Victoria Burdine was not raised with her grandparents. They were deceased, she said, regarding her childhood in Louisiana. Burdine always was the family member who cleaned house and cared for elderly people in her neighborhood in a little town named Rayne.
“I enjoyed it,” said Burdine, LPN, ADON and wound care nurse at Tuscany Nursing Center in Oklahoma City.
Burdine has been a nurse since 2009 and has always served in long-term care. She was a proud CNA for 15 years. Becoming a CNA was a smooth adjustment for Burdine after cleaning neighbors’ homes and running errands at the store for them.
“That’s my passion. A grandmother I could talk to and a grandmother — I didn’t have that,” she said. “So I take these residents here as my grandparents.”
She began working at Tuscany Nursing Center on the day it opened. There was one resident and Burdine was working the night shift, she said. Burdine was the LPN on the floor, and four months later she was asked to become the wound nurse. In early July she added the credential of certified wound nurse to her resume. Certification required rigorous study and taking a test.
“I started at 7 p.m. Sunday night and finished at 3 a.m. in the morning,” Burdine said. “So I am a board certified wound nurse.”
There were a lot of things she was already doing as a wound nurse, but she also learned a lot, she said. The extra education was valuable for her and also added job security to her career, she said.
Burdine said she admires that the nursing staff works well together as a team. At 3 p.m. everyday a few of the residents join her in her office for coffee and cookies. She loves it and said there is something about them that reflects her passion for the elderly.
Residents are of all ages. Some of them are in their 30s and 40s and she loves them, too. Some have been in accidents.
“You never know. It’s sad. I have a few that’s younger than me,” she said. “It is true that back in the day our grandparents would be in a nursing home, but these days it’s really young people, too.”
Burdine said it’s important to let the residents have choices. If they don’t feel like taking a bath at a certain time they can choose a later time.
“If there are certain things they want to eat – let them do it,” she said. “Just give them that freedom of choice. That plays an important role.”
Every once in a while Burdine will work in the skilled nursing unit when needed. Skilled nurses need to pay attention to detail and understand their role as a nurse, she said.
“There’s some hard work back there,” she said.
For long-term care a nurse needs to be compassionate, Burdinecontinued. Nurses without compassion and a love for their job will burnout and not make it in the industry.
“I love my job and I’m very compassionate,” Burdine said. “There’s things I do for a couple of people out of my pocket. Ladies like wigs. They like makeup. Some of them do have family and their family does not come. So I take out of my money and I buy them what they want.”
“If you’re here for the money it’s the wrong place to be.”
One of the residents has a 90-year-old mom that called Burdine from Las Vegas. She wanted to say how appreciative she is of Burdine for taking the time for her daughter to pay attention to small things.
“That means a lot,” Burdine said. “In my mind, the one thing I keep saying is, ‘This may be me one day.’ You know I wish somebody would take the time out if that happens to be me.”
“I want that same person like I am today to be caring. Take a little minute and just listen.”
Burdine tells the CNAs that the residents could be their kids. Across the U.S. nurses and CNAs need to stop what they’re caught up in life and pay more attention to detail, she said.
“Just listen because really that’s all they want you to do,” Burdine said. “So I always say this could be me.”
Currently Burdine is also caring for her mother who came to Oklahoma from Louisiana. She visits Burdine in the summertime.
When returning to Tuscany Village her residents are glad to see her. One of the residents called her at home and Burdine was happy to bring her a hamburger.

story and photo by Traci Chapman

As healthcare becomes more complex and treatment more expensive, patients of all ages and conditions have found themselves in a no man’s land where they find more questions than answers.
That’s where care management can lift the mists obscuring the answers those patients – and their families – are searching for, helping them improve their health, while avoiding at least some of the stressors that come with high medical bills and navigating the healthcare system.
What is care management?
Case managers are tasked with helping patients, caregivers and families find the most effective way to manage health conditions, while also focusing on potential medical cost savings. Several studies found in the U.S. National Library of Medicine, overseen by the National Institutes of Health, concluded care management can improve patients’ quality of care in the long-term, as well as positively impacting the cost of that care.
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing’s Care Management program has been providing community-based healthcare management services since 1995.
Seniors and Disabled Patients
OU’s Nursing Care Management program provides care management services to patients of all ages, conditions and income levels. For Karissa Maddox, RN, BSN, CMC, many of the people she’s spent the last 15 years of her career treating and guiding through the healthcare maze are seniors, elderly and disabled individuals who are deemed ADvantage-eligible by Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Maddox is also the program’s private care management services supervisor.
Oftentimes, multiple doctors treat patients, who also might be facing a myriad of conditions. That’s where a case manager comes in, serving as a central information hub and helping to coordinate care, Maddox said.
“It just relieves the stress and helps the family try to live a normal life, especially if loved ones live at a distance,” she said. “We are often the ‘professional advocate’ helping manage care – while communicating with family members and providers, in addition to coordinating all health care needs.”
OU Nursing case managers first provide an assessment, allowing them a comprehensive look not only into a patient’s medical issues, but also other challenges facing that patient – and their family. As hospital stays get shorter, Maddox said these assessments are crucial, providing the proper care plan and a bridge to medical providers, while also allowing patients to save money.
“You see the education you provide, the stability you provide – and being an advocate for them is huge,” she said. “Sometimes people don’t have anybody else to speak for them.”
OU Nursing Care Management has four office locations in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Lawton and Elk City, providing services across Oklahoma to patients and their families.
Maternity Coaching and Education
OU Nursing recently unveiled new services geared specifically for pregnant women and new or expectant parents. This service provides supportive coaching and education to clients to help with the life transitions that come with the addition of a new baby, their communications with health care providers — also helping them to determine the best resources for their individual needs.
“The focus is on the client and personalized according to what is most important to her,” said Margaret Back, RN RLC, ANLC, maternity coach and consultant. “The tailored plans and education materials prepare the client to anticipate changes and to minimize the stress of transitioning through the stages of pregnancy and the ‘4th Trimester’ of life with a new baby.”
Services also benefit anyone feeling overwhelmed or uncertain about maternity health-related issues, Back said. “New or single parents working through the transition back to work and adoptive parents or grandparents caring for their grandchildren can also find support, guidance and assistance,” she said.
While services offered by Maternity Coaching and Education are not a substitute for a doctor, midwife, lactation consultant, childbirth educator, therapist or doula, those will be accessible to participants, Back said. It offers Bump to Baby & Beyond Bundles, as well as a la carte options, all designed for flexibility and to address the changing needs of individuals and families, both during pregnancy and after childbirth.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to share the knowledge and experience I have acquired during the past 30 years as a nurse,” said Back. “I truly enjoy helping expectant mothers and new parents navigate through the exciting but sometimes overwhelming transition to parenthood and newborn care.”
Teri Round, MS, BSN, RN, NE-BC, executive director of clinical operations, cited OU Nursing’s multi-faceted approach to care management, which allows patients to move through every chapter of their life – and healthcare – with support and guidance.
“We have been in the business of providing care coordination for more than 20 years – Our case managers are experienced professionals who are able to care for others across their lifespan, but who specialize in the care of seniors and helping them age in place,” Round said. “We have developed other business lines, which work to support care transitions using CTI, an evidence-based model that helps individuals control their chronic conditions at home versus hospitalization or ER; with OU Physicians in the Bedlam L Clinic, in a team effort to improve quality of life in those with little or no insurance and chronic conditions; private care management performing all of the above; and maternal-child health, our newest addition to our group of services.”
For more information or a professional consultation for private care management, contact Lisa Macias at 866-416-4980 or via email at lisa-macias@ouhsc.edu.

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Excitement is buzzing up and down the halls at Village on the Park in Oklahoma City.
The retirement community is atwitter over what is expected to be the blockbuster event of the summer – the wedding of residents Ann Trumbly and Bud Barker.
“He caught me in a weak moment,” the 84-year-old Trumbly smiled when asked what led to the upcoming August ceremony.
Both currently reside in separate cottages at Village on the Park and each lost spouses in the past.
Neither ever dreamed they would remarry.
“We just clicked, we really did,” Barker said. “We weren’t expecting it but it happened.”
The couple’s first official date came last October when a group of Village on the Park travelers went to Royal Bavaria restaurant in Moore to celebrate Octoberfest.
For weeks Barker had been telling Marketing Director Karen Proctor that he planned on “bringing a friend” but declined to say who it was.
“And forever they were just going to be friends,” Proctor said, unfolding the story.
The couple agreed to go out once a week for dinner. One week Trumbly would pay, the next Barker would pick up the check.
“Somewhere along the way they shocked me,” Proctor said. “They’re both educated. They both love music and they both just love talking to each other.”
A few months ago the couple pulled Proctor aside to tell her the big news.
“I just cried and cried and cried,” Proctor said. “I was shocked. They had kept saying over and over it was nice to have a good friend.”
But both agreed it was great to have a best friend again.
EVERYONE’S ABUZZ
“Everybody’s so excited,” Proctor said. “We’ve had residents who have gone and bought dresses – even though it’s going to be super casual.” Everybody feels a part of it because they knew them with their other spouses and were so sad when their spouses passed away.
“It’s been fun to see them have so much fun.”
Cake and punch will be served back at Village on the Park.
“Real simple. That was Ann’s orders,” Proctor said.
She helped the bride-to-be shop for a wedding dress – all without ever leaving Village on the Park, helping Trumbly navigate the Internet for the perfect gown that was delivered to her house.
“They’ve got about 50 flower girls,” Proctor joked.
Barker swears he’s not nervous.
“Everybody has been fantastic, they really have,” Barker said. “Our children – she has a son and daughter and I have a son and daughter – and they’re all tickled to death. They could see we needed somebody.”
The couple doesn’t plan on registering anywhere, in fact, it might be the first wedding in history where guests receive all of the gifts.
The bride and groom are currently trying to downsize their respective cottages so that they may move in with each other after the wedding.
Once the nuptials are complete the two will fly down to Ft. Lauderdale to embark on a Caribbean cruise honeymoon.
But do the two have any skinny-dipping plans?
“I don’t know about that yet,” the 87-year-old Barker laughed. “Age is funny.”
Both are excited for the date to finally get here later this month.
They say planning – even a simple ceremony – doesn’t get any easier the second time around.
“Sometimes I wonder how we’re going to get through this. It’s not the marrying him (part) it’s about all the stuff you have to go through,” Trumbly said.
Trumbly has always been sort of a mother-figure for Proctor so it was Proctor who sat the couple down early just to make sure they had their bases covered.
The two had already discussed it with their respective families. A Sunday compromise was struck, with the couple attending Trumbly’s Catholic mass on Saturday nights and Barker’s Baptist church on Sundays.
Barker says he may be getting the better end of the deal, especially since Trumbly’s cottage has a washer and dryer as well as a covered carport for his Lincoln.
“There’s a lot of advantages for me, I don’t know about her,” he teased.
But the groom has shown he may be handy in the kitchen.
“I fixed her a bacon and tomato sandwich last night,” he said with pride. “Someone gave us a real nice tomato out of the garden and we stole some bread and bacon out of the kitchen and I cooked it in my room.”
It’s moments like those both were missing.
And they never expected to find them again.
“This is a marvelous place here. Everybody here is family,” Barker said.

St. Anthony Hospital is pleased to welcome Shoaib Ahmad, M.D., to St. Anthony Physicians Group Pulmonary Medicine.
Dr. Ahmad is board certified in pulmonary medicine. He earned his medical degree from Nishtar Medical College in Pakistan, and completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine, at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
Dr. Ahmad’s office is located at 608 N.W. 9th St., Suite 3110, in Oklahoma City. To schedule an appointment please call 405-772-4400.

Article by Nikki Buckelew, Buckelew Realty Group’s Mature Moves Division with Keller Williams Realty. www.okcmaturemoves.com

In generations past, there simply weren’t many options when it came to where one would live out their retirement years. In fact, there were basically three choices: 1) Stay put in your own home, 2) live with your kids, or 3) move to a nursing home when “it was time.”
The landscape has certainly changed significantly in the last decade. Not only are people living longer, but retirees have more options than ever before as it relates to housing options. So many choices it can make your head spin!
Fewer people as of late are opting to stay in a home that is too large, too costly, or losing value due to neighborhood decline. Even fewer are electing to move in with their adult children. More and more seniors are taking a proactive approach concerning their retirement lifestyle, with the trend toward community living designed to support and encourage the independent lifestyle they value.
The new normal
Included in the available stock of senior living options are upscale luxury apartments catering to the active 55 and older crowd, as well as all-inclusive resort style properties resembling a cross between 5-star hotels and country clubs. Private residences including duplexes, cottages, garden homes, and villas are also on the rise, boasting neighborhood club houses with fitness and media rooms, walking paths, organized activities and trips, and more. All this and they even take care of your yard and maintenance.
For those needing a bit slower pace and maybe even a little help from time to time, there are supportive housing communities designed to help people remain autonomous and independent by providing non-medical assistance. Key attractors to these communities include 2-3 prepared meals a day, housekeeping services, rides to the doctor and local retail and grocery stores, and 24-hour concierge access. When needed, many of these communities can provide or arrange for assistance with dressing, bathing, and medications.
Of course there are still the communities equipped to care for those with chronic medical or mental illnesses or degenerative diseases. Unlike the independent and assisted living communities mentioned above, however, these longterm care facilities are ‘chosen’ by default only after other options have been ruled out.
Comparing options can be complicated
With all these options, especially the all-inclusive ones, the challenge is figuring out which communities have what you are looking for. More importantly, what services are offered and what the fees include. Each development has varied unit sizes and meal options, as well as ever-changing, healthcare options and activity programming.
Ownership may belong to a for-profit enterprise or operated by a not-for-profit organization. Some are affiliated with churches, universities, and local municipalities and each has it’s own unique philosophy of property management.
Taking proactive steps
The key to finding the right fit is investigating the various options available well in advance – long before you are ready to make a change. By doing so, you remain in the driver’s seat when it comes to your lifestyle choices, rather than leaving it to chance (or up to your kids).
Fortunately, senior adults have a variety of free educational opportunities in the metro area to choose from when it comes to learning the ins and outs of 55+ living options. Some events are hosted by senior living communities who offer optional campus tours directly following the educational program and others are held in event centers. The goal of these organizations and associated expert speakers is to help older adults and their trusted advisors navigate the sea of information related to senior living.

Below is a list of a few upcoming events (advanced registration required):

Candid Conversations: Senior Living Options – Epworth Villa Retirement Community – August 15th at 10am RSVP: 405-752-1200
How to Pay for Senior Living – Spanish Cove Retirement Village – August 31st at 10am RSVP: 405-354-5906
The Truth About Senior Living – OptionsMAPS3 Health & Wellness Center – September 14th at 10am & 2pm RSVP: 405-563-7501
Getting Real About Real Estate after Retirement – Concordia Life Care Community – October 24th at 2:30pm RSVP: 405-437-1414

In the culmination of a three-month environmental effort, the numbers are in, and the hard work of Oklahomans has proven to pay off once again.
For the fifteenth consecutive year, Keep Oklahoma Beautiful (KOB) took part in the nation’s largest cleanup, sponsored by Keep America Beautiful. Volunteers from all over America participate in the Great American Cleanup (GAC), and each year, Oklahomans do their part to keep the state beautiful. Since 2010, Oklahoma has had 100 percent county participation, and this year was no exception. From March 1 to May 31, over 46,000 volunteers and participants fought dirty to keep Oklahoma clean.
Organizations that register for the GAC in Oklahoma receive free trash bags, gloves, vests, water and more. In addition, 36 organizations received cash grants and 11 received equipment grants.
Since 2002, the GAC in Oklahoma has collected over 214 million pounds of litter and debris. Just this year, Oklahoma communities cleared over 3,500 miles of roadways, shorelines and hiking trails. Nearly 192,162 pounds of hazardous waste and electronics and 13,142 tires were collected, helping to protect our environment as well as keep it clean.
The Great American Cleanup is far more than a cleanup effort, however. Communities across the state participate in beautification projects, planting gardens and restoring buildings. This year, communities planted over 7,300 flowers, seedlings, shrubs and trees and painted or renovated 35 buildings.
GAC events have the power to bring communities together, with over 700 groups teaming up this year. 4-H clubs, civic organizations, FFA programs, businesses, chambers and municipalities worked together with the unified goal of keeping Oklahoma clean. The collaboration is 100 percent statewide, and Keep America Beautiful has recognized KOB several years in a row for their complete county participation.
“The KOB GAC is our signature program for which we are recognized nationally for having at least one community in all of our 77 counties participate,” said Jeanette Nance, KOB Executive Director. “It speaks volumes when we can be the facilitators for communities to come together for a beautiful cause.”
The GAC in Oklahoma not only makes municipalities more beautiful, but also unites community members.
“Community cleanups are a really fun way to volunteer,” said Wanda Gray, coordinator for the INCA-RSVP cleanup in Tishomingo. “What’s better than spending a couple hours with family, friends, and neighbors making your home a better place? Our volunteers are uniting through community service, responsibility, and sharing of the natural environment to help drastically improve the quality of their communities.”
This annual program in Oklahoma strives to strengthen communities, all while keeping this state more eco-minded and environmentally friendly. KOB maintains the belief that unity through community improvement has the power to make positive change. “For us, the Great American Cleanup is so much more than a series of litter pickups or community improvement projects,” said Brenda Russell, with the Twin Cities Revitalization Project. “It is our opportunity as a community to come together and truly showcase that we as a whole are greater than the sum of our parts.”
Keep Oklahoma Beautiful is a statewide nonprofit with a mission to empower Oklahoma citizens to preserve and enhance the state’s natural beauty and ensure a healthy, sustainable environment. To learn more about their programs, visit keepoklahomabeautiful.com.

Dawn Anita Plumlee Named 2017 Winner

story and photos by Traci Chapman

The Ms. Oklahoma Senior America Pageant isn’t just about beauty or talent, but a celebration of women who have lived a live full of love and meaning, who exemplify all that seniors can be and all they can offer – and the women who this year competed for the crown showed there are no limits for those who are willing to step beyond their daily confines.
“Life is a gift – open your heart and your mind to all life has to offer,” Dawn Anita Plumlee said.
Plumlee received another gift during the July 29 pageant, as the Velma, OK country singer and songwriter was named Ms. Oklahoma Senior America for 2017.
“I am so honored, I’m so happy and I look at my fellow contestants and that makes me feel even more special, because they are such wonderful women,” Plumlee said after the event. “They are all queens to me.”
Plumlee was one of nine contestants who competed this year for the honor, someone who is not new to the pageant – she was named first runner up in both 2012 and 2013. Flipping through the photos of past Oklahoma events, it was clear she was not alone.
“This event is something that brings out the best in everyone who takes part in it,” Plumlee said. “It’s an experience none of us ever forget and it really can be a life-changer, not only for the one who walks away with that crown – that’s the reason why so many of us stay active in the organization.”
The contestants
Ms. Oklahoma Senior America 2017 – Dawn Anita Plumlee
Dawn Anita Plumlee said she has “just always been a singer,” someone who not only draws on her country roots but also celebrates them. That was on show during Plumlee’s talent entry, her rendition of “Love Sick Blues.”
Plumlee life has always centered around music – after her family, she said. After turning down an RCA record contract when her children were small, she continued her work in the music industry on a smaller scale until they were grown; she has had three charted country records and has won several songwriting and performance awards, including Oklahoma Opry’s Female Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year. The new queen also wrote “Gift of Life,” a song aimed at promoting organ donation.
Another of Plumlee’s passions is horses, and she has won several shows, as well as embarking on a horseback journey from Oklahoma to Nashville with her husband of 59 years, Jerry.
First Runner-Up – Susannah “Sam” Koebrick
Susannah “Sam” Koebrick was the first female masonry instructor to work in the Oklahoma Career Tech System, instrumental in both designing and promoting the Oklahoma State & Education Employees’ Insurance Program.
A Bethany resident, Koebrick performs in Oklahoma Seniors’ Cabaret and El Reno Community Theater, as well as with her husband, Richard, in a variety of venues across the state.
“Keep an active mind, an active body, smile, have a sense of humor and treat everyone as you wish to be treated,” Koebrick said.
Second Runner-Up – Kathryn Gordon
Kathryn Gordon has had a varied career – as a typesetter, legal secretary, teacher, business owner and more. But, at age 62, Gordon decided to make a change, graduating from cosmetology school and now working as a hairstylist and nail technician.
Gordon, who graduated from University of Central Oklahoma and University of Oklahoma, was also a gymnast in the 1950s and 1960s as a member of the state’s only gymnastics team, Oklahoma Twisters. She won Junior Olympic Tumbling state and national honors, was a member of the 1966 Pan American Gymnastic Team and a 1968 Olympic gymnast. Gordon, who donates time helping children involved in gymnastics, showed her skills during her tap dancing talent entry, which included a cartwheel and handstand.
“Every day is an adventure,” Gordon said. “Every day I get up and put on my medals – humility, forgiveness, joy, faith and trust – and go out into the world, looking for the best in everyone I meet.”
Third Runner-Up – Carla Joy
Carla Joy is also an entertainer, something she started at age three when her parents put her onstage during a movie house intermission to sing. Performing this year at the Oklahoma Senior Follies, Joy also sings for fundraisers and at nursing homes and helped Las Vegas’ Harrah’s Casino begin a trio of karaoke shows.
Joy worked for 38 years in real estate, beauty and fashion and continues her interest in those endeavors, always trying to encourage others, she said.
“Get up, get dressed, show up and never give up,” Joy said.
Marilynn Blackmon
Marilynn Blackmom said that in a sense her life began at 60 – she went back to college, becoming certified in workforce training and development and working as an adjunct instructor at Eastfield College, located in Mesquite, Texas.
After battling low self-esteem for many years, Blackmon works to help others, teaching classes and obtaining her certification as a master coach in self-esteem elevation for adults and children. Her journey conquering self-esteem issues also led Blackmon to found her own business, “Fly Without Baggage.”
“Soaring, falling, daring to soar again anyway to soar and soar again,” she said.
Boonie Mason
Boonie Mason’s life changed in 1980 with a Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis – a situation she used to help others as she became peer counselor and Co-Chairman for an Oklahoma City MS support group. In 2004, Mason was awarded MS Society’s chapter President’s Award for Volunteer of the Year. She said those with MS and other similar diseases should never give up, showing her determination by performing a tap dancing routine during the pageant’s talent portion, despite walking with a cane.
Mason attended Oklahoma State University and worked as Yukon Chamber of Commerce manager, First National Bank public relations officer and an Oklahoma City doctor’s office manager.
“Remember how short life is – and for my MS friends, I want to let them know that life is not over,” Mason said.
Barbara McMullin
Barbara McMullin is the mother of five grown children, two of them deaf. That led McMullin to move her family to Oklahoma City so the two – Pam and Jeff – could attend OU Medical Center’s John Key Speech and Hearing Center.
McMullin worked and traveled overseas for many years and enjoys volunteer work and genealogy.
“I challenge myself today and tomorrow is my reward,” she said.
Sharon Moore
Born into a family of 11 children, Sharon Moore said faith and family have remained her focus throughout her life. At 69, she retired from a 31-year career at Legal Shield, and Moore said she decided to enter the pageant to find a new lease on life after the recent death of her husband.
Moore helped raise eight children, and now has 15 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. She plays piano, sings and dances and enjoys writing poetry and journaling.
“Never stop learning – give your compassion and grace,” Moore said.
Gayle Orf
At 69, Gayle Orf took up the ukulele, a skill she exhibited during her talent performance of her own composition, “Lola La Spud.” That spirit of never slowing down helped land Orf a recent contract to do print modeling with a national agency; she teaches healthy living and entertains patients at a local cancer hospital and at senior venues.
Orf became the guardian and surrogate mother – at 60 – to a nine-year-old girl living in a children’s home after the death of her mother. Today, that daughter is a self-supporting college student.
“Life is to be enjoyed,” Orf said.
The Pageant
Ms. Senior America was founded in 1971 by Al Mott, who first started the contest in a New Jersey nursing home. At the time, a few contestants took part; the non-profit foundation now gathers hundreds of seniors annually to take part in pageants across the country, as well as the national pageant, held each October.
Before the day of the pageant, judges conduct interviews with each contestant. The event features talent and evening gown components, as well as the chance to share a 30-second “Philosophy of Life” with the audience.
“This is simply a celebration of beauty and accomplishment, as with any beauty pageant – but it’s a way to show that life is only beginning at 60,” Ms. Senior Oklahoma Foundation Administrator Ladell Maxwell said. “These ladies really do embody our philosophy of grace.”