10 minute read
New Doctors
Jeffrey Balazsy, MD, is a board-certified and fellowship-trained adult and pediatric orthopedic surgeon and orthopedic trauma surgeon. Dr. Balazsy comes to Memorial from McLaren Medical Center-Macomb in Mt. Clements, Michigan. Jeffrey Balazsy, MD • Orthopaedic Surgeon • Orthopaedic Trauma Surgeon
Dr. Balazsy received his bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Cleveland State University. He has a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine degree from Ohio College of Pediatric Medicine and he received his medical degree from Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine.
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His post-graduate training includes a pediatric surgical residency at St. John Macomb Center, an orthopedic surgical residency at William Beaumont Hospital and an orthopedic trauma fellowship at MetroHealth Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Dr. Balazsy is board-qualified in reconstructive surgery of the foot and ankle. He is board-certified by the American Board of Pediatric Surgery, American Board of Orthopedic Surgeons and a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He is also a member of the American Podiatric Medical Association, American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Faculty Member of AO North America, Florida State Medical Society, Ohio State Medical Society, Michigan State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association.
Lake Charles Memorial Hospital 1717 Oak Park Boulevard, 3rd Floor 337.494.4900 www.lcmmg.com
Farjaad Siddiq, MD, FACS, is a board-certified and fellowship-trained urologist. He grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. After graduating summa cum laude from Providence College, he obtained his medical degree from Brown University, graduating among the top of his class. His post-graduate training includes a general surgery internship and then a urology residency at Brown University and Affiliated Hospitals. He completed a fellowship in endourology, laparoscopy, and robotic surgery at the University of Miami. Farjaad Siddiq, MD • Urologist
Dr. Siddiq specializes in minimally invasive urologic surgery using the da Vinci surgical system. He was one of the first physicians in Louisiana to offer robotic prostatectomy for prostate cancer, performing the first da Vinci prostatectomy in Lake Charles in 2006. This revolutionary technique to urological surgery allows for quick recovery and less scarring. Dr. Siddiq has extensive experience in laparoscopic and robot surgery involving: kidney, prostate and bladder cancers, as well as urologic reconstructive procedures.
Dr. Siddiq treats all urological conditions such as BPH, low testosterone, infertility, ED, urinary incontinence and kidney stones. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member of the American Urological Association, the Endourology Society, Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons and the Society of Robotic Surgery.
12 Advanced Urology 1715 Wolf Circle in Lake Charles and 3924 Maplewood Drive in Sulphur 337.480.7499 www.lcmmg.com
Kim Poludnianyk, DO, is a board-certified and fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon and orthopedic trauma surgeon. She comes to Memorial from Bay Medical in Panama City, Florida. Kim Poludnianyk, DO • Orthopaedic Surgeon • Orthopaedic Trauma Surgeon
Dr. Poludnianyk received her medical degree from Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Her post-graduate training includes an internship at Mount Clemens Regional Medical Center in Mount Clemens, Michigan, an orthopedic surgery residency also at Mount Clemens and an orthopedic trauma fellowship at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio.
Dr. Poludnianyk is a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, American Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedics, American Osteopathic Association, Florida Medical Association, Michigan Osteopathic Association and Orthopedic Trauma Association.
Lake Charles Memorial Hospital 1717 Oak Park Boulevard, 3rd Floor 337.494.4900 www.lcmmg.com.
Matthew McCarley, MD • Orthopedic Hand Surgeon
Matthew McCarley, MD, is a fellowship-trained orthopedic hand surgeon. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Texas at Austin. He received his medical degree from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in Lubbock. His post-graduate training includes an orthopedic residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and a fellowship in hand surgery at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
Dr. McCarley is a candidate member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. His office is located inside
Lake Charles Memorial Hospital 1717 Oak Park Boulevard, 3rd Floor 337.494.4900 www.lcmmg.com
Matthew Burton, MD • Neurosurgeon
Neurosurgeon Matthew Burton, MD, is a native of Lake Charles and has a degree in biological science from McNeese State University. He received his medical degree from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport.
His post-graduate training includes a neurosurgery residency at the University of Missouri. Dr. Burton is also a published researcher.
Lake Charles Memorial Hospital 2770 3rd Avenue, Suite 110 337.494.4747 www.lcmmg.com
A FRESH LOOK
NEW ROOMS & BATHROOMS
Memorial is investing in patient comfort with a floor-by-floor complete renovation on the patient tower. Currently, the 4th floor of the tower is undergoing a transformation with all new rooms, bathrooms and nurse stations. The remodel was designed by Memorial nurse leadership to be the most beneficial for patient care. The 7th floor is next on the renovation list with the other floors to follow. Please bear with us as we undergo this transformation for you!
The 4th floor of the patient tower is transforming, with the 7th floor coming next!
BUTTERFLY GARDEN OPENS
A new space for patients and visitors has undergone a transformation. The Butterfly Garden at Memorial Hospital has officially opened, providing an area where visitors can come to relax and enjoy a nice space outdoors. It is made possible by donations from Memorial staff through The Foundation at Lake Charles Memorial’s Give A Day program. The mural was done by local artist Candice Alexander and the sidewalks and benches were done by local artist Susan Hebert.
Mary Anning is one of my favorite heroines. Hers is a story of courage in the face of adversity and a woman with a pioneer spirit. Set in the Victorian Era, her story is akin to the plight of women in Pride and Prejudice, which required women to be strong willed, tenacious, and have a determination to persevere. Mary was born in 1799 into a poor family in Dorset on the coast of southwest England. Her parents had ten children, all of them save Mary and her older brother Joseph, died in infancy. When Mary was just 11 years old, her father, a cabinet maker, died. This left Mary and Joseph responsible to care for their mother and pay off their father’s debt.
Mary had very little education. Like many children of that time, she learned to read and write in Sunday School of a Congregationalist Church. Later, she taught herself mathematics and geography. Mary gazed at the ocean and all the shells which had washed up onto the beach. She and her brother began collecting them and selling them to tourists; much the same as you and I might buy if we were to go shopping at the tourist shops along the beach at Galveston Island.
Mary’s work wasn’t very profitable, but at age 11, she and her brother who was 16 at the time, managed to pay the rent and the inherited debts. Then, Joseph received a job as an apprentice to become an upholsterer. This left Mary alone to care for her mother and pay down the remainder of her father’s debts. One day Mary noticed something along the coast that other people had overlooked. She saw the fossilized remains of strange creatures. She had read about them in books she borrowed. Bones of this sort had been found in Germany and France, but not in England. She was only 12 years old when she uncovered the fossil of an Ichthyosaur, an ancient extinct marine reptile, fully intact. Later she found the fossilized skeleton of a Plesiosauris diolichoderius. At first she thought it was a flying creature, but later discovered it was a different type of marine reptile she had never found before.
Mary then employed a more scientific way of excavating ancient fossils. She developed a grid system and used a trowel and a brush
Rev. Dr. David DeWitt Director of Pastoral Care
for excavation. These methods are still used today. She began to hypothesize that the earth might be older than the roughly 6,000 years of age as determined by dating the age of the earth utilizing the King James Version of the Bible. The Royal Society and the clergy brushed her aside. This was 20 years before Darwin wrote the Origin of Species in 1859. In those days people didn’t know species went extinct. They thought they just moved to different areas.
Mary tried in vain to present her findings to the Royal Society in London, but was turned away because she was a woman. The society told her that women were not capable of being scientists. Although rejected, there were some men in the society who realized she was on to something. They moved in like vultures. Nefarious men would buy fossils from Mary at dirt cheap prices. They would then take the fossils to London and sell them at auction at extravagantly high prices. Some men bought fossils and Mary’s sketches and claimed they had unearthed them and claimed credit for the drawings and presented them at the society where they won medals and honorary prizes. None the less, Mary kept working. She had to; this had become her livelihood, even though she knew she was being taken advantage of. It was finally Swiss Paleontologist Louis Agassiz who came to her rescue.
I have to say Memorial’s stroke team is amazing. When I had my stroke a month ago, from the time the ambulance got there, it took the team a total of 12 minutes to access and get the TPA drug to me and, because of this team, I have fully recovered. I still have a few issues, but with time hopefully that will all heal. This team was very quick, caring and efficient and because of God and this team, I am forever grateful & blessed.
Sheryl Renee Lake Charles
Letters
Dig Deep and Find the Treasures of Life, cont’d.
He began to buy her fossils at full fair market value and drove up the price of her work. Finally, things began to pay off. The Royal Society then awarded her £25 as an annual pension and to provide financial security for the work she had done. Those who had stolen her work and her name had to retract their claims, awards and medals and give credit to Mary.
But for as much as Mary was known for her fossils, she was known for her kindness and her generous spirit. Even in her most difficult days, she gave to others. She went through the town and made sure people had money to buy food and pay their rent. Times were hard. Unknown to everyone, the volcanic eruptions of Pago, Mount Tambora and, yes, even Mount St. Helens in the early and mid 1800’s created a cloud of ash and dust which caused very cold temperatures for England and other countries. The result was a short growing season and in some cases no crop season and numerous crop failures. What little grain which was grown was diverted to the troops fighting in the Napoleonic wars. There are times when life can seem unfair and be unfair. All of us must work hard to afford groceries, pay rent or a mortgage, pay for our vehicles, and the other bills seem to just pile up. Times were hard for Mary in so many ways. But in those hard times, Mary “Dug In” so to say and quite literally, she dug into the cliffs.
I believe, buried deep inside each of us, there is treasure just waiting to be found. When life is tough, that becomes a time for us to dig deeper in our faith and dig deeper in prayer. As we weather the storms of life, we can make it and prevail with kindness, gentleness, love, hospitality, and humility. So dig in, there is a wealth of treasure within you that can help you and can be shared with others to help them.
