You’ve heard of a two-for-one sale, but what about a two-for-one eye surgery?
It takes critical coordination and two skilled surgeons, but doctors at Dean McGee Eye Institute are combining cataract and retina surgeries into one combined procedure. It’s an approach that is easier on the patient, more cost effective and can improve outcomes, too. In the end, it is helping restore patients’ vision so that they can more quickly get back to the things in life they love most. For Ed Brandt III, that was reading to his grandkids.
“My four-year-old granddaughter was over, and we were sitting in the back. She brought a book over, sat in my lap and said, ‘Grampy, can you read this for me?’ I opened the book and I just couldn’t read it,” Brandt said.
A trip to the Dean McGee Eye Institute revealed why. Brandt had a detached retina.
“If you think of the eye like a camera, your lens is the lens of the camera and the retina is kind of like the film,” said Dr. Vinay Shah, a retina specialist with Dean McGee. “When you have a retinal detachment that means the film of the camera has come loose and we have to put it back in place surgically.”
For Brandt, who had undergone procedures on his eyes before, that might have meant another three surgeries; the first to re-attach the retina and place a tiny oil bubble to hold the retina in place while it heals; a second surgery to remove the oil bubble; and then, since it is common for a cataract to form after retina surgery, he would need a third surgery to address that issue. Brandt was pleased to learn that two of those surgeries could be combined into one. Not only was it more convenient for him, but he also learned that the procedure could enhance his overall outcome.
“A large percentage of patients who have retina surgery will develop a cataract. So six months later, they are looking at surgery again. So if we can go ahead and take out the natural lens, replacing it with an implant lens and do the retina surgery at the same time, it is much easier on the patient and his or her family,” said Dr. Ralph Hester, a cataract surgeon with Dean McGee. “More importantly, though, the retina surgeon wants the clearest possible view to visualize the finer details of the retina.”
“The retina is a less-than-one-millimeter-thin membrane in the back of your eye. So to work on that, you want optimal visibility,” Shah explained.
Accomplishing the combined cataract-retina surgery requires a lot of coordination. Two surgeons and their teams as well as two sets of surgical equipment must all be in place.
“The patient does not move. We move,” Shah said. “So it has to be carefully orchestrated. At the Dean McGee Eye Institute, we have set aside particular times of the week just for these types of combination procedures.”
With one trip to the operating room, patient safety is improved and there also are cost savings with the added bonus of less time away from work.
“It’s not about the money, though. It’s about the patient,” Hester explained. “For the patient, this is a big deal. If you can package this into one operation, they are not scheduling time off work multiple times and getting their loved ones to transport them to and from the surgery center multiple times. It makes a big difference.”
Ultimately, Hester and Shah added, it is about changing somebody’s life, restoring their vision and helping them get back to the things they love doing most, like reading to grandchildren.
“There are Braille books and audio books, but there is no way that I could ever replace having a grandchild sitting in my lap and being able to read to him or her. I can do that now. I can see, and I can read. It makes a world of difference to me,” Brandt said.
To learn more about the combination cataract-retina surgery, visit www.DMEI.org

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.

story and photos by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Norman has and always will be a college town.
Today more than 31,000 students come to Norman each year to further their education.
As a result, Norman’s population has grown more than 50 percent to nearly 120,000 residents since 1990.
For the past 50 years seniors like Jim Jinkins have paid for that growth, supporting and paying for municipal bonds, school bonds and keeping dollars local and paying city sales tax.
And it was senior voters like Jinkins who threw their support behind the Norman Forward initiative that in October 2015 resulted in a half-percent sales tax increase intended to fund a number of quality of life issues.
One of those items listed on the ballot was a new, standalone senior center that would replace Norman’s current facility, housed in the city’s original 8,000-square-foot public library built in 1929.
But now Norman seniors feel they’re the ones standing alone and are accusing some city officials of trying to do an end-around with funds that should be used to build a new facility.
NORMAN FORWARD
“Seniors worked their butts off to get that initiative passed,” said Jinkins, who spent four hours on election day holding a sign on a street corner campaigning for the measure. “It passes and a couple months later they start talking about the budget again so we start going to the study sessions of the council meetings and they start saying ‘We don’t have any money. It’s going to take the entire $159 million to fund these Norman Forward projects.’”
“We said ‘Wait a minute. We’re a Norman Forward project.’”
City leaders indicated they had been considering using bond funds from a previous bond issue to fund renovating the existing Norman Public Library for use as a senior center.
That would be done after the library moved into a new building paid for through the sales tax increase.
Voters like Jinkins felt they secured a standalone senior center by passing the Norman Forward initiative.
“There’s not an asterisk next to it, there’s not any language that says if there’s money available,” Jinkins said about building a senior center. “Everybody I know that voted on it (thought they were voting) for a senior center.”
In March 2016, an Oklahoma not-for-profit corporation by the name 21st Century Norman Seniors Association was formed and Jinkins was elected president.
He says there are now more than 400 active members.
With seniors encompassing nearly 20 percent of Norman’s total population the group feels a significant segment of Norman residents are supporting the call for a free-standing senior center.
For now, Jinkins says the city is only offering yet another renovated former library to serve seniors’ needs or trying to float yet another bond issue to voters specifically for a new senior center.
Jinkins worries about voter fatigue and the fact voters have already voted twice to fund a new senior center.
The senior group says the plan of moving into the existing library does a disservice to seniors on multiple fronts.
Seniors and City of Norman staff would share the building and end up competing for space and facilities. Neither could expand as their programs grow.
Problems with parking and traffic flow cannot be resolved.
A shared parking lot with City offices plus the Municipal Court would create a bottleneck and there would also not be enough covered parking spaces that a senior center requires.
Senior centers in Edmond, Shawnee, and Midwest City have this.
The existing library lacks space for kitchen facilities. The staff of the kitchen at the present senior center would like to move to the new senior center, and most people agree that the new center should house the kitchen as the center is the only source for many seniors’ meals.
The option Jinkins’ group favors is building a new facility – which would cost in the neighborhood of $8-9 million – at the nearby city-owned Andrews Park.
The site would provide plenty of adequate parking plus be located across the street from the new library – benefitting from library programming and public resources located on site.
Association Associate Vice President Nadine Jewell penned a letter to the editor of The Norman Transcript that read, in part:
“Norman Forward is certainly needed in our community, and seniors do not think they are being greedy asking for a standalone center. While many projects, like Westwood, can only be used for 3 months of the year, a senior center can be used the year around. Surely, Norman cares enough for its seniors to find enough excess Norman Forward funds to build one standalone.”
With already a fair measure of support from existing council members, one thing working in the group’s favor is the fact City Council seats in the odd-numbered wards will be up for election this coming February.
Norman Seniors will host a candidates forum before the election so that you can meet the candidates, ask your questions, and hear their positions.
In the meantime, Jinkins is urging all interested Norman seniors to call their City Council representative and voice their opinions.
You can find out more information online at www.normanseniors.org as well as the group’s Facebook page listed as Friends for a 21st Century Senior Citizen’s Center.
“I think they just really wanted us to go away and they didn’t think we would get this far,” Jinkins said. “It is our hope that the Council will identify a funding source for a standalone center that does not involve yet another vote of the people.”

Betty Hatcher, a resident at The Fountains at Canterbury in Oklahoma City, earned an honorable mention spot in a national art calendar competition hosted by Watermark Retirement Communities.
The national calendar, created by Watermark Retirement Communities which manages The Fountains of Canterbury, is designed to be a source of inspiration for all those who receive it. Pieces of art submitted for the competition included sculpture, needlepoint, oil and watercolor paintings and mixed-media work. The Expressions art calendar is distributed nationwide and celebrates active aging and the arts.
Hatcher’s cross-stitching was selected as one of 24 honorable mentions for the 2017 Watermark Expressions art calendar out of entries from 39 Watermark communities across the United States.
Hatcher began learning needlework from her mother at a young age. She went on to use her skills as a member of the Oklahoma City Embroiderers Guild for more than 20 years. Her favorite thing about cross-stitching is the multitude of colors and watching a piece transform into artwork. Today, Hatcher is 98-years-old and continues her love of cross-stitching by creating knitted caps for adults and babies as well as baby blankets.
“The Fountains at Canterbury is home to many talented individuals who thrive each day through continuing their life’s passions and discovering new ones,” said Becky Strong, director of community life at The Fountains at Canterbury. “Betty is an incredible artist and we are proud to see her receive national recognition for her talent and hard work.”
The piece was first judged as part of a local competition among residents at The Fountains at Canterbury. Three local experts narrowed down the pieces and sent the five best on to the national competition. Final selections to be featured in the calendar were made at the Watermark Retirement Communities’ national resource center in Tucson, Arizona.
The calendar is available to the public at no charge while supplies last. If you would like a calendar, please call (405) 381-8165.
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 former Tulsa insurance agent was charged Thursday with embezzling more than $64,000. The charges are the result of a joint investigation by the Oklahoma Insurance Department and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office. The Oklahoma Department of Securities also assisted with the case.
“I have zero tolerance for agents who break the law,” said Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak. “Insurance-related crimes often lead to higher premiums for everyone. I commend the excellent work done by our Anti-Fraud Unit and the Attorney General’s Office on this case. These charges send a message that crimes like this will be discovered and the perpetrators will be prosecuted.”
Michael W. Hefner, 47, is accused of transferring money from a company bank account to a second bank account only he controlled. The company bank account was only supposed to be used to deposit premium payments Hefner collected before the funds were remitted to the insurer. Investigators found more than a dozen illegal transactions between January 2012 and May 2015. Hefner spent the money at casinos, grocery stores and gas stations. He also used it to pay bills for personal loans, utilities, child care, a storage unit and auto insurance.
The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office will serve as lead prosecutors in this case. Hefner has been charged with 15 counts of embezzlement. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.
About the Oklahoma Insurance Department
The Oklahoma Insurance Department, an agency of the State of Oklahoma, is responsible for the education and protection of the insurance-buying public and for oversight of the insurance industry in the state.

LeadingAge Oklahoma Executive Director Mary Brinkley recently announced that 45 nursing homes throughout the state have received national certification in the MUSIC & MEMORY program and will take part in this new program that uses personalized music to assist residents with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias.
In an effort to improve the quality of life for people suffering from dementia, a personalized music program is now available to 2,000 nursing home residents in 100 skilled nursing homes in Oklahoma. The two and half year project will use iPods to re-introduce nursing home residents to their favorite, personalized music to improve their day-to-day life and assist in reducing medication usage. Phase 2 of the program will begin next Spring for the remaining 55 nursing homes. The LeadingAge Oklahoma Music for the Ages initiative is part of the national MUSIC AND MEMORY program developed to train nursing home staff to create personalized music. The grant through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Oklahoma State Department of Health will enable residents to listen to their favorite music and be able to recall memories that haven’t been lost to their disease. This has an uplifting affect that improves their spirits, and allows them to be responsive, cooperative, and engaged with family, friends, staff and other community members. “Increasing a person’s ability to positively interact with others through the power of music is really priceless,” said Brinkley. “We’re pulling from their past – music that made them feel happy or made them joyful and triggers good memories.” “The music has a connection to the emotion system. It’s sort of a back door to the mind, and that’s why people come alive.” Program Director, Denise Clemonds said, “LeadingAge Oklahoma will host monthly support sessions for nursing homes to discuss successes, solve challenges and receive additional training.” Nursing homes will receive start up equipment, certification and also participate in a research study to measure the effectiveness of the program. The results of the study will be used for future planning. “We are gratified that so many of the nursing homes across the state will participate in what we believe is a landmark program in the treatment of people with dementia”, said Brinkley.
“Music has long been known as a powerful tool for stimulating memory, and this new program in Oklahoma nursing homes is harnessing that power to improve the lives of residents with advanced dementia,” said Brinkley. “Our brains are hard-wired to connect music with long-term memory. People with dementia, Parkinson’s disease and other diseases that damage brain chemistry can reconnect to the world and gain improved quality of life from listening to personal music favorites.” MUSIC & MEMORY founder Dan Cohen used thorough neuroscience research to create the program which has been shown to enhance the lives of residents with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias by: „* Reducing the reliance on anti-psychotic and anti-anxiety medication „* Reducing agitation and “sun-downing” „* Enhancing engagement and socialization, in turn fostering a calmer social environment * Increasing pleasure to persons with dementia „* Increasing cooperation and attention of patients „* Boosting staff morale by reducing resident resistance to care „* Increasing fulfilling engagements among the residents, staff, family, friends, and their community.
“LeadingAge Oklahoma is the first long-term care provider association in the country to develop its own program based on Cohen’s program,” said Brinkley.
LeadingAge Oklahoma plans to expand Music for the Ages initiative this spring to include a total of 100 nursing homes in the project.
For additional information about the Music for the Ages, go to: LeadingAge Oklahoma For the list of Oklahoma nursing homes participating in the program, go to: http://leadingageok.org/music-for-the-ages

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.

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

It was the mid-1970s and Oklahoma State Students Bob Busby and Brent McMurry found themselves in need of a job.
As luck would have it, the geology major and sociology major wound up in the same Stillwater classroom.
Little did they know they would be working side-by-side helping building what would become a cult following in Stillwater and eventually all of Oklahoma in Hideaway Pizza.
“It feels like the guests take ownership in Hideaway, like they’ve worked there before, or like they’ve owned part of it when they’re introducing it to people,” said Busby, now Hideaway senior vice president. “They feel like it’s part of their own experience or their own story.”
Both are former owners (along with Gary Gabrel) of the Hideaway Pizza expansion restaurants that started on Cherry Street in Tulsa. Brett Murphy and Darren Lister are the current owners.
Busby now serves as the senior vice president while McMurry is the district manager for South Tulsa.
BACK IN THE DAY
Richard Dermer and his wife, Marti, bought the business back in 1957.
In the 60’s and 70’s, with happy customers filling the 12 tables in the tiny restaurant, Richard and Marti had a fleet of VW delivery Bugs racing over the streets of Stillwater.
Originally decorated with the Hideaway pizza man logo (Big Kahuna), they evolved into colorful, eclectic designs with zebra stripes, polka dots, flowers and ladybugs, and became synonymous with Hideaway Pizza.
The way to work at the original Hideaway Pizza early on was word of mouth. You had to be a friend of a friend or know someone who had worked there.
“My first shift was nine in the evening to two in the morning driving a Volkswagen,” Busby said. “I didn’t even know how to drive a standard. First thing I did was ask for someone to show me how to do this because I’ve got a load of pizzas.”
Pizza was delivered on campus through the via one of the largest fleets of Volkswagen Beetles in the U.S. Creatively painted by the employees, the VW bugs became an iconic symbol for the company along with vintage kites (Dermer was President of the American Kitefliers Association), collage art and the board game Pente.
In 1993, Dermer allowed the trio of trusted employees including Busby, McMurry and Gabrel (Pente creator) to form a development company to expand the concept into new markets outside of Stillwater while the Dermer family retains ownership of the flagship location.
The first Hideaway Pizza expansion restaurant opened in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Cherry Street District.
“It was just from the get-go lines out the door,” McMurry said.
Hideaway Pizza had successfully grown its footprint to include six restaurants in the Tulsa and Oklahoma City metro areas when Lister and Murphy purchased the company in Feb. 2006.
Under their leadership, the company has grown into one of America’s favorite pizza companies, employing approximately 1,000 in two states.
The newest restaurant location (#17) opened on Oct. 10, 2016 at 5103 Warden Rd. in North Little Rock, Arkansas. It was the first Hideaway Pizza to open outside of Oklahoma.
Hideaway Pizza plans to open its next restaurant in 2017 in Conway, Arkansas.
RISING SUCCESS
There are approximately 61,269 pizzerias in the United States and Hideaway Pizza was ranked No. 66 in Pizza Today magazine’s 2016 ranking of the nation’s most successful pizza companies.
That’s a six-spot jump from 2015. Two other Oklahoma-based pizza companies were included in the 2016 report. Tulsa-based Mazzio’s Italian Eatery was ranked No. 29 (No. 27 in 2015) and Simple Simon’s Pizza, headquartered in Glenpool was ranked No. 49 (No. 45 in 2015).
It’s still fun for McMurry and Busby, who admit they still regularly eat the pizza.
Both agree it’s never been about how many stores Hideaway has but the quality of the people and product inside of each.
They enjoy pouring into the staff as much as pouring into customers. The mantra has always been happy employees equal happy customers.
Maybe that’s why Hideaway has become an Oklahoma favorite. It’s not just a place to stop and pick up a pizza – although Busby admits the takeaway business is phenomenal – Hideaway is a place where friends and family come for an evening meal.
“Pizza is such a social food because you share it. You can feed a lot of people from one thing. It’s a unique niche of the restaurant business we’ve got here,” Busby says.
And you’ll still see both of them back in the kitchen making sure Hideaway Pizza stays an Oklahoma tradition.

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.