Several members of the Edmond Senior Center’s “Tap For Fun” class kicked off this year’s holiday season with their 10th Annual Holiday Tap Dance Performance, held at the senior center on December 14, 2016.
The fun-loving senior tappers performed six very lively tap dances and – by popular demand from their delighted audience – an encore tap dance to “Let It Snow”.
Men and women, ages 55+, are welcome to participate in the “Tap For Fun” class. For more information about the class, call the Edmond Senior Center, 216-7600.

What are you wishing for in 2017? Integris Southwest Medical Center Volunteers

Joy to the world in 2017. Jody Wilkerson

Let there be peace on Earth in 2017. Tomie Webster

Peace around the world. Ellen Lewis

Peace and food for the hungry. There is so much violence throughout the world. Doreen Tiffany

Students at F. D. Moon Academy in Oklahoma City were already excited about Christmas break when a special surprise came to their elementary school on Tuesday thanks to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF).
A cold December morning was filled with joyful squeals of delight as the giant Clydesdale horse from Express Ranches, Blazer, stomped out of his trailer and lifted his huge head to the sky. Doug Sauter talked softly around Blazer and two miniature horses as Sauter told the children about how to approach a horse safely and pet its nose.
Before the outside activities, students and teachers warmed up and enjoyed a breakfast snack donated by ODAFF directors, the State Board of Agriculture and the Oklahoma Wheat Commission. Sticky fingers eagerly grabbed donuts and washed them down with hot chocolate to get fueled for the last day of school.
Oklahoma State Board of Agriculture members assisted ODAFF’s Ag in the Classroom coordinators as they taught agriculture lessons from the award-winning preK-12 curriculum. Students tried their hands at milking Betsie the Cow, a large wooden cow-shaped cutout with a balloon udder. Coordinators also talked about milk and all the good things made from milk.
Best of all was the sound of reindeer hooves on the school playground. Two of Santa’s reindeer found their way to Oklahoma and amazed the children with giant antlers and thick, soft fur. Prancer posed for photos with Santa and students from each class. Although the reindeer didn’t fly around the school they delighted the students as part of the special happy holiday wishes from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture.

January typically begins with the best of intentions. Shed a few pounds. Hit the gym religiously. Sound familiar?
But while many make resolutions, most fail to follow through, with fewer than one in 10 achieving their goals. The key to being one of those who succeeds, says Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation President Stephen Prescott, M.D., is to make goals that are both reasonable and quantifiable.
“People often say, ‘I want to lose 25 pounds,’ or ‘I want to eat better.’ Those are both laudable aims,” said Prescott. “The problem is, one is awfully ambitious, and the other is almost terminally vague.”
If you overreach with your goals—like trying to drop 25 pounds—an early misstep or bump in the road can derail you quickly. “Then the task will feel impossible, and the natural reaction is to give up,” said Prescott.
For a better shot at a healthy 2017, he suggests mapping out smaller, achievable goals to get the ball rolling.
So instead of pledging to lose 25 pounds, said Prescott, set a goal to lose two pounds in January. “When you succeed, you’ll feel great and have the motivation to keep going with two more pounds in February, then March and so on,” he said. “After 12 months, you could end up dropping those 25 pounds by tackling the goal in increments. Short-term markers can translate to long-term success.”
When it comes to improving your diet, Prescott suggests a similar approach.
Start with a specific, manageable goal, like giving up sugary drinks for a month. If you achieve this, then build on it in February by also pledging to add a green vegetable to your plate every day. Over time, these small adjustments can lead to big changes.
For the best chance of success, Prescott recommends taking on a single resolution at a time. It’s a lesson he learned from personal experience.
“When I resolved to lose weight and improve my fitness level a few years ago, I found it was really difficult to exercise while I was also dieting,” said Prescott. “It worked much better when I shifted my focus to losing weight alone. Then, after I dropped 15 pounds, I got serious about fitness.”
“You only have so much willpower and self-discipline, so don’t stretch yourself too thin,” he said. “Choose the resolution that is most important to you and focus on that one.”

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Growing up with four siblings, Christmas was always a very special time for Sharon Smith-Davis, RN. Lots of fun, lots of games and lots of family always made the season one she would look forward to all year long.
Christmas in the Smith-Davis household meant attending Midnight Mass before coming home to eat and open presents.
It was a night filled with wonderment – and to Smith-Davis – one bursting with magic.
That’s why decades later the Norman Regional Health System nurse decided she needed to capture that magic and pass it on by writing her first book, The Legend of the Reindeer Shoes.
“I tapped into something I had been thinking about,” she said. “I just wanted to leave behind for future generations some good, old-fashioned Christmas magic.”
The Legend of the Reindeer Shoes is a tribute to the tradition of that Christmas magic. This delightful story chronicles the preparation and journey of Santa and his reindeer on Christmas Eve and introduces Jingle, the North Pole’s blacksmith.
According to the legend, the reindeer need shoes on their hooves before they can leave on their famous flight. During the trip their shoes are in frequent need of repair and replacing if lost.
Jingle is there to attend to their needs and assure that the reindeer have a full set of shoes on their hooves for the job ahead.
The story reveals that the reindeer shoe itself is a magical source and if you are lucky enough to find one and hang it from your Christmas tree, you too will experience a little bit of good old fashioned Christmas magic.
Smith-Davis wants everyone to make Christmas Eve a memorable family tradition but it took a devastating accident to settle her down long enough to put what was in her head and her heart down onto paper.
Smith-Davis had long written poetry just for herself but a professional barrel riding accident in 1997 on her sport’s largest stage that unsaddled her from her best friend.
The five-time National Finals Rodeo competitor was separated briefly from riding due to a personal injury and found herself alone with her thoughts.
Looking to occupy her time, she turned her attention to writing a book. Her leg fracture was long healed by the time she completed her labor of love.
It took an entire year from start to finish to complete the book.
They say write what you know and Smith-Davis did.
The reindeer’s eyes are drawn from one of her best quarterhorses.
The reindeer shoes were originally forged by a six-time world champion blacksmith and then sent onto a toy factory to create the molds.
When she’s not working you can find Smith-Davis reading her book at local schools.
“I always ask my kids ‘did my book make you smile,’” said Smith-Davis, who still competes locally. “When I see that smile it’s all good.”
“My big hope for it is to maybe one day be made into a traditional Christmas movie.”
Labors of love can be expensive. She poured $20,000 into the venture through illustration and publishing costs alone.
But it’s all worth it to her.
It was years later Smith-Davis realized how much her mother, a registered nurse herself, put into the whole night before getting up early to work her shift on Christmas Day.
It was just one of the memories that came to her when her mother passed away last week.
That selfless love is part of the season to Smith-Davis, who already has her thoughts swirling around her next book, an Easter theme to go with her love of rabbits.
When she’s not writing she’s working at one of Norman Regional’s campus as a flex nurse, drawing a new assignment, new unit and new campus each shift.
“I love nursing,” Smith-Davis said. “I love the science part of it. I like maintaining healthcare standards and assuring that people get quality care.”
From home health to supervisor of a medical surgical floor Smith-Davis has worked in every setting outside of women’s and children’s services during her nursing career.
After 35 years she can recover a heart or take pretty much any post-op patient that comes her way.
And she still loves it.
“I love my boss,” Smith-Davis said. “I just like – as the work implies – the flexibility. You don’t go to the same place every day. I learn something new every day and I’m amongst the most experienced people that are awesome to work with. And we’re blessed to have the quality of doctors we have.”
“I love it all.”
You can buy the Legend of the Reindeer Shoes book and a magical pair of reindeer shoes online at www.reindeershoes.com. You can also contact her directly through the website.
And her greatest hope is that your family will make its own holiday tradition and the magic returns each and every year.

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Norman Regional Health System Lung Navigator Sherri Jo Johnson, RN, is a cancer survivor.
That trauma is permanently ingrained in her mind as well as her DNA.
So she wants to do everything possible to make sure that everyone she reaches has a fighting chance against cancer.
It’s a major reason why she’s involved in the health system’s new low-dose CT lung scan program.
Phillip Dobbs is the manager of diagnostic imaging services and a key player in the new screening.
Dobbs explained that the screening tool reduces the amount of radiation to the patient versus a normal chest CT by 90 percent.
“But the protocol we use we are able to detect even the smallest nodules down to just a few millimeters,” Dobbs said. “The radiologist can look at that and only about five percent of nodules end up being cancerous.”
The peace of mind that monitoring carries with it is worth its weight in goal.
“Six months after any scan I’m fantastic,” Johnson says of her mindset while she’s in remission.
The program has been under development for two years.
The screenings involve pathologists, radiologists, oncologists, a nurse navigator, and thoracic surgery.
“A lot of people have to be at the table,” Mobbs said.
But the whole process can begin simply with a phone call to make an appointment to come in. No referrals are required. No insurance is billed with a cost of $79.
After the test is done, the results go to Johnson. Based on a radiological assessment scale Johnson can determine if the patient needs to return at three months, six months, 12 months or needs to progress faster.
“I put it into my system and I’m virtually you’re reminder,” Johnson said. “If you are intentionally coming in to get it done you’re a lot easier to track because you’re actually wanting us to watch this for you.”
Monitoring is power, especially when dealing with lung cancer.
“Most cancers are found in Stages III and IV when we don’t have very many opportunities to do anything about it.”
Johnson said often cancers that are found in the later stages are accompanied by previous CT scans when the patient or provider failed to follow up on nodules that were noted.
“Whenever it’s brought to them in a nonchalant way it doesn’t have the same importance,” Johnson said.
Johnson says anyone who is a previous smoker, spouse of a smoker or anyone who has been around second-hand smoke for an extended period of time needs to have a scan done. Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women; about 1 out of 4 cancer deaths are from lung cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, each year, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined.
Lung cancer mainly occurs in older people. About 2 out of 3 people diagnosed with lung cancer are 65 or older, while less than 2% are younger than 45. The average age at the time of diagnosis is about 70.
Overall, the chance that a man will develop lung cancer in his lifetime is about 1 in 14; for a woman, the risk is about 1 in 17. These numbers include both smokers and non-smokers. For smokers the risk is much higher,
Black men are about 20% more likely to develop lung cancer than white men. The rate is about 10% lower in black women than in white women. Both black and white women have lower rates than men, but the gap is closing.
The lung cancer rate has been dropping among men over the past few decades, but only for about the last decade in women.
Statistics on survival in people with lung cancer vary depending on the stage (extent) of the cancer when it is diagnosed.
Despite the very serious prognosis of lung cancer, some people with earlier stage cancers are cured. More than 430,000 people alive today have been diagnosed with lung cancer at some point. The American Lung Association is trying to draw more attention to early screening because one reason why lung cancer is so serious is because by the time you have symptoms, it may already have spread and become more difficult to treat.
The Association cites a study that between a chest x-ray, sputum cytology and low-dose CT scans, only the low-dose CT (LDCT) scan reduced the risk of dying from lung cancer in high-risk populations.

The Fountains at Canterbury’s Watermark University spring semester will commence in January, providing free continued learning classes for area seniors. Nearly 30 courses are available to the public with topics including “Geology in Oklahoma,” “Creative Writing,” “Stitches in Time” and “Great Decisions Discussion!”
“Research shows that continued learning supports cognitive function and well-being,” said Scott Steinmetz, executive director of The Fountains at Canterbury. “Watermark University facilitates educational opportunities for our residents and local seniors, fueling their current interests and sparking new ones across a variety of subject areas and topics.”
“Geology in Oklahoma” will explore Oklahoma’s physical structure and the dynamics of geological formations. “Creative Writing” is for writers of all levels and will focus on sharing and discussion to foster improved techniques. “Stiches in Time” is a hands-on needlework class exploring simple crochet and knitting stiches. “Great Decisions Discussion” will review the newest Foreign Policy Association DVDs, followed by in-depth discussions.
Other course topics include health and tai chi, crafting, history, religious studies, culinary arts and wine, games, reading and music. The spring semester continues through April. All classes are taught by The Fountains at Canterbury associates, volunteers and residents.
Most classes are free of charge and open to the general public. All interested seniors who would like a full course catalog or are interested in signing up, call (405) 381-8165. Class space is limited, so course reservations are encouraged.
The Fountains at Canterbury is dedicated to being the first choice in senior living, providing a continuum of care including independent living, assisted living, memory care, innovative rehabilitation therapies and skilled care. The Fountains at Canterbury is managed by Watermark Retirement Communities and is committed to creating an extraordinary community where people thrive. To learn more, please call (405) 381-8165 or go online to www.watermarkcommunities.com.

A national rural health organization has chosen Mercy Hospital Watonga as a “Community Star” for its commitment to area residents.
The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) selected 50 rural hospitals across the nation, and Mercy Hospital Watonga was the only hospital in Oklahoma to make the list.
“It is an honor,” said Bobby Stitt, who has served as administrator at Mercy Hospital Watonga since 2012. “In the face of what has been a difficult economy for rural health care, this shows our long-standing commitment to the community and our willingness to serve the people of Watonga.”
Each year, the hospital organizes a holiday season basket drive and collects food, clothes and toys for area families in need. In the summer, Mercy Hospital Watonga hosts a neighborhood block party, complete with a bouncy house, food and games. But it is the hospital’s work with local middle school students that received the attention of the NOSORH. Through a program called “Life Wise,” volunteers help students develop life skills such as better decision-making, communications and relationship-building.
“We’ve really tried to create a space in the community where kids feel safe contacting somebody from the hospital and using our resources,” said Robert Pearson, a native of Watonga who serves as Mercy’s emergency preparedness and safety officer. “We want to help them identify healthy choices in their lives to steer them away from the typical things that get kids in trouble.”
The program meets weekly at the hospital for six weeks in the fall and spring. Since starting two years ago, Stitt estimates hundreds of middle school students have been helped.
“The kids love it and they continually ask to come back,” Stitt said. “It’s a great way to make an impact in our community and with our children.”
The honor caps off a year of awards for Mercy Hospital Watonga.
In August, the hospital earned “Excellence Recognition” for reaching the highest standards in health and prevention for their employees, and the “Gold Apple” award for nutritional food options for co-workers and patients. Both awards were given by WorkHealthy Hospitals, an Oklahoma Hospital Association (OHA) initiative. The hospital was also recognized by the OHA for providing more than 96-percent of co-workers with the influenza vaccine during last year’s flu season.

Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn  t4z@aol.com

Often the best part of visiting a destination is splurging for an upscale gourmet meal, or two. This is the case in Miami Florida where the ambiance, service and ultimate perfect meal comes together with the BLT Prime at the National Doral Resort Hotel and dinning at the infamous South Beach Gianni Versace Villa.
Sometimes the simplest of menu items, if prepared to perfection, can be the memory you take away from a destination city. The BLT Prime at the National Doral Resort’s Filet Mignon is a prime example. Despite the Miami August heat dining outside overlooking the Big Monster golf course can be elegant for sipping your pre dinner cocktail, but soon you may want to move in to the elegant dining room with a more comfortable temperature. Sometimes the mind over thinks the body’s own thermostat and you have to concede to air condition comfort.
Moving from your preferred exterior to the interior is graciously accomplished by the congenital and efficient wait staff, who I feel agreed for their serving comfort as well, the traditional indoor dining was preferred.
You might think a good prime filet with accompanying sides, is not a complicated gourmet challenge, but when prepared with skill it can be an over the top savory satisfaction. This is the case at the BLT Prime.
Of course the accommodations at the recently renovated hotel are up to its reputation standards. If you get upgraded to an available mini suite, of two bathrooms (one huge with shower, tub, expansive double sink lavatory, and one on a more modest scale for guest), two big screen TVs, large bedroom and siting/living room, is a gracious oasis.
On another upscale over the top luxury experience, book a dinner or two at the exclusive, but accessible Villa Versace in the middle of popular South Beach. There are two dining areas in this infamous home of fashion and style designer Gianni Versace. If you are stay at any of the affordable South Beach icon hotels, it is a pleasant stroll down Ocean Drive, either on the less traveled Eastern ocean park side, or if you prefer to dodge dinners at the many outside bumped out tables on the Western side. Needless to say Ocean Drive is always a traffic lover’s delight, and in the evening even more so where many come just to drive by the pastel colored lights illuminating classic art décor architecture.
The mansion was officially named Casa Casuarina for more than a decade, where it first operated as a private club and then as a boutique hotel. It reopened in 2013 under new management. Locals still refer to it as ‘the Versace mansion’.
It is reported that Versace bought a neglected three-story, Mediterranean-style home, originally built in 1930 by Standard Oil heir Alden Freeman, and a dilapidated hotel next door in 1992 and spent $33m on renovations.
To add to the villas notoriety Versace was shot dead on its front steps by serial killer Andrew Cunanan in 1997. The 10-suite Villa by Barton G boasts a 54-foot ‘thousand mosaic’ swimming pool lined in 24-carat gold, which was designed by Versace.
You will be met by the guard at the street side gate and then you may announce yourself to your hostess coming out of the main entrance. You will be invited to sit in the patio area, a formality even though you have previously made your dining reservations which are strictly required. You will be told no cameras are allowed and so you are instructed to check such at the reception desk. Cel phone cameras are currently allowed although standard cameras are not. In time you are escorted to your table, past an elaborate interior courtyard with fountain and past the intimate cocktail bar. By now you know you are somewhere special.
The interior dining room is almost oppressive with its intricate walls of rock and tile mosaics. The mood is brooding and your fellow room diners explode your imagination when you conger up what might be their history. The outside terrace overlooking the Roman villa styled pool and cabana area is the delight of South Beach. You almost hate to order your meal in anticipation of its finish and your need to leave. Again a perfect beef filet is an exquisite choice. If you are offered a dinner salad to start off, be warned the size is gigantic and so is the variety of greens.
A Martini toast to Gianni and this Villa is a must, to pay tribute to a man of means and his open to the dining public of his South Beach Villa. While an upscale dining experience may not be in your travel budget, but is there a price for an over the top memory you recall year after year?
Editor’s Note: Terry Zinn is past president of the International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association.

Mr. Terry Zinn – Travel Editor
Past President: International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association
http://realtraveladventures.com/author/zinn/
www.new.okveterannews.com – www.martinitravels.com

by Jason Chandler
Staff Writer

Most of the people don’t ask to be sick or plan a hospital admission. But when there is a health crisis, they find help at OU Medical Center Oklahoma City.
Dedicated nurses serving in the cardiac program, or Cardiovascular Institute at OU Medical Center are part of a continuum of care navigating the hospitals with opportunities.
“Our nurses have the opportunity every day to work in CVT and still have mobility in different areas,” said Scott Coppenbarger, hospital spokesman.
This continuum of care is a high priority for the patients’ experience as nurses are specialized in certain areas.
Examples include the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, step down, in house telemetry, cardiac floor, cardiac rehab, cardiac trauma, cardiac service line management, ability to impact STEMI times and outcomes, cath lab, adult congenital program, thoracic program, perioperative services, and the heart, lung and valve clinic.
Corinna Reed, RN, has been a nurse for 21 years. She works in the cath lab where diagnostic and interventional procedures are performed.
“For blockages in the heart, we stop heart attacks. We put pacemakers in and help eliminate blood clots,” Reed said. “There’s so many procedures we do. It’s becoming more and more encompassing.”
She said some procedures have been transferred from surgery to the cath lab setting where it is less evasive. Patients can be in and out of the cath lab in an afternoon versus surgery where they may stay overnight. So comprehensive care is becoming much easier for patients and families, Reed explained.
All of the cath lab nurses are critical care nurses. Reed has always circled back to focusing on the heart.
“I like to see people walk out of here,” Reed said. “One of my biggest rewards when I recovered open hearts was getting to take the ventilator off, and then the next day walking them down the hall to the cardiac nursing floor.”
A few days later, Reed would watch her patients wave goodbye as they were wheeled out of the hospital.
During Shawn Penington’s nine years at OU Medical Center he has worked in intensive care and cardiac intensive care units. The RN currently serves patients in the cath lab. OU Medical Center has been good to him by providing vital experience.
Patients who have had open heart surgeries will sometimes come to the cath lab for stents. The RN is familiar with all the medications they take.
“Some of those people come in. They are not scared. Some of them have a lot of anxiety,” he said. “So I like to identify with those kind of people.”
Understanding their emotions by acknowledging they are scared helps to ease their mind.
“Usually I tell them I would be scared, too, ‘if I was where you’re at,’” Penington said. “Even though I know there’s good outcomes of what we do and nothing’s going to go wrong I would still be afraid myself. That’s usually where I can meet them on level ground to help calm their fear.”
Nurses are attracted to cardiovascular ICU care because of the complexity of the work, said Bertha Nunez, RN, nurse manager for cardiovascular intensive care. It’s the hard work, she added.
“The critical thinking aspect, the busyness, because if your heart’s not working right then other things won’t work right either,” Nunez said. “And you have to have the anatomy, physiology knowledge behind it. Know your medications and how it impacts one organ and the rest of the body as well.”
Some nurses have been in different roles with OU Medical Center for more than 20 years, she said. There are also younger nurses the hospital works hard to keep on staff.
Nunez commends the nursing staff for their dedication, she said. They take the extra effort to help patients feel better, she said.
They also incorporate the family and feel gratified that for the 12 hours of work, they made a difference in a patient’s condition.
“That’s what attracted me to nursing was the ability to help somebody who may be anxious like Shawn said, or somebody that doesn’t know what’s going on and taking the time to explain,” Nunez said.
Teamwork and support through all aspects of the organization makes OU Medical Center’s stellar reputation thrive.
Ashley Milam, RN, works in the cardiothoracic ICU. She aids in heart recovery after open heart surgery and other dealings with the lungs and esophagus.
“We get them after surgery. They see us after the procedure is done and throughout their stay in the recovery process,” Nunez said.
Patients going to the hospital are trusting their lives with someone else.
“I admire their fight and their drive,” she continued. “And how they can be in an area that is very scary and they remain calm a lot of times. I admire they put so much trust in us.”
The staff remains updated with the flow of state-of-the-art technology be means of a computer system, said Chandra Ross, RN, manager of the cardiovascular progressive care floor unit.
“To update we use evidence based practice articles,” Ross said. We have a couple nurses that do that often, pull that up for us and spread it through the units.”
Information is shared during huddles and weekly updates.
“I was always drawn to the seriousness of different heart diseases,” Ross said. “I’ve loved every aspect of it from the floor nurse, supervisor and now the manager,” she said.
Nurses stick with cardiac nursing because of its energy and complexity of different procedures, Ross said.
“They get to see a whole variety of things because how the heart impacts stroke, vascularization and different things. They love new challenges,” Ross said.