Bobby Anderson
Staff Writer

A piece of national history right here in Oklahoma City will soon be repurposed as the 23rd Street Armory is brought to life once again.
The home to Oklahoma’s National Guard for decades, the building will soon be revitalized by new owners COOP Ale Works.
The Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) recently accepted the company’s proposal to acquire and redevelop the armory, which includes restoring the building and creating a unique experience.
“Oklahoma City is our home and we always wanted to return to the core of the city. In planning for a final home for the brewery, we wanted to find a place that is meaningful to our town and state, and gives us an opportunity to create an incredible experience,” said Daniel Mercer, co-founder of COOP Ale Works. “The Armory, with its unique history, structure and space, is the perfect fit and we believe it will become a venue that attracts visitors from across the state, country and world.”
Under COOP’s proposal, the 87,000-plus-square-foot building will be purchased from the state for $600,000 and returned to its former glory with updates to the interior functionality. The exterior will be maintained to honor its unique history with modern refreshes, including updated windows, while the inside will be transformed into a bustling brewery production floor, full-service restaurant, 22-room boutique hotel, multiple event spaces, offices and meeting rooms.
In total, COOP plans to dedicate $20 million to the overall project.
A 60-barrel, state-of-the-art brewhouse on the first floor will be the heart of the operation. Fermentation, conditioning, packaging and other production equipment will occupy the remainder of the 22,000-square-foot drill hall floor. More than 30,000 square feet of perimeter space surrounding the production floor will house brewery storage, offices, barrel aging, cold storage, shipping, receiving and more.
On the second floor, the east wing will become an 8,000-square-foot restaurant and taproom, with indoor and patio seating for more than 160 patrons. The full-service restaurant will serve a diverse collection of food and beverages. On the third floor of the east wing, dedicated event spaces will be available for community and private events.
Sean Mossman is the director of sales and marketing for COOP Aleworks. The need for expansion for COOP started two years ago, just two years after moving into a second venue.
“We began to start looking for places that could house a much bigger operation for us,” Mossman said. “Among the things we really wanted along with space was to create a brewery Oklahoma City could be proud of. To accomplish that we needed to move back into the urban core which is in the process of being revitalized.”
“When we saw the Armory and it became available it was a real no-brainer. It checked every box.”
COOP Ale Works is a craft brewery based in Oklahoma City, dedicated to brewing full-flavored beers. Since 2009, COOP has created a core lineup of six year-round canned beers in addition to four seasonal canned beers.
A 22-room boutique hotel will tie the experience together. Hotel rooms will occupy the second and third floors of the west wing of the building with a refined lobby located on the west side of first floor to welcome guests.
The proposal also includes five acres surrounding the armory building as well as leases for two adjacent properties. The additional properties will provide substantial parking, opportunities for retail and downtown living, and green space.
A new building would have been easier but Mossman said COOP wanted to strengthen ties in OKC.
“We focused early on for something on the Register of Historic Places or just meant something to the community through time,” Mossman said.
The 23rd Street Armory, constructed in 1938, was designed by architect and Oklahoma Army National Guard Major Bryan Nolen and was built as part of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration. At the time of its original construction, it was promoted as the only armory in Oklahoma funded entirely by state funds generated from oil wells located on the Oklahoma State Capitol grounds. The three-story building served as the state’s hub for the Oklahoma National Guard and the storied 45th Infantry Division.
“Our commitment to preserving the building is really important from our perspective as is doing honor to the 45th Infantry,” Mossman said. “We’ve gotten testimony from dozens of people who have went through that building and it means so much to them and they’re excited somebody is doing something with it that’s meaningful and it’s not being knocked down and forgotten.”
Mossman said COOP will invest $20 million into renovations with projected annual economic activity of $26 million to OKC.

Last month, Sen. John McCain died from glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer. The same disease took the life of Sen. Edward Kennedy.
But here in Oklahoma, Norman’s Mike Schuster continues to live with the disease. As he nears the three-year anniversary of his diagnosis with the deadly cancer, he’s already doubled the life expectancy for patients with glioblastoma.
Doctors can’t say why Schuster has lived where others have succumbed to the disease. But they believe it may be because of an experimental drug he received—one that was developed by scientists at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
For Schuster, the first clue that something was awry came in the fall of 2015, just past his 50th birthday. While at work, he passed out with no warning.
He was rushed to the hospital, where an MRI revealed a brain tumor the size of a kiwi just above his right eye. “I’d been healthy all my life,” Schuster said. “No medical issues at all. I just couldn’t believe that this was happening.”
Of the more than 120 types of brain and central nervous system tumors, Schuster’s type, known as a glioblastoma, is the most aggressive. The standard treatment regimen involves surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, followed by radiation and chemotherapy. Still, the tumor almost always grows back.
With treatment, the median survival—which means half of patients live longer, and half die sooner—is 12 to 18 months. Only 1 in 20 glioblastoma patients will live five years.
In a procedure that lasted six hours, doctors removed as much of Schuster’s tumor as they could. When Schuster regained consciousness, his surgeon explained that he’d succeeded in excising most of the tumor. But, he said, like most glioblastomas, this one had “tentacles.” Tiny arms of the tumor had grown into surrounding brain tissue and could not be removed.
Schuster began follow-up radiation treatment at the Stephenson Cancer Center at the University of Oklahoma. Even though Schuster couldn’t feel the electromagnetic waves pulsing through his brain, “you could smell it,” he said. He also started chemotherapy, taking a pill called temozolomide. Together, the treatments were intended to kill the tumor cells that remained in the fissures of his brain.
“If you leave even a single cancer cell in the brain, it can regrow,” said Dr. James Battiste, the neuro-oncologist who oversees Mike’s care at Stephenson. “The brain is fertile soil for these tumors. That’s why chemo and other therapies are so important.”
Following radiation—doctors limited his treatment to six weeks for fear of triggering a secondary cancer—Schuster stayed on temozolomide. But just after the one-year anniversary of his diagnosis, an MRI revealed a new tumor.
A second surgery once again removed the primary tumor. This time, doctors kept Mike awake throughout the procedure to ensure they didn’t damage crucial areas of his brain. Still, many glioblastoma tentacles had escaped surgeons’ reach, remaining lodged in Schuster’s brain.
Schuster knew those tentacles were, in essence, seeds that could sprout another full-blown tumor in a matter of weeks. He told Battiste he was willing to try anything to beat back the glioblastoma. He’d read about clinical trials of experimental medications. Was there one that might help him?
Battiste, in fact, was testing a new drug that, he said, “just seemed suited for Mike.” It was an investigational medication for glioblastoma that had been born just down the block from Stephenson, in the labs of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
Known as OKN-007, the experimental medication was discovered by OMRF scientists Drs. Rheal Towner and Robert Floyd. In pre-clinical glioblastoma experiments, the compound dramatically decreased cell proliferation (spread) and angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels), and it turned on the process of removing damaged cells so they can’t become cancerous.
“Those are the three major factors needed in a cancer drug,” Towner said. “This compound seemed to do all of them.”
Oblato, Inc., a New Jersey subsidiary of Korean biotechnology company GTreeBNT, has acquired the rights to OKN-007 from OMRF. It will move ahead with further trials of the drug in glioblastoma.
At Stephenson, Battiste has been cautiously optimistic about the performance of OKN-007 in Schuster and his other patients. “We’ve gone to the highest dosage levels the FDA would allow, and we haven’t seen any negative effects from the drug.” Although evaluating the medication’s effectiveness at stopping the regrowth of tumors is not a primary focus of the early phases of the trial, “it’s helpful to see things looking good” on this front, too, he said.
In August, Schuster celebrated his 53rd birthday. When he sees other patients with brain tumors, he said, they appear thin and frail. He, on the other hand, has added 15 pounds since beginning OKN-007 infusions. “I’ve had no side effects at all,” he said. “I’ve also been able to get back to the gym and am doing some yard work. I feel really good.”
He continues to travel to Oklahoma City each week for infusion treatments with OKN-007. “I really appreciate all of the support we’ve received from Stephenson and from people at OMRF,” he said.
While fighting glioblastoma has brought numerous challenges, Schuster said the experience has also revealed silver linings. “My friends and family and their prayers for me have turned into blessings.”
Of course, neither Schuster nor his doctors can know for sure if the drug is responsible for keeping his cancer at bay. Nor can they say if, or when, the disease might recur. “I can’t worry about stuff,” Schuster said, “that’s out of my control.”
Still, he feels certain he made the right decision when he opted to participate in the clinical trial. “Let’s just say I’ve been very blessed. It’s pretty cool how this stuff is working.”

by Vickie Jenkins, Staff Writer

Welcome to Healthy Living and Fitness, (Healthy Living OKC) where their vision is to provide state-of-the-art health and wellness services, empowering adults to become avid health consumers responsible for their well-being and fulfillment of their personal goals.
I spoke with Claire Dowers-Nichols, Executive Director. Claire spent her career developing programs to better service older Oklahomans. Most recently, she spent seven years at the University Of Oklahoma Department Of Geriatrics Medicine; she co-founded the Community Relations Director for the Oklahoman Department of Human Services, Aging Services. Claire serves in a variety of leadership and advisory roles for state and national organizations and is devoted to making her community an ideal place for active adults.
“We are the first Healthy Living and Fitness Center in Oklahoma City as far as being a MAPS 3 project. We have been here at this location for about 18 months,” Claire said. “The next location to build one will be in south Oklahoma City. OK. We actually have about 5,275 members now and about 630 of them visit our center every day. The growth in numbers of people has grown so fast. It is amazing! It was an answered need for seniors to have a place like this. We couldn’t be more thrilled!”
I was curious to know why Claire left her job to come work here. She replied with a positive answer. “This is definitely where I want to be. Love it! I have always been interested in the aging process. Now, it seems like aging is such an important part of life. One goal is to make aging sexy! Everyone wants to stay healthy with their diet and exercise. This is just a way of helping things along. Aging is such a wonderful process; it’s a form of self-expression now. Why, we have a member that is 100 years old and she is in better shape than me,” Claire said with a laugh.
The mission at Healthy Fitness and Living is to provide a facility and programming that will improve the physical and emotional wellness of northwest Oklahoma City adults with programs that help adults connect and provide a community through social wellness activities and initiatives, to provide access to professional and recreational physical fitness activities, to provide education and support on current adult related issues, to offer wellness coaching and social programming that will nurture emotional health and to reverse current poor health statistics.
“Let me tell you a little more about Healthy Living and Fitness,” Claire said. “Members are accepted if they are 50 years and older. We offer a variety of classes; the latest and greatest exercise equipment, fitness classes, water aerobics, guitar lessons, ukulele lessons, line dancing, arts and crafts, jewelry making, ballet, belly dancing, Tai Chi, yoga, Zumba, creative writing, drama class…we have just about anything you would want! We also have pool tables, and large rooms that can be rented out for special occasions. There’s even a group that meets each week with someone explaining how to keep up with your grandchildren by learning to use an iPhone. There are 9 different fitness instructors that rotate their schedules. The hours for Healthy Fitness and Living, Inc. are Monday through Thursday 5:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m., Friday, 5:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m. and Saturday 7:30a.m.-4:00 p.m. We are closed on Sundays. Membership cost is $30.00 a month single, $50.00 a month for couples. No annual contract. Payment can be made month to month. Most of our members really like that part,” Claire said.
What is your favorite part of your job? I ask Claire. “I really enjoy the art programs that we have here. When I see the members doing their art work, it is very special. It’s also very therapeutic too. It doesn’t matter if you are with a group of old friends, or a group of new friends, it is good for all; it’s just another way of socializing.”
Claire does a little bit of everything at work. One of her challenges is keeping up with the growing number of members. “It’s a good challenge though, definitely not a problem,” she said with a smile. We try to have at least 4 special events throughout the year.” (Car shows, special events). “Our members come here for several different reasons. Diet and exercise, socializing with others, to lose weight and learn how to eat the right way, to relieve stress, and just to have FUN,” Claire comments.
Who knows…maybe it’s time for ME to take those guitar lessons.

Miniaturized Heart Device Provides Patients with the Most Advanced Pacing Technology Available

INTEGRIS Heart Hospital is one of the first hospitals in Oklahoma to offer the world’s smallest pacemaker for patients with bradycardia. The Micra® Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS) is a new type of heart device, approved for Medicare reimbursement, that provides patients with the most advanced pacing technology at one-tenth the size of a traditional pacemaker.
The first procedure at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center was performed by Terrance Khastgir, M.D., a cardiac electrophysiologist with INTEGRIS Heart Hospital, on Aug. 7, 2018.
Bradycardia is a condition characterized by a slow or irregular heart rhythm, usually fewer than 60 beats per minute. At this rate, the heart is unable to pump enough oxygen-rich blood to the body during normal activity or exercise, causing dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath or fainting spells. Pacemakers are the most common way to treat bradycardia to help restore the heart’s normal rhythm and relieve symptoms by sending electrical impulses to the heart to increase the heart rate.
Comparable in size to a large vitamin, physicians at INTEGRIS Heart Hospital have elected to use Medtronic’s Micra TPS because unlike traditional pacemakers, the device does not require cardiac wires (leads) or a surgical “pocket” under the skin to deliver a pacing therapy. Instead, the device is small enough to be delivered through a catheter and implanted directly into the heart with small tines, providing a safe alternative to conventional pacemakers without the complications associated with leads – all while being cosmetically invisible. The Micra TPS is also designed to automatically adjust pacing therapy based on a patient’s activity levels.
“This device will allow our patients to get the most advanced technology in pacing the heart for slow heart rate,” stated Khastgir.
The Micra TPS also incorporates a retrieval feature to enable retrieval of the device when possible; however, the device is designed to be left in the body. For patients who need more than one heart device, the miniaturized Micra TPS was designed with a unique feature that enables it to be permanently turned off so it can remain in the body and a new device can be implanted without risk of electrical interaction.
The Micra TPS is the first and only transcatheter pacing system to be approved for both 1.5 and 3 Tesla (T) full-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and is designed to allow patients to be followed by their physicians and send data remotely via the Medtronic CareLink® Network.
The Micra TPS was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April 2016, and has been granted Medicare reimbursement, allowing broad patient access to the novel pacing technology.

“Honor Your Living Legend” designed to showcase seniors and impressive contributions to loved ones and communities

story and photos submitted

Home Care Assistance, Edmond/Oklahoma City’s premier provider of in-home care for seniors, is pleased to introduce a campaign that recognizes the lifetime accomplishments of seniors. Family members and friends submit stories and photographs, which are shared publicly on HonorYourLivingLegend.com and through Home Care Assistance’s social media pages. The goal of the campaign is to give people a platform to express their admiration for aging loved ones and in doing so, remind the community that older adults should be respected for their contributions.
With a mission to change the way the world ages, Home Care Assistance fosters a positive view of aging and honors each client’s lifetime legacy by providing compassionate and dignified care that enables older adults to maintain their independence at home.
“Honor Your Living Legend is our way to celebrate the legendary lives of our clients and seniors at large,” said Melissa Hill, Co-Owner of Home Care Assistance of Oklahoma. “Our mission is to change the way the world ages by promoting aging as a rich and meaningful stage of life, and this campaign is just one of the many ways we accomplish this. Older adults boast many years’ worth of accomplishments, relationships, experiences and memories. We seek to respect and honor them by shifting the focus away from their care needs and towards the legacies they’ve created.”
Candidates for Honor Your Living Legend are dynamic individuals who have given a lifetime of service and love to their communities and families. Living Legends can be publicly acclaimed or individuals who have influenced others’ lives in less high-profile ways such as a mother who taught her children to read or a well-known entrepreneur whose real passion was volunteering and helping those less privileged.
For more information about Honor Your Living Legend or to submit a story, please visit www.HonorYourLivingLegend.com.
Home Care Assistance is the leading provider of home care for seniors across the United States, Canada and Australia. Our mission is to change the way the world ages. We provide older adults with quality care that enables them to live happier, healthier lives at home. Our services are distinguished by the caliber of our caregivers, the responsiveness of our staff and our expertise in home care. We embrace a positive, balanced approach to aging centered on the evolving needs of older adults. For more information on Home Care Assistance of Oklahoma, visit www.homecareassistanceoklahoma.com.

Announcing the publication of ‘Fear, Religion, Politics; Well I’ll Be Darn’ by Dr. John E. Karlin, former professor of Sociology at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City University and Phillips University, Enid, OK. Dr. Karlin spent over a year in research and writing this excellent work which is currently listed on amazon.com.
This book is non-fiction and written with three parts.
Part One: Entitled ‘The problem that won’t go away’, examines the relationship between the fear of death and religion. The problem that won’t go away is our own mortality and the consequences of our consciousness of it.
Part Two: Entitled ‘The dream’ examines the goal/objective that Jesus Christ’s life, words and actions indicate that he was trying to achieve during his own lifetime.
Part Three: Entitled ‘A dream gone awry’ examines the relationship between religion and politics today. That relationship has and continues to destroy any chance of that dream coming true.
All three themes are intertwined and explain the political atmosphere today.
For more details call: Dr. John Karlin at 405-598-6590.

Dear Savvy Senior, A good friend of mine got a bad case of shingles last year and has been urging me to get vaccinated. Should I? Suspicious Susan

Dear Susan,
Yes! If you’re 50 or older, there’s a new shingles vaccine on the market that’s far superior to the older vaccine, so now is a great time to get inoculated. Here’s what you should know.
Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a burning, blistering, often excruciating skin rash that affects around 1 million Americans each year. The same virus that causes chickenpox causes shingles. What happens is the chickenpox virus that most people get as kids never leaves the body. It hides in the nerve cells near the spinal cord and, for some people, emerges later in the form of shingles.
In the U.S., almost one out of every three people will develop shingles during their lifetime. While anyone who’s had chickenpox can get shingles, it most commonly occurs in people over age 50, along with people who have weakened immune systems. But you can’t catch shingles from someone else.
Early signs of the disease include pain, itching or tingling before a blistering rash appears several days later, and can last up to four weeks. The rash typically occurs on one side of the body, often as a band of blisters that extends from the middle of your back around to the breastbone. It can also appear above an eye or on the side of the face or neck.
In addition to the rash, about 20 to 25 percent of those who get shingles go on to develop severe nerve pain (postherpetic neuralgia, or PHN) that can last for months or even years. And in rare cases, shingles can also cause strokes, encephalitis, spinal cord damage and vision loss.
New Shingles Vaccine
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new vaccine for shingles called Shingrix (see Shingrix.com), which provides much better protection than the older vaccine, Zostavax.
Manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, Shingrix is 97 percent effective in preventing shingles in people 50 to 69 years old, and 91 percent effective in those 70 and older.
By comparison, Zostavax is 70 percent effective in your 50s; 64 percent effective in your 60s; 41 percent effective in your 70s; and 18 percent effective in your 80s.
Shingrix is also better that Zostavax in preventing nerve pain that continues after a shingles rash has cleared – about 90 percent effective versus 65 percent effective.
Because of this enhanced protection, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone age 50 and older, receive the Shingrix vaccine, which is given in two doses, two to six months apart.
Even if you’ve already had shingles, you still need these vaccinations because reoccurring cases are possible. The CDC also recommends that anyone previously vaccinated with Zostavax be revaccinated with Shingrix.
You should also know that Shingrix can cause some adverse side effects for some people, including muscle pain, fatigue, headache, fever and upset stomach.
Shingrix – which costs around $280 for both doses – is (or will soon be) covered by insurance including Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, but be aware that the shingles vaccines are not always well covered. So before getting vaccinated, call your plan to find out if it’s covered, and if so, which pharmacies and doctors in your area you should use to insure the best coverage.
Or, if you don’t have health insurance or you’re experiencing medical or financial hardship, you might qualify for GlaxoSmithKline’s Patient Assistance Program, which provides free vaccinations to those who are eligible. For details, go to GSKforyou.com.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

Lewis Perkins, RN, BSN, MSN, DNP is named Chief Nursing Officer for INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center and it’s affiliated entities.
Lewis is currently the System Vice President of Nursing at Norton Healthcare in Louisville, Kentucky where he has worked since 2011.
Lewis has an incredible career in nursing leadership with significant MAGNET experience, he serves on the APRN Practice Committee for the Kentucky Board of Nursing and brings a wealth of nursing leadership experiences and innovative ideas to the table.
Lewis will begin his duties at INTEGRIS on Oct. 1. He and his wife (also a nurse) have a son in college and a son in high school who will be re-locating to Oklahoma City at the end of the school year.

Financial scams continue to target seniors due to scammers thinking that seniors have a significant amount of money just sitting in their accounts. Unfortunately, financial scams go unreported due to embarrassment and can be difficult to prosecute which leave seniors vulnerable with little time to recoup their losses.
To help prevent you from getting tricked into a scam, we have outlined below what a scammer is and what to do to avoid being scammed.

A scammer is the ultimate salesperson with a tempting offer or a skilled liar with a plausible story
* Easily pinpoints a victim’s vulnerabilities and appeals to emotions: sympathy, fear, loneliness * Quickly gains trust * Insist on secrecy * Shows no mercy, e.g., doesn’t take “no” for an answer

Know the Red Flags of a Scam
* Immediate action required * Insistence on secrecy * Money needed up front * Hard-to-track payment methods

Build Your Scam Defenses
* Do not be rushed into any financial decision * Assume that insistence on secrecy is a ploy to deceive you * Be suspicious of any situation that requires you to send money up front * Confirm all stories, offers or charities independently * Be very cautious about clicking on email links

Block Those Scammers
* Register with National Do Not Call Registry at www.donotcall.gov to limit legitimate telemarketing phone calls, making phone scams easier to detect * Register with www.DMAchoice.org to limit legitimate advertising mail, making mail scams easier to detect * Limit personal information on social media and choose the strictest privacy settings on social media accounts * Use antivirus software on your computer

What to Do If You Are Scammed
* Don’t be embarrassed or afraid * Tell someone you trust * Report the scam to your bank immediately to limit losses * Contact your local police and federal agencies, like the Federal Trade Commission
For more information, visit aba.com/Seniors