I am new to Wikipedia and I have contributed to Basal metabolic rate, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_metabolic_rate, as my first effort.
My background includes serving as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps[[1]] from 1979 to 1983, then working with the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales [[2]] as a Scholastic (which included teaching students at Northeast Catholic High School in Philadelphia, PA, and at Salesianum High School in Wilmington, Delaware,) until 1990.
I developed a chronic case of Plantar fasciitis[[3]] and was told that the condition was temporary by my Physician. I later learned that he was mistaken in his assessment and unfamiliar with the expertise of Physical Therapy. My Physical Therapist was graduated from Boston University and showed why her institution is considered to be the very best at preparing students for this discipline. My Physical Therapist answered my questions very thoroughly, completely cured my symptoms and suggested that I go to the National Library of Medicine to learn more. I had been using the facilities of the Library while I was in graduate studies at the DeSales School of Theology which was affiliated with the Dominican House of Studies [[4]], in Washington D.C.
So I subsequently took a more active approach to studying the system that the National Library offers to researchers. I then enrolled in the Physical Therapist Assistant Program at Northern Virginia Community College and graduated in 1998. I currently work for Dan Hirschfeld the CEO of Genesis Rehab Services. I have written three articles for Advance for PTs and PT Assistants: 1) The Race against Chronic Plantar Fasciitis (with Christine Salmon as co-author); [[5]], [[6]] 2) Demystifying Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, [[7]]; and 3) Exploring Treatment Options for Elbow Pain, [[8]].
Basal metabolic rate is my first contribution to the compendium being crafted by the administrators at Wikipedia.
I am not the most adept at cleaning and organizing the materials that have become necessary for this endeavor but Elizabeth Saldana has proven to be instrumental in the task of helping me to keep it real, keep it simple, and keep it congruent. Elizabeth hails from the Philippines and is working with me at the world's most incredible assisted living facility taking care of great people and their families. As we explore the latest concepts in high tech software and hardware, along with long walks into Old Town to test various ways of keeping track of the Basal Metabolic Rate, I am learning a lot about what it means to be an immigrant to this great country, and how lucky I am to live hear and go to the library for research with a great collaborator who wants to help America to feel the rhythms that enable metabolic management. Elizabeth has also been helping me to make videos on YOUtube that explain why Aquatic Therapy is for Everyone. [[9]][[10]][[11]][[12]]
I also have a beautiful little girl who will always be my inspiration: Faith Mangente Riley (born November 21, 2003,at 3:21 PM, 7 lbs, 8 oz, height 20.5 inches.) Faith's Mother, Fredda Mangente, R.N., works two jobs as a Nurse and was instrumental in helping me to understand the concepts and physiological implications of how the Krebs Cycle influences and shapes the changes that do occur at the cellular level to increase or decrease basal metabolic rate.
I have a brother named John Riley who works for the Agriculture Committee as the Senior Staffer for the Majority crafting bills that insure that American farmers have the subsidies they need to provide the world with the most nutritionally dense calories possible along with insuring that enough food stamps are available for Americans who are underpriviliged.
My sister Mary Riley is an educator speciliazing in providing research grants for school communities to make sure that funds are ready for distribution to districts for techology upgrades to satisfy Standards of Learning (SOL) criteria.
Cheryl is the Occupational Therapist responsible for helping to teach patients and therapists why they need to know what is happening to their bodies with a ramped up BMR or a declining RMR. Victoria,[[13]], is the Speech-Language Pathology expert who will help to bring this program to the Public School Systems who want to successfully reverse the obesity epidemic [[14]]. Kala Kandasmay, DPT, has been my mentor at the facility where I have developed ideas that prove that PT and BMR are connected and integral. Ash, LPTA, is from Egypt where he studied to be a Medical Doctor for five years and his ideas are helping me to see the international applications of how BMR can influence a worldwide change in obesity management with exercises in the therapeutic threshold.
By walking 35 miles on a weekly basis, and in some cases on a daily basis, I am learning how a pound of fat is redistributed in the various compartments of the body. Jocell is the Director of Nursing where we work. She is helping me to comprehend how the blood tests used in Nursing can support the idea of balancing the deprivation or augmentation needed to be fit physically while maintaining appropriate nutrition to keep the muscle cycles strong with energy from the viscera. A wonderful woman that I have met at my place of employment named Col. R.L. is a very famous dietician and she has been instrumental in showing me how a very healthy 95 year old can metabolize a balanced nutritional regimen with optimal exercise. Col. R.L. is ably assisted in this effort by her Filipino [[15]] Nursing Staff: Minda, Elizabeth, Miratu, Christine, and Nita.BRiley 15:40, 3 September 2006 (UTC)BRileyPTABRiley 15:40, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
My parents, Col. William E. Riley Jr. and Mrs. Patricia O'Leary Riley have been mentoring my intellectual pursuits for the past 50 years with leadership by example going back to my birth at the Quantico Marine Corps Base where I subsequently had my training to be an infantry officer. My grandfather, Lt. Gen William E. Riley,[16] [[17]], is famous in Marine Corps circles for his work fighting and winning our nation's military conflicts, but also as the "Marine General who stops wars." He worked tirelessly with Dr. Ralph Bunch [[18]][[19]][[20]] in 1948 to bring about the cessation of hostilities during the 1948 War of Independence for Israel. And I am maximally inspired by my patient T.M. who is has been diagnosed with a terminal case of lymphoma, and also my Uncle Jack Ward who is also in the final stages of prostate Cancer. Both my patient and my uncle remain upbeat while they endure their circumstances and are showing me the value of living your life well to the fullest in order to have a satisfying opportunity to tie it all together in the moments leading to an eternal reward.BRileyPTA 13:32, 10 September 2006 (UTC)BRileyPTABRileyPTA 13:32, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
I would also like to mention Jennifer Harbster, [[21]] and her contribution to my understanding of how the research process works for Science and Technology inquiries at the Library of Congress, and what library procedures can bring the latest findings to a prescient understanding of a complex topic in the fifth floor collections of the John Adams Building. Jennifer also looked over the Wikipedia description of the Library of Congress and noted that our Nation's premier library is the largest collection on earth, not one of the largest!
While working as a Physical Therapist Assistant I have made friends and been mentored in my understanding of the Calculus principles that can explain BMR changes that confound weight management from a very interesting former Assistant Director of NASA's Space Safety Command, Capt. Reuben Pritchard, USN retired. Capt Pritchard was one of the most prolific test pilots in the History of Aviation and his accomplishments are featured in the Air and Space Museum. He mastered over 182 different aircraft and helped them to be accepted operational use for the US Navy and for NASA. Capt. Pritchard was responsible for inviting Dr. Kenneth Cooper [[22]][[23]] of the Cooper Institute to join the NASA initiative to manage the payload of the Gemini and Apollo missions by reducing oxygen supplies by 20% through advanced aerobic training to increase mitochondrial density using the Medgraphics metabolic cart[[24]] to provide breath by breath gas analysis of exercise metabolic measurement.
Diana Venskus, PhD, PT, was my intellectual mentor and the Program Head at the Northern Virginia Community College's Physical Therapist Assitant Program while I attended classes there from 1996 to 1998. It was there she was recognized as being the "Educator of the Year" for 1999 by the American Physical Therapy Association. She subsequently served as the Program Head for Marymount University's PT program and introduced the first Doctoral Program to the University [[25]]. Diana is now an Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy and academic coordinator of clinical education at Marymount University in Arlington,VA along with her many other responsibilities most notably helping the less fortunate in Northern Virginia.[[26]]
Patty Ottavio, PT, MPH, Assistant Dean, PTA Program, Northern Virginia Community College [[27]] has continued to find ways to make the PTA field a viable career choice for prospective students from High School all the way to graduate studies, and she was the first academician to accomplish this feat for the Physical Therapy Profession in the United States.[[28]] Because of her passion for this field of endeavor over the course of the last 20 years [[29]] thousands of PTAs now exact the "Gold Standard" that (like Diana) Patty elicits from her students through her many duties to the community as educator, wife, mother, and clinical expert in Physical Therapy Instruction for PTA students, who in some cases can also now become PT students. Besides helping students to learn how to learn about Physical Therapy techniques, Patty is also very compassionate about the welfare of her students and is constantly reaching out to all of us with advice and encouragement in the face of trials and tribulations.
Since this was written I have switched companies and I previously worked for Genesis Rehab Services at Emeritus of Arlington right next to Arlington National Cemetery where my Grandfather, and Dad are buried, in Section 5. My Rehab Director was Belinda Blough, a Physcial Therapist Assistant. The OT is Pat Smith who is a Master Clinician and hails from the great state of Kansas. Urvi Kanani, MSPT, who was trained to be a Physical Therapist in India, and came to the United States and was granted her MSPT from Loma Linda Univeristy is the PT and she provides excellent insights gained from traveling all over the world as a Therapist. Pat Phifer is our Rehab Office Coordinator and she does a great job of helping us to keep the office organized and running smoothly. We are very fortunate to have the leadership of Dan Hirschfeld, who is the President of Genesis Rehab Services.
Previously I worked for Legacy Healthcare Service under Sandra Hoskins, OTR/L President and Jason Olsson is the Area Director. I have been splitting time between 3 Sunrises: Sunrise of McLean, Mt. Vernon and Reston. The problems with those assignments was the lack of foresight on the need for rehab in the aging process, and allowance for resources to reverse cognitive decline as mentioned in the article by Dale E. Bredesen titled "Reversal of cognitive decline: a novel therapeutic program, www.impactaging.com.
Currently I am working for Kala with Rehab Care at Leewood Healthcare and Rehab Center, America's premier rehab company working hard to get our residents back in action after strokes, fractures, operations, cognitive decline. Hoping to work with Dr. Mary Wykle on the initiation of a Pool Program for Wounded Warriors in the Northern Virginia area using "Z gravity harnesses", movable floors, underwater treadmills, dry suits, wet suits, maximum absorbency garments to show that we can make rehab affordable, predictable, and profitable even for geriatric clients as we bring them back to prior level of function regardless of cognition.
There are so many who have helped to shape my intellectual development as a PTA, and a writer, that I feel called upon to evoke the Iambic Pentameter [[30]] of William Shakespeare's [[31]] "Ode to Friendship" to thank those mentioned above and those who will help in the future! [[32]]
Shakespeare Love Sonnets
Sonnet 29 "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes"
When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself, and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd, Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least: Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee,--and then my state (Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate; For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings'.
William Shakespeare(1564 - 1616)
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