by Traci Chapman, staff writer
It takes great strength to deal with the finality that is hospice – to provide treatment not likely to provide recovery, to see the pain and suffering of patients and their family. It’s also rewarding work, a chance to help make that patient’s final journey one of peace, warmth and comfort.
“Hospice care can be difficult, of course, it takes something special to do this,” Russell Murray Hospice Clinical Supervisor Missy Ellard said. “I believe hospice work is a calling.”
That calling is something Ellard knows well. While she has worked in other nursing specialties, the Yukon RN has always come back, both to the type of work she loves and the company she said epitomizes the best of care and value that hospice brings to its patients and the people who love them.
Ellard did not start out as a nurse. For 10 years, she worked at the old Western Electric, later AT&T, facility. But, times changed for the industry and despite a strong and active labor union, she and many others were laid off.
“I always wanted to go into nursing,” Ellard said. “I’ve always seen getting laid off as a God thing, just what was meant to be.”
That outlook meant what many people would see as a step backward Ellard saw as an opportunity – and she jumped at it. It was in her early 30s that Ellard attended Redlands Community College and Southern Nazarene University, obtaining Associates of Applied Science and Bachelor of Science Nursing degrees.
In 1994, with school behind her, Ellard was ready to follow her new path and find her first nursing job. She learned about Russell Murray Hospice, then an El Reno hospice provider, and found a home – in the process becoming the first nurse RMH hired straight out of school.
“I worked as a staff nurse, as a case manager, I loved the work and the people I worked with, but after a time I wanted to try something new – I just really wanted to get other experience, so I branched out,” Ellard said.
That decision led her to a variety of experiences – working in home health and in a doctor’s office. She worked as a nurse for Canadian County Department of Human Services, making home visits to conduct patient assessments and evaluations, determining their qualification for Medicaid programs, including hospice referrals.
Ellard also used her skills for Oklahoma DHS Developmental Disabilities Services, responsible for health assessments at four Oklahoma City metropolitan area group homes. There, she recommended therapy, dietary consultations, wound care and other necessary services – but, as much as she enjoyed the work, something was missing, she said.

“I missed hospice care, I love hospice care,” Ellard said. “I had family members who were being served by Russell Murray, and I realized just how much I missed working here.”
So, she was back – Ellard said she realized she was home, exactly where she belonged. She was named clinical supervisor in Russell Murray’s now home office – while El Reno remained its base, the not for profit now had offices in Kingfisher, Weatherford and Oklahoma City.
Patients are not always what one might imagine someone needing hospice care might look like, Ellard said. The five nurses she directly supervises also provide physical assessments to at-risk children, like those taken to Canadian County Youth and Family Shelter – children who have had their lives completely disrupted, with parents or guardians who could be incarcerated or are facing severe addiction or other problems.
For those patients who are facing an imminent end to their life, Ellard and her nurses are committed to using every resource at their disposal to make any time that individual may have left the best it can be – and that is something different for each patient, she said.
“The thing about hospice care, about palliative care, is it’s truly holistic, something that provides not only relief from physical conditions, but encompasses everything to improve the quality of life for the patient,” Ellard said. “It’s the one area of nursing you can truly practice holistic care.” That might mean incorporating spiritual guidance or comfort, or it might involve finding a way to bridge an estranged family relationship; it could be making it possible for the patient to do something they’ve always dreamt of or simply ensuring they’re comfortable as they live their final days.
“Some of our patients want to fight their disease every single minute, as long as they possibly can, and we help and encouragement them with that,” Ellard said. “Others just want to be comfortable, to spend their time with their families or their friends, and we follow their lead on that, as well.”
No matter a RMH patient’s beliefs, needs or approach to their condition, they do have one thing in common – they are never turned away due to financial considerations, Ellard said.
“If a patient qualifies and desires hospice care, we do not turn patients away based on their reimbursement status,” she said. “Many hospices, even not for profit hospices, have a ‘quota’ of non-reimbursable patients and will decline patients if they don’t have a payer source – RMH has never done that.”
That approach has helped spur the company’s growth, which includes not only Ellard and her five-member nursing staff in El Reno, but a total of 25 full-time RNs and LPNs, as well as several per diem PRN nurses, across RMH’s four offices. That staff serves about 100 patients throughout the Oklahoma City metropolitan area and an approximately 75-mile radius surrounding each of its offices at any given time.
“Everybody deserves to die with dignity – to me, if we can bring peace, if we can bring comfort, we help them to do that,” Ellard said. “It’s that mission, it’s that ability to be a part of that – well, that’s the reason this was my first job, and I want it to be my last.”

By Darlene Franklin

How do I rest in God in a situation where drama occurs daily?
Five minutes at a time, that’s how
I lived for many years with a daughter who suffered from borderline personality disorder (BPD). BPD is characterized by pervasive instability-moods, relationships, self-image. As her mother, I felt like she was a black hole that sucked me dry and spit my bones back out.
I struggled for twenty-four hour periods I could call good. Hours were easier to come by. Some days I settled for minutes. If I waited for a perfect day, I was doomed to disappointment. So I relished whatever time God’s love broke through the clouds.
That experience came to mind when I asked a cousin how she had survived the death of her mother and the breakup of her marriage, a month apart.
Her answer was profound “I.dont.know!” She begged God to bring her husband back, but she knew God never deserted her. “It wasa time of waiting and toughing it out, sometimes five minutes at a time.”
Each of her answers rang a bell deep in my heart
Resting in God didn’t mean the absence of difficulties. Both Jan and I tried to tell God how to fix the problem. Perhaps you do the same.
What changed was we knew where to take our problems. Only God knew every detail of every day. We talked to Him about we wanted, because only He could bring about that miracle.
In the process, we learned something else: we trusted God because He never deserted us.
Intellectually, few of us have a problem with that statement, but experience gives the knowledge weight. I sat in the balcony of my church, mouthing the words of praise songs, unable to sing because I was crying. Before and since, I tune to Christian music when in need of a praise fix.
In that holy, wordless place, God held when I fell apart. His constant, loving presence carried me through the years following my divorce, my son’s teenage troubles, my daughter’s lifelong troubles, the double whammy of my mother and daughter’s deaths, and more recently, my failing health.
My cousin learned a similar lesson when her teenage son nearly died in a traffic accident. After three days of the continuous bad reports, she told the Lord that He could have Macon. She not only thanked God, she also “drew a ‘line in the sand.’ Did I truly trust God?” Giving her child to Jesus was the hardest thing she had ever done.
She returned to the ICU late that same night, expecting nothing. A nurse looked at me and tilted her head as if she was puzzled. “He seems to be turning a corner.” Macon clung to life. Later she learned at that very hour a circle of nurses was holding hands and praying for him.
Friends and family continued to visit, all bringing a message of hope. Macon lived.
Powerful. Impossible. I can’t do that, we might say. That will never happen for me. I could never pray like that. A lot of her peace grew because during her divorce, she had already learned that resting in God sometimes meant toughing it out, sometimes five minutes at a time.
Life in a nursing home involves a lot of waiting, and I hate it. Lately God’s given me tons to write. I have plenty of time … if I felt better. If I didn’t need an aide to move my meal tray so I can set up me computer.
Of course, help comes eventually, but I still have to wait. Perhaps it’s time to make use of my old kitchen timer.
When I’m counting the grains of sand in the hour glass, it runs in a continuous supply in heaven.
Early in the morning, I pull the call light. “Just five minutes.” Half an hour later, no one has responded. I remind myself that God’s measuring cup is as full as ever. As the clock winds down to noon, I think, “Still five more minutes?” In the mid-afternoon lull, I tell myself, “it’s only five minutes.” By the time I’m ready to head to sleep, I pray, “You’ll keep me for five minutes.”
God gets me through the day, five minutes at a time.

Renovation work to Mercy’s emergency department waiting area will begin Monday, Oct. 23.
During renovation, the existing emergency department patient drop-off entrance will be closed and the waiting area space will be reduced. Patients and family members are encouraged to use the co-worker entrance just a few feet east of the existing emergency department entrance.
Mercy will provide complimentary valet parking for emergency department patients in front of the existing co-worker entrance and additional directional signage will be installed to assist with wayfinding. Emergency department staff as well as security will help patients and families locate entrances and registration.
“Patients who come to our emergency department often have a heightened sense of anxiety and fear,” said John Lampert, Mercy vice president of operations. “In order to help create a sense of comfort, we are installing new flooring, paint and furniture, plus elements of nature and expressions of Mercy’s faith throughout the space.”
Renovations are expected to be complete in early December.
Mercy, named one of the top five large U.S. health systems in 2017 by Truven, an IBM Watson Health company, serves millions annually. Mercy includes 44 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, more than 700 physician practices and outpatient facilities, 40,000 co-workers and more than 2,000 Mercy Clinic physicians in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

stroy and photo by Bobby Anderson, staff Writer

Given the option, few people would turn down a good, home-cooked meal.
But sometimes circumstances just don’t make it possible.
That’s why Cynthia St. Peter decided to create Mealfull to give everyone – even those who can’t afford it – the opportunity to have comfort food.
“Even though I’ve turned 63 I have an entrepreneurial spirit,” the company founder said. “When I get bored I create something.”
After retiring from a 40-year music ministry career, St. Peter found she still had a passion to create.
“Food – it’s a win-win for everyone,” St. Peter said. “Feeding people is just a basic need. Whether they’re homeless and they can’t afford it we’re going to give it to them. If they’re shut-ins and can’t get out of the house we’ll get it to them.
“And if they’re millennials and they just wished something was on their porch when they got home it’s going to be there.”
Mealfull operates out of Earth Elements Kitchen in the historic Farmer’s Market District in Oklahoma City.
All food is locally-sourced, farm-to-table..
Breads are baked fresh at 4:30 a.m. by St. Peter’s chef, who then prepares that day’s offerings.
“My heart is in three special places,” she said when asked what the business looks like.
ON THE GO
With 15 years as a single parent, St. Peter knows first-hand there is a need for quality food for busy people.
“It would have been great if there was a food delivery service that actually cooked it, it was delicious and they brought it to you,” she laughed.
Busy people get up early and work late. There’s really no desire to shop then come home to cook.
All too often the drive-thru is the default first-choice for busy people.
“We stop at a fast-food place and pack on 40 pounds,” said St. Peter, who admitted even when she worked as a chef she would go through the drive-thru at the end of the day.
Today’s millennials encounter a job market like no other in history. St. Peter sees her own daughter’s embedded in the rat race, with little time to slow down between work and family.
Mealfull can have hot selections waiting for them on their front porch or can go inside and stow them away in the fridge.
STAYING IN
Another facet of the business is providing meals to seniors in their homes.
“They don’t feed themselves. They have the money but they make friends with the pizza guy so that’s what they order every night,” she said.
“Wonderful, comfort food” is how St. Peter describes her menu, which rotates weekly. And it’s not just a drop-off solution.
Another option Mealfull offers is going into a client’s home and cooking the meals on-site.
“I have a real passion for Meals on Wheels but it makes me sick they don’t have the time to visit,” she said. “It’s drop off and go.”
That allows for hot food and good company – something many seniors are starved for.
ZERO WASTE
At the end of the day, MealFull coordinates with local social workers. St. Peter prides herself on a zero waste policy.
“We deliver the food to the homeless at their under-the-bridge camp,” St. Peter. “We have so much waste in the food business. If we were a restaurant we would have to throw it away. But we’re not … so we can do whatever we want to do with our food at the end of the day.
“That’s a very exciting part of what we’re doing.”
For the past 10 years, families have hired St. Peter to go into their loved one’s homes to cook for them.
“Families would hire me because their parents wouldn’t eat,” she said. “They wouldn’t cook for themselves because they couldn’t. They wouldn’t eat because they would think they weren’t hungry – especially those with dementia.
“I would serve them and they would woof it down. It was just taking care of our brothers and sisters.”
St. Peter quickly became a part of the family, going into the home and serving not only as a provider of sustenance but a source of peace of mind for the children who worried about how their mother or father was doing living alone.
HOLIDAY DINNER
Mealfull is also offering the option of ordering an entire holiday dinner for as few as two to as many as 12. Feasts include slow-roasted turkey breast, sliced spiral ham and a cornucopia of sides and desserts.
Delivery is offered at no extra charge.
Orders are now being accepted through Nov. 17 or while supplies last.
Got to mealfull.com for more information or call 405-568-6684.

Mercy continues to fulfill the promise of expanding health care services in south Oklahoma City with the opening of a new family medicine and pediatric care clinic at 1060 SW Fourth St. An official blessing with ribbon cutting is scheduled at 4 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 4.
“We’re always looking for ways to better care for and cater to our patients,” said Di Smalley, Mercy regional president in Oklahoma. “Mercy already has a strong presence in north Oklahoma City and Edmond. We’re ready to provide that same level of patient care to those in south Oklahoma City and the surrounding communities.” The clinic includes family medicine physicians Sarah Cox, DO; and Misty Hsieh, MD; pediatrician Cerissa Key, MD; and Lara Rodkey, APRN-CNP. Imaging and lab work are also offered at the clinic. The newly constructed 11,800-square-foot clinic includes 24 exam rooms with space to accommodate an additional four providers as health care needs in the community grow.
Clinic hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
All providers are accepting new patients. For an appointment, call 405-378-5491.

The world is running out of antibiotics.
In a new report from the World Health Organization, research showed that too few new antibiotics are being developed to counter the growing threat of infections that are resistant to currently available antibiotics.
“Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest and fastest-growing health crises facing our planet,” said Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation immunologist Hal Scofield, M.D. The CDC estimates that 23,000 Americans die each year from infections that don’t respond to standard treatment with antibiotics. And this number is only going up.
Antibiotic resistance occurs when a bacteria, fungi, or parasite is no longer curable by medicines previously able to treat them. For example, if you give a patient antibiotics and it kills 99.9 percent of the bugs that are causing the disease, the 0.01 percent that survive can become superbugs that are resistant to the medication.
“This happens routinely, and we know it’s going to continue until protocols are established in medicine to minimize it,” said OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D., a physician and medical researcher. “Unfortunately there are a lot of forces working in the other direction.”
The primary cause for the surge in superbugs is excessive use of antibiotics. According to the CDC, healthcare providers write 47 million unneeded antibiotic prescriptions each year in the U.S. alone. “It’s routine for antibiotics to be prescribed for conditions that they can’t treat, things like sore throats, colds and other viral infections,” said Prescott.
Scofield emphasized that patients also bear some responsibility. “People often demand antibiotics from their healthcare providers in situations where they won’t help,” he said. “And for a variety of reasons—including the desire to please patients and to receive high customer-satisfaction ratings—the providers often reluctantly accept.”
Finding ways to administer antibiotics only when needed is important, said Prescott. But so is proper usage by patients once the drugs are prescribed. “This means never skipping doses or stopping treatment early, even if you feel better,” Prescott said.
He added that the use of antibiotics in animals like chickens, cattle and pigs may also be a culprit. “The drugs speed the animals’ growth and how much meat they have on them, but they are also very likely contributing in a significant way to the rapid rise of superbugs,” he said.
The new WHO report states that 51 antibiotics and 11 natural medical products are in development, but the fear is that it won’t be nearly enough, because many won’t make it all the way through trials to enter the market. The WHO also warns that many are only short-term solutions, as well, because most are just modifications of existing treatments.
“People in Oklahoma need to realize this isn’t a rare thing that only happens in third-world countries. It’s occurring all over,” Prescott said. “It’s a real problem and it’s not one that will be easily solved. There are big, wholesale structural changes that need to happen.”

By John D. Doak, Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner
Currently, more than 678,000 Oklahomans are enrolled in Medicare. Are all of those beneficiaries getting the proper coverage at the most affordable price based on their respective budgets? Unfortunately, the answer is likely no but there is a solution available during the Medicare Open Enrollment period.
The Medicare Open Enrollment period runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7. During this time, beneficiaries can review their current medical and prescription drug coverage, as well as explore new options available to them that could provide better coverage at a reduced cost.
Did you know that last year there were 20 different prescription drug plans available to Medicare beneficiaries ranging in price from $17 to $166 a month? Most people would likely pick the cheaper option to save money. However, sometimes the cheaper option isn’t always the best option. For example, what if a beneficiary were to enroll in the cheaper plan option only to find out that a particular medication he or she was prescribed isn’t covered under the cheaper plan? In that scenario, it would mean that the cheaper plan wouldn’t cover any of the costs for that drug, which would result in the beneficiary having to pay the full price for that medication. Ultimately, the beneficiary in that situation could actually wind up spending twice as much or more for his or her drug costs that year.
Here are some other considerations for Medicare beneficiaries to think about each year:
* Did your physician prescribe a new medication for you in the last year?
* If so, will your current prescription drug plan cover that new medication or is there another drug plan available that will cover it and could help save you money?
* Have you noticed that the monthly premium or co-pay amount for your current drug plan, which does cover all of your prescribed medications, has increased significantly?
With so many different Medicare plans available, each with different monthly costs, co-pays and drug lists, how do you make the best decision for yourself?
That’s where the Medicare Assistance Program (MAP) at the Oklahoma Insurance Department comes in. MAP is a grant-funded program that offers free, unbiased counseling to Medicare beneficiaries concerning their different options for Medicare coverage. MAP counselors are available to meet with seniors in-person or on the phone to answer questions about original Medicare, Medicare supplement insurance, Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare prescription drug plans. Within that, MAP counselors can help Oklahoma seniors evaluate their current coverage and explore the options available to them for the coming year.
Last year, MAP counselors helped Oklahoma seniors save, on average, an estimated $2,100 per person. In addition, MAP can help Oklahoma seniors living on fixed incomes in applying for financial assistance to cover their medical and/or prescription drug costs.
There are trained counselors across Oklahoma available to assist and provide a more personal approach to Medicare coverage counseling. Please call 800-763-2828 to find a counselor near you.

Growing up in the Holland province Fryslan, Anita Van der Laan never imagined she would one day have an 8,000 head dairy in Oklahoma.
Van der Laan’s love for dairy began at a very young age on her family’s 90-head Holstein dairy back in Holland. She is a 5th generation dairy farmer, with farmers on both sides of her family.
A defining moment in Van der Laan’s life occurred when she was graduating high school. Because she was a woman, the family dairy went to her brother, and her father told her it was time for her to find somewhere else to work.
“It really hurt,” Van der Laan recalled. “It still hurts 30 years later. But it made me want to encourage other women to go into the dairy industry.”
Van der Laan made the decision to move to the United States and start dairying here. Her life took another twist when she attended a Thanksgiving dinner in Texas with neighboring dairy farmers. A young man named Pieter Van der Laan had a birthday on Black Friday, so the friends decided to decorate his house for his birthday while he was out milking.
Little did Van der Laan know, Pieter grew up about 30 miles down the road from her in Holland, also on a dairy farm, though the two had never met before coming to Texas.
“I met him that day and the rest is history,” said Van der Laan. “We’ve been married 27 years, 7 months and 8 weeks. I’m still counting the days because we are still in love. Can’t help it.”
After the two were married on January 26, 1990, they combined their small herds, got a loan from the bank and started their dairy with 40 cows. Both kept their other jobs to pay off the loans so they could buy more cows. Their herd slowly and steadily began to grow. Today, they have grown to 8,000 head of dairy cattle.
“We never imagined in our wildest dreams we would milk this many cows,” laughs Van der Laan. “Our kids call us cow hoarders.”
They have two dairies in Frederick, Okla., Van der Laan Dairy, milking 2,900 cows and Sunshine Dairy LLC, milking 1,500 cows. Van der Laan is proud to say they are 100 percent owned by her and Pieter. Sunshine Dairy LLC sells their milk to Lonestar Milk Producers, and Van der Laan Dairy sells their milk to Select, which sells milk to Hiland Dairy, a popular brand seen in grocery stores across Oklahoma and surrounding states.
But no success story is without its trials. Sometimes many.
One morning when Van der Laan was out feeding calves, one particular Brown Swiss calf named Gemma butted during feeding, causing the bottle to painfully bump Van der Laan in the chest.
A very tender lump appeared within days, and after several weeks of no improvement, she finally went to see a doctor. Her fears were confirmed when the doctor diagnosed her with breast cancer.
Van der Laan says if it had not been for Gemma, the cancer would not have been found.
“I had never even held a bottle that way,” Van der Laan said, “It was just meant to be.
“I really believe that God doesn’t send angels in the way that we think of them,” Van der Laan said, “He sends them in the way we need them. I really believe she was my angel.”
Though Gemma sadly passed away during Van der Laan’s chemotherapy treatments, Gemma’s bloodline lives on at the dairy. She has three siblings on the farm—Gloria, which means glory to God, Gertrud, which means glory to God in Dutch, and Grietje, which means pearl of God in Dutch.
“Her mama is still around too,” Said Van der Laan. “Every time I talk to her I tell her she’s the mama of an angel.”
Van der Laan will forever hold a special place for Gemma in her heart.
“She saved my life,” Van der Laan said. “In all the dairy farming, you would never imagine God would send you an angel like that—but He did.” Difficult times did not stop with Van der Laan’s fight with Breast Cancer. 2011 proved to be a very challenging year, bringing severe weather such as extreme heat, drought, and tornadoes.
In June 2011, their dairy was hit by a small tornado. The contractor had just completed the remodeling and repair work in October when an EF-4 tornado devastated their dairy on November 7, 2011. They lost over half of their baby calves, 450, and many more cattle were injured.
“People we didn’t even know came to help,” Van der Laan recalled. “They took our injured calves that I couldn’t care for and took care of them, we got them all back in December.”
A farm they frequently did business with came with a large trailer and took the remaining healthy cattle back to their farm to allow the Van der Laans to rebuild and recover.
“We still to this day have cows that limp or have scars,” Van der Laan said. “They are our tornado victims, but they are still here.”
Van der Laan says despite the hard times, Oklahoma has been good to them, and she can’t imagine dairying anywhere else, especially because of the way their neighbors came to their aide in the time of need.
“Oklahoma is home to us now,” Van der Laan said.
Today dairies across the country are selling out and going out of business, so one can’t help but wonder what makes the Van der Laans continue to dairy. It is certainly not an easy life. Dairying is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year— it never stops. But Van der Laan simply laughs and says she understands it is not for everyone.
“I love the industry, I love the people, I love promoting our wonderful product,” she said. “That’s just what I love to do. It doesn’t matter where you are—in the grocery store, talking to a stranger, we have to promote our product. When someone finds out I’m a dairy farmer and they tell me they drink the other types of milk, I love to tell them why they have to drink the real McCoy.”
The Van der Laans have three children, Eric, Wilma and Liza, who have all come back to work and help with the family dairy.
Most recently, Wilma and her new husband have joined the family’s operation. Wilma’s husband is an engineer and now heavily involved in their 6,000 acre crop farming, and Wilma continues to help out with the dairy.
“I wanted to raise my daughters to know there is no difference between them and brother—they can dairy too,” Van der Laan said, “Especially because of what happened to me. I’m so proud of her [Wilma] for saying she wanted to go back to the family farm and dairy.”
Van der Laan says working with their three children is very special, and describes it as a beautiful life.
“I don’t know what I would do without it,” she said. “I have 25 heifers in the back yard right now, just because I can. I have plenty on the dairy, but I love to bring some home. These are my pets.”

story and photos by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

A few years back, Kim Peterson faced the classic mid-life crisis.
Bad marriage, bad health, altogether bad outlook on life.
So she truly had reached a crossroads.
Option one was to continue down the path she knew for what she already had.
Option two was make some radical changes and roll the dice and see what happens down the road.
Peterson quite literally sprinted down that road and hasn’t looked back, finishing the Boston Marathon earlier this year and securing a new lease on life.
“(Running) has improved my health, my mood and every part of my life,” Peterson said. “I have more patience, more tolerance. I feel better and when you feel better you interact with others better. You see the world more optimistically. I can turn any negative into a positive.”
That’s a plus for anyone but particular someone in her line of work.
Peterson is a licensed alcohol drug counselor with a mental health endorsement who has worked for AllianceHealth Midwest more than five years.
She’s the longest-tenured mental health counselor in the building.
Searching and hoping for change she began running.
She started with 5k runs for the first couple years.
Her sister, who worked for 7-11, called to ask if she wanted to run in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.
The options were 5K, 10K and half marathon.
“Being a smart aleck I said ‘I’ll do the half marathon if you will,’” she said. “She signed us up so I had to start training.”
Peterson had no idea how to train for a distance of 13.1 kilometers, which translates to slightly more than eight miles.
She just ran it. And she’ll be the first to tell you she botched it.
“I hit the wall,” she said. “I didn’t get anything to eat or drink and that is an amazing experience. I think it might be worse than a heart attack. I finished and I remember laying on the asphalt … I was crying and I thought I was going to die.”
She had depleted pretty much every electrolyte in her body.
And she almost depleted her will to ever run again.
It took her a couple months for her mistake to really set in.
She thought maybe she could prepare differently.
So she decided to try another run.
“Then I got addicted to them,” said Peterson, who was an All-State runner at Western Heights growing up. “I started getting pretty decent then I ran a full marathon.”
Coalgate was the site of her first marathon.
The mud-covered course was laid out over a mustang ranch.
She’ll never forget the herds of wild mustangs that ran beside her. For nearly two hours she was as free as they were.
She’s been hooked on the adrenaline ever since.
Earlier this year she tackled the vaunted Boston Marathon.
The trip resulted in a personal record time.
“Probably one of the things that stood out to me was the amount of Olympians that were there … it was just amazing,” she said.
Running hasn’t been the only change she made.
She decided to enter a bikini contest.
“I just get craziness in my head,” Peterson laughed. “I want to practice what I preach to patients. I always tell them not to limit themselves. If you want to set your mind to do something do it. Every day things happen that I don’t believe. I never would have believed I could have run a half marathon.
“You couldn’t have told me I would put on a bikini and get on a stage and I got a fourth-place trophy.”
Now Peterson is a fit, fabulous and fetching woman in charge of her life who inspires others every single day.
She’s become the official health mascot among hospital employees. Everyone wants to know what she’s eating for lunch that day or what she’s going to do after work.
It’s no strange occurrence for Peterson to get up and run eight miles. She averages 30 miles a week. Her next goal is to run first place in her age-group at next April’s Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.
“Anybody in the hospital who wants to get on a health kick, whoever wants to do it I’m more than willing to help them,” said Peterson, who is also a certified equine therapist.
And Peterson is living proof that sometimes a crossroads in life can be the opportunity for something amazing.