Thursday, August 7, 2025

TRAVEL/ ENTERTAINMENT: Raise a toast to this years ARTINI

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

Allied Arts announces that their 2019 fundraising event, ARTini, will take place on April 12, 2019 at Science Museum Oklahoma from 7 P.M. to 11 P.M. ARTini is one of the year’s most popular fundraising events, bringing together local restaurants, entertainment and artists for a night of fun for a good cause. This year’s event, STAR-tini, will present a galaxy theme—from décor and lighting to entertainment and cocktails—and guests are invited to dress the part.
Having attended and exhibited at several previous ARTini events, I can vouch that this event combines Original Art from abstract to realism for purchase, sampling of fine restaurants’ finger food offerings, and imaginative sips of original and fanciful Martinis made and offered by a number of local venues. The congenial gathering is accented by patrons eager for a good time and to see and be seen by friends of art conscious guests. Music entertainment is usually a staple and there are always surprises such as one year; live mannequins, which were a delightful photographic attraction. Good natured selfies and group photos are encouraged.
Event proceeds benefit Allied Arts and the local nonprofit arts organizations it supports. Each year, Allied Arts contributes to more than 40 organizations that collectively impact more than a million individuals. Allied Arts grantees have programming in all 77 Oklahoma counties—working to ensure that the arts are accessible to everyone from all walks of life.
As a United Arts Fund, Allied Arts works to broaden support for the arts by raising financial support for cultural organizations, encouraging participation and attendance, advocating for arts education and promoting excellence in the arts and arts management. Since its founding in 1971, the organization has raised more than $67 million to advance the arts in central Oklahoma.
ARTini is presented by Catalyst, Allied Arts’ emerging professionals group. Joining Catalyst requires an annual donation to Allied Arts of $300 for a single membership or $500 for a couple. Membership includes ticket(s) to ARTini, as well as networking, learning and volunteer opportunities throughout the year.
Allied Arts contributes to approximately 40 organizations annually. Member agencies include: Ambassadors’ Concert Choir, Arts Council Oklahoma City, Carpenter Square Theatre, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma and Thelma Gaylord Academy, Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, also Oklahoma City Ballet, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC), Prairie Dance Theatre, Red Earth, Inc., Science Museum Oklahoma and The Sooner Theatre among others.
More than 800 guests are expected to enjoy a sampling of martinis from several Oklahoma City restaurants and partake in one of the largest silent art auctions in the region – featuring work from around 100 local artists. ARTini tickets are $100 and must be purchased in advance. Tickets will go on sale shortly, and sponsors, artists, and restaurants will soon be available. You must be at least 21 and display a valid ID to to enter the event.
For more information, about ARTini or Catalyst, contact Allied Arts at 405-278-8944 or visit alliedartsokc.com.

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

Quick Dispatch: Flu Crew comes to you

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Richard Beevers, APRN, is one of the providers who will treat your illness in the comfort of your own home through DispatchHealth.

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Nurse Practitioner Randee Green, APRN, likes helping patients receive the care they need at home.

The flu season is just now ramping into overdrive and Oklahomans are feeling it.
According to the most recent data provided by the Oklahoma State Department of Health, more than 250 Oklahomans were hospitalized for the flu the week of Feb. 13-19 alone – bringing the total number of hospitalizations to more than 1,200.
Some 31 Oklahomans have died from the flu since Sept. 1, 2018.
Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control estimates 20.4 million have already contracted the flu.
And in late February the CDC announced an emerging variant of the virus was responsible for nearly half of all cases and could push the season all the way into May.
Odds are you’ll come into contact with the flu this season.
But what if there were a way for you to minimize not only your exposure but the exposure of others when you start feeling sick?
Enter DispatchHealth, an innovative health care delivery model rapidly growing in the metro.
DispatchHealth is bringing back the house call with a modern technology twist. DispatchHealth gives patients ways to access convenient, high-quality acute care in the comfort of their home, office or in the location of need.
DispatchHealth is redefining the healthcare landscape as an extension of a patient’s healthcare team and offering solutions for simple to complex medical problems all from the comfort of your home.
While most seek treatment at an emergency room (ER) or urgent care clinic, when leaving one’s home the virus can be immediately exposed to others and cause further spread of the flu.
And if you don’t have the flu then you’re walking right into a waiting room full of it.
Randee Green, APRN, is one of the Dispatch nurse practitioners treating patients in their home.
“I know from working in the ER if they go to the ER and they’re 80 years old and say they’re weak they’re going to get worked up from head to toe,” Green said. “I like being able to go in with a couple tests I can run and say ‘this is something we can handle at home.’ Then if it’s not then we can send them on.”
“I do like the satisfaction of knowing I’ve saved this person from getting run through the mill in the emergency room.”
No lengthy waits. No need to leave your home.
And maybe one of the best things about the service is that for patients with Medicare, Medicare Advantage as well as Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance plans the cost is the same or less than that of an urgent care co-pay.
A respiratory therapist for 15 years, Amy Evans is the Dispatch market director.
“I’ve learned what a valuable resource it is for seniors to keep them at home,” Evans said.
The flu is transmitted by contact and airborne measures and is especially dangerous for young children, seniors and those with chronic illnesses. A person who has caught the virus can infect others up to six feet away. Adults can infect others one day before their flu symptoms even develop and can pass on the virus up to a full week after becoming sick.
“If they don’t have the flu they risk getting it when they go to the ER,” Evans said. “If they do have the flu then they can stay at home and be comfortable and have someone come to them.”
“And the cost is cheaper than the ER.”
Evans said – on average – Medicare patients without a secondary insurance are paying less than $20 locally.
“I feel like I’m finally in a positive track in healthcare because we’re doing something to help,” Evans said. “We’re helping the population, the community and we’re helping the healthcare system reduce costs. It’s win-win all over the place.”
“We’re helping providers after hours so they not just telling them to go to the ER. We’re partnering with physicians, hospitals, post-acute care, skilled and assisted living.”
Services include testing such as: blood tests on-site, strep test, flu swab, urinalysis, urine cultures, stool culture, test for blood in stool, pregnancy test, lactate, 12-lead EKG, PT/INR, rapid infectious disease testing and more.
Medication – as well as IV fluid and breathing treatments – can also be administered on site.
DispatchHealth can be reached by calling 405-213-0190 and currently sees patients from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Significant Women in Oklahoma Agriculture: Highlight: Patti Townsend

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Patti Townsend of Milburn is being recognized as a Significant Woman in Oklahoma Agriculture. She is shown here with her husband Gayland and three sons Philip, Charles and Steven.

by Kaylee Snow

Move and adapt.
For Patti Townsend, her entire life could be described by these two words.
After enduring the drought of the Dust Bowl, Townsend’s father, an Oklahoma farmer and coal miner, decided to move his family west to California during World War II. There was a need for work in the shipyards because of the war, so he was certain a better life would await them there.
“My father just threw up his hands and said, ‘This farming is not worth it right now,’” she said.
Townsend grew up in San Francisco, a much different sight from the New Mexico cattle ranches she would soon call home.
After marrying Gayland Townsend, the two began ranching together in Albuquerque and then Roswell. They raised commercial cattle before incorporating Brangus into their herd, eventually owning nearly 800 head. The Townsends moved several times while in New Mexico, each time to a bigger ranch, before relocating to Oklahoma in 2004.
“I was chief cook and bottle washer,” Patti Townsend laughed, pointing out that she worked more than everyone else because she had two jobs: ranching and cooking.
She added, “They counted on me being out there helping them with cattle a nd then having dinner on the table too.”
“I wasn’t a hired hand,” she laughed. “I was a free hand. Let’s put it that way. I was out there working cattle and then having pot roast in the oven.”
She would have beans on the stove and cornbread in the oven while she worked cattle.
“They’d send me up there about 10 minutes before, and then I put everything on the table,” Townsend said. “They ate. I cleaned up. I was back out there in the corral.”
While the Townsends ranched in Roswell on the “home place,” Patti Townsend became heavily involved with the New Mexico Cowbelles. She served on the board, as secretary and as president.
“I did everything they asked me to,” she said.
Townsend worked beef cook-offs, helped the New Mexico Beef Council – where she also chaired the board – at the state fair, and helped put on the beef ambassador contest. She traveled to each region of the state giving workshops, ran booths at the state capitol, and visited schools to teach children about beef cattle. She also led farm tours to show the public more about the industry.
She recalls one lady being so excited – and scared – to give a cow a shot for the first time.
“She did it. She ended up giving that cow a shot, and then she raised her hands up and just thought that was the greatest thing in the world that she gave that cow a shot,” Townsend laughed.
It was the education and promotion of agriculture, specifically beef cattle, that drove Townsend.
She was involved on the local, state and national level. She was named the 1999 New Mexico Cowbelle of the Year and served as president. She also served as region director of the American National CattleWomen for six years and was president of ANCW in 2003.
Townsend, who “to this day still can’t believe it,” was named the 2011 ANCW Outstanding CattleWoman of the Year.
“It was the best honor I could have in my life,” she said.
The “home place” or “family ranch” as Patti Townsend calls it, is where the Townsends lived for about 21 years and raised three sons: Philip, Charles and Steven. It is also where Townsend started her sheep herd, which grew to nearly 600 head over a 20 year period.
“The boys had them [the sheep] for ag,” she said. “It was an ag project, and course they showed sheep too. The oldest one took off to college, and he had to sell his part of the sheep to the other two. And when the second one went off to college, he had to sell his part to the youngest one. And then when the youngest one when off to college, there was nobody to buy them but Momma. So I bought his share, and so those were Momma’s sheep now.”
“There was a herd of them by the time we finished with them because they can have triplets,” she laughed.
Her sons were all heavily involved in FFA, showing cattle, pigs and sheep. All three received their American FFA Degrees, and Charles was a state FFA officer.
All three also grew up to pursue agriculture. Charles is a veterinarian, Philip is a rancher and fishermen’s guide, and Steven runs the ranch, which is now located in Milburn, Oklahoma.
“We started getting bigger on account of the youngest son [Steven] wanting to be a rancher, and so that’s the reason we sold the family ranch,” she said. “He’s always wanted to be a rancher since he was 3 years old.”
The Townsends moved to a bigger ranch outside of Roswell first before moving the cattle to Oklahoma.
Why would a successful ranching family decide to move 500 miles to begin the challenge of raising cattle in a completely new state?
The answer can be found in one word: drought.
After year five of what would be an eight-year intense drought, the Townsends were at a crossroads. Their time in New Mexico had set them up for success in Oklahoma.
“A man walked up to us and wanted to buy the ranch,” she said, “and my husband said, ‘Sold.’ So we bought a place here in Oklahoma, and that’s where we are now. We still have Brangus cattle. We raise about 600 head here.”
As the ranches got bigger and more help came in the form of her sons, Patti Townsend wasn’t needed as much. However, she never got too far away from the ranch.
“I stayed involved with the cattle, and when we culled cows and stuff like that my husband wanted me out there working to make sure I was satisfied with what they sent to the sale and what they kept for heifers. They didn’t sell my pets. Let me put it that way,” Townsend laughed.
She became very involved with the Oklahoma CattleWomen and was slated to become an officer here too, before deciding she was needed more at home to take care of her husband after his heart attack.
“I’m getting back involved with them again, but I am not moving up to be president so leave that off your list,” she laughed.
She has truly loved the ranching life – where she spent her entire career – and is hopeful that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren will pursue it.
“It is a beautiful life for a family, and I would suggest it for any young couple that wants to start living on the ranch to try it,” she said. “Get them out of the city. Put them on the ranch or the farm, and it’s a hard life. I’m not going to say it’s an easy life. We had some rough times. We had some big rough times, but we made it. We just stuck together and made it. I wouldn’t trade it for a billion dollars, or a trillion.”
It has been almost 50 years since the Townsends first started ranching together.
“It was fun days. I enjoyed it. I really did. It’s just something I did, and I was young enough to do it. Don’t ask me to now,” she laughed.
Patti Townsend, now nearly 78, reflects back on her days on the home place and says every memory was great – whether it was good or bad. She would certainly love to be working underneath the Oklahoma sky.
“I wish I was 10 years younger,” she said. “I’d be out there hand in hand. I’d still be the chief cook and bottle washer.”

Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of Central Oklahoma Announces Advisory Council Members

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The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of Central Oklahoma (RSVP), a nonprofit organization that enriches the lives of senior adults through community volunteer opportunities and the Provide-A-Ride Senior Transportation Program, recently announced its 2019 Advisory Council members.
RSVP Advisory Council members are: Debbie Evers, community volunteer; Jamie Jeter, retired, Tinker Air Force Base; Wanda Patrick, retired, Hank Martin, CPA; Sheryl Presley, TRIAD coordinator, Oklahoma City Police Department; Kimberly Sanders, retired, Focus Oil & Gas; Paul Sanders, retired, All-American Bottling Corporation; and David Smith, retired, Oklahoma Tax Commission.
RSVP’s advisory council helps to enhance the nonprofit’s recruitment, retention, and recognition of volunteers.

INTEGRIS Celebrates Opening of New Community Hospital in Moore

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The new INTEGRIS Moore Community Hospital, which brings a transformative concept of health care to Central Oklahoma, is officially open and accepting patients.
A Grand Opening ribbon-cutting event was held Feb. 26 to introduce the new hospital, at 1401 SW 34th St. in Moore. Speakers included Glenn Lewis, mayor of Moore, Kathy Gillette, president and CEO of the Moore Chamber of Commerce, Jamie Crow, membership director of the South Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and State Senator Darrell Weaver.
The 60,685 square-foot INTEGRIS Moore Community Hospital, which opens to the public today (Feb. 27), is part of a major initiative in which INTEGRIS will, in 2019, open four new community hospitals – small-format facilities also known as micro-hospitals or neighborhood hospitals – in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.
The INTEGRIS Community Hospital at Council Crossing, 9417 N. Council Road., opened Feb. 6. The INTEGRIS Del City Community Hospital at 4801 SE 15th St., is scheduled to open March 6, and the INTEGRIS OKC West Community Hospital at 300 S. Rockwell Ave., will open in May.
As part of its expansion initiative, INTEGRIS, the state’s largest nonprofit health care system, entered into a joint venture partnership with Emerus, the nation’s first and largest operator of micro-hospitals hospitals, to build and manage the facilities.
“Each new community hospital is an innovative way to create more access points for people who are seeking care,” said Timothy Pehrson, president and chief executive officer at INTEGRIS. “We think the citizens of Moore will find this facility to be more convenient, more affordable and if they need higher levels of care, they’ll be connected to all the great things people have come to expect from INTEGRIS.”
Emerus Chief Executive Officer Craig Goguen said the company is honored to partner with INTEGRIS, an award-winning, highly respected health system brand, as it expands its footprint throughout central Oklahoma. “Our transformative concept of health care allows great health systems like INTEGRIS to expand its reach into the community to provide a variety of patient services that are fast, convenient and economical.”
These new community hospitals will serve a variety of patient needs including emergency medical care, inpatient care and other comprehensive health services. While the ancillary services vary, each community hospital has a set of core services including the emergency department, pharmacy, lab and imaging.
The rest of the services depend on the needs of the community, but common examples include primary care, dietary services, women’s services and low-acuity outpatient surgeries. The community hospitals offer:
* Health system integration — allowing for care coordination, consultation and seamless transition across the care continuum
* Fully licensed as a hospital and subject to all hospital conditions of participation and regulatory requirements
* Emergency-trained physicians and outpatient ambulatory clinical services on site — ensuring patients receive the highest quality care, when they need it
* Inpatient bed capacity — allowing patients to stay closer to home when lower level admissions/recoveries are needed
* All patients accepted without regard to insurance or ability to pay, including Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare
* Community-based hospitals open 24 hours a day, seven days a week – offering ease of access to our patients

SENIOR TALK: How do you stay active? Warr Acres Senior Center

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How do you stay active? Warr Acres Senior Center

I’m never still. I like to line dance twice a week. Sharon Garrett

I have a cardio machine in my lanai and get out three times a week. Burna Hankins

I like to line dance and play ping pong every now and then. Billie Willis

I don’t. I do like to line dance. Rita Knight

Medicare: RULES FOR THOSE WITH HIGHER INCOME

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By Jose M Olivero, Social Security Public Affairs in Oklahoma City

If you have higher income, the law requires an upward adjustment to your monthly Medicare Part B (medical insurance) and Medicare prescription drug coverage premiums. But, if your income has gone down, you may use form SSA-44 to request a reduction in your Medicare income-related monthly adjustment amount.
Medicare Part B helps pay for your doctors’ services and outpatient care. It also covers other medical services, such as physical and occupational therapy, and some home health care. For most beneficiaries, the government pays a substantial portion — about 75 percent — of the Part B premium, and the beneficiary pays the remaining 25 percent.
If you’re a higher-income beneficiary, you’ll pay a larger percentage of the total cost of Medicare Part B, based on the income you report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). You’ll pay monthly Part B premiums equal to 35, 50, 65, 80, or 85 percent of the total cost, depending on the income you report to the IRS.
Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage helps pay for your prescription drugs. For most beneficiaries, the government pays a major portion of the total costs for this coverage, and the beneficiary pays the rest. Prescription drug plan costs vary depending on the plan, and whether you get Extra Help with your portion of the Medicare prescription drug coverage costs.
If you’re a higher-income beneficiary with Medicare prescription drug coverage, you’ll pay monthly premiums plus an additional amount, which is also based on the income you report to the IRS. Because individual plan premiums vary, the law specifies that the amount is determined using a base premium. Social Security ties the additional amount you pay to the base beneficiary premium, not your own premium amount. If you’re a higher-income beneficiary, we deduct this amount from your monthly Social Security payments regardless of how you usually pay your monthly prescription plan premiums. If the amount is greater than your monthly payment from Social Security, or you don’t get monthly payments, you’ll get a separate bill from another federal agency, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or the Railroad Retirement Board.
You can find Form SSA-44 online at www.socialsecurity.gov/forms/ssa-44.pdf. You can also read more in the publication “Medicare Premiums: Rules For Higher-Income Beneficiaries” at: www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/EN-05-10536.pdf.

A New Reason to Visit the Audiologist: Dementia Prevention

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By Ron Hendricks

Dementia could be reduced if everyone with hearing loss would seek treatment. Dr. Pam Matthews, Oklahoma City Audiologist, explained to the Monday meeting of Central Oklahoma Chapter of Hearing Loss Association of America (COC HLAA) how hearing loss and decreased brain functions are connected. If the brain does not receive signals from the ear, it must work harder to fill in the blank spaces to the detriment of other brain functions — bringing on cognitive disorders. An early visit to the audiologist at first sign of hearing loss, could help prevent Dementia.
Pam discussed how a new hearing aid wearer reported good hearing in the low registers, but had lost over 50% in the upper ranges. New hearing aids allowed the wearer to once again hear high pitched sounds like children’s laughter, the squeak of a door hinge, or the tinkling of running water. It is encouraging to know that a visit to the audiologist could help combat potential loss of brain activity. A hearing test is the best way to know for sure if you have hearing loss.
Do you have hearing loss? Hear a few of the most common symptoms according to the National HLAA: Do you:
* Ask people to repeat what they say * Have trouble following the conversation in groups * Think others are mumbling * Frequently turn up the volume on the TV or car radio * Have difficulty on the phone * Oversleep because you didn’t hear your alarm clock * Have difficulty hearing or understanding speech at the movies * Avoid going to noisy parties and restaurants
Hearing tests are easy and available online and at many locations here in the OKC metro. In many cases, the initial screening is free. See any of the fine Audiologists here in the Oklahoma City area for more information.

COC HLAA has served Oklahoma’s hearing loss population for 27 years and is going strong for 2019. Two informational and educational meetings are held monthly and both are open to the public and are free. Meetings are captioned and are a safe and friendly place if you have hearing loss or love someone with hearing loss. Again, this year we will give two scholarships of $1,000 each to students heading for higher education this fall. We are actively involved in making Oklahoma City more accessible to those with hearing loss thru our LOOP OKC drive — getting hearing Loops installed in public facilities. And for over 20 years the Hearing Helpers Room has encouraged Oklahomans to live well with hearing loss; open Monday – Friday, 10-3, at 5100 N Brookline, Suite 100. Stop by to try a device in person or check one out for a free trial at home. We have over 100 assistive hearing devices on hand. Volunteers have ordering information and are available to answers any questions. For more information visit the website at WWW:OKCHearingLoss.org

Know when to go: When wounds just won’t heal

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Summit Medical Center Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center’s Traci Davis, RN and Dr. William G. Morgan III help those with non-healing wounds.

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

An open wound that just won’t heal can be a matter of life and limb.
Traci Davis, RN, is the director of wound care and hyperbarics at Summit Wound Care in Edmond and says seniors need to know when to seek care for a problem that can quickly get out of hand.
Davis says an open wound that hasn’t gotten at least 50 percent better in four weeks is indicated for advanced wound care.
“But, if you can get in sooner rather than later that’s always the best approach,” Davis said. “That way we can do any cultures or x-rays. Especially, diabetics if they are doing their weekly checks and notice they have a small opening that would be an indication to come in … to prevent it getting into a deeper, diabetic foot ulcer.”
What to know
According to the American Podiatric Medical Association, a diabetic foot ulcer is an open sore or wound that occurs in approximately 15 percent of patients with diabetes and is commonly located on the bottom of the foot. Of those who develop a foot ulcer, six percent will be hospitalized due to infection or other ulcer-related complication.
Diabetes is the leading cause of non-traumatic lower extremity amputations in the United States, and approximately 14-24 percent of patients with diabetes who develop a foot ulcer will require an amputation. Foot ulceration precedes 85 percent of diabetes-related amputations. Research has shown, however, that development of a foot ulcer is preventable.
Anyone who has diabetes can develop a foot ulcer. Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, and older men are more likely to develop ulcers. People who use insulin are at higher risk of developing a foot ulcer, as are patients with diabetes-related kidney, eye, and heart disease. Being overweight and using alcohol and tobacco also play a role in the development of foot ulcers.
Ulcers form due to a combination of factors, such as lack of feeling in the foot, poor circulation, foot deformities, irritation (such as friction or pressure), and trauma, as well as duration of diabetes. Patients who have diabetes for many years can develop neuropathy, a reduced or complete lack of ability to feel pain in the feet due to nerve damage caused by elevated blood glucose levels over time.
Vascular disease can complicate a foot ulcer, reducing the body’s ability to heal and increasing the risk for an infection. Elevations in blood glucose can reduce the body’s ability to fight off a potential infection and also slow healing.
Often times, wound patients have issues with arterial or venous disease.
“We see them every week so we tend to recognize changes,” Davis said. “As a whole, Dr. (William G.) Morgan III and ourselves we look at every system in the body and make sure everything is working together because if everything isn’t working together it makes for difficult wound healing.”
The holistic approach is one Dr. Morgan adopted long ago. Where some see wounds, Dr. Morgan sees much more.
“It’s all connected,” Dr. Morgan explained. “It’s not that we’re treating a wound, we’re treating a person that has a wound. All these things we deal with are connected.
“One of the rules about about wound care is that every wound is a window to an underlying problem.”
“That’s a rule with no exceptions.”
And if left unchecked, those wounds can lead to life-altering amputations.
“It’s extremely dangerous because diabetic foot ulcers very quickly get infected and can get staph infections very easily,” Davis said.
Lower-limb amputations may be rising after decades of decline, according to new data published in Diabetes Care, the journal of the American Diabetes Association.
After years of decline, the rate of amputations jumped by 50 percent between 2009 and 2015.
Oklahoma ranks No. 8 in the country in the number of individuals living with diabetes.
Davis has worked with Summit’s patients for the last eight years. She says it’s like family.
“The patients, Dr. Morgan and the relationships we have here,” Davis said of why she stays. “We are a little bit different in that we are more family-oriented, take care of each other and try to take care of our patients holistically and try to be advocates for them in other areas of their health care and get them to the right places they need to go.”
Patients are able to self refer to the clinic.

Made in Oklahoma: Agriculturalist brings the farm to the city in unique way

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LAWTON – Nichole Lorenzen is bringing the farm to the city one art project at a time.
Owner of Lorenzen Farm Art, Nichole Lorenzen creates farmhouse decor and gifts from her original watercolor paintings. She offers her paintings in real barn wood frames and prints on tile, metal, coasters, car coasters, bookmarks and magnets.
“Being able to offer farm tractor art prints to people that own or remember their pieces of equipment makes me feel like I am bringing agriculture into a few more homes,” Lorenzen said.
She said what makes her art special is that it is created from what she sees on her own farm where she bales hay and tends to cattle alongside her husband. Lorenzen said she loves that she can paint and work while watching the kids and dogs play all while the cattle bawl in the background. She loves the idea of growing a business at her farm.
Lorenzen Farm Art was started in 2013 when Lorenzen was accepted to an art show. In 2017 she opened her online Etsy store. This year, she has added Amazon and is currently building a website for wholesale and retail shoppers. She also sets up booths at art shows and festivals.
“The booth should feel like a country home that says, ‘Come in, leave your boots on the porch and grab a sweet tea,’” Lorezen said. “It brings a smile to your face and lightens your load. The artwork is bright and happy. It reminds you of good old memories from Grandpa’s farm.”
Lorenzen’s goal is to continue expanding her operation into gift shops and businesses across the state and nation. Lorenzen Farm Art recently joined the Made in Oklahoma Program. To learn more about the business, visit www.nicholelorenzen.com or find the company on Facebook, Instagram or Etsy.

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