January/February 2015 60 PLUS In Omaha by Omaha Magazine

January/February •

2015

Roger Holthaus Front Row to History

The History and Mystery Of Central High School

Beverly Kracher On Top of the World

Faith, Friends, and Facebook The Journey of

Camille Metoyer Moten november/december • 2014

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Maybe you want to explore a new hobby like ham radio? Check out the story of Bill True and the Ak-Sar-Ben Amateur Radio Club on page S5. Looking for some inspiration for a travel adventure? Let Beverly Kracher tell you about her Nepali trek on page S11. Feeling a little blue, a little let down after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season? You won’t after reading about the faith, friends, and Facebook journey of popular torch singer Camille Metoyer Moten on page S15. When in doubt, get active. Volunteer. Join a social group. Strive to get the absolute most out of life. Join a group or volunteer—you might meet someone new for friendship or even romance—it’s never too late. In the meantime, enjoy this issue of 60PLUS!

Contents

volume 3 • issue 1 Hobbies Ak-Sar-Ben Amateur Radio Club__ S5 Feature Roger Holthaus’ Front Row to History_________________ S7 History Central High School__________ S9

Happy New Year!

Gwen

Gwen Lemke Contributing Editor, 60PLUS In Omaha

Travel Nepal: On Top of the World_____S11 Cover Feature The Journey of Camille Metoyer Moten _____________S14 Active Living Swimming Teacher Rose Baker___S16 Faces Karen and Ron Baker_________S17 Health Enlarged Prostate, Common but Treatable______________S19 The Grandpa Chronicles_________ S20 january/february • 2015

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Hamming it Up Bill True and the Ak-Sar-Ben Amateur Radio Club

F THERE’S A TECHNOLOGICAL/ JARGON gap widening between Baby

Boomers and Millennials, it may have little to do with textspeak and Internet gobbledygook. These days, anyone with at least a flip phone or a dial-up connection probably understands “LOL” and “BRB.” No, perhaps the true remaining esotericists are falling back into the middle of last century. They call themselves “hams” (which just might be old school for “noobs”) and they use such retro terms as, “HIHI,” “88,” and “QTH?” Huh? “We’re not doing a particularly good job at recruiting young people,” says Bill True. He’s 68 years old and is the secretary of the Ak-Sar-Ben Amateur Radio Club (AARC). >

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60PLUS feature < True, or WA9ASD, as he is known over shortwave radio transmissions, is an amateur radio enthusiast who doesn’t mind translating Morse code abbreviations for new-fashioned fuddy-duddies, nor recalibrating the habits of Millennials like myself. “Always say the No. 0 as ‘zero,’ not ‘oh,’” he scolds over a scalding cup of 5 p.m. decaf. “Oh,” I reply indulgently. “I’m not so in tune with the ways of ham radio, I suppose.” “You aren’t?” He asks dryly with the hint of a smile. “We have classes for that.” The AARC, according to its website, has been helping ham wannabes attain their amateur radio licenses since at least 1945, educating them in electrical principles, regulations, and types of equipment. And since the end of World War II, full-fledged hams have been using their powers for forces of good. During last October’s Market to Market Relay running event, the AARC teamed up with Lincoln’s amateur radio club to provide communications along the 78-mile route. The club has also lent its services to the CROP Hunger Walk, the MS Walk, and the Omaha Marathon. In more dire circumstances, hams can be a community’s last line of communication. “Ham radio is still relevant because it provides a communications resource in the event of an emergency,” True says. “This is true around the world.” The amateur radio advocate cites the horrific Joplin, Mo., tornado in 2011 that turned cell phone towers into piles of scrap metal. During the disaster, hams used point-to-point communication in assisting the direction of emergency services amid the wreckage. But ham radio has plenty of room for fun and games, too. True, who built his own radio around the age of 14, and who has contacted other hams as far off as Eastern Europe, hopes future generations will be able to reconcile amateur radio with neverending advancements in communication. “Ham radio is fun—to me, it’s fun,” he says. “After every class that I teach, I always ask, ‘Are we having fun yet?’ Because that’s what this is about. It’s a hobby. It’s a way to enjoy yourself.” Oh, and for those Millennials keeping track who are not so hip to their parents’ and grandparents’ patois: “HIHI” is a way to express laughter, “88” means “love and kisses,” and “QTH?” translates to “What is your location?” S6 60PLUS

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Roger Holthaus Front Row to History

OGER HOLTHAUS WAS OFFERED a summer job

in 1960 as a park ranger in Wyoming. Several days later, a second letter arrived offering him a job in the Eisenhower White House. The White House job was a perfect fit. He was one year away from graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science and government from Carleton College in Northfield, Minn. Looking back on his time in America‘s most famous house, Holthaus says, “Security was different then. When Vice President Nixon was not there, anyone could do what I did. I would go to his office to chat and have coffee with his secretary, Rose Mary Woods.” Washington, D.C., was filled with Nebraska natives that year. Former Nebraska Gov. Val Peterson was Federal Civil Defense Administrator. Fred Seton was Secretary of the Interior. Seton’s newspaper, the Hastings Tribune, sat down the street from the drugstore owned by Holthaus’ father. > january/february • 2015

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60PLUS feature < Holthaus’ boss in the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization was Bob Gray, special assistant to President Eisenhower and a fellow Hastings High School alum. Gray would call Holthaus and say, “Ike’s out of town. Want to join me in the swimming pool?” “I was the state champion swimmer in high school,” Holthaus says. The retired attorney is still a champion swimmer, traveling the country to compete in National Senior Olympics. Holthaus returned to the State Department in 1961 after college graduation. “That was going to be my career,” he says. But his path took a twist when he was called up by the Selective Service. He applied for a direct commission. Within a week, Lieutenant Holthaus was on his way to Fort Sam Houston and then to a front-line aid station in the DMZ in Korea as part of the Army Medical Service Corps. Holthaus left the Army and earned a master’s degree in political science and government in 1966 from the University of Nebraska. He then taught political science classes at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City for three years. After graduating with a law degree from Creighton University in 1972, he became Deputy Douglas County Attorney and later established his own law firm. Historical buildings have been a big part of his life. His law offices were once in the 1600 Farnam Building, built in 1916 for First National Bank. He also had a condominium there. Today his home is in the St. Joseph Tower on 10th Street, built in the 19th century as a hospital. Although he retired in 2012, Holthaus still maintains an office in the more-than century-old Keeline building near the courthouse. He works there representing District 2 in the Learning Community of DouglasSarpy Counties. He once lived in the nearby Orpheum Towers, which is listed on the National Historic Registry. His Carleton College roommate was Garrick Utley, who became a well-known NBC newsman. Holthaus once jokingly told his friend that he thought Maria Shriver, Utley’s co-anchor on NBC News Sunday Today, was cute and would he introduce them? Utley called back in a few days and said, “She says if I do, I will be terminated.” At the time, Shriver was married to Arnold “The Terminator” Schwarzenegger.

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60PLUS history by judy horan • Photo courtesy of the KMTV/3 Bostwick-Frohardt Collection at the Durham Museum

The historic bell tower awaits demolition after Central High School was erected around the old school building.

The History and Mystery of Central High School

MAHA EYES ARE DRAWN

to the massive limestone building towering over 20th and Dodge Streets. How could we miss it? But it’s what we don’t see that tells the history of Omaha Central High School. We don’t see the buildings that sat there before. A commonly held misconception is that the current school building was the original Nebraska territorial capitol. It wasn’t. Built in 1858, Nebraska’s territorial capitol was the first of three buildings to sit on top of Capitol Hill. The second was built as Omaha’s first permanent public high school in 1872. Construction of the structure that is now Omaha Central High School began in 1900. “Omaha became the territorial capital in 1854 when the Nebraska Territory was

founded, a product of the Kansas-Nebraska Act,” says Barry Combs, who graduated in 1950. “The territorial capitol was never used as a school.” Omaha’s territorial capitol lost its status in 1867 when Nebraska became a state. A village named Lancaster, which was renamed Lincoln, was instead chosen as the new state’s capital. With nowhere else to meet, legislators continued holding meetings in Omaha until 1868 when a building was constructed in Lincoln as the first of three state capitols. Omaha’s original territorial building was then donated to the City of Omaha “for educational purposes only.” “The Omaha people brought in an engineer who said the building was too dangerous to use,” says Combs, the school’s unofficial > january/february • 2015

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60PLUS history < historian. “The original capitol was beautiful, but it was put up in such a hurry that it didn’t last.” A second building, constructed in 1872 for both high school and grade school classes, featured a clock tower. But the red brick building was soon overcrowded. Plans began in 1900 for construction of a larger school building on the same site. “But they couldn’t just tear down the second building,” says Combs. “Where would the kids go to school?” So that classes could continue, builders did not remove the old building, but instead constructed around it, one side at a time. Before the buildings’ completion in 1912, Omaha High School—renamed Omaha Central High School in 1915—had to decide what to do about the iconic clock tower rising from the old building’s center. The 185-foottall monolith had historical significance. Omaha’s first electric lights were switched on in the tower on July 4th, 1876, the nation’s Centennial. “That tower was a magnet for any kind of VIP who came to Omaha,” says Combs. “A visiting VIP would be urged to climb the tower’s steps.” The last dignitary to do so was President William Howard Taft. Combs contemplates the vision of the 340-pound president laboriously climbing the stairs. Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes, Ulysses S. Grant, and Benjamin Harrison also visited the school, as did the Emperor of Brazil. All are believed to have climbed the tower. But the school ran out of money and was not able to build a planned new tower after the old tower was torn down. “So the space smack in the middle of the school became a courtyard,” Combs says. “There was an attempt at shrubbery and grass, but kids went back and forth and it didn’t survive.” Helicopters placed a translucent dome over the courtyard during renovations of the school in 1981-1982. Students now gather year-round in the covered atrium. In 1915, the city decided to cut back the steep hill that ran from near the Missouri River to 24th Street. “Streetcars had a difficult time making the hill,” Combs says. Central High School still sat on a hill afterward, just less of a hill.

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Notable Omaha Central High School Alums If all Central High School alums from the last century gathered, it would be one amazing party. They include legendary actor Henry Fonda (1923) and actress Dorothy McGuire (1934), both of whom performed at another vaunted city institution, the Omaha Community Playhouse. Hall of Fame NFL running back Gale Sayers graduated in 1961 after setting records on Central’s varsity football team. Other NFL players who walked the halls of Central High School include Ahman Green, Keith Jones, and Larry Station. Central High School is a tradition for some Omaha families. The late Susan Buffett (1950) and her children Susan (1971), Howard (1973) and Peter (1976) are all alums. She was the wife of Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, who graduated in 1947 from a high school in Washington, D.C., where his father was a U.S. Congressman. But his business partner, Charlie Munger, is a Central High alumnus (1941). U.S. Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige (1940) followed his father U.S. Congressman Howard Baldrige (1912) as an alum. Actress Inga Swenson, best known as the German cook on the television sitcom “Benson,” is Combs’ favorite famous alum, perhaps because she was in his 1950 graduating class. Many students who climbed the steep stairs to Omaha Central High School’s front entrance later climbed their way to the top of their professions. They had good practice sweating out this and other tough challenges. Central High lacked air conditioning until 2000.

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60PLUS travel story and photographs contributed by Beverly Kracher, Ph.D

On Top of the World A Little Bit Up, A Little Bit Down Beverly Kracher

HIMA, OUR GUIDE, WAITED

for us on the trail. We caught up to her after stopping to adjust our daypacks and enjoying some wild berries. Under her umbrella, which protected her from the burning sun, we could see Bhima’s smiling face and playful eyes. She quickly evaluated our moods and stamina. She said to us, for probably the 30th time, “Not far to go before we get to the next tea house. A little bit up, a little bit down.” Bhima was coaching us. Though it was probably another hour before we reached our stopping point, she was saying the thing we needed to hear to make it. “A little bit up, a little bit down.” Those words have had a forceful affect on my life since returning from this year’s trek. I was in the Annapurna Range of the Himalaya Mountains in Nepal. Hikers have tried to describe the magnificence of this massive range—the raw beauty, the incredible scenery, the water buffalo, and the orange/yellow sunsets over the snowcapped mountains. Try as we might, it is impossible. You have to go there on your own to know what Nirvana is like.

This was my second trek. The first was so powerful that I knew I had to come back with my sister. Barb and I had poured over books about the yogis and sadhus in India and Nepal when we were kids. We were inspired by their quest for spiritual enlightenment in the Himalayas. So this time I was with Barb. Her husband, Joel, came with us because he loves to explore life, too. We hired 3Sisters Adventure Trekking Company for our trek. Three Nepalese sisters own the company and provide jobs to Nepalese women by hiring and training them as guides and porters. Walking through the majestic mountains with four Nepalese women (one guide and three porters) brought the heavens to earth. As we walked, we learned about their quest for opportunity, education, family, and freedom. I found, as I always do when I travel, that while people dress differently and have different customs, we basically desire the same things. In this, we are one race. While trekking, Bhima showed us the way yogis and sadhus walk. The technique is two-fold. First, they take it easy. They are the tortoises not the hare. Second, they use

a lower-body relaxation technique. As they hike up a mountain they rest their back leg as they push off with their front leg. Continuous movement creates stress, so relaxing the back leg, even for a second, reduces tension and increases power. In these two ways, Bhima taught us to pace ourselves and to use our legs in a way that would allow us to walk twelve hours a day. A little bit up, a little bit down. Since my return I have learned to pace my life just as I paced my steps up the steepest and longest trails I have ever encountered. The temptation was great to fall back into my hectic work life. When I think about this it’s like listening to a sad song. The beauty of the Himalayas are still with me. I can very easily feel the peace anytime I try. I know that is good for my heart. And there is one more thing. I carry a joyful, even enlightened, attitude where I see the ebb and flow of life as “a little bit up, a little bit down.” I can be my best and do my best. And that attitude makes me feel like I’m standing on top of the world.

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60PLUS cover feature by leo adam biga • photography by bill sitzmann

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Faith, Friends, and Facebook The Journey of Camille Metoyer Moten

OPULAR SINGER-ACTRESS CAMILLE METOYER Moten is

a fun-loving, free-spirited soldier of faith. That faith got tested starting with an April 2012 breast cancer diagnosis. After treatments and surgeries over two years she gratefully proclaims, “I am healed.” Anyone unfamiliar with her spiritual side before discovered it once she began posting positive, faith-filled Facebook messages about her odyssey and ultimate healing, which she attributes to a Higher Power. Her frequent “Fabulous Cancer-Free Babe” posts gained a loyal following. Many “Facebook Prayer Warriors” commented on her at-once intimate, inspirational, and humorous musings. One follower quipped, “Your posts are like going to church at the Funny Bone.” Metoyer Moten decided cancer was an experience she couldn’t deny. “When you perform, your whole thing is pulling people into this artistic moment with you,” she says. “When I got the cancer and started posting about it I thought, ‘Well, this is my song, this is the song I have right now and I want people to feel everything I’m feeling, the good parts and the bad parts.’ And at the end I want them to see the glory of God in it.” The humor, too. She described the asymmetry of her reconstructed breasts. While losing and regaining hair she called her bald head “Nicki MiNoggin.” Once patches of growth came back it was “Chia Rivera.” She’s since dubbed her swept-back scraggle, “Frederick Douglass.” “I wrote it as I saw it, Metoyer Moten adds. “If it struck me funny, that’s what it was. I will talk about anything, I just will. I’m just like this open book.”

That extended to shares about weight gain and radiation burns. Mainly, she was a vehicle for loving affirmations in a communal space. What support most touched her? “Probably just the amount of prayer,” says Metoyer Moten, whose husband, Michael Moten, heads One Way Ministry. “Every time I said, ‘Please pray,’ there were people right there, and sometimes they would put their prayer right on the post, which was awesome. Some of the encouraging things they would say were really special. The Facebook people really did help to keep me lifted and encouraged and they said I did the same for them. “It almost never failed that there were things I read I needed to hear. We had this beautiful circle going of building each other up.” The sharing didn’t stop at social media exchanges. “The thing I loved were the personal notes I got from people asking me to write to loved ones going through something, and I wrote to them just to encourage them because that was the whole purpose—to tell people who you go to in time of trouble.” She’s now writing a book from her Facebook posts. “My goal is to encourage people and to glorify God and to talk about how social media can be a meaningful thing.” Camille, being Camille, went beyond virtual sharing to invite Facebook friends, all 2,000-plus of them, to “chemo parties” at Methodist Estabrook Cancer Center. “I usually had about 12 to 15 people. The nurses were very sweet because sometimes we’d get too loud. Other patients sometimes joined the party, which was kind of my point, to liven it

up. We just had a ball.” It wasn’t all frivolity. “We would pray on the chemo machine that the chemo would affect only the cancer cells and leave the good cells alone. Once, a woman rolled her machine over for us to lay hands on hers as well. It was just a beautiful testimony.” Cancer didn’t stop Metoyer Moten from cabaret singing or acting “Even though I had a little harder time every now and again,” she says, “it didn’t stop me from doing anything.” She even believes she came out of it a better performer. “I’m not a very emotional person,” she continues, “but sometimes to connect spiritually you have to have a little more emotion involved. I think now the stuff I’m doing on stage is better because I think I’ve connected to myself better emotionally. I think I had stuffed things down a long time ago. This made me realize it’s okay to have some emotions.” Fellow performers David Murphy and Jill Anderson walked with her on her journey. Now that they’re battling their own health crises (Murphy’s vision problems and Anderson’s MS), Metoyer Moten is there for them. She’s glad her saga helps others but doesn’t want cancer to define her. “A long time ago I decided there’s no one thing that’s the sum total of your entire life,” she says. “I’m happy to talk about what God did for me during this experience, but I’m not going to dwell on the cancer bit forever. I don’t want people to look at me and say, ‘Cancer.’ I want them to look at me and say, ‘Healthy…healed.’”

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60PLUS active living by david williams •

photography by bill sitzmann

Rose Baker Chlorine Dreams

OSE BAKER IS A graduate of

Monroe Elementary School.

That’s not a typo. Monroe Elementary became Monroe Middle School in 1956. Baker doesn’t need much of an excuse to return to her alma mater. She’s there over 20 weeks a year on Saturday mornings giving swimming lessons in the school’s pool. “My dad made sure everybody in the family knew how to swim,” Baker explains. “And I decided I kind of liked it.” She went on to a stint as a lifeguard at a now defunct neighborhood pool. She graduated from (the also now defunct) Tech High School before enrolling at Omaha University (now the University of Nebraska-Omaha), where she won two events at the first Nebraska College Invitational swim meet in 1964. But by then, Baker was already five years S16 60PLUS

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into her work as a swimming instructor, which she began in 1959. That, too, is not a typo…1959. Ike was in the White House. Buddy Holly’s plane went down in an Iowa cornfield. Bridget Bardot was the hottest thing on two wheels. Bobby Dain crooned about menace named “Mack the Knife.” Baker, now a retired Omaha Public Schools physical education teacher, is known for a firm-but-gentle teaching style that has become familiar to generations of Omaha families. “My recollection of Rose is that she didn’t take anything from anybody,” says Brian Neu, who is now 33 years old. “Her no-nonsense style is the key to her success. We started our daughters (Reese, 5, and Morgan, 8) in lessons elsewhere and we didn’t seem to make much progress. Then I learned that Rose was still teaching and now my kids are with the same woman that taught me how to swim. Their

progress with Rose has been just remarkable.” “Swimming is for everybody,” says Baker, who was recently recognized with a place of honor in the Omaha Public Schools Athletic Hall of Fame. “I’ve also done a lot of classroom water safety work, but the pool is where it’s at. I want to be in the water. And so do the kids.” What she calls her “tough love” approach is legendary in this city and, after more than a half century of splashing around in the water, she is equally taciturn in talking about the “why” of it all. “Sure, it’s fun and rewarding and all of that,” she says, “but the main reason I do this, the main reason this is so important to me, is pretty simple. I don’t want to ever have to read about a kid in the paper…a kid who drowned because he didn’t know how to swim.”

60PLUS faces by sandra martin • photography by bill sitzmann

Karen and Ron Baker Love Springs Eternal

AREN & RON BAKER had their

first date on May 1st of last year. On October 4th, just four short months later, they were married. Crazy kids in love? Impulsive, impetuous teenagers? You might think so, but you would be wrong. These two lovebirds are admittedly far from their teen years, and rather than being impulsive, they explain that they “just knew” that they belonged together. > january/february • 2015

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60PLUS faces < “It did happen fast,” Karen admits, “but it isn’t as if we were strangers. I’d known Ron and his family for years. He was our mail man before he retired. We were in the same parish. Our kids were even in the same dance class together.” But in spite of knowing each other, Ron admits he was nervous when he thought about asking Karen out on a date. “My wife of 48 years had died,” he explains, “and I knew her husband had also died. I was so lonely that I somehow found the courage to call her up.” Karen believes their connecting was a sign of faith, explaining that she had gone to church to offer what’s called a novena, a nine-day prayer, asking God to tell her what she was supposed to do with her life now that her children were grown and her husband gone. “I was amazed to realize,” Karen says,” that Ron’s call to ask me out came either nine or ten days later! I took that to be a direct answer to my prayer. “I felt comfortable with him right away,” Karen recalls of their first date. “We discovered we shared so many interests.” Ron agrees, and adds, “By the end of that first date, I knew I loved her, and I told her, even though I was afraid I might scare her off!” “He didn’t scare me off,” Karen adds, “because I already knew I was feeling the same way.” From that moment on the couple was inseparable. “I asked her to marry me within a few weeks,” Ron says, “because there was no reason to wait. At our age, you understand how limited your time may be, and that anything could happen to change things.” Though their family members were indeed surprised (between them, they have 10 children, 22 grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren, all of whom were at the wedding), they are “150 percent supportive of our decision,” says Karen. “They just want us to be happy.” And it definitely appears that they are. “We’re enjoying doing so many things together,” says Karen, “especially since both of our spouses had been sick for such a long time. We’ve taken up golf again, and we’re also traveling—things that neither of us had been able to do for many years.” “We honestly feel like we’re about 30 years old, in the sense that we’re rediscovering life,” adds Ron. “We’ve been given a second chance at love, and we don’t take it for granted. We’re going to share the rest of our lives together.” S18 60PLUS

january/february • 2015

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$2a$10$BV2a7V/BdNEaP8TLqH43gOY8Gy/Beii 959fEMuGFh6fTZktxU5toeU1BBQ0UgR09FUyBIR VJFTkVXTElORSBHT0VTIEhFUkU=\n$2a$10$VQy5s jVaOIi93aOzrmX/NOWOEU/lVTxtUp4KLHYoUvJH GImzEGnKqU1BBQ0UgR09FUyBIRVJFTkVXTElORS BHT0VTIEhFUkU=\n$2a$10$.BSUej3mkaYgBL6SH dzkruV.CLTOdrTeuMC7tENIJRio4k7r1S522U1BBQ 0UgR09FUyBIRVJFTkVXTElORSBHT0VTIEhFUkU=\ n$2a$10$8lJaZ1bjql9MsIVt9chbEODEK1V4DM h2sWCqgO3EOkcmLDpuOcv2OU1BBQ0UgR09FUyBIR VJFTkVXTElORSBHT0VTIEhFUkU=\n$2a$10$bok og0hs0YeIDLS08Mtz1OiPJn75Gm7kUVRGxWiMvmNK. 96K15omCU1BBQ0UgR09FUyBIRVJFTkVXTElORSBHT0VTIE hFUkU=\n$2a$10$6PwNCHEGBFnlVxWv/tvWyOIUae5YKMb G9AKx4P0QQdYkJFnuQBedGU1BBQ0UgR09FUyBIRVJFTkVX TElORSBHT0VTIEhFUkU=\n$2a$10$0zda1EWkCNLfq3f8/IgljO 0gl8u/8SQWc9tfTcstxEmJlYbx85kAKU1BBQ0UgR09FUyBIR VJFTkVXTElORSBHT0VTIEhFUkU=\n$2a$10$8HQy CRFmAbw.q2RC1u3RBOGPwfqXvS4nK4obI8uQeYN WIAST0cM/2U1BBQ0UgR09FUyBIRVJFTkVX TElORSBHT0VTIEhFUkU=\n$2a$10$UvJ6oFqd 71pgp.O03WVqRuAqoS2JG9CR1BvNEH. KqLySgt2C7hVUWU1BBQ0UgR09FUy BIRVJFTkVXTElORSBHT0VTIEh FUkU=\n$2a$10$FmIjrLTW. ACeLTrwoJXJ.u8b8hgthtLuGD By0sV8EJZjyFkEni0NyU1BBQ 0UgR09FUyBIRVJFTkVXTElORS BHT0VTIEhFUkU=\n$2a$10$C jZNVV1n0igQ5i4xti7eh. yyyTwczBJ4Or3CNfvQsAtx1f HkrPX/mU1BBQ0UgR09FUy BIRVJFTkVXTElORSBHT0VTIE hFUkU=\n$2a$10$uPCa JPhRy7F01s3YTceEkeAtZvK 9r2seNkqA5w3PCqdy Br.0eW.m

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60PLUS health by Susan Meyers

Enlarged Prostate A Common and Treatable Problem in Older Men

ROUBLE URINATING. WEAK URINE flow. Frequent urination or

frequently getting up in the middle of the night. While many men chalk these symptoms up to “getting older,” they are often a sign of an enlarged prostate. An enlarged prostate is one of the most common problems among men over 50. The good news is that, in many cases, the symptoms caused by an enlarged prostate can be relieved with medical advice, says Chad LaGrange, MD, urologist at Nebraska Medicine. By age 60, about a half of men will have an enlarged prostate and by age 85, that number climbs to 80 percent. Living with these symptoms can be uncomfortable, embarrassing, and can prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep, notes Dr. LaGrange. Some men may even avoid leaving the house for any longer length of time for fear of bladder leakage. “Many men will put up with these symptoms for months until they become intolerable before seeing a doctor,” says Dr. LaGrange.

“This can result in permanent damage to the kidneys and bladder. It’s always important to see a doctor early on to determine if it’s something that needs treatment and to rule out more serious problems like an infection or prostate cancer.” The prostate grows throughout a man’s life. As it enlarges, the layer of tissue surrounding it stops it from expanding. This causes the gland to press against the urethra like a clamp, which can obstruct the flow of urine. Over time, the constant straining of the bladder muscle may cause it to become thicker and overly sensitive, causing it to contract with just small amounts of urine, resulting in the need to urinate frequently. Eventually, as the urethra opening becomes more restricted, the bladder cannot completely empty, which can lead to a urinary tract infection or kidney and bladder damage. “Oftentimes, an enlarged prostate is not a serious problem and can be treated with lifestyle changes and behavior modification,” says Dr. LaGrange. “Medications are

available that can shrink the prostate and relax the muscles in the prostate so the flow is better. Our goal is to avoid surgery until absolutely necessary.” Ultimately, treatment will depend on your symptoms, how severe they are, and whether you have other medical conditions, notes Dr. LaGrange. If you are not able to urinate at all, have significant bleeding, kidney failure, or are not responding to medical therapy, you may be a candidate for surgery. Resection of the tumor growth that is pressing against the urethra is the most common surgery for an enlarged prostate. The risks and benefits should be discussed thoroughly with your physician. “A lot of men think these problems are a normal part of aging and they just have to live with them,” notes Dr. LaGrange. “Just remember, if you are experiencing these symptoms, you are not alone, and in most cases, we can help you greatly reduce your symptoms with the appropriate medical therapy.” january/february • 2015

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60PLUS grandpa chronicles by david williams

The PG Dilemma Lessons Learned in the Dark

Y 3-YEAR-OLD GRANDSON, BARRETT, is just

crazy about dragons. His toy box is full of the scaly creatures, and he loves to invent epic narrative tales of good and evil featuring the winged beasts. So it seemed a no-brainer to select How to Train Your Dragon 2 as a good flick for us to see together. Our anticipation doubled when we learned that this would be the very first theater experience for Barrett and his then 4-year-old brother, Easton. My wife, Julie, wisely aired some concerns about the PG rating. I wish I had paid closer attention to her objections. Instead, I convinced her that the label was most likely innocuous. The usual suspects, I surmised, could be anything from an obligatory flatulence scene to a dose or three of fire-breathing violence of the not-too-scary variety. Oh, and don’t forget the likelihood that we would encounter a classic cliché found so often in such movies—that familiar plot device that has the film’s young protagonist being made into an instant orphan early in the story (think Bambi or The Lion King). We’ll be fine, I promised. I was spot on in my guess (spoiler alert) about the circumstances surrounding how the film’s intrepid hero takes on the mantle of clan leadership at such a tender age, but I was dead wrong on everything else. The fast-paced CGI production was a sensory overload featuring a dizzying style—one that employed about a million jump cuts per minute to fuel and punctuate the action. Way S20 60PLUS

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too much to look at. Way too much to follow. There’s a reason why the grandchildren watch virtually no TV when we babysit and, in their own home, are allowed access only to the gentle, parent-friendly fare of Nick Jr. That network’s offerings are created by educators and have clear curriculum goals in mind. A kid named Dora teaches them a little Spanish. They learn about shapes from a bunch of amorphous blobs in a program improbably dubbed Yo Gabba Gabba! Then there’s the D&D duo of dragons and dinosaurs in Mike the Knight and Dino Dan, respectively. How to Train Your Dragon 2 turned out to be something of a poster child for an insipid form of addiction, one that thrives on unceasing stimulation and the need for pointless distraction. The only good news was that Barrett quickly lost interest. Even the fruit snacks smuggled into the cheap-seat theater couldn’t hold his attention, so we ended up spending much of the movie hanging out in the lobby. Barrett soon found the drinking fountain, a

magical device that can occupy his interest for hours and should rank right up there with Lincoln Logs and Legos as the world’s most treasured childhood toys. Back in the theater, Julie was left to field a cavalcade of questions from Easton. “Is that the bad guy? Is that dragon dead? What’s happening?” For fear that we would be exposed as horrible grandparents, Julie practically begged me not to write this column. But this confessional will be a good thing if even one grandparent out there takes my mistakes to heart. Making age-appropriate entertainment decisions for young children carries a responsibility that I shirked. I should have learned more about the film. I should have browsed parenting sites that offer reviews and advice on how to make better choices. It would have been so easy. Simply put, I blew this one. “Horrible” is too strong a word, but we (make that I because Julie was in the right all along) learned some valuable lessons sitting there in the dark that day.