic organs are pushing through your vaginal walls.

A lot of trauma from childbirth injuries.

I have a lot of patients who suffer with pain, with intimacy or, you know, menopausal national atrophy, a lot of tract infections.

It's a whole gamut of patients.

And not all conditions need surgery.

Nor says most diagnoses have a lifestyle modification option, a non-surgical option, as well as a surgery option in case she felt the latter was right for her.

Since I worked with Doctor Nor and I knew the different kinds of procedures that were available, it was pretty easy for us to decide what was necessary to do.

So we decided on a sling procedure only a year ago.

In ecologist or somebody, a urologist who has training in female pelvic medicine has the abilities and the skills and expertise to combine everything and treat you in a comprehensive way.

Not only is North sharing her knowledge and experience with patients, she's using her social media platforms to reach her nearly 20,000 followers.

Why is it that we got everything except our pelvic floor educating the internet?

One taboo topic at a time.

Why am I leaking urine when I'm laughing, coughing, or sneezing?

If somebody like me doesn't give them the right information, somebody without the right background is giving them a lot of information that has no medical credibility, and that's harmful to women everywhere.

Empowering women like Schnabel to live their healthiest lives for themselves and their families.

Results were amazing.

I'm able to play with my kids.

I'm able to run and jump on the trampoline with them.

And you know, that makes all of us happy.

Do a cartwheel to a straddle jump and you can find Doctor Nor online that will do it for this episode of living in the Lehigh Valley for PBS 39.

I'm Brittany Sweeney, hoping you stay happy and healthy.