Story and photo by Vickie Jenkins

After 40 years of teaching, Dr. Bob E. Palmer, Ed.D retired in December, 2014. His final position as an Educator was a Professor of Art, in the Department of Art at the College of Arts, Media and Design with the University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK. His plans have always been to continue his successful mural painting business with Palmer Studios, Inc.
Dr. Palmer remembers when he became interested in painting. “I was 8 years old at my aunt’s house. That is when I did my first painting,” he says with a grin. “I used food coloring to make different colors and added it to white shoe polish. I wish I had that painting today. I am sure one of my relatives has it now. Maybe one day I can find it and bring it home,” he laughed. “My painting materials have come a long way since then,” he adds.
You may not know Dr. Palmer personally but I am sure you have seen some of his art work. Dr. Palmer is best known and remembered by his over 1800 murals around the state of Oklahoma, Canada, Mexico and Eastern Europe. Being from Walters, OK, Dr. Palmer has done quite a few murals in small towns and one can hardly travel across our state without finding evidence of his works. Dr. Palmer takes pride in his public works; historically accurate and true to our western heritage. Palmer’s murals have served as back drops in TV commercials, major movies and television series that have been filmed in Oklahoma.
“What is your favorite thing about being an artist,” I ask. “I love being creative. I love working with my hands and making things. To me, painting is so relaxing and therapeutic. Most artists are risk takers and break the rules sometimes, so that makes me an artist,” he laughs. “When I was little, I was determined to paint. I did some drawings but I never had any lessons. Everything was self-taught. I always had colored pencils and sketch books to keep me busy.”
I asked Dr. Palmer to describe himself in 3 words. “I would have to say, creative, responsible and self-driven.” Looking around his studio at his art work, it was easy to see that he did possess these qualities. “What is your favorite mural that you ever painted?” I ask. “I would say the Santa Fe Railroad Wall. It’s a landmark here in Oklahoma City.” Asking Dr. Palmer what the largest mural he ever painted was, he replied, “The one I just finished in Duncan, OK. It is 30 feet high and 150 feet long. It took about 3-4 days to finish it, with my crew. Of course, we have to consider the weather too. We always try not to let it take too long.”
It was no surprise that Dr. Palmer is inspired by nature, other’s art work, photography, museums, sculptures and children. Palmer’s wife, 2 daughters, and 3 grandchildren keep the ideas going for him. “I feel like I need to be creative all the time. I even have an inspiration folder. I just go to my folder and I always have some idea of what to paint,” he says.
“What is something about yourself that most people don’t know?” I ask. “I have my MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in Photography. I enjoy photography but there is nothing that I like better than being an artist and creating my art work,” he states.
Asking Dr. Palmer if he had any words of wisdom to give to someone, he said, “I remember my dad telling me, ‘Only boring people get bored.’ I am never bored and I suppose I lived up to that one. Being retired, enjoying life, every new day is an adventure. I feel like I was given a gift and I have a duty to give it back. I’m just out there, living my life.”
Dr. Palmer continues to paint, going to different art shows, conducting workshops while balancing home and family. He holds membership in several art and professional organizations, continuing to be in demand for public appearances across Oklahoma and around the globe.
Dr. Palmer is currently writing and publishing a book about his many murals, the stories behind the projects and the unique legacy of the artist and educator. You can view Dr. Palmer’s art work on his website Muralsbypalmer.com. Next time you see a mural, more than likely it has been done by one talented man, Dr. Bob E. Palmer, Ed.D.

by Mike Lee, Staff Writer

When Claire Carrick received the news that her son Noah had been diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma it hit her with a force she had never felt.
When she learned that her 18-month-old’s best shot at a cure was on another continent the pediatric optometrist and her husband packed a few suitcases at their Manchester, England home and got on an airplane.
Luckily for Noah’s family, Diana Schaeffer, MPH, MSN, APRN-CNP and the ProCure Proton Therapy Center were waiting to receive them.
“I was quite frightened. We didn’t know what to expect,” Carrick said. “We didn’t know what the treatment would entail. We were uprooted to somewhere that was completely different. Diana was there to talk us through.”
Schaeffer’s speciality is pediatric cancer patients, both foreign and domestic.
ProCure maintains a contract with the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. Patients from England, Scotland and Wales will find their way to Oklahoma and Schaeffer.
Word has traveled quickly about what ProCure has to offer bringing in patients even from China and Bahrain.
“It’s very difficult,” Schaeffer said. “If you can imagine your world being turned upside down by a cancer diagnosis with your child and now you have to pick up and take your child where you don’t know anybody. You don’t know where you’ll be staying and you have no idea who these people are that you’re going to hand your child over to.”
Schaeffer’s nursing career began in an emergency room setting. From there she worked for an insurance company doing utilization review. A master’s in public health followed as did a position as the chief of nursing services for the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
She earned her APRN in the process.
“I just felt a need to put that to work,” Schaeffer said.
In 2012 she found ProCure.
“You know, when you’re trained as a nurse you’re kind of trained with some cultural sensitivity but you really aren’t quite trained to deal with day-to-day how to live and how to entertain them daily while they’re here. Most of your training is hospital-based but we’re not a hospital.”
Many out-of-town visitors will stay at the nearly Staybridge Hotel, which nurses have nicknamed “The Colony.”
But they have almost daily appointments at ProCure.
“It’s very easy to get very close to these families,” Schaeffer said. “I keep in touch with all of them as they go home. I know my patients and my families very well. I see them almost every day.”
Carrick said the 10-week stay in Oklahoma City was difficult but Schaeffer and her husband helped soften the blow.
“She’s on speed dial with us,” Carrick said.
ProCure is one of two proton centers in the nation that treat UK pediatric patients while the country builds their own proton centers.
ProCure Treatment Centers is a privately held health care company dedicated to improving the lives of patients with cancer by increasing access to proton therapy.
The company was founded in 2005 in Bloomington, Ind., and is the first to develop a network of proton therapy centers in cities across the United States.
ProCure’s solution reduces the time, cost and effort necessary to build and operate a facility. ProCure is advancing proton therapy by collaborating with radiation oncology practices and hospitals to develop centers through innovation and improvements in technology, and by providing training at the world’s only educational facility specializing in proton therapy.
Schaeffer also coordinates care with OU Children’s Hospital if patients need chemo in addition to proton therapy. She relays information back to the child’s care team in the UK, acting as their “constant clinical lifeline” as she says. And since no one travels with their family doc, Schaeffer even provides urgent care for any of the family’s needs while here.
“I just kind of fell into it,” Schaeffer said. “I think I’m in the only nurse practitioner in the state that does any kind of radiation oncology and I know that I’m the only proton nurse practitioner.”
Carrick said the nine-hour plane ride to Oklahoma City gave the family plenty of time to wonder what they would encounter across the pond.
Once they arrived there was a definite dose of culture shock. And being in Oklahoma City during the spring meant the Carricks got to hear their first tornado siren.
“Diana was on Facebook with me telling me we were fine,” Carrick said.
The Carricks still have a road to travel. They left in mid-May and Noah’s central line was removed before the travels. That will have to be reinserted on arrival back home.
A kidney function test is scheduled and then an MRI in three months.
But whatever the Carrick’s face, Claire knows they won’t have to face it alone.
“She’s our nurse,” Claire said of Schaeffer. “But she’s our friend now as well.”

What’s the most important thing in your life right now? Integris Canadian Valley Hospital Volunteers

The most important thing is my family and staying well. Bette Zweibel

I would say it would be my family. June Rennie

My family which is half in Texas and half here. Beri Wingo

Independence considering I was paralyzed for two months. Shelia Pendergraft

It’s easy for Joe Chappell to say what he admires about his nursing staff.
“I just admire how compassionate they are,” he said. “You’re only as good as your staff.”
The Chappell family also owns the Golden Age Nursing Center across the street from Ash Creek Place, Willow Creek Care Center in Guthrie and the Golden Oaks Village assisted care living center in Stillwater.
Ash Street Place Assisted Living Center in Guthrie strives to keep its residents at a high quality of life, said Tammy Williams, LPN and director of nursing.
“She doesn’t leave this building at 4 p.m.,” Chappell said. “This building goes home with her on nights, on weekends. She gets phone calls if someone falls. She doesn’t live close. She lives in southern Logan County and I get phone calls from her on a Saturday night at 10 p.m. and she’s here because someone has fallen.”
If someone falls, Williams come up with a plan of correction. She constantly is thinking of ways if something happens to a resident to keep it from happening again, Chappell said.
She knows about challenges people face after an injury.
“Years ago I had been in a car wreck and had my leg broke,” she said. “I was 9 years old. I got out the day after my birthday. And the way the nurses treated me and took care of me made me tell my parents, ‘I’m going to be a nurse.’”
Williams’ talents go beyond nursing, Chappell said. She is also a counselor. Quality nurses are scares and can work anywhere they chose, he said.
“It takes a special nurse to care for the elderly I think,” Chappell said. “You have to have a heart for it because if you didn’t you’d be working somewhere else.”
Williams could work in a doctor’s office and leave at 4 p.m., but she’s attached to her residents at Ash Creek Place.
She can often be seen working crossword puzzles with residents, who tell her stories about how Guthrie used to be.
“I think it needs to be a home environment. You need to love the residents and be able to talk to them,” said Williams who likes to spend her leisure time caring for people.
“I go home and take care of my grandkids,” she said.
At Ash Creek she knows her goal is to keep residents as independent as possible, Williams said. Many times Ash Street Place accepts residents who have been in a nursing home but have become dependent on the assistance they received at a nursing home.
“We have to transition them, kindly, to independence again, because they are expecting more help than we want to provide for them, because our goal is to keep them independent,” Chappell said.
Chappell explains to every resident who moves to Ash Street Place that assisted living means they must be able to self-transfer and get to the dining room. They can do that with an electric cart or a wheel chair, but they need to be able to get out of bed and into the wheel chair to get there, he said.
“We certainly will provide skilled care for someone who gets sick. We may have someone who temporarily can’t get out of a chair for a couple of days, or we don’t think they’re safe walking to the dining room.”
Williams’ expertise is seeing they can provide the appropriate level of care for each resident by doing assessments to ensure the facility can meet their needs. She is on the phone with a doctor when she notices subtle changes in a resident’s health.
“She’s dedicated to it. I never have to worry when an inspection comes in,” Chappell said.
Williams has worked for the Chappell family for 12 years since earning her nursing degree at Francis Tuttle Technology Center. For the last six years she has assisted the residents at Ash Street Place.
Chappell’s grandfather, Leo Chappell, bought the Golden Age Nursing Center when Joe was 5 years old in 1961. Joe’s father had talked him into purchasing the nursing home.
“My granddad bought the building. My dad rented the building from him and owned the business,” Chappell said. He has always said you can walk through Golden Age and see the evolution of the nursing home by going from wing to wing.
Construction is adding 12 rooms to Golden Age today to add to the privacy of its residents, he said. They will be licensed for the same amount of residents, he explained.
“We already have a state-of-the-art gym designed for senior citizens with 16 different machines that are air-pressure powered,” Chappell said of providing a complete workout. “We’re also open to anyone over 50 to work out there free.”
The new wing will also provide a pool in the basement for water therapy and recreation.
A pre-k class will also open four 4-year-olds to attend school in the same manner as what already occurs at Willow Creek and at Golden Oaks.
This intergenerational type of program is growing across the U.S. Children learn tolerance and connectivity to other generations in a time when extended families no longer live together for the most part.
“Not only do the kids entertain the residents, but the residents entertain the kids,” Chappell said. “It puts a spark in the eye of the people that live in the nursing home.”

by Vickie Jenkins

Summer is approaching and this is the time of the year that most of us start thinking about diet. But did you know that there is actually a diet for our eyes?
Diet and nutrition plays an important role in our everyday life. Adding powerful antioxidants to one’s diet can improve your eye health. There is no substitute for the quality of good vision. Adding certain nutrients to your diet every day, either through food or supplements can help save your vision. Researchers have linked eye-friendly nutrients such as lutein/zeaxanthin, vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc to reducing the risk of certain eye diseases, including macular degeneration and cataract formation.
Lutein and zeaxanthin are important nutrients found in green leafy vegetables, as well as other foods, such as eggs. Many studies have shown that lutein and zeaxanthin reduce the risk of chronic eye diseases, including age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant found in fruits and vegetables. There has been evidence that vitamin C lowers the risk of developing cataracts, and when taken wtih other essential nutrients, vitamin C can slow the progression of age-related macular degeneration and visual loss.
Vitamin E it’s most biologically active form, is a powerful antioxidant found in nuts, fortified cereal and sweet potatoes. It protects cells of the eyes from damage caused by unstable molecules called free radicals which break down healthy tissue.
Even though we try to avoid fats in our diet, it is a necessary part of our diet. They maintain the nervous system, fuel cells and boost the immune system. Two omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to be important for proper visual development and retinal function.
Last but not least, zinc is an essential for our diet. It plays a vital role in bringing vitamin A from the liver to the retina in order to produce melanin, a protective pigment in the eyes. Zinc is highly concentrated in the eye, mostly in the retina and choroid, the vascular tssue layer lying under the retina. So, as summer approaches and we tend to think of our diets, let’s not forget that there is a diet for our eyes.