STIRRING UPIT

LEESBURG ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEON JOHN T. WILLIAMS

MIXING MUSIC AND MEDICINE COMES NATURALLY FOR

WRITER: MARY ANN DESANTIS // PHOTOGRAPHER: FRED LOPEZ

Aging Baby Boomers may have thought they were having a flashback to a 1970s reggae concert when “John Truth and Reflexx” hit the stage in February at the Lake-Sumter Community College Paul P. Williams Auditorium. While some concert goers were amazed at how much the lead singer looked and sounded like the legendary Bob Marley, others may have thought he vaguely resembled a local physician.

The truth is ‘John Truth’ is really Dr. John T. Williams, Jr., an orthopaedic surgeon with Tri-County Orthopaedic Center in Leesburg. A well-respected orthopaedic specialist by day, Williams channels the Bob Marley persona with ease when he’s on stage, especially when it’s for a good cause. February’s concert was a benefit for the Carver Middle School Mentoring Program, which Tri-County Orthopaedic Center has supported for several years.

“I’m a big Bob Marley fan and I have similar philosophies to the ones Bob believed and sang about such as peace, love, prosperity, and anti-exploitation of people,” says Williams who moved to Leesburg from Philadelphia, Pa., seven months ago. “His philosophies also included a respect for nature and our planet.”

As a child and teenager, Williams spent summers with friends of his parents in Nassau, Bahamas. The couple had a son about the same age who introduced him to reggae music and the Caribbean culture.

“I’ve always liked all types of music, but at age 30 my brother gave me a CD-set of Bob Marley songs,” says Williams, now 47. “The music, the lyrics, Marley’s philosophy… it just clicked for me and became part of my soul.”

Williams loved to sing and even performed with his high school choir. But his education came first, and it was long after graduation from the Howard University School of Medicine and his fellowship training before he even learned to play a guitar.

“At age 40, I signed up for guitar lessons,” he says with a chuckle. “I had rhythm and could sing, so I picked it up pretty quickly.”

Williams mostly played for friends and co-workers. Occasionally, he performed his Bob Marley repertoire in a small Philadelphia lounge. He told one of his knee replacement patients about his act, and she insisted that he go to hear her son’s rhythm and blues band at another Philadelphia club.

“The band performed many songs from the ‘70s and ‘80s, and I asked them if they’d be willing to back me up on some Bob Marley songs,” remembers Williams. “That was six years ago and that’s how John T. and Reflexx came together.”

The band became quite well-known around Philadelphia for its Bob Marley tribute concerts. And like Williams, the band members have other fulltime careers. Alicia Burns, one of the back-up singers, is a registered nurse at Albert Einstein Medical Center, where Williams was the director of the total joint replacement program for 11 years. Other band members’ professions include teaching, social work, barbering and welding to name a few.

“Only my keyboardist makes a living from music and that’s as a piano and guitar teacher,” says Williams.

In February, all the other seven band members and well-known Philadelphia radio personality Mimi Brown — a long time supporter of the band — came to Leesburg to help Williams with the benefit concert that raised money for Carver Middle School’s Mentoring Program.

Tri-County Orthopaedic Center has worked with the mentoring program at Carver Middle School for six years to educate students about orthopaedics and professional opportunities. Last year, the Center sponsored an allexpense paid trip for Carver’s honor students to the Zimmer Corporation in Indiana to see how orthopaedic implants are made.

“Some of these children had never been outside of Leesburg, much less on an airplane,” said Dr. Alfred J. Cook, Jr., who was one of the hosts for the trip. “The mentoring program is a bigger calling for all of us because it gives back to the community and helps these kids who don’t have a lot of opportunities to learn about various professions.”

Dr. J. Mandune Kerina, founder and director of TriCounty Orthopaedic Center, hopes the benefit concerts will become an annual event, but in the meantime he’s glad Dr. Williams’ first priority is treating patients.

“John is a brilliant specialist who has helped many patients regain their quality of life through surgical and non-surgical treatments. We are lucky to have him,” says Dr. Kerina. “He just happens to be a talented musician, too.”

Assuring others that medicine is his first love is nothing new for Williams.

“At age 42, when I started doing shows, my mother was worried that I’d give up my medical career,” he says with a laugh. “I assured her that I no intention of throwing away all my years of training and my medical practice. Now my parents are very supportive.”

Williams hopes that his colleagues and patients who attended his concert in February will want to see more.

The Philadelphia-based band members are willing to return for future concerts, especially those benefiting Carver Middle School students.

“We pride ourselves on giving concerts that resemble a real Marley concert,” says Williams, who has been married 16 years to his wife, Tina, and has an 11-year-old son, TJ. “A lot of people who saw Bob Marley perform live tell us that we’d definitely have his approval.”

Is there hope in sight for Creed Pettit?

Helen Keller once said, “The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched; they must be felt with the heart.”

Spend several moments with 3-year-old Gordon “Creed” Pettit and you’ll realize how much this quote rings true. The brown-eyed boy with curly brown hair enthusiastically embraces life by playing with his dog, Boris, or swinging on his swing set until his heart’s content. He also spends countless hours mastering the piano and can operate an iPad better than many adults. He loves playing Angry Birds and ruffling a few feathers.

These feats are extraordinary because Creed is legally blind. Last September, he was diagnosed with Leber’s congenital amaurosis (LCA), a rare, hereditary disorder that leads to retinal dysfunction and visual impairment. The disease affects 2–3 babies per 100,000 births and accounts for the cause of blindness in more than 20 percent of children attending schools for the blind, according to the Foundation for Retinal Research.

As of now, Creed can see light and dark shadows, but with any luck he may one day see the world as clearly as his peers. His parents, Ted and Sarah Pettit of Eustis, are hoping he is one of 24 children selected to undergo a Phase 3 clinical trial involving gene therapy replacement later this year. This treatment has shown very promising results in restoring the vision of LCA patients.

“Doctors and researchers have been treating the disease for 17 years,” Sarah says. “They’ve tested everyone ranging from age 5 to age 87. So far, the treatment has never failed.”

Life through his eyes

Creed was born January 6, 2009. During his first year, subtle clues appeared signalling the possibility of a health problem. His eyes remained gray for six months before changing to their natural color. When he was outside, Creed would enthusiastically play like any other boy. However, once he was inside, that joy quickly disappeared and he would endlessly stare out the window into the sunlight. He often bumped into furniture or tripped over items whenever he walked.

While seated at the dinner table, he would desperately feel around for his plate.

Concerned about the wellbeing of their child, the Pettits took Creed to a pediatric doctor and received a shocking diagnosis. They were told their son had autism. For two years, they drove Creed back and forth to autism therapy sessions. Curiously though, he never displayed the common signs or symptoms associated with autism in toddlers.

“His therapist raised doubts about Creed having autism,” Ted says. “As parents, we were also leery because he connected emotionally by giving us hugs and kisses all the time. He was a very sweet kid and very loving.”

Fueled by lingering doubt over his autism diagnosis, Sarah made videos of Creed walking. She sent the video to several ophthalmologists who recommended taking Creed to the nationally renowned Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami. Eye specialists there immediately diagnosed him with LCA. A blood sample was sent to Dr. Edwin Stone, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Iowa, for genetic testing.

In January, the Pettits received the results of the test, which revealed a mutation in the RPE65 gene. To date, RPE65associated LCA is the only form of the disease that has been tested in gene-therapy human clinical trials.

“At first, I was angry that he was misdiagnosed with autism,” Sarah says. “Looking back, though, I think it was a blessing in disguise. Had we not taken him to autism therapy, we wouldn’t have had anyone to tell us that he isn’t autistic. Now, we know what the problem is and there is a strong chance we can have the problem corrected.”

A cure in sight

After hearing the diagnosis, Sarah charged full-steam ahead acquiring knowledge about the disease and researching possible treatment options. Her efforts put her in contact with Dr. Christine Kay, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Florida who is active in LCA research. Dr. Kay informed Sarah of a Phase 3 clinical trial being performed in Iowa and Philadelphia specifically addressing defective mutations of the RPE65 gene. Creed’s parents are both carriers of the defective gene. The risk for two carrier parents to pass the defective gene and have an affected child is 25 percent.

Gene therapy involves injecting a viral vector carrying the normal RPE65 gene into the space under the retina, allowing integration of the normal gene into retinal cells. Researchers are hoping to perform the clinical trials on patients as young as 3-years-old to test the long-term effectiveness of the treatment. If selected, Creed and his mother would live in either Iowa or Philadelphia — the locations of the clinical test sites — for six months.

“I feel pretty good about our chances of being selected,” Sarah says. “I won’t know anything official until April, but Dr. Kay is really trying to push for us to be selected for participation in these trials, but inclusion criteria set by each clinical trial center must be met. She has been very helpful to us throughout this entire process.”

Until then, Creed continues receiving speech therapy and occupational therapy once a week. He also learns hand and motor skills at Lighthouse Central Florida, an Orlandobased school for vision impaired children. “When children have vision problems their senses are out of whack,” Ted says. “Kids learn to talk by watching your mouth move and mimic the shape of your mouth with the sounds you make. If you cannot see, it is hard to recreate that.”

At home, he utilizes a light box that helps promote basic visual skills, eye-hand coordination, and simple matching tasks. He has also memorized the layout of his home, helping him roam accident-free throughout the house. “Creed has been a brave boy throughout this entire process,” Ted says. “He has adapted to the disease, and it doesn’t seem to slow him down until it becomes dark outside. Then he finds a happy spot where he is comfortable.”

A clear vision

Watching their son battle this disease sparked a deep desire in the hearts of Ted and Sarah. They recently formed a foundation, “Creed’s Cause,” to raise much-needed funds for LCA research in hopes of helping all who suffer from this debilitating disease. On May 5 at 8a.m., the foundation is holding a 5k run/walk at Wooton Park in Tavares. They are currently seeking sponsorships for the event, and all proceeds will benefit the LCA research team at the University of Florida.

So far, they’ve received an outpouring of community support. “I’m amazed how caring and supportive people have been,” Sarah says. “One donor gave us $4,000, and we are so appreciative. Any money people could contribute would be invaluable. I cannot imagine what would go through Creed’s mind if he is someday able to see what his father, mother, grandparents and friends look like.”

No doubt, those who open their hearts and minds to this foundation will greatly contribute to helping vision-impaired children like Creed open their eyes to a beautiful world.

You can make a donation to the foundation by making checks payable to UF Foundation (please put “Creed’s Cause” on the check memo) and mailing to: University of Florida Foundation, ATTN: Troy Munn, P.O. Box 100243, Gainesville, FL 32610.

To learn more about Creed, visit creedscause.blogspot.com.

Healthy teeth can mean a healthy body. Every dentist will quickly tell you to take proactive measures to assure your teeth remain as healthy as possible, for as long as possible. Anyone with bridges, crowns, or dentures will quickly tell you that nothing replaces healthy, strong, natural teeth. So how can you make sure you are doing all you can to maintain healthy teeth and gums?

Healthy Diet

A healthy diet rich in vitamins and minerals will supply your body with the nutrients necessary to keep teeth strong and gums free of infection. The mineral fluoride is found in some foods, processed into many foods, and is usually added to municipal water supplies. This mineral has been found to reduce cavities by as much as 60 percent. Eat fluoride-rich foods and avoid sugar-laden foods.

Brush And Floss Regularly

Plaque is a thin film of bacteria that forms on the tooth’s surface between brushings. When you eat sugar-rich foods or simple carbohydrates, plaque bacteria break down the sugar into acids, which eat away tooth enamel, causing cavities. When plaque sits on the tooth surface without being removed, it forms solid mineral deposits called tartar. Tartar beneath the gum line leads to gingivitis and eventually to periodontitis, which may lead to tooth loss or loosening. The swelling and bleeding that accompany gingivitis also create a pathway for bacteria to enter the bloodstream, possibly causing infection that may lead to heart disease and, in some pregnant women, premature birth. Several studies have also linked periodontitis to diabetes. When it comes to brushing, brush your teeth at least twice daily, using a good American Dental Association approved toothpaste. Proper brushing with the good toothpaste helps remove debris and plaque, helping prevent acid buildup and averting associated dental problems. Remember, food and plaque-forming tartar can also be found deep in between teeth. Floss each time you brush and after meals when possible.

Visit Your Dentist

Regular dental checkups are a must. Your dentist will inspect your teeth, gums, mouth, cheeks, and tongue. The dentist will check for prob- lems with old fillings, bridges, or crowns and use x-rays to provide an early warning of possible cavity formation. Your dental hygienist will inspect and clean your teeth, especially along the gum-line, where problems can affect more than just your mouth. The hygienist will also thoroughly clean your teeth and remove all tartar buildup. Both your dentist and hygienist will make sure you are brushing and flossing correctly and will inspect your mouth for any signs of oral cancer. Your dentist will correct dental problems and get you on the road to better oral and better overall health.

Here are some area dentists who can help you keep a healthy and happy mouth.