by Bobby Anderson,
Staff Writer

Food drives, donations and bake sales run rampant in hospitals when it comes to raising money for community service projects.
But a group of nurses at Integris Canadian Valley Hospital took something near and dear to their hearts and their community to make a difference recently.
“The Council of Nurse Excellence is a committee made up of all of the nurse of the year winners each year and during National Nurse’s Week we always do a community project that week,” said Kaci Brosh, RN and one of the organizers. “We are all animal lovers and this was something we thought would be fun and a little different.”
So the group decided to raise awareness and supplies to help combat the growing population of dogs and cats in the community.
Christine McMurray, RN, explained the mission of the Council of Nurse Excellence is to improve the health of the people and the community the hospital serves.
During Nurse’s Week, a pet donation drive collecting puppy pads, food, toys, bowls, collars and other items was also held at ICVH with staff bringing items each day.
At the end of the drive, local rescue agencies were invited to come and select items that they needed.
“They were so appreciative,” said McMurray, who has a rescue puppy of her own at home courtesy of fellow coordinator Megan Gorham, RN.
The event also culminated with an adoption event on a Saturday where people could come and add a member to their family.
Megan walked away from the event with a little something special.
“I’m a crazy animal person,” said Gorham, who adopted a Chiweenie mix named she named Koda.
Gorham swore she had no idea she would be coming home with a new baby.
“Oh, we did,” McMurray laughed. “I think she had to pretend she was in denial because of her husband.”
Gorham and her husband already have two large dogs and Koda, which means little bear, spoke to both their hearts.
The week went so well the group has plans for the future.
“We’re hoping to make this an annual event and get bigger. We learned about more agencies for the future to make it better,” McMurray said.
The group found out that national pet adoption week immediately precedes National Nurses Week.
A new cat rescue called Nine Lives was able to accept donations of cat supplies.
“We’re a pathway to excellence hospital so part of our designation is really focused on what the nurses do and their input,” McMurray said. “We don’t just do things here. We like to get out and volunteer and help the community.”
The nurses agreed that the fundraiser spoke both to their hearts and to the community they serve.
“I heard someone say nursing is the most trustworthy profession,” McMurray said. “When you’re sick, depressed or whatever you turn to your nurse and you turn to your pets.”
Bosh said people just showed up to help or donate during the process including Big D’s Barbeque in El Reno and Kona Ice.
Volunteers showed up from the hospital along with their family members.
“It was very laid back,” Bosh said. “It was a fun day. The weather was beautiful. It was just perfect.”
“I think the great part about our hospital is it felt just like you were at a picnic with your family,” Gorham said.
When she’s not adopting animals Gorham is a house supervisor at ICVH. Bosh is a lead nurse in the Women’s Center in labor and delivery.
Formerly a house supervisor, McMurray is transitioning to ICU and Telemetry clinical nurse manager.
Brosh, who has a 10-year-old Chihuahua at home, said it’s not a rare sight to see service dogs brought to the hospital for therapeutic support on a regular basis.
Gorham said the council promotes continuous improvement throughout the hospital.
“It’s to let nurses have a voice in the way things happen and the things that are changing based on what we hear from our patients and co-workers,” Gorham said. “It’s to allow nurses be heard.”
And it’s a great way to bring home new family members.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma has submitted a Qualified Health Plan application, along with rates, for certification in the federally-facilitated exchange for 2018. This is an initial indication that, for the second straight year, only one insurer in Oklahoma will offer exchange products in the individual market.
“There is an incredible amount of uncertainty in the market right now,” said Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak. “Insurers participating in Obamacare have experienced major losses. While we expect a full repeal of this disastrous experiment, insurers have to go by the regulations in place right now. That’s why we’ve seen so many insurers dropping out of exchanges across the country or resorting to double digit premium increases.”
The Oklahoma Insurance Department does not have statutory authority to approve or deny rate increases filed by insurers on the federal exchange. Oklahoma, along with Texas and Wyoming, is a direct enforcement state with no authority to enforce provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) intends to post information on proposed rate filings for consumers to review on https://ratereview.healthcare.gov on Aug. 1, 2017. In compliance with state statutes, OID cannot release or comment on the rates until that time. CMS officials will review the proposed rate changes, determine if they are justified and post final rate information on Nov. 1, 2017 in time for open enrollment.
According to the American Academy of Actuaries, individual market stability, including insurer decisions on participation for 2018, hinges on:
* Continued funding of cost-sharing reduction (CSR) reimbursements.
* Enforcement of the individual responsibility penalty.
* Risk mitigation mechanisms aimed at lowering premiums, increasing enrollment and improving the risk pool.
* Avoiding legislative or regulatory actions that could increase uncertainty or threaten stability.
State Question 756, passed in 2010, amended the Oklahoma Constitution to prohibit laws which compel individuals, employers and providers to participate in health care systems. Because of that legislative change, insurers offering products on the Oklahoma exchange are required to submit rate filing justifications to CMS for evaluation and approval.
History of Oklahoma Exchange Carrier Participation
2017 – Blue Cross Blue Shield
2016 – Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare
2015 – Blue Cross Blue Shield, Community Care, Global Health, Assurant
2014 – Blue Cross Blue Shield, Community Care, Global Health, Aetna, Coventry

A life fully devoted reaps fully deserved rewards.
Barbara Jacques, an Oklahoma native and current Shidler resident, has fully devoted her life to promoting and educating others about the agricultural industry.
“I was one of these kids that grew up and just wanted to be on my horse every day, all day long,” Jacques recalls. “If I got in trouble, my punishment was to be grounded off my horse, which was the most painful thing my parents could have ever done.”
She laughed.
Barbara grew up around agriculture but didn’t become completely consumed by it until she married a full-time rancher, Dave Jacques, in 1979. Together, the two established Seven D Ranch, which consists of a cow-calf operation, stocker cattle and a small hay operation. The Jacques continue to manage a cowherd and stocker operation for Dave’s parents as well.
“I think that was something that was just in my blood,” she said. “I can’t imagine that I would’ve ever married anyone who wasn’t in agriculture because that was what I loved and where I wanted my life to be.”
Jacques first developed a passion for teaching others about agriculture when she went to college and was surprised to learn many people did not have an understanding or appreciation for an industry that impacted their daily lives.
“I realized it is very important for those of us in agriculture to always try to be educating the people who aren’t in agriculture,” Jacques said. “Everyone has basic needs of food, water, clothing, and shelter. They need to understand that agriculture provides all of these things for them every day.”
Contributions
In 2012, Jacques was appointed to serve on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board by Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of the Agriculture at the time. During her six-year term, she has served as both a committee chair and an executive committee member for the board.
“I’m very proud to have had the opportunity to serve on Cattlemen’s Beef Board,” she said. “I think that is a very important job. The beef board is a driving force that propels our industry forward both home and abroad.”
The Cattlemen’s Beef Board consists of 100 members who oversee the Beef Checkoff. In addition to research and promotion within the U.S., the checkoff works hard to put American beef on the global map, which a single producer would struggle to do alone.
“Ninety-five percent of the world’s consumers live outside of United States,” Jacques said, “so I think it is of the utmost importance for us to be able to market our products on a global level.”
Jacques considers this honor to have been the most noteworthy of her contributions to agriculture, but says that her work with children through local, state and national cattlewomen’s associations has been equally significant to her.
Jacques’ devotion to these organizations and the agricultural industry is undeniable. She served as the Beef in Curriculum chair for the American National CattleWomen, an Oklahoma co-chair for the National Beef Ambassador Contest, a National Beef Cook-off committee member, and an executive committee member for the Oklahoma CattleWomen for 10 years.
Additionally, she has served as president and vice president of the Oklahoma CattleWomen, president of the Osage County CattleWomen, and was named Oklahoma CattleWoman of the year in 2011.
Outreach
Jacques found a great avenue to combine her passion for children and love for agriculture by serving on the advisory council of the highly successful Ag in the Classroom program.
On top of being involved on the ranch, Barbara taught art in public schools for over seven years, where she incorporated agriculture in her lessons. Barbara left public school to serve as a curriculum specialist and course developer for a private education company for eight years. She and her husband now own the Salt Creek Gallery & Marketplace in Pawhuska, where she works as a designer and silversmith.
Her latest endeavor includes hand-engraved western belt buckles and jewelry, fine art, clothing, handmade crafts made by local people and “cream of the crop” Oklahoma-made food products.
“We have a lot of people from all over the world coming into Pawhuska,” she said, “and I think if they want to take home some Osage County pecans or some Oklahoma honey or pepper jelly, then I think that’s a great way to showcase the outstanding products that we have in our state.”
Many of her customers are agriculturalists from the area, but numerous people from across the state and nation visit the gallery. Jacques feels she is teaching others about agriculture through her business and spends time with customers answering questions about the industry.
Heather Buckmaster, a friend and colleague of Jacques, describes her as a leader in the industry.
“While working on the ranch, taking care of her family, running an art gallery and producing beautiful jewelry, she also finds the time to advocate for agriculture literacy within our schools and serve in national leadership positions as a volunteer for the beef industry. She is an Agriculture Wonder Woman who I admire tremendously,” Buckmaster said.
When asked what inspired her to dive into agriculture and serve others, Jacques said it was never a conscious decision.
“It was just something that comes from the very core of my being, from my heart,” she said.
The tone of her voice encompassing a whirlwind of emotion made her passion for agriculture even more evident.
“Every year that goes by there’s a bigger need than there was the year before to make people understand,” she said. “We have to have agriculture.”
At 61, Jacques still has goals set to impact agriculture. She is already pushing for a children’s agriculture museum in the state and is planning to make handouts using Ag in the Classroom lessons to give out at her store.
Her daughters have also chosen to pursue agriculture.
“You can just tell that it’s in their blood,” she said, in hopes that her grandchildren will become the fifth generation of agriculturalists in her family.
Buckmaster describes her as a “tireless supporter of agriculture literacy.”
When asked about this statement, Jacques said with that same emotion, “This is so important to me. It’s just who I am. I will stop trying to teach people about agriculture on the day that I die.”
Barbara Jacques has truly lived a life fully devoted to agriculture, and both she and the industry have reaped the rewards of her dedication.

As those who have tried endless diets know, there are no easy fixes when it comes to losing weight and keeping it off. Even with dieting and exercise, many don’t succeed. Brandi (last name withheld), a 35-year-old mother from Ardmore, Oklahoma, thought she found her answer when she discovered weight loss surgery at cheap prices was a booming business in Tijuana, Mexico.
She knew people from her small town who traveled to Mexico for successful gastric sleeve weight loss surgery, and in her research she found numerous clinics there advertising their services on YouTube with slick patient videos. Those Tijuana clinics charge as low as $4,000 for the whole surgery plus anesthesia. The clinics woo potential patients by marketing the experience as more like a vacation than a possible life-threatening surgery.
In gastric sleeve surgery, which is usually suitable for patients who have 100 pounds or more to lose, the structure of the stomach is changed to be shaped like a long, skinny tube, which restricts the amount of calories the body absorbs. The new banana-sized stomach, or “sleeve,” is about 1/10th the size of the original stomach.
Brandi traveled to Tijuana to have the surgery on March 11, and one day later “they put me on the plane while I was still hurting really bad, with no instructions on after-care,” she says.
Once Brandi returned to Ardmore she ran into more problems. “I ran a low-grade fever for days and my back pain was horrible and getting worse. It got so bad after several days that I had to go to the ER. They told me I had a softball-sized abscess and leak from the surgery,” she says. “Right away, the local ER rushed me to INTEGRIS in Oklahoma City for emergency surgery to repair the leak.”
Brandi’s story doesn’t surprise Hamilton Le, M.D., who performed that emergency repair surgery 10 days after her failed surgery by the other doctor in Mexico. Le is medical director at the INTEGRIS Weight Loss Center. “In just the last eight weeks or so, I’ve had to repair four people who had life-threatening complications — in some cases, critically ill and almost dead from sepsis — from gastric sleeve surgery by doctors in Mexico,” he says.
Dr. Le points out all four patients are from smaller, more rural towns such as Ardmore and Woodward. He believes the clinics in Tijuana are targeting small towns with their advertising, since those potential patients aren’t near the bigger cities that offer weight loss surgery locally. “The patients I’m seeing with complications aren’t coming from Edmond, they’re coming from Elk City,” he says.
In Brandi’s case, “Dr. Le thinks the infection came from the way they did my sleeve,” she says. “It should look like a banana, but there is a big kink in the middle. When you look at the X-ray it doesn’t even look like a gastric sleeve.”
Although the price for weight loss surgery usually starts at $10,000 in the U.S. and can run up to $25,000, “you get what you pay for,” Le says. “Any money people save by doing the surgery in Mexico could go down the drain. If you have complications once you get back to the states, often insurance won’t cover care from an unapproved surgery, and many hospitals won’t work on the patients without their paperwork.”
Brandi says, “When I was so sick at the ER in Ardmore, I called lots and lots of doctors, but nobody else in the state would take me because the surgery was done in Tijuana. Thank God for Dr. Le. I don’t know what I would have done without him.”
She stayed in the INTEGRIS hospital for a week and continues to make bi-weekly trips to Oklahoma City for follow-up care. She says she might need additional surgery in the future to do further repairs on the sleeve. Still, Brandi feels like one of the lucky ones. “My medical bills (from treatment of the complications) run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars now. I’m lucky because my insurance is helping me pay. I can’t even imagine how the others with no help from insurance will make it,” she says. Brandi advises, “Don’t go down there and do it. It is much safer to pay for it here, and know what you’re getting. I didn’t even get the right kind of sleeve… it didn’t even look like a normal sleeve.”
Dr. Le says long-term outcomes of having weight loss surgery in Mexico aren’t good. “The surgery is just the tip of the iceberg. When you have the surgery in the U.S., there are extensive pre- and post-surgery requirements and after-care, like getting an EKG to check heart health, meeting with a psychologist to make sure patients are emotionally ready for the surgery, and having a nutritionist teach them how to re-learn to eat.” Without this coaching, patients are much less likely to maintain any weight loss, he says.

story and photo by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

A mother and daughter’s leisurely stroll through a craft fair has turned into a unique opportunity for thousands of Oklahoma craft lovers and businesses alike.
Karen Jobe had crafted all through her daughter’s childhood before finally getting her to join in on the fun.
A few years back, they found themselves at a craft show one day talking to each other like mothers and daughters often do.
“We were telling each other what we would do differently because it wasn’t like the best one,” Jobe said. “We decided we were on the wrong side of this and we could do this really well. That’s basically how we started.
“We decided we would go big or go home.”
Going big has turned into the Indie Trunk Show, which has grown to more than 200 Oklahoma vendors and 2,500 in average attendance, the largest and only one of its kind in the state.
Daughter Stacy, a former financial analyst in the natural gas industry, and Karen, a former Reading Specialist, have found their niche promoting local artisans.
The duo rented the smallest building they could at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in 2014. Eighty-five vendors showed up for the inaugural event with a waiting list for more.
Bigger and bigger buildings were rented at the fairgrounds until a lease was finally inked on the 71,000-square foot building known as The Pavilion.
“We made it and we never really intended on getting outside of Oklahoma City but some of our vendors who started with us and have done every show with us felt like they had good exposure in OKC and asked us to do August,” Jobe said.
Eight Oklahoma City Shows and two Tulsa shows have been held to date.
The duo will debut a new offering on September 24 with the Indie Bride Bridal Show and Market at OKC Farmer’s Market.
Florists, wedding favors, calligraphers, wedding decor, bridal party wear, bakeries, jewelry, photographers, gifts for the bridal party, dress makers/designers, stationary, rentals, musicians, caterers, and more expected.
There will be samples from wedding caterers and even a cash bar.
Food trucks are also expected.
“We are different,” Jobe said of the Indie Trunk Show.. “We don’t have to try really hard. It’s hard to explain how we’re different but when people walk into our show they totally get it.”
Along the way, Stacy had a child while working as a financial analyst with OG&E.
The Indie Trunk show has allowed her to stay home and raise her son.
“That’s the best thing in the world,” Jobe said. “We both have our strengths and we work together well. Since we are mother and daughter we know what the other thinks. There’s a trust there that I don’t think you can have with another person unless you’re related like we are.”
The rules are simple: you have to be from Oklahoma and you have to be independently owned to get into the Indie Trunk Show..
“There’s a lot of different kinds of shows. There’s lots of junk and vintage and we found a huge group of people who don’t really feel like … that’s not their target audience.”
Shopping local and shopping with independent business has always been the driving force behind the Indie Trunk shows.
More than 200 vendors showed up when the Indie Trunk Show resurfaced in Oklahoma City in June.
The success has spawned opportunities for workshops to teach others how to market themselves and their products. This September the Indie Girl Boss Workshop Retreat will spring up in downtown Oklahoma City. Topics ranging from visual merchandising to Social Media for Creative Businesses are scheduled to be covered.
Karen and Stacy will cover several topics as will guest speakers.
“The thing we want people to know is that everyone there is an independent business and that’s how they’re making a living,” Jobe said of the shows. “We have so many vendors that everything they have is hand-made, one-of-a-kind and we have the boutique shopping.
“You can buy every kind of gift or anything for yourself you can possible find and it’s all in one place. There’s very few places where you can go and do that.”
And few places with a mother and daughter can bond so well.

I stay indoors in the A/C. Pauline Richardson

I stay inside anytime it’s above 85. My thermometer doesn’t work like it used to. Sandy Scroggins

Drink something cool – iced tea if I have to be nice. Donna Reese

Go to the pool. My daughter-in-law and son have one in their neighborhood so I play with my grandchildren. Connie Oubre

By Angela Brice-Smith, MPA, RN – Regional Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Region VI (AK, LA, NM, TX, OK)

Medicare is taking steps to remove Social Security numbers from Medicare cards. Through this initiative the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will prevent fraud, fight identity theft and protect essential program funding and the private healthcare and financial information of our Medicare beneficiaries.
CMS will issue new Medicare cards with a new unique, randomly-assigned number called a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) to replace the existing Social Security-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) both on the cards and in various CMS systems we use now. We’ll start mailing new cards to people with Medicare benefits in April 2018. All Medicare cards will be replaced by April 2019.
CMS is committed to helping providers by giving them the tools they need. We want to make this process as easy as possible for you, your patients, and your staff. Based on feedback from healthcare providers, practice managers and other stakeholders, CMS is developing capabilities where doctors and other healthcare providers will be able to look up the new MBI through a secure tool at the point of service. To make this change easier for you and your business operations, there is a 21-month transition period where all healthcare providers will be able to use either the MBI or the HICN for billing purposes.
Even though, your systems will need the capability to accept the new MBI format by April 2018, you can continue to bill and file healthcare claims using a patient’s HICN during the transition period. We encourage you to work with your billing vendor to make sure that your system will be updated to reflect these changes as well.
Beginning in April 2018, Medicare patients will come to your office with new cards in hand. We’re committed to giving you information you need to help your office get ready for new Medicare cards and MBIs.
Here are 5 steps you can take today to help your office or healthcare facility get ready:
1. Go to our provider website and sign-up for the weekly MLN Connects® newsletter.
2. Attend our quarterly calls to get more information. We’ll let you know when calls are scheduled in the MLN Connects newsletter.
3. Verify all of your Medicare patients’ addresses. If the addresses you have on file are different than the Medicare address you get on electronic eligibility transactions, ask your patients to contact Social Security and update their Medicare records.
4. Work with us to help your Medicare patients adjust to their new Medicare card. When available later this fall, you can display helpful information about the new Medicare cards. Hang posters about the change in your offices to help us spread the word.
5. Test your system changes and work with your billing office staff to be sure your office is ready to use the new MBI format.
We’ll keep working closely with you to answer your questions and hear your concerns. To learn more, visit: cms.gov/Medicare/SSNRI/Providers/Providers.html

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

If you get the right fit, then everything else will take care of itself.
It’s the driving motto at Patriot Prosthetics in Yukon where Dallas Curtis and Michael and Michele Huggins have literally given thousands of Oklahomans a new lease on life.
In any given year, Oklahoma ranks either first or second nationally in the number of amputations.
There’s a host of health reasons behind it but what’s left every time is a person facing one of the most emotionally and physically draining experiences of their life.
That’s where Patriot comes in.
The pieces of steel, plastic and carbon fiber Huggins and Curtis create aren’t just works of art but art that truly works.
“They become one with the patient,” said Huggins, whose father had a prosthetic clinic on Oklahoma City’s south side for 16 years. “After awhile it becomes them so you take it and you work with it just like that. This is part of this patient so you carry it and work with that in mind.”
THE RIGHT FIT
Huggins knows that every prosthetic clinic in America orders parts from the same handful of manufacturers.
In that respect, most shops are the same.
But what Huggins and Curtis pride themselves on is taking the extra time to ensure the right fit.
“No matter what we put on underneath that socket it doesn’t matter,” Curtis said. “If the fit’s not good who cares if you have microprocessor-controlled knees or power ankle and feet systems. There’s so much technology out there now in our field it’s ridiculous, but it’s how you apply it.”
Growing up, prosthetics was close to home for Huggins.
He was around 10 when his father lost his leg above the knee following a car accident.
He watched his dad literally learn to walk again and often times regrets having to do so.
He saw the look on his dad’s face most mornings before he had to strap on the 16-pound apparatus that was allegedly his new leg.
After years of fit issues and being told ‘that’s the best we can do’ his father compressed four years of school into two before teaming with the legendary Ray Buddin – a below-the-knee amputee.
THE PROCESS
Patriot offers mobile, on-site, care for many of its patients. Staff can team up with your physician, therapist, or other healthcare provider to coordinate appointments near you or at your home.
Huggins says clients appreciate not having to spend the day driving across Oklahoma City for a single visit while many still enjoy coming to Patriot’s Yukon office.
The steps taken to be fit with a prosthesis or orthotic device vary from patient to patient. Commonly, patients are referred by a physician or therapist early in the healing process for an initial free evaluation to discuss their needs in detail.
Measurements and/or a casting may also occur during this initial visit.
It was while playing football at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Curtis found his way into the world or prosthetics.
While spearheading several community service programs with NSU athletes he literally uncovered his niche.
Spending time with a nursing home resident one day, Curtis saw a man come in, raise the man’s pant leg and uncover a prosthetic limb.
“I didn’t even know he was an amputee. He functioned really well,” Curtis said. “I had no idea until that prosthetist showed up. I was just hanging out, chatting and playing checkers.”
A new major followed for Curtis as did a career as a prosthetist.
“Back then everybody wanted it covered,” Curtis said of the stigma amputees carried. “Everybody wanted to disguise it as much as possible.”
Before opening Patriot, Curtis was the prosthetic supervisor at the Oklahoma City VA Health Care System.
Now he and Huggins have become the go-to clinic for those who have been told “that’s the best we can do.”
Huggins said the rule has and always should be “if it hurts then something’s wrong.”
THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY
“The function of this is unbelievable,” Curtis said, holding a microprocessor prosthetic knee that has bluetooth connectability.
After fitting a client with the technology Curtis can connect wirelessly via his laptop and make a host of adjustments to match the client’s natural gait.
Patients are taught how to reprogram the joint for different activities through their smart phone.
Carbon technology allows energy to be returned to the client through rebound technology on some prosthetics.
But technology isn’t their passion.
“This stuff is not about us. This is about the amputee,” Huggins said. “We play a small part by casting and knowing how to modify and make that socket work throughout the day. The amputee takes it and does the rest.
“I don’t feel like I can take credit for a lot of what they do. That’s up to them.”

By Darlene Franklin

“I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places.”
Whoa. Isaiah’s words brought me to an abrupt halt. My life in a nursing home often felt like an empty place.
Literally speaking, my half of a shared room in a nursing home was far from empty. The essence of six decades of life was crammed into a few square feet. Correspondence, presents, toiletries, clothes, doo-dads filled my dressers to overflowing. Family pictures and framed poetry by my daughter brightened my walls. The fifty-plus books I’d written strained my six-foot bookshelf, and my clothes crowded my half of the rod.
When we added a hospital bed, bi-pap machine, oxygen generator, walker, and laptop, my roommate and I could barely wheel through the room. My wheelchair spent the night in the hallway because it blocked my path to the bathroom. My bedtable doubled as work space and dining room.
The crowded room reminded me of what wasn’t here. My beloved cat. Shelves of family photographs. Family recipes. Daily routines varied little. How often did I get outside? How many meals excites my palate? Whom could I chat with, with a speech-impaired roommate and aides busy working?
So when I read that God wanted to give me a full life in an empty place, I jumped to attention. How could I find a full life in this place?
The answer was both simple and complex. I could have a full life because God was infinite. My circumstances didn’t limit Him.
Yesterday I expected a very empty day. My daughter should have celebrated her thirty-second birthday. Instead, she died at her own hand eight years ago.
In my quiet time, I read a quote by Cecil Murphey in Knowing God, Knowing Myself, “No matter how many times I examine the past, there’s nothing I can do to change it.” I needed that reminder to let the guilt go, and to rejoice that Jolene is waiting for me in heaven.
Running late for our mid-week Bible study, I fought the urge to get flustered and agitated-my go-to reaction when I’m stressed. Instead of muttering complaints, I stayed calm. On the way down the hall, an aide asked us to pray for her mother at our meeting. The short contact expanded my sense of belonging. Cheers greeted my arrival, since I’m the pianist. Accompanying hymns has been a life-long joy, something that cheers myself as well as others.
The pastor’s youngest daughter rushed to hug me before the song service started. Of the hymns we sang, I only knew half. But I had developed my God-given talent by playing through dozens of hymnals. Sight-reading a new one came fairly easily, and the fellow musician’s testimony touched me.
My arthritic fingers made more mistakes than they used to, but the congregation loved having the instrument. The piano made the music stronger.
The sermon, on God’s love. spoke to me more powerfully than usual. In a few recent failures, I chose anger over trusting God. Since God loved me, and I claimed to love God, my life should show it.
After the service, the little girl returned with her three sisters and all four hugged me. I returned their embrace, reminded of my own grandchildren across the country enjoying spring break. The love, freely given by the pastor’s children, met my need for human touch.
After lunch, I jumped into work, final edits on my next novella. Recently I sold another novella to a “traditional” publisher, keeping my work schedule full.
Not to mention the fact that I could work at all. There were very jobs one could do from inside a nursing home. Author happened to be one of them.
My latest order from a clothing store arrived and I got to touch and feel the soft robe and see the exact pattern of the pink and white checks. Now I can walk modestly from my room to the shower.
If the day wasn’t already full enough, I had restorative therapy for the first time in over a month. Arms and legs, back and forth, up and down, working for those “firm muscles and strong bones” that God promised in another passage.
If one day could be that full, what about tomorrow? God’s love, flowing in, through, and out of me filled my life even in empty places.
Best-selling hybrid author Darlene Franklin’s greatest claim to fame is that she writes full-time from a nursing home. This year she expects to reach fifty unique titles in print and she’s also contributed to more than twenty nonfiction titles. Her column, “The View Through my Door,” appears in four monthly magazines.

The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation has received a pair of grants totaling nearly $2.1 million from the National Institutes of Health. The projects will focus on mechanisms that underlie proper blood coagulation and ovarian cancer.
OMRF scientist Ray Rezaie, Ph.D., received a four-year, $1.74 million grant from the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that will allow him to continue research on a protein called antithrombin, which inhibits coagulation of blood.
Rezaie joined the foundation’s Cardiovascular Biology Research Program in 2017 from the St. Louis University School of Medicine. He studies blood clotting and inflammation, including how clotting factors work together to stop bleeding and how they regulate inflammatory responses when blood vessels are injured.
Antithrombin, which is located in blood plasma, is an inhibitor necessary for regulating coagulation and inflammatory pathways that are essential for maintaining healthy processes in blood vessels. “We know that antithrombin binds to molecules in the vascular system to initiate an essential anti-inflammatory response to keep vessels intact and healthy,” said Rezaie. “But we still don’t know how it works.”
Through better understanding this process, scientists ultimately hope to develop new therapeutic agents to control thrombosis, clotting and inflammatory diseases, primarily heart disease and atherosclerosis.
The second grant was awarded by the NIH’s National Cancer Institute to Magdalena Bieniasz, Ph.D. Over three years, it will provide $339,000 to study the underlying mechanisms of a receptor called sfRon, which has been implicated in aggressive ovarian cancer progression.
“This sfRon receptor actually makes the cancer aggressive and resistant to standard treatments, and that’s why we need to know how it works,” said Bieniasz, a scientist in OMRF’s Functional and Chemical Genomics Research Program.
She will also be testing drugs that inhibit this receptor in order to search for therapies that will work in targeting the receptor present on cancer cells.
Bieniasz became a principal scientist at OMRF in 2016 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah. She receives funding support for her research from the University of Oklahoma’s Stephenson Cancer Center, where she is also a member.
In her lab at OMRF, Bieniasz studies how ovarian cancer grows and spreads in the body, as well as the genetic changes in cancer cells that can lead to chemotherapy resistance.
This grant from the National Cancer Institute is tailored to provide new investigators with the early support to help them generate more data to be highly competitive for future grants.
“There are not many grants out there that do this,” she said. “Now I have assets to hire people for my lab and do more experiments. It’s a really great boost for this research in its early stages.”
Rezaie’s NHLBI grant designation is 2R01 HL062565-19A1 and Bieniasz’s NCI grant is1K22 CA207602-01. OMRF Vice President of Research Rodger McEver, M.D., said these grants speak volumes about the quality of research being done by these scientists in an increasingly tough climate for funding.
“The NIH is the major funder of biomedical research in the U.S. and applications for NIH grants are rigorously reviewed and highly competitive,” said McEver. “Awards like these are a testimony to the rigor and creativity of their research.”