It is hard to believe that five years ago today the world was in the throes of the COVID pandemic. The first mention of coronavirus in this paper was on the front page of the Feb. 7, 2020 issue (left). It went on to become the story of the year. And the year after. It is still a major story in the world of healthcare.
People in the forefront of public health here and there around the world were alarmed by the virus erupting from Wuhan, China, as early as the closing months of 2019. Those of us in the general public took awhile to grasp the seriousness of the threat COVID posed.
One issue in early 2020 told of an elderly man in line at the Martinez post office (remember when Martinez had a post office?) who looked around at all the other customers and clerks and muttered aloud, “I’ll be glad when all this foolishness is over. Ya’ll look like a bunch of bank robbers.” He was the only person in sight not wearing a mask. We sometimes wonder if he survived the pandemic.
In most issues of 2020, we ran a feature called “Reality Check” that, even with the extra clarity provided by hindsight, did a pretty good job of balancing the need for caution while minimizing hysteria, which always seemed to be ready to erupt at a moment’s notice.
But if we start congratulating ourselves too much,
MEDICALEXAMINER
all we have to do is look at some of our issues early in the pandemic, like the comic strip and some of the jokes we ran in our April 3, 2020 issue (below). Granted, it was early in the pandemic and no one had any way of knowing how bad things would eventually
get (remember the predictions that it would all be over by Easter?). There were lessons aplenty to be learned, and we’ll examine some of them in our next issue under the same colorful “5 Years” banner you see on this page.
Moe: Here we are, weeks into self-isolation and it breaks my heart to see my wife stand at the living room window gazing aimlessly into space with tears running down her cheeks.
Joe: Yeah, it’s tough on some people.
Moe: Don’t get me wrong, I sympathize with her. I’ve considered letting her in many times.
Joe: But rules are rules, right?
Moe: I came home from work and the cake in my refrigerator was gone. Stolen!
Joe: This wouldn’t happen if you were working from home.
Moe: Whatever! And where
the cake had been was a note that said, “I broke into your house and saw the cake in your fridge and couldn’t resist. I didn’t steal anything else, just the cake. Sorry.”
Joe: What kind of a burglar steals a cake?
Moe: I know, right? I’ve had thieves steal my car and take my bike. I’ve had thieves
swipe packages off my porch. They’ve cleaned out my mailbox. They’ve stolen my lawn mower. But this one. This one takes the cake.
Moe: Normally I hate negativity.
Joe: But not now?
Moe: Believe me, Joe, this is no time to be around positive people.
Moe: Why is there no coronavirus in Antarctica?
Joe: Because they’re iceolated.
Moe: How is Romeo and Juliet like the pandemic?
Joe: I give. How?
Moe: One’s a coronavirus, the other is a Verona crisis.
of people, places, or activities that serve as reminders of the trauma. Over time, some individuals become adept at avoiding triggers, such as only going to the store during off-hours, without realizing how much these behaviors reinforce their distress.
THOUGHTS ABOUT THOUGHTS THOUGHTS
PTSD AND THE JOURNEY TOWARD HEALING
Editor’s note: Written by local mental healthcare professionals, this series shares thoughts on how people think and act when affected by common and not-so-common mental health conditions.
Michael is a 38-year-old Army veteran who, for nearly a decade, had not experienced any issues related to his military service. However, in recent months, his life has been shaken by recurring nightmares and overwhelming anxiety. Small things—like loud noises, crowded spaces, or even certain smells—send his heart racing. He avoids fireworks on the Fourth of July and feels uneasy in public places. At work, he finds it difficult to focus, always on edge.
One evening, his wife found him sitting in the dark, clutching the sides of his chair, unaware that she had entered the room. “What’s going on?” she asked. Michael, his eyes distant, shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel like I’m back over there,” he said.
Michael has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a mental health condition that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event.
What Is PTSD?
PTSD occurs when the mind continues to relive a traumatic experience long after the event has passed. While commonly associated with military veterans, PTSD can affect anyone who has gone through significant trauma, such as:
• Physical or sexual assault
• Car accidents
• Natural disasters
• Childhood abuse or neglect
• Medical emergencies
• The sudden loss of a loved one
It’s natural to feel shaken after experiencing a traumatic event. Most people gradually recover over time, but for some, the brain remains in a heightened state of alert, making it difficult to feel safe—even in everyday situations.
Signs and Symptoms
PTSD symptoms generally fall into four categories, as outlined by the American Psychiatric Association:
• Intrusive Thoughts: Flashbacks, nightmares, or vivid memories of the trauma that feel uncontrollable. Triggers vary widely. For example, combat veterans may feel tense in crowded areas where they can’t track people’s movements, while survivors of sexual trauma may be triggered by individuals who physically resemble their perpetrator.
• Avoidance: Steering clear
24/7, free, confidential mental health hot-line that connects individuals in need of support with counselors across the United States and its territories. People do not have to be suicidal to call. Reasons to call include: substance use disorder, economic worries, relationships, culture and identity, illness, intimate partner violence, depression, mental and physical illness, and loneliness. +
• Negative Mood and Cognitive Changes: Persistent negative thoughts about oneself or the world, difficulty remembering aspects of the trauma, feelings of detachment, or an inability to experience positive emotions.
• Increased Arousal and Reactivity: Heightened startle response, trouble sleeping, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and reckless or self-destructive behavior.
A common misconception is that PTSD always leads to violent or erratic behavior, as often portrayed in movies or media. In reality, aggression is the exception rather than the rule. Most people with PTSD struggle internally rather than outwardly.
Who’s at Risk?
While PTSD can affect anyone, certain factors increase the likelihood of developing the condition:
• Repeated or prolonged trauma: PTSD is more common in those who have experienced ongoing abuse, combat exposure, or domestic violence.
• Higher exposure rates in military personnel: Studies show that 10% of civilian women and 4% of civilian men will develop PTSD in their lifetime. However, military service members face higher rates, up to 30%.
• Mental health stigma in veterans: Many military personnel are reluctant to seek help due to a “drive on until the wheels fall off” mentality. Fear of being labeled weak, sometimes referred to as the “Sick Call Ranger” stigma, prevents some from seeking treatment.
• Pre-existing mental health conditions: People with a history of anxiety, depression, or substance use disorders are more vulnerable to developing PTSD.
• Lack of social support: Those without strong social connections after a traumatic event may struggle more with recovery.
While not everyone who
For starters, they aren’t salt. There is a town named Epsom in southeast England (Surrey) known since the early 1600s as the source of curative waters. Around 1618, a farmer named Henry Wicker had noticed that his cows refused to drink from a particular spring. Even earlier, local physicians had noticed that for people, the local waters offered various curative powers. King Charles II and writer Samuel Pepys were among those who traveled to the town to drink or soak in the town’s waters.
The active ingredient is actually a compound of magnesium sulfate, and a number of health benefits are associated with using Epsom salts, used both internally and externally.
Magnesium can be absorbed through the skin, so soaking in a warm bath with one or two cups of Epsom salts can be a relaxing delivery system. That is the recipe some people use for easing sore muscles and inflammation, and even arthritis. Speaking of relaxing, magnesium is noted for its ability to “promote relaxation [...] calm the nervous system [and] also help regulate melatonin,” the hormone that controls sleep-wake cycles, says WebMD. Magnesium can also promote the production of serotonin, a “feel-good” brain chemical, and lower the stress hormone cortisol. Add those chemical effects to the already calming and relaxing environment of soft lighting and soothing music, and you have all the ingredients for a restful night of sleep ahead.
Another potential benefit of an Epsom salts bath is magnesium’s ability to relax blood vessels, which some people utilize for relief from headaches and migraines.
Some people use Epsom salts as a natural laxative, since it draws water into the colon, which can promote bowel movements. Taking Epsom salts internally is considered safe as long as users follow label instructions and warnings in keeping with their own doctor’s advice. Keep in mind, some Epsom salts are manufactured and sold for cosmetic applications, such as smoothing and exfoliating skin, so those versions should not be used internally.
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Who is this?
Here is a blast from the past. We may have met this man in middle school. If you’d like a hint about his identity, his father’s name was Increase.
Yes, this is Increase Mather’s son Cotton, the first of 10 children sired by Increase with four different wives. Increase (1639 — 1723) was given a name that appealed to God for prosperity. His first-born, in turn, was named in honor of his wife Maria, whose maiden name was Cotton.
To say that these two men, father and son, were noted figures in their day would be accurate. Increase Mather was president of Harvard University for 20 years, an institution he enrolled in at age 12. Cotton Mather entered Harvard College, the university’s undergraduate studies school, at age eleven and a half, to this day the youngest student ever admitted to Harvard (and in case you’re wondering about nepotism, this was more than a decade before Increase assumed the presidency).
As significant as their academic and ecclesiastical endeavors may have been (both father and son were Puritan clergymen), their legacies were tarnished by the Salem witch trials, a dreadful period of hysteria that resulted in the deaths of more than two dozen supposed practitioners of witchcraft: nineteen by hanging, five or more who died in disease-ridden jails awaiting trial, and one unfortunate soul, Giles Corey, who was crushed to death over a period of three days in a giant press. Both Mathers staunchly defended the trials.
Why are we profiling Cotton Mather in a space usually reserved for noteworthy medical pioneers?
As it turns out, he was that too. One of the most important chapters in Mather’s life came from his advocacy of inoculation to prevent smallpox and measles. Little wonder: his first wife died of smallpox in 1702 and his second wife died in a measles epidemic in 1713. Their children fared no better: between the two marriages, Mather fathered 14 children, only two of whom outlived him.
In 1706 the Puritan congregation Mather served at Boston’s North Church gave him a slave as a gift. Mather renamed him Onesimus after the runaway slave of the same name in the Bible. One day Mather asked Onesimus if he had ever had smallpox. “Yes and no,” answered Onesimus, explaining the common practice in his native land (probably today’s Ghana) of immunizing people against smallpox by rubbing powdered smallpox scabs or fluid from pustules into a small scratch. The resulting mild infection conferred immunity to the recipient. The process was variolation (from Variola, the smallpox virus), but was often called inoculation, a word derived from the Latin word for eye — oculus — with its roots in horticultural use, meaning to graft a bud (an eye) from one plant into another.
Convinced that the practice worked (Boston’s 1721 smallpox epidemic saw a death rate of 2.2% among inoculated people versus more than 14% among non-inoculated), Mather advocated it on both sides of the Atlantic, receiving in return death threats, fire bombs, and attacks on his faith. Some ridiculed Mather for relying on the wisdom of a slave; others thought Onesimus was fomenting a plot to poison whites; some religious people believed interfering with disease was working against divine providence and would only “provoke Him more.” Mather stuck to his guns even though one account of the opposition described it as “vast and venomous.” +
ADVENTURES IN
Middle Age
BY J.B. COLLUM
The only haunting I believe in is haunting regret. In his Walt Longmire series book, “Hell and Back,” Craig Johnson wrote that “all haunting is regret” I believe it. Being the imperfect creatures that we are, we don’t really have a choice but to do things we later regret, or in some cases, don’t do things we should have and thus, still have regret. People who say they don’t regret a thing are either saints, which I don’t believe exist, liars, of which we have a bumper crop, or they are psychopaths. Regret is as much a part of being a sinful human as our DNA is.
I admit this sounds like a pessimistic outlook, and it doesn’t match my usual way of seeing life, but I only say it so as to break into a discussion of how we can at least limit it to a degree. The country crooner Clint Black has a song titled “No Time to Kill” and it is a poignant observation that we kill time until there is no time left to kill.
The older I get, the more excuses I come up with to not do things. I’m not talking about my mile-wide lazy streak or my now famous ability to procrastinate past all reason and in defiance even to the laws of physics. I’m talking about things I actually know I will enjoy. And yet I procrastinate.
Sometimes things I scheduled weeks or months in advance and anticipated gleefully until the day or so before I was expected to follow through on those plans. Then when it’s time to put on some clothes suitable for the occasion, and maybe even shave, I start thinking of reasons why I shouldn’t do it. I blame some of it on the forced isolation of the COVID years. I got used to staying home. I even started to like it. The problem is that this kind of behavior can lead to regret. Maybe you skip out on that party or concert. It feels good when you are all comfortable on your recliner, knowing you avoided bad traffic and perhaps rude or obnoxious people, but how will it feel a few weeks from now or later when you hear about how nice the occasion was? When your friends are all talking about it. Or when you hear the news that the concert you skipped was your last chance to see
that band, or maybe the last chance you had to see one of the band members because they later passed away? Even worse, what if that party was the last chance to see an old friend before they passed away? Regret can bite like that. Regret is brutal. It has no remorse. Regret has no regrets over how it can destroy a person.
Sometimes I even avoid simple things that I know I like. Things like:
1.Taking a walk outside where the fresh air and vitamin D from the sun makes me feel better.
2.Swimming. Exercise that doesn’t even feel like exercise.
3.Calling a friend and checking on them.
4.Visiting a friend.
I don’t know why this kind of thing is a problem for me, but after talking to a lot of folks, it isn’t just me. We now can order everything we need online and have it delivered to our door. In some ways this is a great thing, but think about all the interactions you have if you take a trip to a grocery store. Think of the people you meet, the things you see, the things you learn about.
For me, a sign that I’ve been hibernating a little too much comes from something like, “When did they build that building?” or “What happened to my favorite restaurant?”
We have an epidemic of inaction, and that will lead to an epidemic of regret. Let’s not kill time until there is no time left to kill anymore. Get out and experience life. See people, places, and things. Make friends. Service existing friendships. See who needs help and experience the joy of giving to someone else, even if it is just your time. I shouldn’t say “just your time” though. It is the most precious commodity we have. We can’t buy extra. We have what we have, and that’s it.
So don’t waste it or you may be haunted by overwhelming, debilitating regret.
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
A DREAM FULFILLED
I had always wanted to play golf, but considered it out of my realm. I associated golf with private clubs and I had never travelled in those circles. My husband did not share my dream; he preferred fishing. However, after we retired we had an opportunity to give golf a try.
Bogeyville Golf Club is a unique tract of land in the boonies not far from Edgefield. Good old boys in pickup trucks loved it and so did we. After we retired, two family members took pity on us. Sharing their clubs, it took us all day to play eighteen holes, and we lost 26 balls. We fell in love and from that day on spent all our spare time either on the course or in golf shops purchasing every gadget that might possibly enhance our game.
One day at Bogeyville, completely by accident, I shot a hole-in-one. I could just see the headline: “SEVENTY-FIVE YEAR OLD GRANDMOTHER MAKES A HOLE-IN-ONE ON A PAR THREE OVER WATER USING A DRIVER!”
That same day, my husband drove the cart into mud and we got stuck. As I tried unsuccessfully to help, I was splattered with mud. He had health problems that prevented him from exerting himself, so I had to walk uphill to the clubhouse to get someone to come and pull us out. Our game ended on the tenth hole - the very day I made my hole-in-one. We spent many happy hours at Bogeyville. Later we ventured out to public courses in the area. We loved taking advantage of package deals at Myrtle Beach during the winter
THOUGHTS
from page 3 experiences trauma will develop PTSD, these factors can contribute to more persistent and severe symptoms.
Treatment and Management
PTSD can feel overwhelming, but effective treatments are available. Many people see significant improvement through therapy, medication, and lifestyle changes. The most effective treatments include:
Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE): This method helps patients recalibrate their “threat response system.” Think of PTSD like an over-sensitive smoke detector—it should go off for a real fire but not for burned toast. PE helps individuals gradually face their trauma-related memories and triggers, so their response becomes more appropriate.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT): CPT helps individuals reframe negative beliefs about themselves and the world after trauma.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): This specialized therapy helps reprocess traumatic memories, making them less distressing.
Medication: Antidepressants like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can help regulate mood and reduce PTSD symptoms. Prazosin has been used for nightmares, but research suggests mixed results.
Support Groups: Connecting with others who have experienced trauma provides comfort, validation, and coping strategies.
Lifestyle Factors: Basic self-care—such as adequate sleep, healthy eating, and regular
months. We met folks from all over the country who had come to play golf and escape the harsh weather at home. We played in snow flurries, wind, rain, as well as some beautiful sunny days. I cried when I wrapped one of my irons around a tree and broke it in half. My usually harsh husband consoled me saying he would buy me a new club when we got home.
On one of our Myrtle Beach trips, the same group of four who played that first day at Bogeyville arrived for check-in. The desk clerk said they were renovating a lot of their rooms and would have to put us in the penthouse. Three of us were excited - thinking “yes, yes, yes!” My husband with his usual candor said, “I - guess - so!” We enjoyed the penthouse even if he had almost turned it down. We never let him forget it.
I will always treasure the memories of a dream fulfilled.
Mary Carson Shealy Aiken, SC
exercise—can enhance treatment effectiveness. However, sleep disturbances, particularly due to traumatic nightmares, can make this challenging.
Can PTSD Be Treated Successfully?
Yes, many people recover with the right treatment. Some people achieve full resolution of symptoms, while others focus on long-term symptom management. One of the biggest challenges is resisting the urge to revert to avoidance behaviors once symptoms improve. Ongoing therapy and support help individuals maintain progress.
I f you or someone you know is struggling with PTSD, seeking help is the first step. PTSD is not a sign of weakness—it’s a real condition that can improve with the right care.
Note: This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to offer clinical advice.
Kimberley Banta is a licensed professional counselor who offers treatment of posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depression at Integrated Psych Solutions. IPS provides inpatient and outpatient mental health services, with or without a referral, to help patients and their families progress through the care journey. To make an appointment, call 706-204-1366 or visit integratedpsych.care.
Who is this?
Not everyone in healthcare can be Florence Nightingale, right? Despite the long-running series on page 4, there are clunkers in medicine, and we will examine some of them in this brief series that should be briefer. Unfortunately, there’s enough material to keep this going for a while.
Can we all agree: it’s never good when you’re wearing an orange jumpsuit in your profile picture.
And sure enough, this lady, Kimberly Saenz, is in jail for killing five patients under her care, and attempting to kill five more.
She grew up in Lufkin, Texas, where she was a cheerleader and all-round ordinary kid until her junior year of high school, when she found out she was pregnant. She dropped out, had her baby, got her GED, and went on to earn a vocational nursing license from Angelina College in Lufkin.
License in hand, she eventually found steady employment at a DaVita dialysis clinic. “Eventually” because she was fired from a succession of healthcare jobs before DaVita. For instance, a hospital job ended when she was caught stealing and using Demerol, and falsifying a urine test to cover it up In the spring of 2008, things got crazy at the Lufkin DaVita clinic with Saenz on board. Counting back to January of 2007 — 15 months — there had been a grand total of two emergency calls to the facility. Then came April 2008, which got off to a dreadful start with two calls on the first day of the month, and both of them were cardiac arrest fatalities. What a sad and strange coincidence
Except, of course, it wasn’t a coincidence. It was Kim Saenz. She wasn’t caught right away, but the DaVita people knew immediately that something was seriously amiss. They sent in clinical coordinator Amy Clinton to oversee and investigate, but whatever it was kept happening right under Amy’s nose.
During the month of April, ambulances were called to the DaVita clinic 30 times. One patient, Thelma Metcalf, was taken to the emergency room several times, breaking the previous twotimes-in-15-months record all by herself. The last time Thelma went to the emergency room, her next stop ended up being the morgue. Paramedics were so concerned they sounded an alert to their supervisors at the Lufkin Fire Department, and from there a call for help went to state health investigators.
On April 28, two patients told Amy Clinton they had seen Saenz inject bleach into the dialysis lines of two patients who had just had medical emergencies. When Clinton confronted Saenz, she said she had been using the bleach to clean an unused dialysis machine. She used syringes, she explained, to measure out the exact amount of bleach needed and avoid spills.
That explanation got her arrested on five counts of capital murder and five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
At her trial, a co-worker testified that Saenz expressed dislike for a number of patients, every one of whom subsequently died or coded. A chemist and bioterrorism expert testified that bleach in the bloodstream causes hemolysis, in simple terms making red blood cells explode, leading to cardiac arrest.
She is in a cell right now in Gatesville, TX, inmate # 01775033, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
KIDDIE MYTHS
When you start having kids, the advice starts coming your way roughly nine months before the first baby arrives, and never really stops.
2
The Heart of Hometown Dermatology
Here are some examples of myths that many parents are told, and that many believe.
As mentioned, it starts early. For instance, you may remember when people sterilized baby bottles, nipples, and even bottled infant formula, or to use sterile water for mixing infant formula..... Some people still subscribe to those policies, but pediatricians have been advising for decades that simply washing baby bottles and nipples in hot soapy water is sufficient, as is using tap water rather than boiling water to sterilize it
Another modern change is the switch to disposable diapers. There aren’t that many people who use cloth diapers any more, but some say disposable diapers are more likely to cause diaper rash than cloth diapers. That was then, this is now. Diaper “technology,” if you can call it that, has improved enough that the current generation of diapers are not a culprit in diaper rash.
Many people believe that teething can result in an array of symptoms, including fever, earaches, and diarrhea, beliefs that go back literally to ancient times. In recent decades, careful studies have established no connection
between teething and any unrelated symptoms (like the ones mentioned above).
Doctors say the problem with attributing unrelated symptoms to teething is that identifying what is actually causing a problem can be delayed or missed. The real cause of fever or a fussy baby might be a urinary tract infection, an ear infection, a gastrointestinal issue, or something else. There is a lot going on in the development of a newborn, and things that happen simultaneously aren’t necessarily related. The one thing pediatricians are sure that teething produces is teeth. As alluded to at the outset, the handy tips parents read about or are told about never stops.
At the toddler stage, there is the “sugar rush” myth: kids go crazy after eating a lot of sweets. Studies have not shown biological proof that backs up the myth. Researchers say the hyperactivity caused by sugar is often situational, like the excitement of a birthday party.
Then before you know it those toddlers turn into teenagers and another myth pops up: fried foods and chocolate cause acne. Contemporary Pediatrics says “Studies dating back to the 1950s have shown that french fries and chocolate bars are no more likely to produce pimples than whole milk and fresh fruit.” +
TRYTHISDISH
This salad is delicious, beautiful and refreshing, the perfect thing to eat when the heat index is in triple digits — which, unfortunately, will be here before we know it.
Ingredients
• 8 cups chopped Romaine lettuce
• 1 cup finely chopped red cabbage
• 1 cup finely chopped carrots
• 1 cup finely chopped seeded cucumber
• 1 cup finely chopped tomato
• 8 ounces low sodium deli turkey sliced ¼- inch thick and chopped
• ½ cup feta cheese crumbles
• 6 tablespoon Light Balsamic Vinaigrette
Directions
Wash and thoroughly dry the lettuce. Chop into small bite size pieces and place on a platter. Place the remaining ingredients (except for feta and dressing) over the lettuce in rows. Sprinkle with feta and drizzle with dressing or serve dressing on the side.
When I was young, I detested going to church! I liked the singing and seeing my friends but did not like sitting on those hard varnished pews, especially in the summer months even though fans mounted high on the walls moved back and forth to give a moment’s relief. I would pray that the fan would get stuck and blow air my direction the whole hour! Who had ever heard of air conditioning in the mid 1950s!
And the preachers were SO boring. To me, at least. And from the looks of the nodding saints around me, I had plenty of company! But whenever the preacher, with starched white shirt and black suit and tie, would say “Let me illustrate,” I would stop whatever road trip my mind was on (trust me: it wasn’t the sermon!) and listen with rapt atten-
tion because I knew a story was coming up! Even the preacher came alive when he was giving an illustrative story! Regrettably some of the nodding saints missed out on the best part of the sermon!
Over the years, I’ve remembered many of those stories. Not the moral admonition necessarily (of which there was plenty) but the stories themselves. And it is here that we resume last month’s subject: why the heck do I need to go to recovery meetings?
Stories unite. In seminary I learned that the campaign platform of Jesus Christ was the Sermon on the Mount – which contained 62 stories and illustrations! It is via stories that we learn. Each week that I go to my recovery meeting I see vivid illustrations, one after another, of ways to be a better version of me today than I was yesterday. I hear my struggle in the voices of
others who tell their story and I unconsciously say to myself, If it worked for them – it’ll work for me. It’s the cheapest therapy in town! (Most people put in $1 when the donation basket comes around but last week I put in $5 even though the meeting was worth $100).
Those weekly discussions save me tons of grief every week. Did I mention every??? The stories of the attendees are born of experience…some upside, some downside…but all of which direct my thinking in ways that individual counseling is not capable of doing. I owe these friends, many of whom do not even know my name, or that they kept me out of the ditch this week.
Sometimes the stories are “old hat,” but they still provide re-enforcement for me to avoid going back to old thinking and behavior patterns again. If my old methods didn’t work 10 years ago it’s unlikely that
DOWNTOWN 990 Telfair St 706-724-0900
they’ll work for me today. Maybe I’m more stubborn than you, but I need regular reminders of things that won’t work.
Let me illustrate! My brother is a master mechanic, permanently on-call for me in moments of distress. Last week I tried everything I knew to do to get a nut off a bolt. I’ve learned to try first…then call for help! When I presented the problem via “face-time” on my phone (why didn’t we have this feature on those old phones with cords!), he saw the problem immediately. I followed his direction and presto…problem solved! The issue was SO simple that I hesitate to advertise my ignorance on this forum. (Hint: have you ever heard of “left-hand threads?” Duh…I thought so).
At these meetings, I see people who have been in “the program” for years and years. I used to wonder, Why is it necessary? I guess I can go back to my pastoral experience to find the answer I used back then to exhort new converts to my church. I’d say, “Baptism is just the beginning…there is no ending…just daily, weekly, monthly, annual discipleship, a continuing education program you never graduate from.”
Let me illustrate. Oh, I already did! Pardon my repetition.
PARENTHOOD
by Dr. Warren Umansky, PhD
You have three children who always seem to be fussing and fighting with each other. Sometimes, one of the children gets really injured. You don’t know if that is typical of children or if you need to do something different to keep them from fighting. What do you do?
A. Get a referral from your pediatrician to someone you can talk to about how to eliminate the fighting.
B. Look at the behaviors of people in your family and elsewhere with whom your children interact. Ask yourself if your children are exposed to bad role models or good ones.
C. This is not something to be overly concerned with. It’s normal, and children outgrow these behaviors.
D. Punish them with spanking or taking things away. Let them know there will be more punishment when their dad gets home.
If you answered:
A. Your pediatrician is a good place to start. Children should not constantly fight; it’s not normal. When children feel love, hear love, and see love from parents, they will understand their responsibility to do the same. When they are guided from an early age to be kind to siblings and others in their household and elsewhere, they will take ownership of that behavior. There are many professionals who can help make that happen.
B. Children learn more from what others do than what others say. If they spend a lot of time with cousins or neighbor kids who are always fighting with each other, your children will think it’s okay. If adult family members get angry at each other and use nasty language, your children will think it’s okay to do that also. You control what your children see, and it should be a reflection of what you want them to be.
C. Even one more day of your children fighting is one day too many. Happy children who have lots of things to do won’t spend their time fighting. Children should be playing outdoors, building forts, reading, drawing, doing jigsaw puzzles, playing board games, not fighting.
D. This is not the right response. Your children fight because they have not learned better behaviors. You want your children to learn to behave better not out of fear of spanking or losing things, but because good things happen when they make good decisions and everyone is happier. That should be important to everyone. Discipline is teaching, not punishment. Delegating consequences to your spouse undermines your authority.
Fighting should never be allowed to continue. Fighting will not be a problem if you provide good role models beginning when your children are young, keep them busy and feeling loved, and intervene in conflicts quickly. If your children know you have a “zero tolerance policy” for fighting, that will be helpful. For older children who are attracted to fighting, getting them involved in the local boxing club, the school wrestling team, or martial artscan be a way to direct the aggression in more controlled and acceptable ways
Dr. Umansky has a child behavioral health practice in Augusta.
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WANDA KEMP
CRASH COURSE
Anyone who spends any time on the road in the “CSRA area” (we know, we know) — or any other area in the US of A where there are roads and cars on those roads — has seen plenty of dumb driving.
What is remarkable about dumb driving is that the drivers themselves are probably not dumb. It’s their driving that’s dumb. Like we’ve seen some real boneheaded stunts by drivers with cars that have special “Educator” license plates. These are accomplished college graduates, but teaching math and driving seem to be two completely different skill sets.
What are some examples of dumb driving? How much time have you got?
guilty when it comes to running reds as they follow the lead red-runner through the intersection.
DUMB DRIVING
What is really dumb — and it has only been a couple of days since we saw this most recently — is when someone pulls into the intersection and never gets an opening in upcoming traffic that would allow a safe left. So they back up to clear the intersection. Usually someone is right behind them, so backing up doesn’t work (as it shouldn’t!) but by the time the driver realizes he’s stranded in mid-intersection, cross traffic is already streaming through.
Let’s start with two opposing schools of thought that are in regular evidence at traffic lights. Let’s say there are three lanes, two going straight and one designated for left turns. The red light ends and two greens appear for people going straight, along with a flashing yellow arrow for the left turn lane.
One school of left turn thought is not to pull forward into the intersection unless you can see a gap in oncoming traffic that will allow you to complete the left turn.
The other school of thought is to pull forward so that if and when a gap does appear the turn can be completed more safely.
For the record, easing into the intersection is 100% legal. At least it was the last time we asked law enforcement (Sheriff Clay Whittle: if you’re reading this and anything has changed, let us know).
Here are the dumb (and even dumber) ways the two schools of thought play out. When traffic is heavy (like most of the time), the don’t-pull-forward crowd can sit through three lights without moving. Or they sit through one entire green, and once the light goes red, that’s when they turn. And invariably two or three people follow them through, all on the red light. Running reds is epidemic behavior around here.
For their part, the pull-forwarders are just as
Here’s the antidote to both groups: pull into the intersection on a green or a flashing arrow while awaiting a safe opportunity to turn. You’re in a much better position to assess the opening in oncoming traffic and safely complete the turn when you have pulled forward. If no safe opportunity materializes and the yellow and/or red light comes on, wait until all the oncoming redlight runners have passed through (there will be several), then complete your turn. Do not enter the intersection after the green goes to yellow or red to follow another vehicle through. Do not Want to quickly touch on another element of dumb driving? It’s the habit some people have of monopolizing the left lane. Some of these drivers view the left lane as their personal drag strip, while others just poke along below the speed limit like they’re out for a Sunday drive, oblivious to the traffic stacking up behind them. Both groups are dumb. The difference is that the slowpokes don’t seem to realize they’re doing anything wrong, but the speed demons do.
Want proof?
Just drive exactly like a left-lane monopolizer. Nothing infuriates them more than encountering someone who drives just like they do. They can see that it obstructs traffic flow when anyone else does it, but they are blind to the same effect when they do it, and to show their annoyance they will recklessly whip around anyone who stays in the left lane — and then they will proceed to, you guessed it, stay in the left lane.
The blog spot
The COVID-19 pandemic was bad for our family and me personally. When it hit the U.S. in the early spring of 2020, I had recently taken on a lease for a new office space for my solo Infectious Disease (ID) practice. I had hired two new staff members to help run my clinic. I had just signed a contract for a rather pricey new EMR system (they are all rather pricey—I contracted with the least expensive company for my needs), invested in new furnishings for my office, and an abundance of supplies so my office would be well-stocked for everything from wound care to IV antibiotic infusions. This was supposed to be my “dream practice.” My heart and soul and everything I had worked so hard for during my career was in this practice.
I started hearing about some human cases of COVID-19 in January 2020 in China. No worries yet, though. We can prevent spread with the timely closing of the borders, right? Nope. I saw Italy getting pummeled with cases. We started getting reports of U.S. cases of COVID-19. I started getting worried. Then I began personally seeing the first U.S. cases in the hospital. The first case that I can remember was a woman in her 20s who became catastrophically ill in a rapidly progressive fashion. I started to become terrified. She eventually survived, but barely.
This continued for the next two to three years, but in high volume. So we could no longer process the critical illnesses and losses of life slowly and carefully, as in the first case. Luckily, researchers rapidly started studying the virus and finding out which medications were effective and which were not. I frequently scoured the regular reports by the CDC and NIH on transmission risk and treatment recommendations. They guided my management decisions every step of the way; they were my lifeline.
When research came out that drugs like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine were not found to be effective, I stopped using them and discouraged inappropriate requests for them from patients. And lo and behold, we had vaccines available by December 2020. I was first in line for the vaccine after seeing the devastating effects of COVID-19. Even if it did not work, at least I would have tried to prevent it. Once the vaccines were rolled out on a larger scale, I encouraged my family members and patients, especially high-risk ones, to obtain the vaccine. And mask up, of course. Quite simply, I rather like my patients and did not want them to die.
It was difficult to watch the plethora of misinformation in the treatment of COVID-19 during the next few years. It was difficult to watch some people deliberately thwart public health measures or berate public health officials and places of business for implementing safety measures. It was extremely difficult to have people suggest that health professionals were somehow personally profiting from this devastating pandemic that we would have given anything to prevent.
I attempted to keep my inpatient and office practice afloat for at least three years during the subsequent extremely turbulent professional and personal time. Alas, my solo medical practice did not survive. I think it saved my family when I finally closed the very stressful solo private practice.
But I do not think my family can survive another pandemic. And the H5N1 influenza cases are starting to worry me. I am having flashbacks to the very early COVID-19 days. Without regular reports, how will we know about and prevent further transmission if it happens?
+ — posted by Anonymous on March 1, 2025 (edited for space)
by Dan Pearson
That is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. Are you transitioning?
My pharmacist didn’t seem to think it was anything unusual.
PUZZLE
ACROSS
1. South American Indian
5. Spa sounds
9. Word with stone or football
13. Friday intro sometimes
15. Curtain material?
16. Sexual assault crime
17. Finely ground grain
18. Late Laker
19. Harbinger
20. Coniferous evergreen
21. “I hear they are an ____”
23. A matter of fact lead-in
25. Last word in a Sendak title
26. _____-Bifida
27. Obama’s Secretary of State
29. George of Augusta’s WJBF
32. Technical name for two
33. Loud unpleasant sound
34. Dove call
36. Dwight’s wife
40. Failure
41. School at AU (abbrev)
42. Room within a harem
43. Merlin, NFL Hall of Famer
46. Lower digit
47. Jennifer of “Flashdance”
49. An undead creature
51. Early 2008 GOP presidential candidate
52. Gadget (var.)
54. Swoon
56. As needed, medically
57. Hello there
58. Swedish pop group
59. It’s bad (abbrev.)
62. Long fish
64. _____ -hate
66. Louvre pyramid architect
68. Walter, Army surgeon
69. Tiger’s dad
70. ________ Cinemas
71. Sun god of 1-A
Transitioning? Whatever gave you that idea??
Why else would you be taking birth control pills?
I said I was taking GIRTH control pills!
The Mystery Word for this issue: CAENVCTIA
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
We’ll announce the winner in our next issue!
E X A M I N E R 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.
72. Mariel’s daughter
73. Desire DOWN
1. Uncertain
2. World’s longest river
3. Type of bar?
4. Acronym before AU
5. County next to Richmond
6. Fragrance
7. ____-nob
8. Furtive
9. To follower?
10. ______ Building (downtown)
11. Mimicry
12. Type of pool?
14. Off the wall hit?
22. Stroke abbreviation
24. Clothing joint
26. Distress signal
28. Dietary abbreviation
29. Medical prefix
30. Name of a downtown Bar
31. Patients at CHOG
32. Medicinal quantity
34. _____ lab
35. Exclamation of surprise
37. Suffering sound
38. Doing nothing
39. Street in 5-D
44. Ernie of the PGA
45. The Secret of _____ (1982 film)
47. Grand hotel of yore in Augusta
48. Ambulance worker
50. Looped
51. One bone of many like it
52. Jacket color?
53. Bay
54. Former NFL quarterback
55. Another name for white poplar
56. Medical prefix
59. Sörenstam org.
60. College department head
61. Cheerful tune
63. Reagan-era defense
65. Scull power
67. Gull or cat cry
QUOTATIONPUZZLE
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.
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.
THEBESTMEDICINE
ha... ha...
Jesus, Moses, and Noah are big golf fans, so every weekend they disguise themselves, head down to Earth, and play a round on a great course somewhere.
One weekend, they’re playing at a famous PGA course with a 140-yard par 3 with nothing but water between the tee and the green.
Moses and Noah both decide on 7 irons, so they take their swings and both land safely on the green.
Jesus says, “Tiger Woods always used a pitching wedge on this hole.” So he takes his wedge, swings, and the ball sails about 100 yards. “Kerplunk,” goes his ball, right in the water.
In a huff, Jesus picks up his bag, and proceeds to walk across the water to the green where he drops a ball in frustration.
The foursome behind them sees all this happening. One of the guys in the group calls to Moses “Hey, who does that guy think he is, Jesus Christ??”
Moses chuckles, and says “No...he thinks he’s Tiger Woods.”
Moe: Man, I can’t believe my barber got
arrested for selling drugs.
Joe: Who is your barber anyway?
Moe: Bob Berber.
Joe: Bob Berber? Your barber is Bob Berber?
Moe: He’s the one.
Joe: You are kidding me. I’ve been going to him for like eight years. I had no idea he was a barber!
A man is introduced to a new golf course by several of his friends.
He sets up on the first tee, addresses the ball, takes a big swing and completely misses the ball.
Embarrassed, he calms himself, checks his stance, concentrates on making a perfect swing, and proceeds to whiff a second time.
He steps back, thinks about the shot, regrips the club, addresses the ball again, and with his third swing misses a third time.
He turns to his friends and says, “You guys didn’t tell me this was such a tough course.”
Moe: Have you noticed how many people are allergic to perfume and cologne these days?
Joe: Yeah, I’ve seen signs in some places that basically say if you’re wearing perfume, you’re not welcome here.
Moe: That is insane!
Joe: It’s complete non-scents!
Two imbeciles break into a liquor store in the dead of night. Bottle in hand, one turns to the other and asks, “Is this whiskey?”
“Yes,” says the other one, “but definite-wee not as wiskey as wobbing a bank.”
Staring at my phone all day has certainly had no Effect on ME!
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 $24 or one year for $42 . Mail this completed form with payment to Augusta Medical Examiner, PO Box 397, Augusta GA 30903- 0397
Dear Advice Doctor,
The Advice Doctor
For almost a year now I’ve been training for my first marathon. Trust me, it takes a specialized training program for someone to stand a chance at finishing a 26-mile run. I have a co-worker who does a little jogging a few times a week, and that makes her think — as she tells me all the time — that she could run a marathon too. How can I convince her that she’s comparing apples and oranges?
Running Ready
Dear Running,
Thank you for bringing up this important topic. I hope the answers will help you reason with your co-worker.
It is worth stating at the outset that apples and oranges both grow on trees and both are fruits. So there are definite similarities. They are both generally spherical and are often about equal in size and, depending on the variety in question, can be described as either sweet, or tart and sour. There are thousands of varieties of apples, so many that if you tried a different variety every day it would take you well over 20 years to sample them all. Added to that are more than 400 different varieties of oranges.
So if she truly is trying to compare apples and oranges, exactly which varieties is she comparing?
It should be acknowledged that there are nutritional differences. Oranges offer more vitamins than apples in general, but as you might suspect, oranges really shine in the vitamin C department: the average orange contains 12 times more vitamin C than the typical apple. They’re about equal in dietary fiber, but apples have a slight edge (2g on average) in carbohydrates.
If you thought that apples and oranges are fat-free foods, I’m afraid you’ll have to go stand in the corner. They are both definitely very low in fats, but not fat-free. As someone in the know, you probably realize that healthy fats are an essential component of a well-rounded diet, so their fats are nothing to be concerned about. They are also both insignificant sources of protein and calories.
Overall, whether you’re talking apples or oranges, you’re talking about dietary components that promote cardiovascular health, that reduce cancer risk, that have clear weight management benefits, and also cut the risk of type 2 diabetes.
The only caveat is that some citrus fruits interfere with medications used for managing high blood pressure and cholesterol. Ask your doctor for more information.
I hope this answers your question.
Do you have a question for The Advice Doctor about 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.
read the Medical Examiner: Reason #41 BEFORE READING AFTER READING
THE MYSTERY SOLVED
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 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.
WORDS BY NUMBER
PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY
ACUPUNCTURE
Dr. Eric Sherrell, DACM, LAC Augusta Acupuncture Clinic 4141 Columbia Road
706-888-0707 www.AcuClinicGA.com 3633 Wheeler Rd, Suite 365 Augusta 30909 706-432-6866 www.visitrcp.com
L. Carter, MD 1303 D’Antignac St, Suite 2100 Augusta 30901 706-396-0600 www.augustadevelopmentalspecialists.com
Davis Road
Augusta 30907
706-860-4048 Floss ‘em or lose ‘em!
MYMOST MEMORABLE PATIENT
AN OCCASIONAL SERIES
I was in my first year of my Ophthalmology residency. I had just started doing cataract surgeries independently and con fidently.
One day in the clinic a 60 year old lady entered our clinic. She hadn’t been able to see with both eyes since the last several years. Her vision was so bad that she had to be supported by two people just to get into the examining room. She had mature cataracts in both eyes. For all practical purposes she was blind and to -
tally handicapped and was dependent on other family members to get through her daily activities.
I examined her, completed her workup and got her admitted for surgery. My professor provided me the opportunity to perform cataract surgery with implantation of an intra-ocular lens under his supervision.
A week later, I was lucky to be allotted the same patient for the surgery of her second eye. So I had operated on both her eyes. Both
surgeries were uneventful and was successful in restoring her vision.
The day after I operated on the second eye, I entered the wards early in the morning to do my patient rounds.
I saw the most beautiful sight in the world.
That same patient who needed two people to support her everywhere was running around the wards excitedly like a little kid, laughing and talking to all the other patients
in the ward. The patient and their relatives were so thankful to me that I was genuinely touched. That was possibly the most satisfying moment of my professional life up to that moment.
It has been many years since but I remember it like it happened yester day. I could probably fill this space with many more patient stories which were memorable and many of them are unforgettable too. I went on to do more challenging and more complicated cases later in my career and those cases were just as satisfying. In fact I’m now a sub-specialist in Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery, so I don’t do cataract surgeries anymore. But all those years ago as a resident I was still learning the ropes. For a young surgeon at start of a surgical career, this functionally blind lady’s case where I could help regain her vision and make her independent was a tremendous confidence boost. It is something I will never forget.
G E T S E E N W H E N Y O U N E E D I T . +
S I C K O F W A I T I N G ?
A F F O R D A B L E A V A I L A B L E A M A Z I N G W E L C O M E H E A L T H . N E T
