story and photo by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

It’s a new year and June Brown is celebrating her new lease on life.
“They said there was really nothing they could do. It was just damaged muscle,” Brown said, recalling a July 2006 injury to her left leg that left her living in pain.
Over the next 13 years, that injury gave way to a vicious cycle of pain, redness and swelling followed by antibiotics.
And building oilfield equipment for a living, that meant Brown spent long days on her feet which just made problems worse.
She managed the best she could until she noticed a hole forming in her leg, about the size of a pencil eraser.
Her doctor put her on another round of antibiotics hoping it would curb the growing infection.
“The doctor was real nice but said he had never seen anything like this and wouldn’t touch it,” Brown remembers.
Finally deciding she had had enough, Brown pressed the issue and sought a second opinion.
Pathology samples showed dead tissue in her leg due to no blood flow.
“It was basically just dying,” she said.
She was horrified and in need of help.
GIFT OF HEALING
That’s when she found Dr. C.V. Ramana and Naadi Healthcare Vascular and Interventional Center.
Dr. Ramana was able to restore blood flow for the first time in more than a decade.
“Within two weeks I was released from wound care. You wouldn’t believe the difference,” Brown said. “It’s got a scar but it’s a totally different leg. I’m just so happy there’s no pain, no nothing.
“I can forget about it.”
Naadi specializes in peripheral vascular disease and venous insufficiency.
From pain in the calf while walking to non-healing wounds, Naadi works on getting people back to their former selves.
“Ultimately, the end goal is if somebody has a really bad wound we don’t want them to lose their limb. We want to save their limb, save their life. People who have amputations have a very high mortality rate,” said Shelby Dudley, a radiology technologist at Naadi.
Naadi Vascular and Interventional Center is the first outpatient center in Oklahoma City dedicated to vascular and interventional radiology.
Interventional radiology (also known as IR) is the minimally invasive, image-guided treatment of medical conditions that once required open surgery.
Breakthroughs in technology and imaging have created new treatment choices for patients. In this new era of medicine, there is no longer one “right way” to handle your condition.
Personalized medicine means doing the right thing for each individual patient. More than ever, it’s imperative for you to know and understand all of the available options to treat your condition or disease. In many cases, there is a minimally invasive approach that could dramatically reduce your pain, risk and recovery time.
“A lot of people have pain in their legs and they think it’s normal and it’s not,” Dudley said. “A lot of people have peripheral vascular disease and they don’t know. It’s a misdiagnosed disease. This can be treated and there are things that can be done to prevent it.”
Controlling diabetes and blood pressure, exercise and maintaining a healthy diet are some of the biggest modifiable risk factors that can help prevent peripheral artery disease.
After the injury, Brown resigned herself to her current condition. She didn’t know things could be better.
Not until she visited Naadi and Dr. Ramana.
“He was great. He was real sweet and real concerned,” Brown said of Dr. Ramana. “He was patient with me. He didn’t try to push. He let me go at my own pace. I appreciated that. He made it to where I would understand what was going on to help relieve some of my anxiety.”
“His staff is really sweet. You couldn’t ask for better, more concerned people that want to make sure you’re comfortable, relaxed and healthy.”
Patients are able to self-refer to Naadi. Taking her health into her own hands was the best gift Brown could have given herself.
“That’s something I hope we can make a change in the culture,” Ramana said. “People see all of that as a normal part of growing old and kind of accept that and don’t think there is anything they can do to impact that.”
“One of the nice things about being in a facility like this is you get to see those patients over and over and you get to see how you’ve impacted their lives,” Ramana said. “It’s very rewarding.”
And now Brown has a new lease on life.

Visit Naadi Health at 1 NW 64th Street in Oklahoma City or call (405)-608-8884. www.naadihealthcare.com

An experimental brain cancer compound developed at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation is being used in a new study that could considerably extend the lives of glioblastoma patients.
In a study at the University of Oklahoma’s Stephenson Cancer Center, the OMRF compound OKN-007 is being combined with Temodar, the current standard-of-care medication for glioblastoma. Researchers hope to learn if it can enhance Temodar’s effectiveness for a longer period of time.
Glioblastoma is an aggressive form of brain cancer with no cure. Even with surgery and chemotherapy, patients typically live only 12-18 months after diagnosis. Only 1 in 20 glioblastoma patients will live five years.
Temodar has been proven to work, but in most cases, patients tend to become resistant to the drug after approximately three months.
In combination, OKN-007 allows Temodar to remain effective for longer with less resistance, thus extending treatment well beyond the three-month window, perhaps indefinitely, said OMRF Vice President of Technology Ventures Manu Nair.
“Several additional months of treatment with Temodar can dramatically prolong the lives of patients and keep them from enduring other grueling treatments that can compromise their immune systems,” said Nair.
OKN-007 had been in trials to determine safety and efficacy since 2013. The compound was developed by OMRF scientists Rheal Towner, Ph.D., and Robert Floyd, Ph.D., as a novel therapeutic that dramatically decreased cell proliferation (spread) and angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels), and it turned on the process of removing damaged cells so they can’t become cancerous.
“OKN-007 has been promising, but until now, it was only used in very late-stage cancer where patients are out of other options,” said Nair. “By combining it with Temodar, it offers a longer, more effective treatment regimen.”
The new study is led by James Battiste, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of the Comprehensive Brain Tumor Program at the Stephenson Cancer Center.
An estimated 12,000 Americans are diagnosed with glioblastoma each year, according to the American Brain Tumor Foundation. The standard treatment regimen involves surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, followed by radiation and chemotherapy. Still, the tumor almost always grows back.
“By combining Temodar and OKN-007 following initial surgery to have the brain tumor removed, we see potential for these patients to added benefit from an existing drug already proven to work, but for a much longer period of time,” said Nair.

Male, J.D., 7 months old, and female, Rukai, 8 months old, are now on public view

The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden is pleased to announce the arrival of two clouded leopard cubs: seven-month-old male, J.D., and eight-month-old female, Rukai. The duo were paired at the Pittsburgh Zoo, Rukai’s birthplace, in October and have spent the past two months bonding. J.D. was born at the Nashville Zoo in late April. The hope is that Rukai and J.D. will one day grow up to have their own cubs together and in clouded leopards, breeding is more successful when future mates grow up together. The method of introducing juvenile, genetically valuable male and female clouded leopards began about a decade ago when the clouded leopard population began to drastically decline.
“The Zoo is so excited to welcome these beautiful, gregarious clouded leopard cubs,” said Tyler Boyd, curator of carnivores. “In addition to serving as ambassadors for their species – educating Zoo guests about their plight in the wild and the need for wildlife conservation – J.D. and Rukai’s potential offspring will help ensure the species continues to thrive for generations.”
The cubs are located in the Cat Forest habitat between the Tiger and Small Cat Interpretive Centers. The carnivore and maintenance teams have added elevated perching opportunities to better suit the arboreal tendencies of this species and afford guests more opportunities for viewing. The Zoo is also home to 15-year-old male clouded leopard, Luke, who will not share a habitat with J.D. and Rukai.
Rukai and J.D.’s relocation to the OKC Zoo was a Species Survival Plan® (SSP) recommendation. The mission of an Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) cooperatively managed SSP Program is to oversee the population management of select species, including the clouded leopard, within AZA member institutions like the OKC Zoo and to enhance conservation of this species in the wild. Each SSP Program coordinates the individual activities of participating member institutions through a variety of species conservation, research, husbandry, management and educational initiatives.
Clouded leopards are native to Nepal and Bangladesh. They are the world’s strongest climbing cats, which gives them an advantage over the other big cats sharing their territory. The species is listed by the IUCN as vulnerable to extinction due to deforestation, poaching and the pet trade. Clouded leopards are protected in most range countries although enforcement in many areas is weak. Precise data on clouded leopard population numbers is not known (they are among the most elusive cat species) but researchers estimate there are around 10,000 clouded leopards in the wild.
Every cloud(ed) leopard has a silver lining – you can CAT-ch them at the OKC Zoo’s Cat Forest habitat! Located at the crossroads of I-44 and I-35, the Zoo is a proud member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the American Alliance of Museums, Oklahoma City’s Adventure District and an Adventure Road partner. Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Regular admission is $11 for adults and $8 for children ages 3-11 and seniors ages 65 and over. Children two and under are admitted free. Stay up-to-date with the Zoo on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and by visiting Our Stories. Zoo fans can support the OKC Zoo by becoming Oklahoma Zoological Society members at ZOOfriends.org or in-person at the Zoo! To learn more about these and other happenings, call (405) 424-3344 or visit okczoo.org.

by Greg Schwem

Excuse me, random female, may I borrow your purse?
I will return it momentarily; I just want to know how it feels to carry whatever you want throughout the day and evening without an unsightly protrusion in your back pocket; one that could easily cause your pants to drift south at inopportune moments.
It’s what we men face when we carry a wallet.
I know, ladies, you look at wallets with jealousy. “Imagine,” you say to yourselves, “being able to fit everything in that 5-by-4-inch bi-folded area and then hide it. No need to worry about whether the exterior matches our outfit and which hand feels more comfortable to carry it everywhere we go.”
It’s similar to my wife lamenting that I can be ready for an evening out in the time it takes to run a comb through my hair, while she spends an hour in front of the bathroom mirror surrounded by an army of tubes, brushes and powders.
“Men have it so easy,” she’ll say, while I tap my foot and look at my watch, signaling we are already 15 minutes late.
But when it comes to the purse versus wallet choice, girls, YOU have it easy. You don’t have to prioritize. Need to carry an extra credit card? The purse has room. A secondary form of identification? You could shove a passport into its inner confines, and nobody would know. If I’m asked to show anything other than a driver’s license to the bank teller, the airport security employee or the hotel front desk clerk, I’m screwed.
Internet retailers seem well aware of my dilemma; each year around the holidays, I get bombarded with online ads from companies determined to solve my space issue. This year the winner was the Ridge, makers of a wallet it claims holds up to 12 cards and oodles of bills. The website also touts the most puzzling feature I’ve ever heard: “Expands to remain slim.”
I fail to see how anything can expand yet remain slim. It certainly didn’t happen to my body following Thanksgiving dinner, and I see little hope during the season of Christmas eating.
Still I excitedly forwarded the Ridge link to my wife, telling her I would like it under the tree this Christmas.
“I finished shopping for you months ago,” she replied. “And haven’t you tried these things before? You always go back to a regular wallet.”
She’s right. As I peer in my wallet now, I see 15 cards — three over the “expands to remain slim” Ridge wallet limit — and wonder how I could part with any of them. Sure, I could carry one credit card; but what if it gets declined while I’m Christmas shopping? That has already happened once, but an angry call to my credit card issuer proved the error was theirs, not mine.
My ATM card? It’s a must, for I’m of the generation that occasionally prefers cash, as opposed to whipping out a credit card for a 99-cent cup of coffee. Then there’s my transit card and my health insurance card. Sure, I could forego the latter but what if, while taking the subway, I get mugged and require medical attention? See the dilemma?
Before long, I’ve convinced myself I’m not an ideal candidate for anything other than an old-fashioned wallet that includes plastic sleeves for inserting pictures of children. I’m proud to say all those photos have been moved to my iPhone. Just give me a minute while I feverishly swipe through my photos app to find a decent shot of my kids.
So, women, hand me your purses. Unlike wallets, they come in all shapes, sizes, colors and patterns. I’ll pick one and will spend my time wondering what to carry, as opposed to what not to carry, when I leave the house each morning. I’ll confidently march down the subway stairs knowing I have everything for the ride, including a transit card, my phone and maybe even a hard cover book to pass the time.
Plus, if need be, I’ll have a weapon to swing at a subway mugger.
You’ve enjoyed reading, and laughing at, Greg Schwem’s weekly humor columns in Senior Living News. But did you know Greg is also a nationally touring stand-up comedian? And he loves to make audiences laugh about the joys, and frustrations, of growing older. Watch the clip and, if you’d like Greg to perform at your senior center or senior event, contact him through his website at www.gregschwem.com.

The trauma center at OU Medicine has been re-verified as a Level 1 Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons.
In 2001, the Trauma One Center, at both OU Medical Center and The Children’s Hospital, was designated as Oklahoma’s only Level 1 Trauma Center, the highest national ranking a trauma center can receive. The verification process by the American College of Surgeons validates that trauma centers have all resources necessary for any type of trauma care.
“Earning verification from the American College of Surgeons is gratifying because it reflects the commitment and hard work that our healthcare professionals deliver day in and day out,” said OU Medical Center President Kris Gose. “The process validates that we have all resources in place to provide optimal trauma care at any time.”
As a Level 1 Trauma Center, Trauma One offers comprehensive care that can handle the most critical emergencies. Trauma One provides 24-hour coverage by general surgeons, and quick availability of care in specialties such as orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, radiology, internal medicine, plastic surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery and more.
Operating rooms and trauma surgeons are available 365 days a year, and the air ambulance Medi Flight can be dispatched in minutes to airlift patients to Trauma One. A multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, specialists and other health care professionals are always on site, using advanced technology to treat the most severe and critical injuries. Level 1 Trauma Centers provide total care for every aspect of injury, from prevention through rehabilitation.
In addition to serving people across Oklahoma, Trauma One, because of its location in the geographic center of the state, is ideally positioned for regional access as well. An injured person’s best chance for survival is when treatment occurs within an hour of the event. Paramedics, ambulance systems and other hospitals across the state play key roles in transporting patients to Trauma One within an hour.
“The Trauma One Center has been able to save countless lives in its nearly 20-year existence,” said Roxie Albrecht, M.D., medical director of Trauma One. “As part of a tertiary care center, it is important that we participate in continuous assessment of our program. Our aim is to always provide the highest level of care to people when they need it the most.”
The verification of Trauma One was conducted by the Verification Review Committee, a subcommittee of the Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons. Verified trauma centers must meet the essential criteria that ensure trauma care capability and institutional performance, as outlined by the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma in its manual Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient. There are five categories of verification in the program. In addition to submitting documentation, Trauma One had an on-site review by a team of experienced site reviewers.
Level 1 Trauma Centers like OU’s Trauma One also provide public education and prevention information to people across the state. OU’s primary areas of advocacy are: ATV Ride Safe Oklahoma, which provides classes to increase awareness of ATV safety guidelines; Stop the Bleed, a course that teaches how to save someone’s life by controlling bleeding; and concussion education for coaches, game officials, athletes and parents about the nature of concussion and head injury.

Ensemble performs woman composer Libby Larsen with Mozart, Weber, Schoenberg

Guest pianist Stephen Buck joins the Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble in this season’s third concert, “Rustic Gardens,” Tuesday, January 21, 7:30 p.m at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Brightmusic continues the season featuring female composers with “Barn Dances” by Grammy Award winner Libby Larsen, in addition to works by Weber, Mozart, and Schoenberg. Buck serves on the academic faculty of State University of New York (SUNY) Purchase Conservatory of Music and champions new music.
Cowboy dances inspired American Libby Larsen (b. 1950) to write “Barn Dances” for flute, clarinet, and piano. Larsen named each movement for a dance step “to take a flight of fancy in each movement and to create the musical equivalent of a calendar drawing.” The second movement, Divide the Ring, pays homage to country singer Gene Autry.
“Rustic Gardens” continues with the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in B-flat major (Op. 34) by German composer Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) and the Quartet No. 1 for Flute and Strings in D major (K. 285) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Weber had his friend, clarinet virtuoso Heinrich Baermann, in mind, with rich technical and melodic passages for the soloist. Mozart likewise wrote his quartet for Dutch surgeon and flutist Ferdinand Dejean. The quartet charms with clear form and texture.
In contrast is the harmonically complex Chamber Symphony No. 1 by Austrian Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951). The piece marks the end of his conventional (post-Romantic) period and anticipates his evolution to a twelve-tone technique, giving equal emphasis to all notes.
Musicians appearing in this concert are: Stephen Buck (piano), Gregory Lee and Katrin Stamatis (violin), Mark Neumann (viola), Jonathan Ruck (cello), Parthena Owens, (flute), and Chad Burrow (clarinet).
Admission is $20 at the door and free for children, active-duty military, and students with ID.
Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble, Oklahoma City’s own chamber ensemble, presents fine classical chamber music in acoustically-rich St. Paul’s Cathedral at NW 7th and Robinson near downtown Oklahoma City. Free parking is available south of the cathedral. For more information about the ensemble and upcoming concerts, visit www.brightmusic.org

Game Warden Nathan Erdman has been promoted to Chief of the Law Enforcement Division. Erdman previously served as Assistant Chief of the division since 2016.
The Law Enforcement Division is responsible for upholding the laws and regulations that protect Oklahoma’s wildlife resources. Game wardens are public servants sworn to protect wildlife and the public’s interests in the outdoors. These certified peace officers have statewide jurisdiction to act on any law violation. They check licenses and bag limits of hunters and anglers. Oftentimes wardens may have to wait, day or night, for long periods in concealed locations to nab the poachers who are stealing fish and game.
As Chief, Erdman oversees the division of about 120 people, the largest of the Department’s five divisions. Employees consist of Game Wardens, Game Warden Supervisors and eight District Chiefs. Headquarters staff includes an Assistant Chief, an Operations Manager and Training Supervisor, and a secretary.
“I’m just lucky I’ve got 117 of the finest employees that I could ever want,” he said. “I’m up here to work for them; trying to make sure that they have everything that they need to get their job done and get it done more efficiently.”
Erdman said he knew early in his life that he wanted to work as a game warden. “I grew up in the country, hunting and fishing.” He recalls asking his college adviser what classes would be required to become a game warden.
Erdman earned a fish and wildlife management degree at Northeastern State University, and was hired as a game warden shortly after he graduated. His first assignment was in Beaver County in the Panhandle, where he spent 13 years. He then transferred to his home Okfuskee County in 2007. A year later, he was promoted to Supervisor in District 4, where he worked until becoming assistant chief in 2016. He has worked for the Wildlife Department for 24 years.
He said becoming Chief has been somewhat surreal. “I grew up in the small town of Okemah, and graduated with 43 kids. To go from small town to being Chief of enforcement for all of Oklahoma’s Game Wardens is something you would never imagine.”
Game wardens must do their job well, as they are constantly in the public eye. They are expected to know all there is to know about hunting, fishing, wildlife laws, wildlife management, camping and other outdoor activities as well as general information about their county.
Game wardens often spend time visiting landowners in their county, encouraging them to allow ethical hunters and anglers on their land to harvest the surplus wildlife. They may assist the landowner with poaching problems or give them information about stocking fish in a pond.
Game wardens frequently help teach hunter education courses and fishing clinics. And they often help operate events for students involved in the Department’s Archery in the Schools and Shooting Sports programs. They occasionally visit with sportsmen’s clubs, schools, Scout groups and civic groups. They may speak about new laws and regulations, or about some topic directly related to hunting or fishing. They may also pass along printed information published by the Wildlife Department.

Quite a bit to a Senior

Story by Darl DeVault

Central Oklahoma’s fastest growing recreational sport, pickleball, has everything going for it—universal design and appeal with senior-led visionary organizers. It is being widely embraced by seniors for its great health outcomes.
Pickleball is a recreational paddle sport for all ages and skill levels that is growing rapidly, providing more venues even now as winter weather sets in. The sport’s growth comes from its universal appeal wherein even grandparents who welcome the opportunity to try new fitness outlets can play with their grandkids to stay active.
Senior leaders have guided the Greater Oklahoma City Pickleball (GOPB) Club to average 32 percent growth for the last four years, after beginning in 2009 with several players. Currently, 750 members play and socialize at 18 venues around the metro area.
Brad Merritt, 63, president of the GOPB Club, says that pickleball is a draw for people of all ages and skill levels. “A major attraction of this sport is that strategy, placement and patience are greater assets than strength, size and speed,” Merritt said last week. “Older players and those with a less athletic background can really enjoy the game, while some play at a more competitive level.”
Merritt, as outgoing president after two years, is displaying that visionary zeal for the sport by beginning important negotiations with the city Edmond. Improved court availability could take place in the metro area once the newly built Edmond Tennis Center opens in early summer of 2020.
He and other club leaders seek to take advantage of that project, built by the City of Edmond and the Edmond Public Schools.
Merritt began talks two weeks ago to request that Edmonds’ previous facility, the Kickingbird Tennis Center, become a full-time pickleball venue.
The group is excited about this opportunity to have a full time pickleball facility locally.
As one of larger pickleball clubs in America, the GOPB Club has fostered pickleball as a way of life for its best players. Several professional players and impressive national title holders serve as role models to players of every age and talent level. They are traveling the globe to bring home gold, silver, and bronze medals from state and national tournaments and world cups.
The sports’ odd name is murky. Some say it is based on a dog named ‘Pickles’ who chased the ball as the three dads invented a game that young and old could play together 55 years ago. Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum played the first games with solid wood paddles and a whiffle ball. They played near Seattle on a badminton court with the net lowered just past tennis height.
Played as singles and doubles, players only need the ability to move to get started in pickleball. The game is played on either indoor or outdoor courts that are usually scaled down tennis courts. There is serving, volleying and running in short bursts. There is sweating, bending, and stretching. Doubles games often brings spouses and children onto the same court.
Little is required to play, as only comfortable clothes and court shoes are needed to get started. The club furnishes paddles for beginners to use and will provide any partners needed. The club is full of friendly and helpful pickleball players always eager to welcome the curious to the court.
Club members offer lessons for beginners and help players develop their game through round robins, shootouts, leagues and novice-only tournaments. Better players attend tournaments in neighboring cities and states that happen all year long.
Each year, the club’s volunteers provide a free demonstration court for the full run of the Oklahoma State Fair, attracting many new players. The State Games of Oklahoma will host almost 500 players from across the nation here in Oklahoma City this month. Whether someone is just looking for a way to exercise or want to be challenged at a competitive level, there is a place in the pickleball community through this club’s activities.
You can get involved in the sport quickly by going to the national associations’ web site, www.places2play, and put in your zip code. That search brings up those venues in your local area along with times of play and contact information.
Through this club’s efforts and those of others there are places to play every day throughout Oklahoma with indoor and outdoor courts. They invite your interest at www.greaterokcpickleballclub.wildapricot.org
“It’s an exciting time for the sport and the local club with a new board assuming leadership roles this January,” said Merritt. “We expect a lot of new faces in the new year and the GOPB Club invites you to join them on the courts.”