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MAY 18, 2012

THE SKINNY ON THE ART OF NURSING

Nursing is an art: And if it is to be made an art, It requires an exclusive devotion As hard a preparation,

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hat’s wrong with the picture below? Several things, actually. Far more than you would expect. It looks innocent enough, after all. We saw this photo online at Slate.com as part of an excellent series of articles they did on the sorry state of walking in these United States. And if there is, indeed, a sorry state of affairs in the world of walking, we suppose this picture summarizes that state as well as any other. What is shown here is no doubt repeated a million times every school day morning on quiet country roads everywhere. As we said, this looks innocent enough. But it isn’t. Not really. There’s a student and an approaching school bus, lights already flashing in anticipation of the pickup about to occur.

The girl, we know from the caption online, is Carlin Robinson of Manchester, Kentucky. Would you care to take a guess exactly where Carlin Robinson lives in Manchester, Kentucky? If you guessed the very house in the picture, you are way too cynical for your own good. But unfortunately, your guess is correct. That’s Carlin’s grandmother in the car. It’s her job to drive Carlin from the house all the way to the bus stop. Let us pray Granny lives there with Carlin, and not in some other house 12 miles away. We have never before in this publication — and this is the 142nd issue we’ve published — mentioned a young lady’s weight, and we’re not about to start now. Carlin is only 12, and kids can be very sensitive at that age. So without any reference to Carlin’s weight whatsoever, just take a look at the belly on her. In fact, a study done in and around Manchester found that obesity is rampant there, and that people using cars a lot and feet not a lot is a major contributing factor. So it isn’t just Carlin. If this picture is in any way typical of Manchester and its upstanding citizens, the study hit the nail on the head. If we’re being completely fair to Carlin — as we certainly are — we will freely admit we don’t know where her school is. It very well could be 20 miles away, far too distant to walk. The bone to be picked here isn’t kids who don’t walk to school (although it could be). The issue in this case is being driven 100 feet to the bus stop. Side trip: I (that is to say I, Dan Pearson, your personal medical examiner) was curious about my own age-12 walking, so I went to Google Maps and typed in my childhood home address and my old school and clicked “Get directions.” For what it’s worth, the distance was 1.4 miles. Each way. To be completely honest, it was uphill in the morning, downhill in the afternoon. And I never rode the bus, nor do I remember my mom driving me to school, no matter what the weather was.

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Please see WALK THIS WAY page 2

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WALK THIS WAY… from page 1 Something else I looked up: roughly half of all kids walked to school in the Sixties; as of 2001 only about 13 percent did. It’s a safe bet that number has dropped even lower in the past decade. Meanwhile, child (and adult) obesity rates keep rising. Coincidence? For the record, we are not picking on poor little Carlin — ok, ok, not-so-little Carlin. We’re simply using her to illustrate a point: Americans do not walk enough. Augustans do not walk enough. We drive in a thousand situations where walking would be better, and not at all inconvenient. Consider this statistic: the supposedly ideal level of walking is 10,000 steps per day. Here’s how some groups fare against that yardstick in research studies using pedometers. actually looking for something • Old Order Amish farmers in at Dillard’s, but there you are Canada: 18,000 steps per day parked near Jared’s. Well done! • The average Australian: You just saved a mile or two of 9,695 steps driving and circling, looking • The average citizen of for a spot near Dillard’s door, Switzerland: 9,650 and you’re going to get to take a • The average Japanese adult: healthful stroll. It’s a win-win. 7,168 steps • always keep a pair of • The average American: 5,117 walking shoes steps and a clean pair Researchers say the Amish of accompanying figure represents the standard socks at the ready: of the 18th Century, since their in the trunk of your car; in your lifestyle is virtually unchanged locker at work or in the bottom over the past 150 years. drawer of your desk. You The U.S. number should never have the represents the polar excuse that you’d go for opposite: a 21st ONE CANNOT LEGITIMATELY a walk, if only you century society had walking shoes. COMPLAIN ABOUT HIGH whose citizens drive This doesn’t mean GAS PRICES AND AT THE more than anyone SAME TIME DRIVE MORE you need twelve else in the world. THAN ANYONE ELSE ON pairs; it might mean We have some ideas your shoes are in that THE PLANET. which, at least for Medical trendy backpack you Examiner readers, can lower carry everywhere. both the numbers on your • Every evening right after bathroom scale and your car’s supper, go for a odometer: walk. Don’t let • next time you go to the mall, anything stop you, take the very first like rain, humidity, parking space heat or cold. Got a meeting you see. The very or class you go to one or two first one. You’re

Fun Fact

nights a week? Then you might have to eat a few minutes earlier. Or you may have to walk when you get back home, because this is a habit. But your target time is right after supper: it sets the tone for the evening and keeps you from simply vegetating in front of the TV until bedtime. Plus it’s a splendid time of day. (But if that doesn’t work for you, pick a different time of day.) • Wear out your rugs and hardwood floors. Walk while you talk on the phone (but no gum chewing). If you happen to spend a indecent amount of time on the phone, you’re going to spend a decent amount of time walking. • Buy a good pedometer to track your walking. Do some research on the websites of Amazon, Academy, Dick’s, et cetera, or talk to someone you know who has one so you won’t get one with weak customer reviews. Whatever you end up paying

for the meter of your choice will be cheaper than a single visit to the doctor. • Multi-task. We say this one with a degree of hesitation, because here at the sprawling Medical Examiner Augusta World Headquarters complex, we are firmly against having one’s face stuck in front of a screen at all waking hours. A sizable segment of the populace seems to oppose our stand, constantly on their iPads, smart phones, computers, televisions, Nooks, Kindles and laptops. Give it a rest, people! Take a walk and hear the birds chirping and the wind in the pines. Having said all of that, there are some people who listen to books on tape as they walk. Perhaps they’re trying to learn French and that’s what’s in their earbuds. Or it’s their time to listen to soothing music, or music that energizes them for their walk. So be it. Go ye and rock on as you walk on. • Travel light. Experienced mall walkers say it’s best to leave your purse, wallet, cash and credit cards at home or in the car. Inexperienced mall walkers say nothing cancels out the benefits of a good healthy walk like a Frisbee-sized cinnamon bun. • Make walking part of everything you do, not some special event reserved for the aforementioned after-dinner stroll. In other words, do not get the mail from the car window. Walk out there to get those bills and circulars. Automatically park far from the door at work and when you shop. If you’re traveling just one floor up, do not take the elevator. Take the stairs. As for going down, there’s no limit. On the 5th floor? Going down? Take the stairs. The exercise will do you good.

• By all means talk to your doctor before embarking on some kind of superduper walking regimen, but for a modest, moderate beginning, it’s hard to imagine any doctor saying no. Take your age and subtract one. That’s how long you’ve been walking, and we’re betting your mother didn’t call your

Look at these babies, just waiting to take someone off into the great outdoors pediatrician when you started. If you’ve been a couch potato, take it slow and steady and build endurance and stamina and distance gradually. • Speaking of excuses - and legitimate reasons - for not walking, don’t let something like sore knees, feet and hips discourage you from getting started. Sometimes the problem is simple inertia, and a program of leisurely strolls will actually relieve the pain instead of making it worse. There are also people who will tell you that when they began their walking program, the weight they lost as a result was the beginning of the end for their hip or foot or knee pain. • Finally, remember that walking is the very best exercise available, for a host of reasons: it can be done at any time by almost anyone; it’s free; everyone knows how to do it; there is no plateau that must be reached to benefit: any increase at all is an improvement that will provide benefits.

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MAY 18, 2012

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

MAY IS STROKE AWARENESS MONTH

Quality of life after stroke is possible What’s by Dr. Pamela Salazar

Medical Director Walton Rehabilitation Health System

Every day in the U.S., more than 2,000 people suffer a stroke. Stroke is also the leading cause of long-term disability in the U.S., and remains of particular concern Dr. Salazar here in the South, where higher rates of stroke and stroke mortality persist. Many of us may know a loved one, a friend, a co-worker or a public figure who has suffered a stroke. And we wonder: What will life be like now for this person? Will he or she ever work again? Will he or she ever live independently again? Stroke, after all, is a brain injury. A clot forms in a vessel of the brain, blocking the flow of blood to brain cells. These cells die, and as a result, abilities housed in that part of the brain are lost. But these abilities are not necessarily lost forever. Care after stroke is dependent upon

have shown that the key to two things. First is getting the neuroplasticity’s success is for stroke patient to the hospital as patients to repeat, repeat, repeat, soon as possible if you suspect in order to retrain the brain. A a stroke. Treatment given dedicated rehabilitation center within the first three hours of ensures that patients receive stroke onset can “bust” the clot more therapy in a short amount and help patients regain more of time to help them meet their function, more quickly. goals. Second is ensuring Outpatient care follows, where that patients begin stroke rehabilitation as soon as they are therapy continues. Other studies have found that stroke patients stable, often as soon as 24 or 48 can continue to regain abilities hours after stroke. The ability of a year or more after stroke, so our brains to relearn and adapt, it is important that patients even after stroke, is known as and families remain focused. neuroplasticity. It is possible for Psychological and social support our brains to learn again how to walk, talk, reach and grasp after is also vital during this time. Therapy is targeted to helping stroke, using different parts of the brain to “cover” for cells that patients recover from one or more of several deficits. They have been lost. may experience paralysis Stroke recovery however affecting the face, arm or leg, or does take time, and it also takes the entire side of the body, and tremendous, continued effort may have difficulty walking on the part of the patient, their or grasping simple objects. families and their rehab team. They may even have difficulty The typical continuum of care for stroke patients is the ER, then swallowing, and with balance and coordination. stabilization in an acute care Chronic pain or numbness hospital. Inpatient rehabilitation then begins almost immediately, may be an issue. Patients may not be able to speak, or if they ensuring patients have three are able, may find that they hours of focused therapy misuse words or have difficulty daily, under the guidance of a comprehending words. Deficits rehabilitation physician, so they in memory and attention span, can begin relearning function as soon as possible. Studies Please see AFTER STROKE page 4

your story? 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 were diagnosed with a dreaded disease, 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. We’ll publish your encounters with the medical profession as often as we receive them. + 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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Why would anyone pay for a subscription to a free newspaper? That’s certainly a legitimate question. The answer: as a major regional medical center, patients come to Augusta hospitals and physicians from all over the Southeast. The MCGHealth Medical Center alone sees patients from every single county in Georgia, not to mention South Carolina, Florida, and beyond. Add to that the regional reach of Eisenhower Army Medical Center and both Veterans Administration hospitals, the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital, MCGHealth Children’s Medical Center, Walton Rehab and University Hospital, and it’s clear that many people seeking treatment in Augusta are not local residents. Furthermore, some of our most loyal readers are in town only occasionally. Or their treatments and visits to Augusta are only temporary. Even local residents may find it more convenient to walk to their mailbox than visit one of our many newsstands. Subscriber copies are mailed the day prior to the issue date so they will be received by most readers no later than the publication date printed on the paper. Copies are sent by First Class mail in a sealed envelope so they’ll arrive promptly and in crisp condition. Rates are $16 for a 6-month subscription (12 issues), $32 for a full year (24 issues). Complete the form below and drop it in the mail with your payment. Thank you! +

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MAY 18, 2012

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

Hope IS Possible

Still committed to ending the stigma

Helen Blocker-Adams

remember it like it was yesterday, although it has been almost five years since the incident that changed my life. I still tear up when I talk publicly about my involvement in that tragedy. One never knows who is watching when you’re trying to “do good” in the community. I was blessed and incredibly humbled to receive the 2012 CSRA Mental Health Advocate of the Year by the Augusta Coalition for Mental Health Advocacy at a first class event last Thursday evening at the Augusta Country Club. The customized crystal trophy made in the shape of a microphone is the most profound and impactful award I have ever received. Former NAMI Augusta Chapter President Gareth Fenley nominated me and I am so grateful for that. She, along with former Friendship Community Center Executive Director Phyllis Holiday, were the first

two women I communicated to and became friends with on the subject of mental health and mental wellness after my interest was piqued about this illness that affects millions all over the world. The following is my first column that I wrote for The Augusta Medical Examiner in 2008 that describes how my passion for this subject came about, and why I will continue to be an advocate and a voice for mental health/mental wellness: Sometimes there are incidents that happen in one’s life that, directly or indirectly, cause drastic changes in future personal and/or professional goals. In my case, the incident was the tragic death, here in Augusta, of two babies at the hands of their mother. This was a family I did not know and had no connection to whatsoever. But God connected me to them anyway. As a radio talk show host, entrepreneur, community activist, and former political candidate, my world, as it was, turned upside down on Friday, November 30, 2007. I was taken out of my comfort zone and thrust in a world of mental health and mental illness, searching for answers that may not be there but wanting to find them anyway. I’m talking about three brain disorders: depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Women experience depression far more often than

men. Men generally will not admit to being depressed, but will blame it on fatigue, loss of interest and appetite, and general irritability. And of course, women are subject to hormonal episodes, which men don’t experience. During the eight to ten days of publicly raising money so that these adorable babies could have a Christian and proper funeral and burial, women whom I did not know, approached me -- in person, via e-mail and by calling my radio program -- to share their concerns, trials and hardships. Apparently, after seeing me on the news expressing my compassion for this tragic situation, they felt comfortable opening up to me. I was humbled to say the least. My solutions-oriented approach to challenges and opportunities kicked into gear. I was immediately forced to realize that God wanted me to be a part of the solution. Women — especially single mothers — and their mental health have become my cause. Hope IS Possible was born. It’s a philanthropic initiative to serve women in need. Hope IS Possible is a women’s self-help talk therapy support program inspired by two beautiful children who lost their lives at the hands of their mother. It is an innovative, creative, proactive and positive approach to selfhelp for women. Our desire is to restore women and families.

We also serve as a conduit between single mothers and other women who need and want help and the resources to help enhance their emotional, spiritual, economic and physical health. Almost three-quarters of children in Georgia living with a single parent live with a single mother. In Richmond County, a single female parent heads up 20.8% of all households. That’s one in every five households! Family fragmentation has a tremendous impact on teenage crime, gang activity and school dropout rates. The lead story in the March 7, 2008 issue of Augusta Medical Examiner was “Public Enemy #1 – Depression.” The article made this shocking statement: “the number one cause of medical disability in the world for all people between the ages of 15 and 44 is depression.” According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one in four adults – approximately 57.7 million Americans – experience a mental health disorder in any given year. In the United States, the total annual indirect economic cost of mental illnesses is estimated to be $79 billion. Most of that amount, approximately $63 billion, reflects the loss of productivity as a result of illnesses. Racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to have access to mental health services and often receive a poorer quality of care. I thank Medical Examiner

publisher Dan Pearson for giving me this unique opportunity to bring you this twice-monthly column, Hope IS Possible. But let me say that this column is not going to be all facts and figures. I’m going to share real stories of hope and success, information on resources available here in the CSRA, and offer solutions to mental health and mental illness. I welcome your feedback. I want this column to help bring awareness to us all, and to reduce the negative stigma associated with mental health and mental illness. Because I believe that Hope IS Possible.

is 16 percent higher than the national rate. If you smoke, have high blood pressure, and practice poor lifestyle habits, such as a diet high in fat and cholesterol or lack of exercise, I encourage you to reach out to your physician and local community services to learn how to break these habits. I

think all my patients would say that it would be far easier to practice healthy eating and regular exercise than to face intensive rehabilitation following a stroke. Finally, I must share that I continue to be amazed and humbled every day by patients who go from being bedridden and unable to speak or walk to living their lives again, perhaps not exactly the same life, but a full and rich one. They inspire all of us to continue to do our utmost to help patients recover as fully as possible after stroke. +

Since starting this column, I also started an annual breakfast entitled “Minority Mental Health Awareness Breakfast”. We’re now in our fifth year, held annually in July, and our next event is scheduled for Thursday, July 19, 2012. For information please contact me at hba@hbagroup-intl.com + Helen Blocker Adams is President/ CEO of The HBA Group, Intl and Executive Director of the Southeast Enterprise Institute, Inc. Visit her website at www.helenblockeradams. com. If you like politics, visit her blog at www.projectlogicga.com. You can reach her via email at hba@hbagroup-intl.com Helen’s new book, Unlikely Allies: 8 Steps to Bridging Divides that Impact Leadership can be purchased by visiting www.hbagroup-intl.com or www.authorhouse.com

SHOT… from page 3 as well as emotional issues— fear, anger, depression—are other common effects of stroke. The irony is that stroke is highly preventable through simple lifestyle changes. May is Stroke Awareness Month, and according to the Georgia Department of Public Health, the rate of strokes in this state

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Dr. Pamela Salazar has served as medical director at Walton Rehabilitation Health System for the past 12 years. Walton is the only local health system accredited in stroke rehabilitation by the Joint Commission.

MAY 18, 2012

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

WHAT EVERYBODY OUGHT TO KNOW ABOUT BIG BUTTS AND FAT GUTS by Bad Billy Laveau Linnie Bell lived just down the road from where I grew up. She and Dave were tenant farmers, but when they got on in years, they moved into a little house at a fork in the road and built on a one room country store that was about the size of a one-car garage nowadays. Linnie Bell enjoyed poor health to its fullest. If you told her that you had been in bed with the flu she would say, “Now let me tell you one thing: you had just a touch. Now, I had a real case. Thought I was gonna die. But patent medicine pulled me through. BC powders. Camphor chest rubs. Watkins Liniment. Got some right here under the counter. Wanta buy some so you’ll be ready just in case you get a real dose of the ailments next time?” Within a few years, Linnie Bell’s health went downhill. She got on welfare. Then she went to the nursing home to die. She didn’t last too long. The store closed and the house went vacant for a number of years until my nephew bought it and tore it down to build a chicken house on the land. In one wall, he found a sack containing 50 silver dollars. Linnie Bell must have sold lots of BCs. Back then, they were worth $50 apiece. No telling what they would be worth now. Along about the same time, my Aunt Bertha also enjoyed poor health to the max. She never had a real job. Uncle Philip was a successful truck driver. Skinny as a rail. Tough

as a crosstie. Lived forever. Never said much. Couldn’t get a word in edgewise with Aunt Bertha around. Aunt Bertha cooked, complained, and ate. Her last years were spent in a nursing home where she established — and still holds to this day — the world record for the most somatic complaints for someone who never missed a meal. Bless her heart, the nurses loved her just the same because she was always cheerful and smiled through the whole ordeal. Her gravestone reads: “Told you I was sick. “ And if it doesn’t, it should have. No doctor ever had a problem taking a history from Linnie Bell or Aunt Bertha. Just walking in the rooms set off an avalanche of assorted but totally unrelated complaints. Itching eyebrows. Burning finger nails. Jerking at the nose. A tickling feeling that radiates from the right great toe to the left elbow. Just thinking about it now makes my hair come out, what little I have left. But I loved both of them and they loved me. Or maybe they just tolerated me, I am not sure which. Why tell you all this? So you will know two women who were decades ahead of their time. If I had pictures of them from 40 years ago, they would be poster children for our health issues of today. Both of them looked like what our society is becoming. Otherwise healthy people who don’t really work. People who are charter members of

ATTENTION

t s e B Big Butts and Fat Guts R Us. Just watch people who walk across the street in front of you or in the mall or fast food joints or the grocery store. Big guts. Big butts. Everywhere you look. Do they all have “hormone problems?” Are they all “bigboned?” I think not. I think they eat too much and don’t work. Look at our returning POWs from WWII or Korea. Did any of them have “hormone problems?” Did they build a new wing at Eisenhower Hospital called Big Momma Thornton Center for Terminally Obese POWs? Were any of them members of Big Butts and Big Guts R Us? Were any of them even just a little fat? Not one. Low calorie diets and work prevented that. And if you want to gauge success, past or present, ogle the guts and butts on peoples of significance. Like them or not, here are a few to get you started: Bill Gates. Warren Buffett. Michelle or Barack Obama. Bill or Hillary Clinton. Any of the Bushes. Sir William Osler. Alexander Fleming. Sigmund Freud. Albert Einstein. Stephen Hawking. Thomas Edison. Booker T.

e n i c i d ME

Washington. MLK. JFK. James Brown. Young Elvis. Young Marlon Brando. The list of Big Butts & Guts non-members is near endless. OK. OK. I know we have persons of corpulence who succeed as well: Sir Winston Churchill. Butter Bean, the king of 4-round boxing matches. Fats Domino. Aretha Franklin. Oprah, when she is in her fat mode. Buddha. Laurence Fishburne in his later years, a good Augusta boy. 40ish Elvis. 50ish Brando. But the fat list is much shorter than the thin list. So what do we do about it? Simple. Lose weight. Get in shape. And you don’t have to pay a health club or Jenny Craig. Just eat better. And eat less. That means lean meats and vegetables. Walk everywhere you can. Skip elevators. I don’t think God likes elevators. They aren’t mentioned in the Bible. They must be the work of the Devil. Or maybe part of a Middle Eastern terrorist plot. But of greater importance, if you want longevity, don’t just stand there. Do something. Work that fat gut and big butt off. Your quality of life will

increase. There will be less of you, but people will love you more anyway. Be truthful now. This is a Bad Billy Truth or Consequences Test. At 30, had you rather look like Beyonce? Or Rosanne Barr? At 40, had you rather look like John Daly? Or Clint Eastwood? At 50, had you rather play tennis every day? Or waddle up the counter for a Big Mac with super-sized fries? At 60, had you rather lead a pack of Boy Scouts on a canoe trip through the Okefenokee Swamp? Or be the resident shuffleboard scorekeeper at the Golden Years Home for the Physically Infirm and the Medically Stupid? We all know the right choices here. So resign from the Big Butts and Big Guts R Us club. Get you some stock in Thin Is In & Fat Ain’t Where It’s At. Become part of the Action Faction. Give those old butt-sprung size XXX sweatsuits to the Salvation Army. Tell Omar the Tent Maker to sign up for unemployment because he is no longer your tailor. + Bad Billy Laveau is a retired MD with a pointed sense of humor. Bad Billy speaks and entertains at public and private events for audiences not subject to cardiac seizure secondary to overwhelming laughter and glee BadBilly@knology.net or 706306-9397

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MAY 18, 2012

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Health 101 by Sandy Turner, RN, EdD, Family Nurse Practitioner, and Assistant Dean for Administration in the GHSU College of Nursing A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME had someone call me the other day to ask about a medicine he was taking. He was running out and needed a refill. I asked what it was that he needed and he said Dilantin. I asked what other medicines he was taking and he read off some labels. One was phenytoin. That is the generic name for Dilantin. I am concerned that we have gotten so many names for our medicines that it has become extremely confusing. I have had some patients tell me that they used to be able to tell their pills apart by the color, but that doesn’t work anymore because they change depending on where they are made. The shape will change too from batch to batch. The generic name of a drug is the chemical name given to it when it is first created. Sometimes the category of a drug can be figured out by the ending of the generic name. Some blood pressure medicines and cholesterol medicines can be identified by their endings. But then there is the brand name. Those are the catchy names that the marketers give the drugs when they try to sell them. These names are used universally because they are easier to pronounce

and remember than those long chemical names. Unfortunately, when we specify a drug by a specific brand name it may be much more expensive. A drug company may hold a patent on a drug for several years, which means that they are the only ones who can manufacture and sell it. But after that patent runs out the drug can be made and sold by other companies. That’s when it gets really complicated. The drug can be sold by generic name, brand name, or other names that other companies come up with. It is almost impossible to keep up with all of the variations of names that can be given to a drug once it is off patent. Sometimes we hear about people who are afraid to take generic medicines because they are unsure of the standardization

of the dosage. For the most part, medicines are held to a very rigorous standard if they are made in the United States. But the FDA has no jurisdiction to regulate medicines made somewhere else. So, what can a consumer do to make sure that they aren’t, like the gentleman earlier, unknowingly taking two or three versions of the same medicine or omitting one altogether that they should be taking? The best way is to make a list of all of your medicines, their dosage and schedule, and keep it with you at all times. Take your medicines — or at the very least, the list — with you to the doctor and go over them at every visit to make sure you and your doctor both have the same list. Use the same pharmacy all of the time so they can keep up with your medicines and check for interactions when a new one is prescribed. Remember, those generic names are confusing and there are even medicines that are very similar but very different in how they act. Here are some examples: Hydralazine is a potent blood pressure medicine but Hydroxyzine is an antihistamine. Doxacyclene and Oracea are the same antibiotic but one is much more expensive. Warfarin, Cumadin and Jantoven are the same medicine. The moral of the story: be careful about what you take. It can be be very complex. + HEALTH 101 – Information to help you make positive changes in your life to improve your health by Sandy Turner, RN, EdD, Family Nurse Practitioner, Director of the Good Samaritan House, A Free Community Health Center Open Mondays 15 pm. 213 N Main St., Dearing, GA 706-556-9080.

There is only one. +

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Editor’s note: Exceptional Living appears exclusively in the Medical Examiner each month, addressing issues that all of us can benefit from involving people with special — let’s call them exceptional — needs.

Exceptional Living

“I think I can” by Naomi D. Williams, MPH, CHES, CIC® “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.” – Henry Ford “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” — Philippians 4:13 The last four weeks I’ve found myself saying I can’t quite often. My aunt and mother so eloquently continue to tell me that I can. They both have said “You may not want to, and you may not like it, but you can and you are.” And once I started looking it at it from the vantage point of “yes, it’s hard, but it’s not permanent,” I began cheering myself on like the little engine did: “I think I can, I think I can.” I know it sounds rather corny, but these are the tactics I use to swing out of a negative posture. You see, this time last year I was debating whether to have my son undergo major hip surgery. The surgery would have served several purposes, but came with several benefits as well as consequences. One of the major consequences was he would be in a spica cast (from the chest down to ankles) for three months. As time to make the decision approached, I was ready to say “Yes, let’s do it.” The weekend of July 4, 2011 changed my mind. While getting the mail I stepped off the curb wrong and fell while holding my son. I was able to break our fall without dropping him or hitting his head (which was my main objective), yet he did catch some of my body weight. Six hours later I realized his femur was broken and he ended up being in a soft cast for a month. The first week of caring for my little one in a cast made me rethink the pending hip surgery scheduled for the fall. I concluded the benefits of the surgery did not outweigh the emotional and physical consequences for us both, especially with me being the sole and primary caretaker. I felt I couldn’t do it. Now here we are almost a year later and I’m doing what I thought I could not do. He ended up having dual hip surgery, but for different reasons than initially expected. Six weeks is much better than three months to have to be in, and care for, someone in a body cast. I will never say that it is easy because it is not, nor is it fun. But it is doable. I thought of Helen Keller and all that she learned to do despite her inability to hear or see. Although Helen was deaf and blind, she still had the “I can” attitude. That “I can” attitude from Keller is what propelled her on to be a renowned speaker, author, and social and political activist. I was also inspired by Aaron Scheidies, a seven-time triathlon World Champion and eight-time National Champion, who is visually impaired. As I listened to one of his interviews as he prepared for a marathon, I found it funny that he was not concerned about how he would do; he was most concerned with how his running guides would do and was hopeful that they wouldn’t slow him down! That is completely understandable considering he can complete a marathon — which is 26.2 miles — in less than three hours. To put that in perspective, my first half marathon, 13.1 miles, took me two hours and thirty-four minutes — and Aaron ran the full Boston marathon in two hours fifty-five minutes. The moral of the story? For a lot of things, it truly is mind over matter. Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right. + To learn more about Aaron Scheidies visit www.cdifferentwithaaron.com Naomi Williams is a health educator by training, an entrepreneur by nature, mom, and advocate of the best kid ever, Noah Samuel.

MAY 18, 2012

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

The truth about skin cancer by Dr. John Janik Director, Immune Therapy Clinical Trial Program Leader, Melanoma Multidisciplinary Clinic Georgia Health Sciences University Cancer Center As our largest organ, our skin is highly susceptible to damage. Yet most of us donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t protect it. Only 4 in 10 Americans believe it is important to protect skin from the harmful effects of the sun, and only 15 percent wear sunscreen outdoors, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. The truth is, prolonged sun exposure equals skin damage. (No attribution necessary since this is written by the expert.) . Over time, that damage accumulates and can lead to skin cancers, including melanoma. The disease, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, is increasingly prevalent among young adults, particularly women. Protecting yourself starts with education. Test your melanoma IQ with the following quiz: True or False: Tanning beds arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as dangerous as the sun for tanning. False. Tanning beds use the same UVA and UVB rays to tan your skin as the sun does. In fact, tanning beds may be more dangerous because the illusion of safety may prompt people to spend more time in tanning beds. Remember, any change in color means damage to the skin, and tanning beds are no exception.

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True or False: I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need sunscreen if I limit my sun exposure to mornings and late afternoons. False. People are often lulled into a false sense of security when the sunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rays arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as bright. Sunscreen should be worn even on cloudy or cool days. Even if you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see them, the sunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rays are still there. But early mornings and late afternoons are the best times to be outside. True or False: Early signs of skin damage include changes to the skin and spots that itch or donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t heal. True. Visit your doctor if you see skin changes such as moles that itch, bleed or change in size or color. Melanoma often begins in or around an existing mole. In an adult, the development of a new mole may be a sign of melanoma. True or False: Sunscreen use should start in childhood. True. Sunscreen use not only helps teach children good habits for a lifetime, but starts protecting tender skin early. Most skin damage occurs before age 20, so early sunscreen use and proper sun precautions are vital. Blistering sunburns in childhood are a significant risk factor for melanoma. Please see MELANOMA page 10

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MAY 18, 2012

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

P harm acy 41 1 EDITOR’S NOTE: Very little if anything about healthcare is inexpensive, and that includes medicine. Tiny pills can command large prices. Over-the-counter medications may be less expensive, but are they also less effective? Find the answers to lots of your drug store questions in this column written by Augusta pharmacists Chris and Lee Davidson exclusively for the Medical Examiner.

WHAT’S IN A HEALTHY DIET? After a great Mother’s Day dinner we can all stand to lose a few pounds. But how to lose those pounds is the question. You can get a diet pill from the pharmacy, but they are good only for losing a few initial pounds. If dietary change is not being made along with the diet pill, then don’t waste your time and money. You will gain back everything you lose plus a few more when you quit the pills. So let’s talk about how to lose the weight and keep it off. A good diet is a healthy diet you can use for life. It requires an adequate supply of several different dietary components. These are carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, minerals, water and fiber. You cannot totally eliminate any of these important items from your diet. Let’s get started with the numbers that you need. For a healthy diet you will need at least eight to ten glasses of water. Each glass should be eight ounces. You should consume twenty to thirty grams of fiber each day. For protein, on average men need sixtythree grams while women need fifty grams per day. That equals to two to three servings per day. The protein is used to build muscles and cells. Carbohydrates, on the other hand, are used to provide energy and prevent fluid imbalances. The daily requirement of carbohydrates in your diet is one hundred grams and includes six to eleven servings. The opposite side of the coin is fat intake. Here the daily guidelines are for maximum amounts to be consumed. The maximum amount of cholesterol per day is three hundred milligrams and fat should be no more than thirty percent of your daily calorie total. Saturated fat should be no more than ten percent of the total daily calories. Plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables will add vitamins and minerals to your diet. A healthy diet includes fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products and lean meats. The things to avoid or keep to a minimum are fatty foods, rich sauces, sugary desserts, and anything fried. A pound is thirty-five hundred calories, so you must eliminate that number of calories per week to lose a pound per week. Remember that losing anything more than two pounds a

week is unsafe and can cause muscle breakdown and metabolism problems. Spread your calorie deficit out evenly over the week to maximize your benefits. That’s reducing five hundred calories per day to lose a pound a week. Not a drastic change, but rather one you can maintain. If you are doing a calorie-based diet where you decrease caloric intake in order to use weight, be sure to maintain a minimum number of calories per day so you don’t slow down your metabolism and slow your weight loss. Try to lose only one to two pounds per week. There are many popular diets available today and we will go through a few. Weight Watchers is a diet based on lifestyle and dietary change leading to a healthy weight. You are responsible for tracking your food consumption and sticking to a point total. You can get all your dietary components with this diet. Some people feel this is too labor-intensive for a daily process. The Mediterranean diet is also popular and includes all the basic diet servings outlined earlier. Another dietary option that is all-inclusive as far as dietary components is a NutriSystem-style diet, where you get food delivered to your door and you just add fresh fruits and vegetables. Be wary of elimination diets as they can have adverse effects on your body. You need some carbohydrates in your daily diet. Otherwise you will have zero energy. Even diabetics benefit from a correct balance of protein and carbohydrate. So eat smart to get to a healthy weight. If you are already an acceptable weight, try to swap out some unhealthy foods for more healthy options. + Questions about this article or suggestions for future columns can be sent to us at cjdlpdrph@bellsouth.net Written for the Medical Examiner by Augusta pharmacists Chris and Lee Davidson (cjdlpdrph@bellsouth.net )

Around town: • Barney’s Pharmacy, 2604 Peach Orchard Rd. • Birth Control Source, 1944 Walton Way • ASU Student Bookstore • Blue Sky Kitchen, 990 Broad Street • Columbia County Library, main branch lobby, Ronald Reagan Drive, Evans • Enterprise Mill (North Tower), 1450 Greene Street, Augusta • Daniel Village Barber Shop, Wrightsboro Road at Ohio Ave. • Hartley’s Uniforms, 1010 Druid Park Ave, Augusta • International Uniforms, 1216 Broad Street, Augusta • Marshall Family Y, Belair Rd, Evans • Mellow Mushroom, 12th and Broad Streets, Augusta • Southside Family Y, Tobacco Road, Augusta • Surrey Center, Surrey Center Pharmacy, Highland Avenue, Augusta • Top-Notch Car Wash, 512 N. Belair Road, Evans • Wild Wing Cafe, 3035 Washington Road, Augusta

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MAY 18, 2012

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Lick the Beaters and other interesting food facts

by dietetic interns with University Hospitalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Augusta Area Dietetic Internship Program

Living Hand to Mouth The buzz in healthcare today is all about obesity, and with good reason. In 2010 the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) revealed that over one-third of American adults and almost 17% of American children and adolescents ages 2-19 years of age are obese. In spite of all the attention and concerns the American obesity epidemic has stirred up, these percentages remained virtually unchanged from 2007 to 2010. What? No progress? How can this be? We have messages coming from every media outlet imaginable telling us ways that we can improve Illustration courtesy of Rick McKee, Augusta Chronicle our health and reduce the obesity epidemic. following week. When you arrive at the office, Internet, television, radio, billboards, and stores you see that someone has brought in several are plastered with messages reminding us to boxes of donuts. You grab four â&#x20AC;&#x201C; scoring free move, to increase the amount of fruits and breakfast and lunch! vegetables we eat each day, and to cut back on Your day goes by fast and smooth, with all of the fast food and refined sugar. They show us your clients in good spirits. Your favorite client how to sneak in exercise throughout the day and even gives you a $20 bill with instructions to set a good example for our children. Yet still, no bring her a couple of small things from the store progress. when you come on Monday, and insists you Plainly then, ending the obesity epidemic keep the change as a tip. After work, you head does not come with a simple solution. The to the grocery store armed with coupons and etiology of obesity is complex. The question of your carefully constructed shopping list. You why American obesity rates remain stagnant is go through the aisles twice to make sure you perplexing. It is safe to say that at our best, we get the best deals in the store, and are thrilled are able to apply a framework for understanding that you got bagged salad and BBQ marinated the many influences over our weight and our chicken breasts on managers special. Driving health. home, you realize that you forgot to get the Since the truth is rarely pure and never simple, things your client needed, so you head back and we should try to balance our cynicism with a get them. This little detour takes an extra 30 heightened level of understanding. Please take this opportunity to step outside your frustrations minutes. Since itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Friday, your kids did not have their and take a walk in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shoes: usual after-school program, have been home Imagine you are a single mother with two alone for nearly 3 hours and are probably sons, ages 6 and 11. If you want nothing else, starving. It will take too long to cook the chicken, you want your children to be blessed with good mashed potatoes and salad you planned to make health. You work hard and utilize every resource for dinner. You use the lunch money you saved available to you. Granted there are times that today and your unexpected tip to treat yourself you fall a little short on money, but you make too and the kids to burgers, remembering that one much money to qualify for assistance. place that has free fries every Friday. When you For you, skipping breakfast is typical because fi nally make it home at the end of the day, your you are sometimes afraid there wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be enough boys cheer when they see that you brought them cereal for the kids. As you are getting ready for their favorite fast food burgers and fries. work, your stomach starts to growl. No reason The mother in this story is undeniably a to worry because today is payday and you can responsible, resourceful and loving parent finally get to the grocery store. Besides, you making the most of what she has. This mother know you need to lose some weight. You stand at feels fortunate and empowered by her current 5â&#x20AC;&#x2122;2 and weigh 225 lbs. You hope that the grocery employment situation, even though she is not store will have those bags of salad on sale, the making ends meet. This mother skips meals so ones that are half-price because they are just her children can have enough to eat, resorts to starting to brown. taking food in unorthodox ways, and purchases As you drive to work you are feeling a little food near its expiration date to save money. This hungry, but your thoughts soon shift to work. is an all too common situation of food insecurity You really love your new job. Saving to get your coupled with obesity. home health aide certification was money well What would you do in this situation? Maybe spent. Your clients all seem grateful to have pass up the free donuts, or hold off feeding the you and your boss has complimented you for children for another hour so you can cook? exceptional documentation of your client visits No, me neither. + in front of co-workers. You have a flexible work schedule and only have to report to the office â&#x20AC;&#x201D; by Dana Greear on Friday mornings to drop off your mileage University Hospital Dietetic Intern and to pick up your patient assignments for the

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MAY 18, 2012

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

CSRA Parkinson Support Group

Who: What:

Dr. Aparna Vijayan will be speaking on the progressive nature of Parkinson’s Disease as it impacts the ability to swallow, speak, remember and reason as well as ways to help improve and/or maintain these skills. She is on staff at the Neuroscience and Rehabilitation Center, Department of Behavioral Health, at Eisenhower Army Medical Center and has a special interest in cognitive, communication and swallowing impairments from stroke, traumatic brain injury and other neurological conditions.

When:

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 at 6:00 pm

Where:

St. John Towers Dining Room, 724 Greene Street Augusta, GA

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MELANOMA… from page 7 True or False: I need to wear sunscreen only in the summer or when I’m outdoors a lot. False. Sunscreen should be worn every day. Office windows and commutes can build up sun exposure over time. Easy ways to incorporate sunscreen into your morning routine include using makeup/sunscreen combos, moisturizer with built-in sunscreen or spray-on sunscreens that dry quickly. True or False: Wearing sunscreen is the most important thing I can do to protect my skin. While this statement is true in part, there are also many other things you can and should do to protect skin from the sun’s harmful rays. Sunscreen doesn’t give you a pass to lie for hours in the sun. Tans can add years of damage and wrinkles to the skin. Wear a broadbrimmed hat, cover-ups and sunglasses at the beach. Seek shade from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. when the sun’s rays are at their peak. And reapply sunscreen regularly, especially after swimming. Remember, while being outdoors is a lot of fun, especially in the summer, it can also be dangerous to your skin. Help keep your skin youthful and healthy by minimizing sun exposure, wearing sunscreen and taking the proper precautions. +

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AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

The blog spot From THE Bookshelf Posted May 3, 2012 at www.huffingtompost.com/kent-nerburn/cabride_b_1474147.html

The cab ride I’ll never forget. There was a time in my life twenty years ago when I was driving a cab for a living on the night shift. I encountered people whose lives amazed me, ennobled me, made me laugh and made me weep. And none of those lives touched me more than that of a woman I picked up late on a warm August night. I was responding to a call in a quiet part of town. I assumed I was being sent to pick up some partiers, or someone who had just had a fight with a lover, or someone going off to an early shift at some factory for the industrial part of town. When I arrived at the address, the building was dark except for a single light in a ground-floor window. Many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a short minute, then drive away. Too many bad possibilities awaited a driver who went to a darkened building at 2:30 a.m. But I had seen too many people trapped in a life of poverty who depended on the cab as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation had a real whiff of danger, I always went to the door to find the passenger. It might, I reasoned, be someone who needs my assistance. So I walked to the door and knocked. “Just a minute,” answered a frail and elderly voice. I could hear the sound of something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman somewhere in her 80s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like you might see in a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The sound had been her dragging it across the floor. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware. “Would you carry my bag out to the car?” she said. “I’d like a few moments alone. Then, if you could come back and help me? I’m not very strong.” I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm, and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. “You’re such a good boy,” she said. Her praise and appreciation were almost embarrassing. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?” “It’s not the shortest way,” I answered. “Oh, I don’t mind,” she said. “I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.” I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening. “I don’t have any family left,” she continued. “The doctor says I should go there. He says I don’t have very long.” I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. “What route would you like me to go?” I asked. For the next two hours we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they had first been married. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she would have me slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.” We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. Without waiting for me, they opened the door and began assisting the woman. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been

It was the sound

of a life closing.

Please see CAB RIDE page 13

In a perfect world, nobody would need this book. It would be ranked #9,791,463 in Amazon sales. Wait! Stop the presses. That was the lead paragraph in our book review two weeks ago. But strangely enough, it fits yet again, and that can mean but one thing: we still live in an imperfect world. Unfortunately, we all have first-hand experience in how very imperfect our world can be. Despite all the grandeur and love and beauty surrounding us, there are also enough poisonous people to make a book like The Law of the Garbage Truck valuable, if not absolutely necessary. The sub-title, after all, is “How to Respond to People Who Dump on You, and How to Stop Dumping on Others.” We all know — or have to regularly deal with — people who are determined to spread their hatred and negativity all over anyone within reach. Sometimes the dumping is fairly mild, other times it’s really, really nasty. Very few people are immune. There are doctors and nurses reading this who deal with unreasonable and demanding patients and their families every

single day, all day long. Some people work in retail and food service, and these clerks’ and waiters’ jobs is waiting hand and foot on often rude and unappreciative people every single day, all day long. Others spend 40 hours a week in the real-life version of Horrible Bosses. Every single day, all day long, someone with hiring and firing power over them dumps on them. Cops? Let’s not even get started on what they have to put up with every day. For any of these people, retaliation could be a direct route to unemployment, bankruptcy, and homelessness, yet it can look more appealing every day. Not that the “deserving”

person gets the return dumpage. No, we might take the poison from the boss or that rude client or customer and give it to unsuspecting fellow workers, our wife or husband, our kids, and even total strangers. As the old saying goes, nothing helps a bad mood like spreading it around. One antidote to the everescalating erosion of civility is David Pollay’s best-selling book. As its name suggests, its pages don’t contain principles; these are laws, and as such, they carry weight. Serious consequences come from breaking them, so those who read this book are not casual about compliance. That’s important because the dumpers in your life obviously haven’t read The Law yet and will continue to dump. The challenge? Be the inevitable victim of a dumping, stay happy in spite of it, and refuse to dump in retaliation. Are you able to do that? Perhaps not until after you’ve read The Law. There’s certainly no denying the need. +

The Law of the Garbage Truck by David J. Pollay, 256 pages, published Oct. 5, 2010 by Sterling Press

the

Clipping File Ground-breaking study An Alzheimer’s prevention study The New York Times describes as “unprecedented” has been given the green light. It’s the first to focus on preventing the disease among people before they develop any symptoms, but who are guaranteed to develop Alzheimer’s. It sounds like Tuskegee all over again, doesn’t it? How can they say pre-Alzheimer’s patients are “guaranteed” to develop the disease? It turns out that a large, extended family, and extended clan of some 5,000 people who live in and around Medellin, Colombia, have a specific genetic mutation that begins to cause cognitive impairment around age 45, and full dementia within five to six years thereafter. The study will include 300 family members initially, some as young as age 30. A smaller number of people within the U.S. with genetic markers for early-onset Alzheimer’s will also be included.

Participants will be treated with the drug Crenezumab, which attacks one suspected culprit in causing Alzheimer’s, amyloid plaque in the brain. While the study holds no guarantees of success, notes the Times, it differs from other studies in targeting the disease long before symptoms emerge and aiming for prevention rather than treatment. Take a little pro with the anti Recent news reports tell of a simple antidote to a common side effect of antibiotics. That antibiotic side effect is diarrhea, but a review of data from 82 trials has established that probiotics reduce the incidence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea by more than 40 percent. Probiotics are beneficial live micro-organisms. Where do you get them? Well, does the name Lactobacillus ring a bell? It’s probably the most commonly known probiotic. It’s the live cultures found in yogurt, cheese

and other foods and an effective antidote to antibiotic side effects. A kinder, gentler colonoscopy The Wall Street Journal reports there’s a new twist in virtual colonoscopy procedures. For many people the colonoscopy is the most dreaded procedure in all of medicine since it involves laxative cleansing of the colon, followed by a remote-camera tour. The virtual colonoscopy, a CT scan that eliminates the camera probe was developed, but some object that it still requires the laxative cleansing. Researchers have now devised a program which digitally erases colon contents. Before their procedure, patients drink a fluid which digitally tags colon contents, making it invisible in the computerized images. Colon cancer is the secondleading cause of cancer deaths. The CDC says if everyone over age 50 was routinely screened, as many as 60% of those deaths could be prevented. +

+ 12

MAY 18, 2012

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

THE EXAMiNERS +

Here’s an amazing statistic about obesity.

by Dan Pearson

“The average American Well, I for one eats more than 400 am bringing that Africans.” Wow. average way down.

Oh?

How can you say Because I have that? You admit never eaten a single you’re overweight. African. Not one.

EXAMINER CROSSWORD

PUZZLE

ACROSS 1. Friday starter, sometimes 6. Baseball’s Bobby and Barry 11. Corn holder 14. Mad 15. Revolutionary path 16. Mineral spring 17. Stair part 18. Mother-of-pearl 19. Military 20. Exceptional or significant 22. Knight follower 24. Medical prefix 25. Skin eruption 26. Impurifier 30. ‘04 Masters champ, to friends 34. Kent’s girl 35. Snakelike fish 36. Came up 37. Of the ear 38. Ostentatious 40. Mild oath 41. Hebrew letter 42. Imitate a 49-er 43. Nixon’s Alexander 44. Confused 45. Rebellion 49. Subsided 51. Swiss capital 52. Former FX cop show (with “The”) 55. Evade 59. WTC home 60. Shallow circular dish 62. Garlic-flavored mayonnaise 63. Lyric poem 64. Serf of ancient Sparta 65. Habitual drunkard 66. Marry 67. Analyze a metalic compound 68. Store door word

The Mystery Word for this issue: CANICVOITAN

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 All Mystery Word finders will be eligible to win by random drawing. We’ll announce the winner in our next issue!

VISIT WWW.AUGUSTARX.COM TO ENTER! 1

24 26

34 37

Click on “Reader Contests”

QUOTATION PUZZLE

40 43 46

U L E O P H

T S H M V A S E O N K W O I M T H W T Y T A R O H N I A E E H T R R S K D A O H D

— Mae West

DIRECTIONS: Recreate a timeless nugget of wisdom by using the letters in each vertical column to fill the boxes above. Once any letter is used, cross it out

Solution p. 14

DOWN 1. Word before ball and bug 2. Eye part 3. Coarse file 4. Part of Aiken’s triple crown 5. Three lines of verse 6. Walton Way landmark 7. By mouth 8. WAGT network 9. Without delay 10. Harsh 11. Area abbrev. 12. Fracture type 13. Sheet of matted cotton 21. Wrath 23. Censure, reproof 25. Once more 26. Hilo greetings 27. Sees 28. Join 29. Ages 31. Masters’ Ben 32. Son of Abraham 33. Flat shelf

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.

38. Bobbins 39. Another name for Aaron 46. Existing in a specific place 47. Embarrassed 48. Lubricant 50. Dog type? 52. Augusta rarity 53. ____ Park neighborhood 54. Tea type 55. Portico 56. Promote 57. Half an ultimatum? 58. Dock 61. Gehrig’s initials?

Solution on page 14.

9 8 4

X A M I N E R

3 7

1 9 2

1 5

1 5 7

9 4

2 4 7

7 9 4

U D O K U

1 8 9

DIRECTIONS: Every line, vertical and horizontal, and all nine 9-square boxes must each contain the numbers 1 though 9. Solution on page 14.

Use the letters provided at bottom to create words to solve the puzzle. All the listed letters following 1 are the 1st letters of each word; the letters following 2 are 2nd letters of each word, and so on. A sample is shown. Solution on page 14.

T 1

1 2

T 1

1 2 3 4

A 1 2

1 2 3

E 1 2

1 2 3

H 1 2 3 4 1 2

1 2 3 4

1 2 3

E 1 2 3 4

— Mark Victor Hansen

1.PBBOOIWTTTTTHN 2.OOOOEEEHHHASFN 3.TEEEESLOY 4.RMPT

SAMPLE:

1. ILB 2. SLO 3. VI 4. NE 5. D =

L 1

O 2

V 3

E 4

I 1

S 2

B 1

L 2

I 3

N 4

D 5

WORDS NUMBER

THE MYSTERY WORD

MAY 18, 2012

13 +

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

CAB RIDE… from page 11 expecting her; perhaps she had phoned them right before we left. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase up to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. “How much do I owe you?” she asked, reaching into her purse. “Nothing,” I said. “You have to make a living,” she answered. “There are other passengers,” I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held on to me tightly. “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,” she said. “Thank you.” There was nothing more to say. I squeezed her hand once, then walked out into the dim morning light. Behind me, I could hear the door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life. I did not pick up any more passengers that

shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the remainder of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away? What if I had been in a foul mood and had refused to engage the woman in conversation? How many other moments like that had I missed or failed to grasp? We are so conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unawares. When that woman hugged me and said that I had brought her a moment of joy, it was possible to believe that I had been placed on earth for the sole purpose of providing her with that last ride. I do not think that I have ever done anything in my life that was any more important. +

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Among our many delivery destinations: Burke County Hospital, downtown Aiken, St. John Towers, Brandon Wilde, Washingtom Commons, Wild Wing Cafe, Surrey Pharmacy, Select Specialty Hospital, Augusta Back & Neuroscience, and Barney’s Pharmacy. +

The Patient’s Perspective by Marcia Ribble More on listening: at home I have time to use the computer and the telephone to connect with and listen to other seniors who need reassurance that they aren’t alone in the world. My sister Pam has had a yearslong spell of ill health and I listen to her, even though I am many miles away and can’t do anything except talk with her. I can empathize and support her. I can ask her what she’s watching on TV, or whether she has had breakfast yet. Sometimes she falls asleep and forgets to eat. Talking about the latest Red Wings game takes her mind off her medical issues for a while at least. We both watch the news and can talk about what’s happening in the election or the latest news on the economy. We tell jokes. We reminisce about times long past. E-mail keeps me connected with old friends who live miles away. Young people may feel annoyed by e-mail messages that are passed from one person to another and which occasionally return to the original sender. But for older people, those messages may be the only contact with a friendly outsider they receive that day. They tell the receiver they are considered a friend by the sender. Because isolation can lead to depression and loss of the will to live, simple things like e-mail can affirm a relationship and maintain connections with the outside world. E-mail is a good way to stay in touch in one’s field after retirement. Instead of feeling no longer needed in one’s former employment, seniors can mentor young folks entering the field. They can join in conversations with folks they know from conferences all over the country while employed, fill out grad students’ dissertation surveys, and help out by sharing their wisdom with others trying to resolve employment, work, or other problems. Connections with others can also be found by interacting on Facebook with family, friends and former co-workers. I participate in a family group where I can support my own kids along with my nieces and nephews. I participate in a group from my class in high school. I participate

Talk is cheap. Not talking can be deadly.

in a group from my last job. In these less formal spaces, I can support young folks whose babies are ill, commend a work friend for taking a stance on an issue, and keep in touch with my classmates from high school. We use e-mail for all of these groups too, and LinkedIn for professional interactions and networking. I also interact on SeniorPeopleMeet. com, where I have met some people I never would have met before joining that group. Because I like to be politically active, I write letters to my congressmen, to the President, to the local newspaper, and I often receive replies, indicating that my letters are thoughtful enough to be considered when votes for important legislation come up. But besides the politics, I am also involved with groups like AARP, the Smithsonian, President Carter’s efforts to build homes for low income families, President Clinton’s work to help kids who are overweight or obese through better school meals and more exercise. I support Paralyzed Veterans of America, several wildlife and environmental groups, and the arts, especially writing. Unless the people I am communicating with online know me well, they’ll never guess that I have fairly serious handicaps that limit my mobility. All they know is that I am still contributing to the world I live in and trying to make it a better place. + Marcia Ribble received her PhD in English at Michigan State and recently retired from the University of Cincinnati where she taught composition. She taught writing at the college level and loves giving voice to people who have been silenced. She can be reached with comments, suggestions, etc., at marciaribble@hotmail.com.

Hofstadter’s Law:

It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law. — Douglas Hofstadter

+ 14

MAY 18, 2012

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

THE MYSTERY SOLVED The Mystery Word in our last issue was: NURSING ...carefully hidden in the page 7 ad for HARTLEY’S UNIFORMS Congratulations to Jeffrey L. Jones, who scores a $20 Wild Wing Cafe gift certificate, two free movie passes courtesy of Health Center Credit Union, a free Top Notch Car Wash gift card, and anything else we may be able to scrape together on short notice. Win this stuff! The new Mystery Word is on p. 12. Start looking!

The Celebrated MYSTERY WORD CONTEST ...wherein we hide (with fiendish cleverness) a simple word. All you have to do is unscramble the word (found on page 12), then be the first to 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: gift certificates from Wild Wing Cafe, Top Notch Car Wash, Cheddar’s, and movie passes from Health Center Credit Union! 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. 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.

The new scrambled Mystery Word is found on page 12

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HOMES, APARTMENTS, ROOMMATES, LAND, ETC. FOR SALE Brand new contemporary townhome/end unit in the Vista on Highway 1, minutes from MCG. 1450 sq. ft.Two bdrm, two baths, office. Walk-in closets, lots of upgrades. Hardwood throughout, custom tiled kitchen/bathrooms. Floor to ceiling windows, pristine condition. Ready today. $125K- OBO. 803-507-8991. LOFT APT. Above commercial building on Walton Way; newly renovated, updated and private; nice 1-BR 900sqft layout; $675/ mo, references; 706-589-3548. 51812

GETAWAY 14 acres natural wooded with beautiful rocky creek flowing through. Available immediately to enjoy while planning future devel. Hiking trails cleared, hunting, fishing, golf near outstanding Glascock school system. Call owner: 706-798-4359 81712

HOUSE FOR SALE 3 bedroom, 2 full bath, 2-car garage. Off Dyess Pkwy near Ft. Gordon. $99,900. Call 706-3395548 or 706-210-4334 TOWNHOME large furnished room (dresser, bed, night stand, linens) for rent with private bathroom in convenient and very nice neighborhood near Doctors Hosp. $445 a month includes utilities

TOWNHOME Great location, everything new, 2 master suites, sunroom, all appliances. $98,000 (706) 504-4023 HOMESBYOWNER.COM Sell • Buy • Rentals • 706.564.5885 WEST AUGUSTA Luxury 3 BR / 2 BA Townhouse, 1-car attached garage located off Pleasant Home Road $725 /mo 706-228-4655 TOWNHOME 3 bedroom, 3 full bath townhome. 2 master suites, like new, end unit with extra parking, single garage, covered patio, $125,000. 706-799-0394

SERVICES HOME HEALTH CHECK-UP Biological and chemical contamination will make you sick. Help your doctor! We Cure Sick Homes. 706-772-9898 www.commandonow.com LYNN’S CLEANING SERVICE over 20 years experience in the CSRA with an eye for detail. Call 706.833.2658 or email lynn_dubose@hotmail.com 1612

BIBLE BY PHONE - Free daily Bible readings; for Spiritual Encouragement and Growth. Call 706-855-WORD (9673)

WHAT’S YOUR DRUG OF CHOICE?

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1.75

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7.25

7.50

7.75

8.00

8.25

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8.75

9.00

(Copy this form or continue on additional sheet if more space needed.)

Send this form with payment to:

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I R I S

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T B O E O R R N A C I A L E R I T E R A E S H O P A N I N S A N K L D S P L A T H E L O A S S A

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QUOTATION QUOTATION PUZZLE SOLUTION: Page 12: “His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” — Mae West

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F I R E

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.25

PERSONAL TRAINER Certified by United States Sports Academy in Science of Bodybuilding and Strength Training for Athletes. Significant improvements for all sports at all ages. Natural techniques for relief of all common sports-related injuries employing positioning and myofascial release. Rapid recovery and strength gains. One free session to 1st 10 applicants. E-mail Hme3065805@aol.com or call 803-257-5421

THE PUZZLE SOLVED

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NOTICE! ATTENTION! If any current or past employer has failed to pay you min. wage or time and a half overtime pay, you may be entitled to an order from US Federal Court awarding you twice the amount of your unpaid wages plus atty. fees. For info, call Arthur H. Shealy, Attorney at Law, 803-278-5149, 1010 Plantation Rd, North Augusta SC 29841. You may be entitled to a similar award for unpaid wages if your employer required you to perform duties during your lunch hour, before clocking in, or after clocking out. LAWN SERVICE Commercial, residential. Call Vince: (704) 490-1005

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The Sudoku Solution

COFFEE IS GOOD MEDICINE VISIT DRUGOFCHOICECOFFEE.COM FOR YOUR REFILLS TODAY

9 5 1 4 2 6 3 8 7

8 4 7 3 9 5 1 2 6

3 6 2 8 1 7 9 4 5

6 3 9 1 8 2 5 7 4

2 7 4 5 3 9 8 6 1

5 1 8 6 7 4 2 9 3

1 9 5 7 4 8 6 3 2

7 2 6 9 5 3 4 1 8

4 8 3 2 6 1 7 5 9

WORDS BY NUMBER “The best way to help the poor is to not be one of them.” — Mark Victor Hansen

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MAY 18, 2012

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AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

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+ 16

MAY 18, 2012

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

Life: tearing up one rough draft after another he author of the quote we used for the title of this article is unknown, but whoever wrote it summed up things pretty well. Life is not like a box of chocolates. That implies that you don’t know what you’re going to get, but whatever it is, it’s still chocolate. How bad can that be? Instead, life is a series of rough drafts that send us more or less careening from one situation to another. Some of the situations are sublime, exquisite, wonderful. Others are horrific, violent, tragic, gut wrenching. Periods of calm, of inactivity, of peace and quiet, can change literally in an instant. Just ask Aimee Copeland. On Tuesday, May 1, she was out in the great outdoors enjoying life. By Friday, May 4, she was hospitalized, minus one leg, had gone into and been brought out of cardiac arrest, and was frantically fighting for her very life. By all accounts she is making progress, although doctors still fear further amputations may be necessary. What will the Aimee who survives this ordeal be like? A few million people have no doubt thought about the random nature of necrotizing fasciitis. There, but for the grace of God, we say, go I. And it isn’t just necrotizing fasciitis; plenty of other

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traumatic maladies strike people’s lives on a regular basis: car accidents that sometimes result in traumatic brain injuries or paralysis; cancers that rob us of our futures and deplete our bank account of what we thought were unlimited days; aging that sometimes removes or impairs functions and abilities we’ve taken for granted since practically birth. How do we manage to soldier on? The answer: amazingly well. Your medical examiner

himself was discussing this very topic earlier this week with one of the Examiner’s talented columnists, Marcia Ribble. She asked if I had seen trailers for the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I hadn’t. In the trailer, she said, a complaining woman is told by the desk clerk that problems are good. “Life without problems is death,” he said. I had to agree. Not that anyone likes problems or needs them to somehow reassure themselves that they’re alive.

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It’s not that we want problems; just that life is like the #15 at your favorite Mexican restaurant. Whatever #15 is, it comes with a basket of tortilla chips and salsa. It’s automatic. Life is like the #15, except the tortilla chips are things like stubbed toes and necrotizing fasciitis. As I told the Marcia Ribble (referring to Aimee Copeland), one day down the road she’ll be so grateful to be alive, even if she has no legs, feet or fingers. It’s amazing what people

can adapt to. I recently saw a program someplace about a Formula One auto racer whose career instantly ended in probably the most horrific crash I’ve ever seen. He was basically cut in half in the 220+ m.p.h. accident, and was given last rites on the racetrack. He was not expected to survive. Fast forward a couple of years to 2012 and the guy is training for the Olympics and is one of the top recumbent bicycle racers in the world. If you saw this recent program you saw what I saw: today this man is genuinely enjoying life again. If you had asked him if that was possible months after his accident, even he would not have believed it. Life is truly a gift, pretty much in any circumstance. When tragedy strikes we may at first fear the very worst. “This is it.” But when things calm down just a bit, we’re ready to fight for life no matter what. Like so many of us, Marcia Ribble has her aches, pains and disabilities. (See her column, page 13) But like Aimee Copeland will be doing someday soon, she savors the gift of life. “You’re right,” she wrote in response to my adaptability remarks. “Being alive is really awesome! “Aren’t we lucky?” Amen to that. And to Aimee Copeland’s continued progress. + — Daniel Pearson

Chef Heinz welcomes you

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