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JULY 15, 2022
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uicide may not be a pleasant topic for discussion, but it is a subject that simply cannot be ignored. Suicide statistics are sobering and eye-opening. Nearly 46,000 lives were lost to suicide in the United States in 2020 alone. That year there were 1.2 million attempted suicides, but the number of adults who seriously contemplated suicide was well beyond ten times that number. If those figures seem harrowing, it’s not your imagination. It’s getting worse: suicide rates in 2020 were 30% higher than in 2000. Suicide is the second-highest cause of death for two huge segments of the population: among people from ages 25 to 34, and especially tragically, people aged 10 to 14. Think about that for a minute. What are some of the reasons for suicidal thoughts and attempted suicides, whether successful or not? Among children, home and school can be the trouble spots where abuse, neglect, violence and/or bullying lead to feelings of hopelessness so great that life seems too difficult to endure. For adults, family and marital troubles can be risk factors, as can legal and financial problems, job stress or loss of employment, along with illnesses, whether physical or mental. Both age groups can share some of the same risk factors, and both also have to face the stigma attached to suicidal thoughts. No one would be ashamed to admit they have a cold, the flu, or some other bodily illness, but many people are very reluctant and embarrassed to admit they might have a mental illness. In the same way that
someone who is self-treating appendicitis or a broken arm isn’t likely to have a successful outcome, so it goes with someone trying to self-treat a self-diagnosed mental illness. Something beyond amateur assistance is needed for a beneficial outcome. Having said that, anyone can (and everyone should) be a factor in preventing suicide. It’s kind of like the post-9/11 slogan, if you see something, say something. What are some of the clear warning signs we should all be alert to?
If someone is openly talking about wanting to die, believe them; don’t brush off such comments as idle talk. Similarly, talking about feeling hopeless, having no reason to live, or being a burden to others is a very good reason to initiate a conversation. Becoming withdrawn or increasing use of alcohol or drugs can also be warning signs. What should someone do who sees possible warning signs? An obvious first step would be talking to the person displaying the red flags you’re worried about. Let
SUICIDES
If you were in the middle of a full-blown emotional crisis, it might not be easy to remember how to call the National Suicide Prevention LifeLine. For years that number has been 1-800-273-8255 (sometimes expressed as 1-800-273-TALK). Starting tomorrow (July 16), the new way to access free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day nationwide will be 988. Callers will reach trained counselors who will listen, understand, provide support, and connect callers with resources when needed. 800-273-TALK will continue to be an active and available option. Both it and 988 reach the National Suicide Prevention LifeLine.
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them know you’re concerned, and that you are there for them to talk to at any time. Don’t be judgmental, or dismiss their concerns as irrational or trivial. Be open, honest and direct, but at the same time calm and tactful. Don’t be afraid to ask: are you considering hurting yourself? Some people think just mentioning the word suicide might plant the thought into the mind of the very person they’re trying to help. The experts say that is not something to worry about. Another initial step might be medical attention, especially if the person is in your family, like your spouse, sibling, or one of your children. An examination may well identify an underlying cause that can be treated. One other first or early response that can be taken is to call the National Suicide Prevention LifeLine at 988 or 1-800-273-8255. Their goal is suicide prevention. That usually means talking to people actively contemplating suicide, but it can also mean talking to concerned friends, family members, neighbors or co-workers who need confidential, expert advice on what they’re seeing and what to do about it to help someone else. The most important way to assist someone at risk (or to help yourself if you’re the one feeling suicidal) is to take action. Don’t ignore danger signs or brush off serious warnings as imaginary, or as issues that will just magically go away. Maybe they will, but leaving that to chance is a risky option. Life is precious. Lots of tomorrows are possible. + For a look at the issue of suicides among veterans, see page 3.
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THE FIRST 40 YEARS ARE ALWAYS THE HARDEST
PARENTHOOD by David W. Proefrock, PhD
Your 16-year-old son came home drunk last night. He claimed that he only had one beer, but he couldn’t even get in the house without falling down. You put him on restriction, but what else can you do? A. Keep him on restriction until you are sure he won’t be drinking anymore. B. Get him treatment for his alcohol problem. C. Have a long talk with him and impress upon him the dangers of alcohol before you let him off restriction. D. Let him off restriction in a week or two, but give him an earlier time to be home and monitor where he is and whom he is with much more closely than you have been. Give him more freedom as he proves his trustworthiness.
PART Z OF A 26-PART SERIES
IS FOR ZINC
Some of the important dietary elements required for good health are rather strange when you stop to think about them. Iron is a strong, hard metal used to make steel, and is figuratively used to describe means of confinement, as when someone is shackled in irons. The same element, however, is a vital component of good If you answered: health, and an iron-poor diet A. If you are really going to keep him on restriction until can lead to all kinds of health you are sure he won’t drink, he will be on restriction until problems. he goes off to college. Good punishments include an opporThe same kind of weirdness tunity to earn back privileges. is true of zinc. It’s crazy to B. This may be too serious a reaction since this is the first think of it as a key factor in a time you have been aware that he is drinking. salubrious life when you read C. You know he has heard this talk before, and you know the following, which is a direct how much good talks like this do. You should have it anyquote from the 7th edition of way, but the consequences need to be more than a lecture. Mosby’s Dictionary of Medicine, D. This is the best response. It sets consequences to show Nursing & Health Professions, that this behavior is unacceptable, but it gives him the opall 2,200+ pages of it: “[Zinc] portunity to earn back your trust and, therefore, his privileg- has many commercial uses, es. such as a protective coating for steel and in printing plates. It For teenagers, privileges should be linked to trust. The is an essential nutrient in the more they can be trusted, the more privileges they should be body and is used in numerous given. If they cannot be trusted, restrict their privileges; but pharmaceuticals.” It doesn’t make sure they have a chance to regain your trust and earn seem like those would be them back. + consecutive sentences — there Dr. Proefrock is a local retired clinical and forensic child psychologist. should be at least three or four paragraphs between them — but that’s exactly what they are: consecutive. Yet in some ways it all makes sense: zinc is used commercially as a coating (known as galvanizing) to protect iron and steel from rust
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JULY 15, 2022 and corrosion. Humans use zinc in very similar ways: as a surface coating to protect underlying surfaces from damage. The image below shows highly magnified (930x) zinc oxide crystals that are used in topical lotions to treat minor skin irritations. Tomato tomato (sort of). Another similar application (literally) of zinc comes in the opaque white sunblock sometimes seen on the noses of lifeguards, beach volleyball players, and others exposed to lots of sun. That usage is a close relative of the zinc oxide used as a pigment in white paint. So there are some parallels between the biological and industrial uses of this metallic element. Of course, as a living machine, there are plenty of ways the human body uses zinc that have no equal in commerce. It’s amazing to consider what is accomplished by a very small amount of zinc, a trace element in a salubrious diet — specifically, around 10 milligrams or so each day. To put that amount into perspective, one teaspoon of salt contains over 2,300 milligrams. So what does the body accomplish with a mere 8 to 10 milligrams of zinc per day?
More than 300 enzymes and a thousand different genetic communication factors (signaling proteins that transcribe information from our DNA to messenger RNA) depend on zinc to function properly. Zinc helps the brain’s all important plasticity (its ability to adapt to change) The biological roles of zinc are everywhere throughout the body. Zinc deficiency results in fatigue, decreased alertness, retarded growth and delayed onset puberty in children and sexual dysfunction in adult men, slow wound healing, loss of appetite, and greater susceptibility to infection and injury. On the other hand, too much zinc can cause headaches, nausea, diarrhea and stomach cramps. While there are various vitamin and mineral supplements on the market containing zinc, pure zinc supplements are probably unnecessary and unhealthful, or not to be taken until your doctor says it’s okay. Zinc gets a lot of attention for other benefits that are just emerging, or in some cases are not yet completely established clinically, like curing or preventing the common cold, boosting immunity, and preventing age-related macular degeneration. Research in these areas is ongoing. +
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JULY 15, 2022
SUICIDE AMONG VETERANS
THE BATTLE AFTER THE BATTLE One of the biggest and most important battles being fought by the US military is fighting its soaring epidemic of suicides among veterans. The problem has been widely reported nationally, but hits especially close to home in the Augusta area, home to Fort Gordon, since more than half of all suicides among all branches of the military involve Army personnel and veterans. The exact rate of military suicides can vary by the reporting agency, but a 2016 report by the US Department of Veterans Affairs pegged the number at an average of 20 per day. A 2013 study put the number at 22 per day, a number which has been used in a number of public awareness campaigns. A 2021 records review found that more than 30,000 active duty personnel and veterans who served after September 11 had died by suicide compared to “just” 7,057 service members who died in combat during those same 20 years. In other words, suicides were killing four times more troops than enemy bullets and bombs. Until recently, the exact causes of this scourge have been only suspected, but a study by the National Center for Veterans Studies (NCVS) at the University of Utah may have some specific answers. It was not a huge study, but it was a very meaningful one: each of the 72 participants (66 men and 6 women) had attempted suicide at least once. Collectively, the group had attempted suicide 136 times over their lives. Each of these soldiers was given a list of 33 possible reasons to choose from. They could pick as many as were accurate and appropriate. Illustrating the complexity of the problem, soldiers listed many reasons, an average of 10 per survey. (Side note: a recent Pentagon analysis found suicide rates to be highest — a rate of 19 per 100,000 — among troops who are divorced or separated, 24% higher than among single service members.) Of the 33 possible motives for attempting suicide, only one founds its way onto every veteran’s list: emotional relief, or the desire to end intense emotional distress. Three other leading reasons
were: • what researchers call feeling generation; the desire to feel something, even if it’s bad. • escape and avoidance, from feelings of guilt, shame, or worthlessness; and from other people. • to get attention; doing something dramatic “to let others know how I feel.” Uncovering the reasons for suicides, successful or not, is a key ingredient in prevention. Before participating in the study, most soldiers had answered the “Why did you do it?” question the very same way: because I wanted to die. The study managed to lead its participants to a profound realization: they did not actually want to die; what they really wanted was relief from emotional pain. Or just to feel something, even if it was pain; or to get away from people, or feelings of guilt and worthlessness; or to convince people that their misery was real. That knowledge led Craig Bryan, a psychologist and the associate director of the NCVS, to a simple yet profound route to suicide prevention: learn how to suffer in a way that doesn’t require you to die. There are ways to quell emotional distress that don’t require a funeral. There are ways to reawaken the feeling of being alive without ending that life. There are ways to get away from it all without getting away from it all. And there are ways to convey your pain to others without permanently losing the ability to feel both pain and pleasure. Past prevention initiatives focused on treating underlying illnesses like depression or PTSD, but the Utah study suggests it is far better to learn the skills needed to address the specific reasons for emotional pain head-on. Reworking and restructuring each person’s response to their personal suicide triggers individualizes the process, making success more likely. Help is available to every veteran at a moment’s notice. Just call 988 (or 1-800-273TALK), then press 1 for direct access to help specifically tailored for veterans and military service members. +
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I’M VACCINATED. IS IT SAFE FOR ME TO HANG OUT WITH MY UNVACCINATED FRIENDS? This is undoubtedly a question that has had a variety of different correct answers over the past two and a half years. During those dozens of months, the pandemic has evolved from a tiny blip on the radar to a feared and lethal worldwide plague, and now has gradually simmered down to a version that is not as deadly, but is sometimes just as fearsome. Two years ago when a friend was diagnosed as COVID positive, you hoped they would survive. That fear doesn’t surface as often as it used to, but there are still very compelling reasons to avoid this virus. What is often heard in 2022 are people who sail through their COVID experience like it was a bad cold. Or even a mild cold. But then six months later they tell you their senses of taste and smell are still whacky, or they have daily headaches, or no energy, or dizziness, or mental fog. Researchers continue to investigate other, more serious longterm side effects. After nearly two and a half years, it sometimes still seems like what we don’t know about coronavirus is greater than what we do know. This is most definitely a virus to be avoided, and in one form or another it isn’t going away. Ultimately, the question above has to be answered by each person or family individually, and hopefully that decision will be based on science and medicine, not a politician, a celebrity, or someone on TikTok. Factors to consider: is the occasion going to be outdoors or inside? Are you already a little bit less than healthy (or a lot less), or are you the very picture of robust health? What about others in your family or immediate circle? Are you the kind of person who is never sick, and therefore seems to have a very robust immune system? Is it possible you might bring something home that, while your immune system can handle easily, might present a problem for someone else in your household? There is wisdom in the advice to err on the side of caution. But does caution mean declining an invitation? Or does it mean going while wearing a mask? You’ll have to decide. +
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#169 IN A SERIES
Who is this? ON THE ROAD TO BETTER HEALTH A PATIENT’S PERSPECTIVE Editor’s note: Augusta writer Marcia Ribble, Ph.D., is a retired English and creative writing professor who offers her unique perspective as a patient. Contact her at marciaribble@hotmail.com by Marcia Ribble
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o, this man’s name wasn’t Google, but it could have been. The problem was that he was a walking talking Google before there was anything called Google. This is Kim Peek, born in 1951 in Salt Lake City, and by the time you’re finished reading this article you might consider that Google could have been called Peek. As in, “I’m not sure...let me Peek that.” Kim Peek was not just a savant — a person who can effortlessly perform intellectual tasks that would be impossible for ordinary people. Peek was described as a megasavant. As but one example, from the time he learned to read, Peek could simultaneously read both pages of an open book, the left page with his left eye, the right page with his right, and remember about 98% of what he read. That continued beyond children’s books into adulthood and books about weightier matters, including encyclopedias, which he could quickly buzz through and remember in great detail. He could scan through a thick book about history, geography, music, sports or some other subject in about an hour, and his impressive near-total recall was not like the often short-term memory invoked in cramming for a test; he was a long-hauler. He read at least 10,000 books in his lifetime and was often challenged to recall minute details about any of them, a feat he could easily accomplish. One of the problems with his perfect recall was his love of all things Shakespeare. If he attended a live performance of a play and one of the actors got so much as one word wrong, Peek would impulsively shout out the correct line. Peek could have also been the P in GPS: once he studied a map, he could provide precise directions to go from any Point A to any Point B depicted on that map. That also applied to atlases, entire books of maps. Like many savants, he could be given any date from very recent to centuries ago and tell you the day of the week for that date, and if it was within his lifetime, the weather on that day as well as the news that was in that day’s newspaper. Peek had an unfair advantage in accomplishing his feats of mental prowess: in effect he had two brains. Imaging studies of revealed the absence of the normal structures linking the brain’s two hemispheres. While this would normally create a disability, Peek’s brain was somehow able to compensate, building alternate pathways allowing information to pass between hemispheres, an essential capability since some brain functions are provided on only one side or the other. Peek also had macrocephaly (an enlarged brain), a condition which doesn’t translate to greater intelligence (Peek’s IQ was judged to be just 87), but which researchers said provided greater storage capacity for his prodigious reading and recall. A chance meeting between Peek and screenwriter Barry Morrow in 1984 resulted in the 1988 movie Rain Man, in which Dustin Hoffman played the role inspired by Peek. Morrow won an Oscar for his screenplay and gave the statuette to Peek; it has been called ‘The Most Loved Oscar Statue” because Peek took it everywhere and it has been held by more people than any other. Peek died of a heart attack in 2009 at age 58. +
My sister Pam died this past Tuesday evening. Her passing was peaceful, but too fast for us to be with her. That’s OK. What I have spent years loving about her is still profoundly a part of me. Pam is a part of my life that has been 77 years in the making, from the day she came home from the hospital as my first little sister until now. That she can no longer be physically present is sad, but she lives on in every bit of me. There is a song in the movie Rent after Angel dies entitled, “Seasons of Love” that asks, how can you measure the seconds, the minutes, the inches, the miles, the moments that add up to lives spent together, the love that develops, the knowledge that helps us to avoid hurting one another, the tenderness of being old together. There is no real way I can lose her, not without losing myself in that process, so I am taking her with me now. Pam is free of the body that gave her so much grief and hurt for all the years she bravely weathered with few complaints. She is free from the oxygen tube that gave us another year with her as her body began to give up. She was able to be with her daughter as she got married and will know that Sunny won’t be alone now. She is free from all the constraints like crutches that slowed her down. She taught 4th grade until she couldn’t manage that together with her gradual decline any longer. Can you imagine? She taught while needing to give herself IVs while at school. She taught when her legs would no longer support her, but her mind was still vigorous and beautifully intelligent. When the growing exhaustion would not allow her to teach any longer, she retired reluctantly. In her last year with us she left her apartment only to attend her daughter’s
wedding and to go to the hospital for the last time. I longed for her to be able to go places and do things like I could, but that was not to be. So now I carry her with me in the part reserved for her. This week I have taken her with me to bingo and we have won, which would have pleased her. I took her with me to a 4th of July party with a live music singalong she would have loved in life. And last night I took her with me to watch my new city’s fireworks, which were spectacular. I haven’t seen fireworks myself in years, and was delighted with varieties I’ve never seen before. Every year we watched A Capitol Fourth on PBS together, even though we were a thousand miles apart. We both loved the emotionally stirring sounds of the William Tell Overture. We both enjoyed the other parts of the show and then oohed and aahed at the fireworks. We talked on the phone almost every day, if only to inquire about one another’s health. But often to discuss what we were making for dinner. Or what our kids were up to. Or the latest in political craziness. Sometimes we only called one another because there was a word that stubbornly refused to come to mind. We watched Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune together. She was a Michigan fan. I am a Michigan State fan, and unless our teams were playing against one another, we cheered for both teams. We called one another if a show was on tv that the other might enjoy. Our last conversation was about the Supreme Court decision on abortion which stunned us both although it was expected. I watched A Capitol Fourth without her, but she was still a part of me even though she is gone now. I was there representing both of us, as I will be every hour of every day until I too am gone, and then we will be together again forever. +
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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER
ADVENTURES IN
Middle Age
DEAR READERS
BY J.B. COLLUM
me and asked what I thought he should do. He was worried about not being home to look out for his wife and children, and he worried that his work might be suffering. On the other hand, he also wanted to be there for his father and his mother. At that point, the doctors’ prognosis was not that his father would likely die the next day; they said he could last for many days or even weeks more. I told my friend he didn’t need to worry about work. He and I work for the same company, a company that really does care about their people, and he had managed to do a good job despite the hardships of his situation. With that in mind, I suggested he should put family first because we never know when it might be the last time we see our loved ones. He agreed and I really think he was just using me as a sounding board, a Jiminy Cricket perhaps, to make sure he was doing the right thing. As it happened, his father died the next day, as I mentioned earlier, so he was very glad that he stayed, for his mother’s sake if no one else. He should have no regrets because he did all he could for his father, but like me and like so many others in this situation, he is having a hard time letting himself off the hook. I keep trying to reassure him, and I hope that I am making some headway, but I know how he feels. With time, I have gained some perspective in regard to my father’s death, but even with the benefit of the passage of time, I still have doubts and regrets pop up in my thoughts. It can be hardest in the darkest part of the night as I lie in bed and feel like the darkness is going to swallow me up. But eventually, the morning comes, the sun rises, its light fights its way inside, around and through the blinds, reminding me that life goes on. I get to experience another day, and the best I can do in honor of my father is to remember him, to imitate his good qualities, live a good life, take care of family and friends, and show love to all. +
{
I try to keep this column as light as possible, but considering the serious nature of being middle aged and the maladies and tragedies endemic to aging, there will sometimes be columns like this one. Yesterday morning a dear friend of mine lost his father to our ageold enemy, death. His father was 86 years old and, unlike my father, still at least had all his mental faculties right up until he breathed his last. I must admit to envying him having that one good aspect to his experience, but then again, perhaps it also makes it more tragic. I knew my father spent a lot of his time frustrated with us and his failed memory, and more and more toward the end he would get into an agitated state despite our best efforts to placate him. It was a struggle. Despite these differences, I could really identify with a lot of what my friend has been going through over the past few months, as I too spent a lot of time with my father in multiple hospitals last year in the final few months of his life as his health continued to spiral downward. Like my friend, no doubt, I was hoping for a recovery and fooling myself into believing it was possible. We had to limit visits to one person at a time back then due to their Covid-19 rules — one person per day — so when someone agreed to that, it was a real commitment. I still can’t thank my kids enough for all the time they spent at the hospital, even overnight in some cases. I have good kids. They’re all in their thirties, but they’re still kids to me. I’ve spent a lot of time with my friend on the phone, in Zoom, Facetime, or whatever was convenient, as he talked about how hard it was to see his father’s life slowly bleeding out of him. I did what I could, as best I could, considering we were hundreds of miles apart as he drove down to his parent’s home multiple times and spent weeks sitting by a hospital bed off and on in a rotation with his mother. He also managed to work during most of that time by taking his work laptop and balancing it on his knees while he listened to the health monitors as they beeped and trilled in time with the steady breathing of his dad as an additional signal that his father was still among the living. The day before his father died, he called
{
Life goes on until it doesn’t
J.B. Collum is a local novelist, humorist and columnist who wants to be Mark Twain when he grows up. He may be reached at johnbcollum@gmail.com
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ONE OVERHEAD DOOR IS GOOD
by Kim Beavers, MS, RDN, CDCES Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Chef Coach, Author Follow Kim on Facebook: facebook.com/eatingwellwithkimb
SHEET PAN SHRIMP & GREEN BEANS This meal is delicious! You may have some of the peanut sauce leftover. No worries. Simply make more veggies and dip away!
TWO ARE ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS
Ingredients • 1-pound shrimp • 3 cups green beans (trimmed) • 1 tablespoon organic canola oil • ½ tablespoon light soy sauce • 1-pound shrimp peeled • 1 tablespoon lime juice • ¼ teaspoon salt • ¼ teaspoon pepper Sauce • ¼ creamy peanut butter • ¼ cup warm water • 1 tablespoon light soy sauce • 1 tablespoon lime juice • 1 teaspoon chili garlic paste (use more if you like it spicier) Instructions Preheat the oven to 400°. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Spread the green beans out on the prepared pan, drizzle with oil and soy sauce and
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mix with hands or stir to combine. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the shrimp with lime juice and salt and pepper in a medium bowl. After the ten minutes is up add the shrimp to the pan with the green beans and cook for 5 minutes. In another medium bowl combine the sauce ingredients and stir until smooth. Serve the shrimp and
green beans drizzled with peanut sauce over rice. Yield: 4 Servings (Serving size: 4 ounces shrimp, ¾ cup green beans, 1 tablespoon sauce) Nutrition Breakdown: Calories 190, Fat 9g, Cholesterol 145mg, Sodium 900mg, Carbohydrate 9g, Fiber 3g, Protein 19g. Diabetes Exchanges: 1 Vegetable, 2½ Lean Meats +
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WHAT’SYOURSTORY? Nearly all of us — even doctors and nurses — are sometimes patients. Perhaps you were recently injured playing your favorite sport, or years ago you somehow got hurt without even leaving your favorite recliner. Maybe you have a personal COVID-19 story or one involving your family. Maybe you were diagnosed with a dreaded disease, were mugged in a dark and lonely parking lot, or you stubbed your toe in the safety of your own bedroom. On the other hand, perhaps you needed medical attention 5,000 miles from home. Whatever your medical experience, we’d like to hear your story for our Medicine in the First Person feature. It can be frightening or funny, ordinary or extraordinary, just a few paragraphs long or quite a lengthy tale, bylined or anonymous. We’ll publish your medical adventures as often as we receive them. Hopefully that will be often. + Send your submissions for Medicine in the First Person to the Augusta Medical Examiner via e-mail: info@AugustaRx.com or to PO Box 397, Augusta, GA 30903-0397. (The Medical Examiner reserves the right to accept, reject, or edit any submission at its sole discretion.)
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A CASTLE? OR A CAGE?
Faith Hill sings a song borrowing an English idiom from the 17th century, entitled A Man’s Home Is His Castle. It is written from the standpoint of a wife abused by her alcoholic husband and the hell on earth she is going through when he’s drunk. It ends with the line “His home is his castle and mine is a cage.” It is just this picture that the 6th Dimension of the ASAM (American Society of Addiction Medicine) Criteria addresses, the Recovery Environment. If a person completes the best treatment program in the world and returns to a toxic living environment, he or she has a poor chance of maintaining sobriety. I personally know of cases in which the wife would complain in our family workshop, “I liked him better when he was drinking! He used to stay home and I’d pour his drinks for him, an
ounce an hour, and get him to work in the mornings. And now he’s gone…gone to AA meetings in the evenings, gone to talk to his sponsor, gone to Aftercare and I’m home…alone.” More than one marriage has fallen apart when husband and wife are now on different wavelengths. Which is why family recovery is so important. Just as there is a program for the alcoholic, there is also a program for the family in the format of Al Anon, Nar Anon, Celebrate Recovery, et al. everybody must get well in order for the recovering alcoholic to have a fighting chance at a new life. Often I’m amused by families who in desperation and anxiety ask me “What is your program’s recovery rate?” Of course everybody wants to hear 99 or 100%, but industry statistics report about the same rate of
success no matter what the program is. So I often reply, “What figure would you like to hear? If I have a poorly motivated young woman with several children who is mandated to treatment by DFCS and returns home to a using or alcoholic husband in a neighborhood saturated with partying and drugs, I’ll give you a 5% chance. On the other hand, if I have an employed male with a supportive family and job who follows all discharge recommendations such as self-help group attendance and Aftercare, and with no family history of alcoholism I’ll give you a 95% chance.” Point being, only God knows and He’s not telling! There are those who defy all odds. I know of a case 30+ years ago in which a man completed treatment at a local facility and then got a job at a liquor store!
Statistically I would’ve given him a 99% chance of failure. Not! He later came to me and wanted a job…I told him to go to college and get an education and I’d consider it. He did! I went to his graduation and took pictures for the family, hired him as a counselor in training, and in a little over two years he took the state test to become a Certified Addiction Counselor and remained so until his retirement a couple of years ago. He ended up going into business for himself teaching citizens with DUIs how to avoid making such errors in judgment in the future. I will spare you other such stories but there are a few. Did I say, a few?!?! And there are those who complete a treatment program and don’t want to return home because their home is not a castle but a cage — sometimes a raging cage — and the one in re-
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THIS IS YOUR BRAIN A monthly series by an Augusta drug treatment professional
covery is the only clean and sober one there. For those, there are extended recovery programs in the form of halfway houses, work programs, recovery residences, and safe homes (see oxfordhouse. org for examples). With the desire (and the need) to surround oneself with a safe living environment there is no reason for anyone to be left behind. Plan A being to return home to a positive living environment. Growing up, by the time I was 16 years old I had lived in both – a cage and a castle. The castle was better. Did I say, better?!?! +
JULY 15, 2022 M E DICI N E
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T H E
F I R ST
PE R SON
The Gown with the Split I
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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER
was sitting here minding my business, just letting my brain go slack, When in comes a nurse with a smile on her face and a gown that was split down the back,
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“Take a shower,” she said, “and get ready, then ease on into this sack.” But what she was really talking about was the gown with the split down the back. “We’ll need to do some tests,” she said. Will they stretch me out on a rack, With nothing twixt me and the cold, cruel world but a gown that’s split down the back? In the front I’m barely decent. In the sides there’s also a lack. But by far the greatest shortcoming is that doggoned split down the back! The guy had some sense of humor who designed this little strip tease, But I fail to see anything funny when it’s my fanny feeling a breeze! I hear them coming to get me, the wheels going clickety-clack, I’ll ride through the halls on a table, in a gown with a split down the back. When I get to heaven I won’t really care, if my robe is white, red or black, But I’m down on my knees and prayin’ for one with no split down the back! +
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CRASH
JULY 15, 2022
CONGRATULATIONS!
COURSE
More Americans have died on US roads since 2006 than in World Wars I & II combined
T
people who study the way grown-ups drive. here is a new catch phrase in the lexicon of traffic safety, and our calendars say we Teenagers have no monopoly on risky driving habits. Adult drivers really should know are right in the middle of it. better, but they have one advantage, and it’s The American Automobile Association a slim one: they have more experience. True, (AAA) Foundation for Traffic Safety has that experience should tell them not to set christened the period between Memorial Day bad examples, but as is true in any endeavand Labor Day as the “100 Deadliest Days.” or, experience can be useful in coping with But not for just anyone. Unfortunately, that emergencies and unexpected situations, in stretch of time is the deadliest for the newest this case on the road. drivers on the road: teenagers. What can be done to make summer the There are a number of reasons why this “100 Less-Deadly Days”? is true - more about those in Pretty much every teenager one moment — but first, it’s STUDIES SHOW: has a parent or two, and they worth noting that these 100 are presumably doing their days are not exclusively about • Teen drivers are responsible job of guiding and supervising teen drivers. AAA research for about 500,000 crashes in their kids in a conscientious found that about two-thirds the US each year. manner when it comes to of the time, people other than • More than half of fatal accidriving. That means setting the driver are the ones killed dents involving teens happen on rules and enforcing them. For or injured when a teen driver Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. instance, the National Safety crashes. • More than 40% of fatal teen Council recommends that for Whatever the ages of the wrecks happen after 9 pm the first six months after teens accident victims, in the annual • Teenage crash rates increase get their license there should 100 days from 2008 to 2018, as the number of teen passenbe a zero-tolerance policy more than 8,300 people died gers increase. when it comes to passenin crashes involving teenage • The fatal crash risk for gers — except for mom and drivers. Over the past five 16-19-year-olds is triple the rate dad. Driving with a carload of years, the annual death toll of drivers over age 20. fellow teens is another way to during the 100 Deadliest Days • Failure to wear a seat belt is describe the term “distracted from teen-involved crashes listed as the major contributor driving.” Parents need to make has averaged 700 people; this to death in 50% of teen crash sure this rule is established, time period sees deaths at a + fatalities. well-known, and enforced. 17% higher rate than during Speaking of distracted the rest of the year (counting driving, parents should discuss a strict no teen-driver crashes only). texting, no cell phone policy with their new What’s behind the heightened risk for teenage drivers. Perhaps the conversation teens (and potentially any other drivers in could be about where to put the phone before their vicinity)? turning the key: in the backseat; inside the On the most simple and basic level, it’s glove compartment, or even in the trunk. Be summertime. School’s out, teens out. Sumclear about the consequences of breaking this mer is traditionally a time for increased drivrule: they could lose their driving privileges ing for all age groups, and it’s no different for a period of time, either because you took for teenagers. By definition, teenagers are the the keys, or because they are recuperating in most inexperienced drivers on the road, and some hospital. for that reason AAA says they are at greater The whole cell phone while driving thing risk for collisions every day of the year. That is, lest we forget, against the law. In Geormakes the even higher numbers at this time gia it’s illegal to so much as touch a celluof greater concern. lar device while driving (unless it is to use Of course, there are specific risk factors, navigation or call 9-1-1). Judging by casual and they are probably somewhat predictobservation in traffic, this law is about as able. According to fatal accident reports, scrupulously observed as speed limits - which the #1 contributing factor is speeding. The is not much. second-most common offense in the moEven little kids are very aware of the hyments before a fatal crash is texting (reading pocrisy behind do as I say, not as I do, and or sending), followed, logically enough, by teenagers are even more so. So parents, setred light running. The rest of the top deadly offense list is aggressive driving, drowsy driv- ting a good example when it comes to observing speed limits and not using your phone ing, and driving without a seatbelt. Boys and girls, you may have learned some when driving will go a long way toward improved compliance by your teen driver, and of these dangerous driving habits from mom that compliance could very well save lives. + & dad. That list looks pretty familiar to
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JULY 15, 2022
the blog spot — posted by Joe Bocka, MD, on September 5, 2019 (Edited for space)
FROM DOCTORS TO NURSES: THANK YOU Earlier this year, I asked a group of nurses what gifts doctors could give that would help them know they are appreciated. There were hundreds of comments that included things I expected: Food (pizza, chocolate, cake, tacos, bourbon, Starbucks, healthy snacks), pens, cash, and/or gift cards for all shifts. There were some interesting “high end” ideas: Massages or a massage chair. Trips. Cars. Stethoscopes. Some still make me shake my head and cry: “Don’t yell at us. If we make a mistake that needs to be addressed, please do it in a way that is respectful, not in the hall or nurses’ station in front of God and everybody.” “No verbal or sexual abuse.” “Talk to us. None of the Dr’s at my office even say hello to us. They don’t eat lunch with us. It’s as if they don’t even see us.” “Once a doctor told me I was a great nurse. It will remain the nicest heartfelt thing a doctor has ever done for me.” “I could count on one hand the number of times I heard a meaningful thanks from a doctor or an administrator.” Wow. Just wow! Just a simple thanks and respect were clearly the top-two gifts asked for. Honest, personalized, respectful, look-me-in-my-eyes-andcall-me-by-my-name appreciation and thanks for the big and little things and jobs well done given all year round — not just for one day or one week. I know I can’t express these two to most nurses in person. I wish I could at least handwrite a personalized note to the majority, but that’s not possible either. The best I can do is to have you imagine that the following words will be seen by the hundreds of nurses I have had the privilege of working with. Thanks for being you and for being the hands, heart, voice, and face of medical care. Thanks for the times you went all out to help turn around a patient trying to die in front of you. Thanks for the kindness and care you continued to give to patients who had just died (and their family and friends). Thanks for helping some patients abide by their wishes to not prolong their life heroically and for helping them die peacefully. Thanks for all the times you saved my butt that I knew about. And even more for the times I never knew about. Thanks for cleaning the butts of more patients than you ever dreamed you would. Thanks for helping give some dignity to those who are at your mercy to take care of their basic needs. Thanks for taking overflowing bedpans to the dirty utility room – often while needing to hold your breath. Thanks for staying over to complete your care when you didn’t need to and may not even have gotten paid for doing so. Thanks for telling me/us that I/we did the best we could when death defeated our efforts. Thanks for taking verbal, physical, and emotional abuse from patients who didn’t realize what they were doing — and even more so from the ones that did. Thanks for turning angry people into understanding people. Thanks for being there when I had a down day. Thanks for thanking and respecting me at the times when I really needed it. Thanks for needed (group) hugs. Thanks for all the times you’ve made me laugh. Thanks for sharing your valued opinions. Thanks for quietly telling me when I have two different shoes on or when my zipper is down. Thanks for praying. Thanks for teaching me so much about medicine and about life. I am sorry for all the times I didn’t thank you or show you the respect you deserve — especially when you really needed it. Thanks! Spread that powerful, simple word along. +
Thank you
Joe Bocka is an emergency physician.
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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER
From the Bookshelf This installment of From the Bookshelf doesn’t set a record for the oldest book we’ve discussed in this space (we have previously reviewed Louisa May Alcott’s 1863 book Civil War Hospital Sketches, after all), but it’s definitely not a new release: its original publication dates all the way back to 1940s. It is a father’s moving tribute to the all-too-brief life of his son, Johnny, who succumbed to a brain tumor in 1947 at the tender age of 17. What is amazing about this sad tale is that it ultimately doesn’t read as a sad tale. To be sure, it has plenty of heart-wrenching moments. As anyone who has experienced serious illness can attest, the experience is a roller coaster ride in many ways. There is the inevitable roller coaster of emotions, and they are experienced differently by each person involved (and visited and often repeatedly revisited). Many times medical treatment itself offers another wild ride: will this work? Yes, it was successful!
No, it wasn’t after all. The condition has returned or reappeared. As you already know, this book doesn’t have a happy ending. But it has remained popular for many decades because its message rings true for so many people. Readers facing a lifethreatening illness will be inspired by the tremendous strength and courage and optimism of Johnny Gunther as he faced a diagnosis that from Day One he knew to be terminal. That didn’t stop him, however, from working diligently to keep up with his high school studies. It didn’t stop him
from continuing to prepare for the start of fall classes at Harvard, where he had been accepted prior to the discovery of his tumor. His determination and fight in the face of all the indignities and setbacks a serious illness can throw at a person is food for thought for those days when we moan about burnt toast or hitting a red light when we’re late. The message of Johnny’s parents is also powerful and important. Although divorced, they were both intimately involved in his care during the entire saga of his treatment. Although John Gunther wrote the book, his ex-wife, Frances, adds some of its most memorable content. This may not be a book for everyone, but those who read it often say it is one of the most unforgettable and powerful books they have ever read. + Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther; 224 pages, originally published in 1949 by Harper & Row; edition shown above published in April 2007 by Harper Perennial Modern Classics
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The Examiners
JULY 15, 2022
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Did you ever figure out a good anniversary present for your wife?
Not really.
by Dan Pearson
I don’t know. I did. I thought it would I hope you She’ s giving me be cool to give her She didn’t like that? the silent gave her something! treatment. lessons with a mime, but...
The Mystery Word for this issue: NYUJIR
Simply unscramble the letters, then begin exploring our ads. When you find the correctly spelled word hidden in one of our ads — enter at AugustaRx.com
© 2022 Daniel Pearson All rights reserved.
EXAMINER CROSSWORD
PUZZLE
ACROSS 1. Picnic pests 5. Studies before a test 10. Crusted wound-site blood 14. Trim 15. _________ County 16. Keep ____ on someone 17. Like some rains 19. Upon intro, sometimes 20. Type of surgery 21. Drunkard 22. Parter of Wynken and Blynken 23. Temporary fracture care 26. Straighten 29. Squander 32. Wreath of flowers 33. David Bowie hit 34. Late Augusta historian Ed 35. Unit of energy 36. Employee benefit prog. 37. Peach companion? 38. Churchill sign 39. Gone by 40. LA team 41. Inheritor 42. Gun 43. 03 44. Hospital areas 45. Lower canal or riverbed 47. ____-invasive 48. Mr. Floyd 49. Lower class 55. Leave out 57. Prepared, cooked, or served with spinach 58. Medicinal amount 59. Finished 60. High school woe 61. Exclamations of content 62. Relaxes 63. First or second ______
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by Daniel R. Pearson © 2022 All rights reserved.
S U D O K U
DIRECTIONS: Every line, vertical and horizontal, and all nine 9-square boxes must each contain the numbers 1 though 9. Solution on page 14.
by Daniel R. Pearson © 2022 All rights reserved.
DOWN 1. Oxidant beginning 2. _____ sign 3. Waterproof canvas 4. Odd 5. Member of the dog family 6. Religious practice 7. Related by blood 8. Flesh 9. Long-running NBC show 10. Sample lead-in 11. Projecting construction 12. Primary survey letters 13. Breast cancer check (abbrev.) 18. English public school 21. Consume 23. Agitates 24. Satellite of Neptune 25. Detroit team 26. Fear in country slang? 27. Encampment encircled by wagons or armored vehicles
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QUOTATIONPUZZLE
28. Make poor 29. Crazy 30. Gray 31. Type of holder? 34. Fad 37. Study suffix 41. Merchandise label 44. Damaged by much use 46. Palm fruits 47. Must have 49. Arm bone 50. Starts to drift off 51. Endure, suffer (poetic) 52. Augusta painter Ed 53. ______ Karenina 54. ______ Crossing (road sign) 55. Room within a harem 56. Extinct flightless bird 57. Sum charged
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O E E I C Y T E N N W I R B F O A N W O O O Y Y O R A V V R A T U R E O S G R H I A U by Daniel R. Pearson © 2022 All rights reserved
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— Morris Fishbein
DIRECTIONS: Recreate a timeless nugget of wisdom by using the letters in each vertical column to fill the boxes above them. Once any letter is used, cross it out in the lower half of the puzzle. Letters may be used only once. Black squares indicate spaces between words, and words may extend onto a second line. Solution on page 14.
Solution p. 14
Use the letters provided at bottom to create words to solve the puzzle above. All the listed letters following #1 are the first letters of the various words; the letters following #2 are the second letters of each word, and so on. Try solving words with letter clues or numbers with minimal choices listed. A sample is shown. Solution on page 14.
M I 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 F I 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4
P 1 2 3 4
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1.PHILIMMMITTTY 2.AAAEEHIMNOORS 3.KLUSOPEEFYI 4.PETPETOF 5.IWLR 6.ATEN 7.YAG 8.N 9.T
SAMPLE:
5 7 4 2 3 9 8 6 1
1. ILB 2. SLO 3. VI 4. NE 5. D =
L 1
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by Daniel R. Pearson © 2022 All rights reserved
WORDS NUMBER
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THE MYSTERY WORD
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JULY 15, 2022
AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER
THEBESTMEDICINE ha... ha...
J
esus walks into a tavern and sees a man sitting at the bar with a glass of water in front of him. “My son,” he says, “are you a believer?” “Nyet,” says the man. With a wave of his hand, Jesus turns the water into wine. “Do you believe now?” he asks. “Nyet,” answers the man. The next day, Jesus returns to the bar and sees the same man. “My son, are you a believer yet?” The Russian man again says no, and Jesus once again turns his water into wine. “Now you surely believe,” he says to the man, who only shakes his head now. On the third day, Jesus enters the bar and approaches the man one more time. “My son, you’ve seen my miracles for two days. Are you a believer yet?” The Russian looks up and says, “If I say yes, will you leave my vodka alone today?” Moe: What’s the difference between a northern fairy tale and a southern fairy tale? Joe: The northern ones start out, “Once upon a time,” but southern fairy tales begin, “Y’all ain’t gon’ believe this.”
An older man walked into the lobby of a vintage skyscraper in a big city. The elegant building was so old its elevators were still operated by attendants. The old man entered the elevator and remembered the drill, just like decades ago. “Fifteenth floor,” he said, without even being asked. The operator closed the elevator gate and doors and whisked the car up to the 15th floor where he reversed the procedure, opening the gates and doors. As the old man walked out the attendant said, “Have a nice day, son.” The old man stopped and turned to the attendant. “You have no right to call me son,” he said. “You’re not my father.” Taken aback, the attendant replied, “I brought you up, didn’t I?” Moe: How can I fix a broken tomato? Joe: Try tomato paste. Moe: People in my neighborhood were shooting fireworks way before the 4th and way after. Sometimes I wonder, how long should a celebration really be? Joe: About yay long, I’d say. Moe: A lot of great baseball players say their very first job was at a bakery. Joe: True. They make the best batters. A pessimist thinks the glass is half empty. An optimist thinks it’s half full. The truth is, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. +
Why subscribe to theMEDICALEXAMINER? Staring at my phone all day has certainly had no Effect on ME!
Because try as they might, no one can stare at their phone all day.
The
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Advice Doctor ©
Dear Advice Doctor, I guess this is a love life question if you answer those. I was dating this great girl for almost two years, but a couple weeks ago we broke up over a little argument. I was 100% sure we would get back together, but I had a rude awakening today: I found out she’s already seeing someone else! Do you think she’s just trying to make me jealous, or should I move on? — Torn at the moment Dear Torn, I’m so glad you took the time to write in about this. It’s an important subject that affects more people than most of us would realize. Of course, everyone likes to be awakened gently, but rude awakenings can be especially problematic for people who are sleepwalkers. There are all kinds of old wives tales about what happens when sleepwalkers are awakened, but the simple truth is that sleep walking — technically known as somnambulism — takes place during the deepest phases of sleep. Obviously someone walking around the house or even driving a car is not sleeping lightly. As a result, if they are awakened they can be extremely confused and disoriented, even violent, aggressive and combative. Because of this, experts with organizations like the National Sleep Foundation recommend the best course of action is to try to gently guide the person back to bed without waking them up, and with minimal physical contact, since that might awaken them. If efforts to return the person to bed are not successful, the next best option is to stay close by to make sure they don’t do anything to endanger themself. Although the common misconception is that you shouldn’t wake a sleepwalker, it can actually be very dangerous not to. The person could fall down a flight of stairs, for example. If you do have to wake up a somnambulist, don’t shake the person. You’re too close to them, and you could be injured by their confused and combative response. Instead, make a loud noise from a safe distance, then gently explain what happened and try to get them back to bed. I hope this answers your question. Thanks for writing! + Do you have a question for The Advice Doctor about health, life, love, personal relationships, career, raising children, or any other important topic? Send it to News@AugustaRx.com. Replies will be provided only in the Examiner.
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By popular demand we’re making at-cost subscriptions available for the convenience of our readers. If you live beyond the Aiken-Augusta area, or miss issues between doctor’s appointments — don’t you hate it when that happens? — we’ll command your mail carrier to bring every issue to your house! NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP Choose six months for $20 ____ or one year for $36 ____. Mail this completed form with payment to Augusta Medical Examiner, PO Box 397, Augusta GA 30903-0397
AFTER READING
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THE MYSTERY SOLVED
THE PUZZLE SOLVED A N T I
The Mystery Word in our last issue was: TONGUE
A F E A R D
THE WINNER: MAGGIE LEE TERRELL! If that’s your name, congratulations! Send us your mailing address using the email address in the box on page 3. The new Mystery Word is on page 12. Start looking!
O D A
...cleverly hidden in the thermometer in the p. 15 ad for C&C AUTOMOTIVE
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M S E N A L T S S P S T E H I N A R D R S E W N O D E R R E N E D E S
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C A N T I L E V H E A R N G R T I A C G E
A B B S C E N E R E I D
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SEE PAGE 12
The Celebrated TheSUDOKUsolution MYSTERY WORD CONTEST 3 2 5 1 9 8 7 6 4
...wherein we hide (with fiendish cleverness) a simple word. All you have to do is unscramble the word (found on page 12), then find it concealed within one of our ads. Click in to the contest link at www.AugustaRx.com and enter. If we pick you in our random drawing of correct entries, you’ll score our goodie package! SEVEN SIMPLE RULES: 1. Unscramble and find the designated word hidden within one of the ads in this issue. 2. Visit the Reader Contests page at www.AugustaRx.com. 3. Tell us what you found and where you found it. 4. If you’re right and you’re the one we pick at random, you win. (Winners within the past six months are ineligible.) 5. Prizes awarded to winners may vary from issue to issue. Limited sizes are available for shirt prize. 6. A photo ID may be required to claim some prizes. 7. Other entrants may win a lesser prize at the sole discretion of the publisher. 8. Deadline to enter is shown on page 12.
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JULY 15, 2022
AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER
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QuotatioN QUOTATION PUZZLE SOLUTION “A vacation is over when you begin to yearn for your work.” — Morris Fishbein
WORDS BY NUMBER
“The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway.” — Henry Boye
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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER
JULY 15, 2022
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DOWNTOWN W. AUGUSTA MARTINEZ 990 Telfair St 3954 Wrightsboro Rd 4014 Washington Rd 706-724-0900 706-863-9318 762-685-5555 AIKEN COUNTY COLUMBIA 2355 Jefferson Davis Hwy 4031 Broad River Rd 803-593-8473 803-590-8606
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To view my work visit scscja.org. Click on resources, then merchandise. Click on the ring photo, then the PDF link.
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WE DELIVER OR CHOOSE DINE IN OR CURBSIDE PICKUP 3626 Walton Way Extension (Walton’s Corner)
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Phone: 706.736.1099
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PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY +
ACUPUNCTURE
DERMATOLOGY
Georgia Dermatology & Skin Cancer Center 2283 Wrightsboro Rd. (at Johns Road) Augusta 30904 706-733-3373 SKIN CANCER CENTER www.GaDerm.com
Dr. Eric Sherrell, DACM, LAC Augusta Acupuncture Clinic 4141 Columbia Road 706-888-0707 www.AcuClinicGA.com
CHIROPRACTIC Evans Chiropractic Health Center Dr. William M. Rice 108 SRP Drive, Suite A 706-860-4001 www.evanschiro.net
COUNSELING Resolution Counseling Professionals 3633 Wheeler Rd, Suite 365 Augusta 30909 706-432-6866 www.visitrcp.com
DENTISTRY Jason H. Lee, DMD 116 Davis Road Augusta 30907 706-860-4048
DEVELOPMENTAL PEDIATRICS Karen L. Carter, MD 1303 D’Antignac St, Suite 2100 Augusta 30901 706-396-0600 www.augustadevelopmentalspecialists.com
DRUG REHAB Steppingstones to Recovery 2610 Commons Blvd. Augusta 30909 706-733-1935
YOUR LISTING Floss ‘em or lose ‘em!
Steven L. Wilson, DMD Family Dentistry 4059 Columbia Road Martinez 30907 706-863-9445
Augusta Area Healthcare Provider 4321 CSRA Boulevard Augusta 30901 706-555-1234 CALL 706.860.5455 TODAY!
EMF PROTECTION
EMF Safe Homes Sheila Reavill Certified Building Biology Specialist 209-625-8382 (landline) SURVEY•ASSESSMENT•REMEDIATION
IN-HOME CARE Everyday Elder Care LLC Certified Home Health/Caregiver 706-231-7001 everydayeldercare.com Zena Home Care Personal Care|Skilled Nursing|Companion 706-426-5967 www.zenahomecare.com
YOUR LISTING HERE Your Practice And up to four additional lines of your choosing and, if desired, your logo. Keep your contact information in this convenient place seen by thousands of patients every month. Call (706) 860-5455 for all the details!
LONG TERM CARE
WOODY MERRY www.woodymerry.com Long-Term Care Planning I CAN HELP! (706) 733-3190 • 733-5525 (fax)
PHARMACY Parks Pharmacy 437 Georgia Ave. ARKS N. Augusta 29841 HARMACY 803-279-7450 www.parkspharmacy.com
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SLEEP MEDICINE Sleep Institute of Augusta Bashir Chaudhary, MD 3685 Wheeler Rd, Suite 101 Augusta 30909 706-868-8555
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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER
“CLUNK” SPELLS SAFETY Lewis Grizzard said it’s hard to have anything but good thoughts while eating a home-grown tomato sandwich. Women in my circle love putting up tomatoes. Janice, my sister-in-law and retired hospice Registered Nurse, is putting up a batch of over 400 tomatoes this week. Hundreds of ears of cut corn. Quarts of pickles. She is a strong woman who cares for her family’s health. Goes to a country church regularly. She is like Victoria, another Registered Nurse friend. Solid people who see the world as it is rather than what the latest trend happens to be. Cooks a church meal for about a hundred kids every Wednesday night. That’s a work of love. Both see merit in the country song admonishing others to “be kind to my dog and teach my children to pray.” (Black Sheep of the Family by John Anderson.) They see TV news full of mass shootings. They know God did not blame stones when Cain killed Able. Had God taken away stones, David would have been
BASED ON A TRUE STORY (most of the time) A series by Flatwoods Frankie
defenseless against Goliath. History might have been different. Now we have mean, crazy, evil people who do mean, crazy, evil things. Those people, we can do without. We need to do without them before they kill others. But how do we remove the mentally and socially dysfunctional before they kill others? Back in the 50s, Georgia had Milledgeville State Hospital. “Two relatives or close friends” could take someone to Milledgeville and have them admitted, where they were kept until the “relatives or close friends” agreed to take them back. The patient population soared to 16,000, the largest mental hospital in the world. Not a good thing, for sure. Thankfully this malicious admission process
was abandoned. Instant incarceration of the mentally disturbed does not prevent the profoundly mean and evil. While our government and society work out these problems, we must handle situations at hand. When someone shows up with a gun with intent upon shooting an unarmed group, there is no time to discuss the fine points of ethics, law, or opinion. No time for calling a social worker. Physical action must be taken immediately, if not sooner. When my nurse friends (and many of their church friends) go to church meetings, their heavy purses go “clunk” when plopped down on a church bench. Clunk. Why, you ask? Because they love their families. They do not want them dead. Clunky purses contain a .38 Chief’s Special. Or a James Bond PPK. Or a Hi Standard .22 Magnum Derringer. They take personal protection everywhere they go. Educated professionals. Mothers and grandmothers. At a recent church Ladies Night, five of seven purses went “clunk.” These wom-
“And whoever saves one — it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.”
FREE HEALTH CLINIC for those who have no health insurance and whose income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. We provide ongoing primary care, limited prescription assistance, mental health referrals, and more.
Every SECOND SATURDAY from 9 AM to 1 PM Walk-ins welcome 9am-11am • By appointment 9am-1pm EVEN MONTHS: ODD MONTHS:
University Hospital POB 1, Suite 2-A First Islamic Center Building 820 St. Sebastian Way 3416 Middleton Dr. f Upcoming Next clinic clinic Augusta, GA 30901 Augusta, GA 30907 HERE
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AUG. 13
HERE SEPT. 10
TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT OR GET MORE INFORMATION:
Phone: 706-513-0582 • Email: Shifacareclinic@yahoo.com
JULY 15, 2022 en are trained — free — by their Sheriff’s Department. They can hit a 12-inch target at 30 feet. Every time. So don’t mess with them. Mass shootings only occur where the target group are traditionally known to be unarmed. Schools. Churches. Work places. Grocery Stores. Family parties. You get the point. Some euphemistically refer to their clunky purse contents as “cordless hole punchers.” Clearly, it is highly unlikely a mass shooter will show up and do these ladies any harm. Most certainly, a culprit would quickly be ventilated with multiple perforations. Should said shooter survive, they would pray for him. Their tax money would pay for his hospital bill, not to mention the costs of his trial and long-term incarceration. But with this prepared Christian group (not to mention any other properly prepared group or individual), the intended victim list would be shorter, or preferably, non-existent. Some people need killing because the world would be better off without them. Most of us have a private list of who should be in-
cluded. Most list begin with: mass murders, pedophiles, rapists, and so on. No list is perfect. That is why we have laws and courts. Disagree with me, you might. That is what the US is all about, difference of opinion. But when confronted by an active shooter, regardless of his reason or medical condition, he must be neutralized. Immediately. That is my opinion and I’m sticking to it. And should I ever be in such a situation, I prefer to have my tomato-canning, cordless-hole-puncher-toting nurses and their church friends in attendance and on my side. I see this as a matter of personal and family health preservation. FYI: As of July 1, 2022, Georgia no longer requires a concealed carry license for a cordless hole puncher (aka fire arm). If your wife’s purse goes “clunk,” you might just live longer and be healthier. Women are proficient health preservers. And some of them can put up home-grown tomatoes in their spare time. How lucky is a man who has the love and protection of such a woman? +
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