FOR YOUR HEALTH: Take Charge of Tomorrow: Preventing Diabetes Health Problems

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(NAPSI)—November is National Diabetes Month, when communities across the country spread awareness about diabetes. 

Did you know that at least 1 in 10 Americans has diabetes? That’s 37 million adults and children.

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. Diabetes can raise your risk of health problems such as heart attack, stroke, cancer and diseases that affect your kidneys, eyes, teeth or feet. The good news is that managing diabetes as early as possible after diagnosis may help you prevent these health problems.

“Managing diabetes is a daily responsibility that can make a huge impact on staying healthy and preventing complications down the road,” said Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). “I encourage everyone with diabetes to work with their health care team to learn how they can best manage their condition to maintain an active life and delay or avoid diabetes-related problems.”

Here are tips to help you manage your diabetes today to prevent health problems. You can start by managing your diabetes ABCs, building healthy habits and working closely with your health care team.

Manage Your Diabetes ABCs

Managing your diabetes ABCs is an essential first step in preventing diabetes health problems. The diabetes ABCs are your:

• A1C blood glucose level.

• Blood pressure.

• Cholesterol.

Health care professionals give the A1C test to measure your average blood glucose level over the last three months. Some people with diabetes also use devices to track their blood glucose throughout the day and night.

Research shows that keeping your diabetes ABCs in a healthy range can help prevent blood vessel damage and health problems from diabetes. Ask your health care team what blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure levels are healthy for you.

Make Lifestyle Changes To Build Healthy Habits

You can manage your diabetes ABCs by building healthy habits and taking steps to:

• Plan healthy meals and snacks that are lower in calories, sugar, saturated fat and salt.

• Be physically active most days of the week.

• Reach or maintain a healthy weight.

• Stop smoking, vaping or using other tobacco products.

• Get enough sleep and take care of your mental health.

When planning meals, try to choose more fruits, nonstarchy vegetables, whole grains, lean protein foods, and low-fat or nonfat dairy products or dairy alternatives. Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

Walking is a simple way to be active. Invite a loved one or a friend to make walking a social activity. If you’re not active now or a health condition prevents you from being active, ask your health care professional about physical activities that are best for you.

Making lifestyle changes can be hard. You don’t have to do it all at once. Start slow and build healthier habits from there. Ask for help from your family, friends and health care team.

Work With Your Health Care Team

Managing diabetes takes a team. Your diabetes care team may include a:

• Primary care provider or diabetes specialist.

• Nurse.

• Diabetes educator or nutritionist.

• Dentist.

• Pharmacist.

• Mental health counselor.

• Specialist in health problems affecting your heart, kidneys, eyes or feet.

Your health care team may recommend medicines or devices to help manage your diabetes ABCs. Taking your medicines, even if you feel healthy, can help you prevent diabetes health problems. Talk with your health care team if you have trouble affording medicines or taking your medicines on time.

To learn more about preventing or delaying diabetes health problems this National Diabetes Month, visit the NIDDK website at www.niddk.nih.gov and follow on social media @NIDDKgov.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: More interesting ideas

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by Debbie Walker

At least I hope you find them interesting….

It’s not fun digging around in the dark when you realize you forgot to plug your cell phone into a charger. You might try putting a strip of Velcro on your charger to hold it in place where you can easily find it. Mine is on the head of my bed. It has saved me some time, don’t have to hunt anymore.

Did I tell you I am an assistant stage manager for a local play? One of my jobs is to help actors and actresses whenever I can. The other night one of the performers marked up their handbook with a highlighter for their parts. That was a no-no. They were concerned because they couldn’t erase it. Actually, it is pretty easy, got a lemon? Cut a lemon in half. Rub a Q-tip in the lemon juice. Wipe the highlighted sections and watch it disappear.

Ladies (and gentlemen) have you experienced a razor burn? Itchy, and painful red bumps. Do yourself a favor, use a cotton ball and apply witch hazel to your skin once dried from a shower. It will minimize inflammation, redness and fends off infections.

Would you like some help taking a sticky price tag or label off? Saturate a cotton ball with witch hazel, hold it on the sticker for 30 seconds. It will dissolve the bonding. (Now I know why my great-grandmother kept some in her house.)

I haven’t tried this yet, but I certainly intend to. Allergies leave my under eyes puffy. I read I should put my witch hazel in the freezer until chilled. Once chilled moisten cotton pads with the solution, placed over eyes for five minutes, ta-da! less puffy. If it tightens skin under the eyes, why wouldn’t it do away with face wrinkles?

Do you have a need to light a fire? To speed up the process place a few corks in a jar, add enough rubbing alcohol to cover, seal the jar and let soak. Next time you need to start a fire, drop soaked corks under the kindling. That will speed things up.

I am hoping you don’t mind if I, once again, print my little Christmas thought for little kiddos. I know you understand that I am an avid reader, and as such, I hope to see my little great-granddaughter enjoy reading, also. You can be absent Christmas morning but still be part of it. I have picked out two of the same story book. One I keep and one I give her. I pick a time with her mother that would be good to read to her on Facebook, face to face but miles and miles away, it’s a gift to us both.

I hope when it comes to gifts for your older, senior citizens, how about gift certificates. If they have a favorite store that they would never allow themselves to “Spend that kind of money on themselves.” There are also certificates to get her or him such as oil changes, car detailed, just put on your thinking cap.

I am just curious what things you might think of for gifts. If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear them. Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org . Have a great week.

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Poet: Samuel French Morse; Pianist: Moriz Rosenthal

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Morse poems

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Samuel French Morse

Poet Samuel French Morse (1916-1985) taught English at Northeastern University and summered in Hancock.

His A Poem About the Red Paint People is a rumination on a long lost Native-American tribe and can be read in its entirety in the anthology Maine Speaks.

Several lines evoke the sense of sorrow and wonder at a burial site excavation:

“Perhaps he gave the place a name,
Or left a mark the weather wore
As smooth as water long before
The Abenaki settled here.
But who they were and where they went
No Indian or white man knows,
Whose own untoward and bitter wars
Are shellheaps now and broken adze,
Not someone’s half-remembered lies.”

According to his bio details, Morse kept a garden in which he grew plants not usually found and regaled visitors with inexhaustible details on each one.

Moriz Rosenthal

Moriz Rosenthal

Polish pianist Moriz Rosenthal (1862-1946) achieved such progress as a youth that, after a tour of Romania, he was appointed the Romanian court pianist at the age of 14.

In 1878, Rosenthal began studying with legendary composer/pianist Franz Liszt (1811-1886) at Weimar and remained there as an assistant until Liszt’s death.

The pianist made his U.S. debut in Boston in 1888, taught piano at Phila­delphia’s Curtis Institute of Music from 1926-28 and set up his own private studio in 1939 in New York City where he lived the last seven years of his life.

I have two of the four 12-inch 78 records that comprise a Victor Red Seal album of Chopin pieces he recorded in 1935 (Victor M/DM-338) which can be heard via Internet Archive. It is well worth hearing for its combination of astounding technical virtuosity, an astonishing range of loud and soft dynamics and a heartfelt poetry and knack for conveying the beauty of Chopin’s notes, especially the selected two Nocturnes.

Rosenthal also had a scathing sarcasm. When the pianist heard Vladimir Horowitz thunder brilliantly through the opening of the Tchaikovsky 1st Piano Concerto, he remarked, “He is an Octavian, but not Caesar.”

Upon attending a recital of another legendary pianist Paderewski, Rosenthal commented, “Yes, he plays well, I suppose, but he’s no Paderewski.”

VETERANS CORNER: Let’s talk about D.I.C.

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by Gary Kennedy

I hope everyone had a very enjoyable Veterans weekend holiday. It’s always great to have three days off in a row to share time with family and friends. Some vets and I see each other every week. Often on Tuesday mornings we will meet in the rear section of the cafeteria and share information. Perhaps one day we will see you there. The coffee is not bad and the company is enjoyable and enlightening.

This week we talked about many topics but the one that drew the most attention was D.I.C.. Dependency and Indemnity Compensation is a VA benefit awarded to eligible VA deceased veterans, spouse, child or parent due to the loss of life of a Veteran who died in the line of duty or the survivor of a veteran who passed away from a service related injury or illness.

Some of the qualifications are you were married to the veteran for more than a year or had a child with the veteran. You would be eligible even if you remarried after age 55 or older. Evidence needs to be made available such as proof that the service member died on active duty or the service member died from the service connected illness or injury. If the veteran was totally disabled they must have had this rating 10 years before their death or five years immediately after military release or one year before their death if they were a former prisoner of war, who died after September 30, 1999. Totally disabling means veteran could not work. You will need to supply some evidence, military medical records, doctors reports, etc.

You should be able to show veteran died on active duty, training or died from service connected illness or injury or the veteran was eligible to receive VA compensation for a service connected disability rated at totally disabling for a certain period of time. If the veteran died from their service connected / aggravated condition and had Covid-19 then perhaps you can secure a connection because of the aggravation.

Another point I would make that isn’t showing up for veterans or dependents review: it has been my experience that you can be married to a veteran with less than 100-percent disability and still receive DIC. One trick that I use is one that isn’t usually sought after or mentioned and that is diabetes. If your loved one had diabetes when he / she passed it is quite possible that the diabetes had something to do with it. When you turn over the body of your loved one make sure you mention that your family member had diabetes so he can put that on the death certificate. I know that sounds a little inhuman but trust me, it can make the difference. This would be the same scenario for Covid.

Now I will try to explain the monetary rates. Benefits are possibly available for you, your children under 18 years of age or 23 if in college, also a parent may be eligible for this benefit. The same would be true of adopted children. The rate this year, 2023 is $1,562.74. You may also be eligible for other money depending on your loved ones Special Monthly Compensation awards. So, make sure you do the legwork to obtain all that you may be entitled. I think I am starting to sound like a social security ad.

Most VA staff are working for your best interest but it’s ultimately up to you to get what is intended and that which your veteran would have wanted for you. So, when this sad day occurs you need to remember what I have said, go to Social Security and report the passing, there is a small amount of money there as well. Then you will have also contacted Veteran Service Officer, (VSO) who will aid you through the process. There is also the possible burial benefit that VA can help you with.

I have given you only a brief as there is so much more in many cases. This will at least help with some of your questions and direct you on how to answer others. VA has a fine staff of V.S.O. officers who are caring, compassionate and really want to help you through your ordeal. I hope this has helped in some small way.

God bless and guide you through this traumatic time in your life. We are here for you.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: What is that funny-looking chicken?

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A Pearl Guinea Fowl, front, and White Guinea Fowl.

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

A little while back, I went to a friend’s house at the lake to help bring in his dock. But before we did that, he had to go to Hannaford to pick up his weekly issue of the Boston Sunday Globe – he wouldn’t read anything else. I stayed back to start getting things ready.

When he returned, he asked me about a flock of birds he had seen crossing the road that looked like fat, gray chickens. Immediately, the guinea fowl came to mind. Rather than have him describe the bird to me, I described it to him, and it was exactly what he had seen.

Guinea fowl, Numida meleagris, in our area are generally domestic stock, kind of like chickens and bantams. It is believed they are of West African origin. There are two common varieties, the Pearl and the White. The bird rarely weighs over 3-1/2 pounds, although they appear larger than this alive. The bones are quite small, and the carcass produces a relatively large amount of meat.

There is good demand for Guinea fowl in the large markets, and because of their wild game flavor the birds are served extensively in the larger hotels and higher priced restaurants.

The eggs are small, of dark color and fine flavor, and are apt to be laid in secluded places in the grass and weeds.

It is not easy to distinguish the sex of Guineas. The male has slightly larger head appendages and the female seldom screeches like the male. They are normally monogamous, mating for life. All guinea fowl are social, and typically hang out in small groups.

The Guinea fowl is a family of insect-eating, ground-nesting bird that resemble partridges, but with featherless heads. Most speciest have a dark gray or blackish plumage with dense white spots.

Guinea fowl have a long history of domestication, mainly involving the helmeted Guinea fowl. They eat lice, worms, ants, spiders, weedseeds and ticks while on the range.

They are a very noisy bird, and are said to be good for controlling the Lyme disease-bearing deer tick. They range well and eat lots of small things. In fact, if you keep bees, you don’t really want to keep guineas. They’ll stand by the hive and snap up the bees as they come out. Some have reported that since they started keeping guinea fowl, they have not seen yellow jacket hives in their fields.

You can reduce ticks and other insects by raising them. They are a little tricky to raise, but they are interesting, friendly and they eat bugs. Contrary to popular opinion, they are quite intelligent.

Guineas often lay their eggs in fields and hatch their young by themselves. Being native to dry areas of Africa, they are very susceptible to dampness during their first two weeks, and can die from following their mother through dewy grass. After two weeks of age, they are probably the hardiest of all domestic land fowl.

Guinea fowl live in the wild once you raise and release them.They are territorial so they will stay pretty much in one area.

Once you have raised them, their release can be tricky. If you release them all at one time, they may wander off forever. The best bet is to release one or two. They will hang near the others in the hutch. They hate to be alone. After dusk, you will find them roosting on the ground nearby. Capture them from the top so they can’t open their wings. This shouldn’t hurt them. Wear gloves as their claws and beaks are sharp. Put them back in the hutch and let another pair out the next day.

They are extremely vulnerable to hawks, cats and raccoons. They are most vulnerable when they are bedded down as a group at night. These birds cannot fly when their feathers are wet.

Do not confine male guineas with chickens if there are roosters in the same flock. Male guineas will run the roosters ragged and keep them from food and water. Females do not cause the same problems.

If you wish to raise Guinea fowl, there is much information on-line on that subject. Your local feed store will either sell keets (babies) or they will be able to tell you who does. You will need 15-20 to get started as they have a high mortality rate. They generally cost $3 – $5 each. There are benefits to raising these birds but there are some tricky steps along the way. Make sure you have done some homework, not to mention having the room (their range is usually 3 – 5 acres) before you begin to raise these wonderful birds.

During our many trips to Mexico, and the Caribbean, for that matter, my wife and I have noticed Guinea fowls are kept at all the resorts we have stayed at to control insects.

I have seen several Guinea fowl in the central Maine area, and maybe there should be more of them, considering the large population of deer ticks that have been reported lately.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

In what year did the Boston Patriots become the New England Patriots?

Answer
1971.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Supporting Other People’s Mental Health Changed My Own Life

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Helping others with mental health problems can be a way to help yourself, says author and mental health advocate J.D. Schramm.

by J.D. Schramm

(NAPSI)—The first time I heard about Crisis Text Line was when one of my students shared information about this mental health support service in one of my classes on strategic storytelling. I was doubtful that a text messaging service, provided entirely by trained volunteers, could make a difference in people’s lives. Yet, I was intrigued and curious. The first time I contacted Crisis Text Line, by texting 741741 from my iPhone, was Thanksgiving of 2019. I had just lost one of my best friends to a brain tumor. My husband and I had decided it was too costly for me to return home for the funeral. This is when my grief started to set in. I was truly struggling. My own depression, which I’d faced since my teens, was “‘nudging at me” again. Then, add in holiday pressures, bickering over the trivial with my family, and trying to keep the kids engaged and off their devices — I was at the end of my rope that day. Without anybody else in the house knowing, I reached out and a complete stranger helped me to a place of calm. It was all I needed at that moment. I felt sheepish “taking up their time” when others had more pressing problems. The volunteer assured me that my needs mattered too.

A few times in the month that followed I reached out again and it was a lifeline for me during the holidays, which were, for me, a time of stress, loss, and confusion. It was the jolt I needed to be present to those I loved and attend to my own mental health with methods I knew worked for me.

Another year passed; the year we all remember being locked inside due to COVID. With so much attention placed on the mental health crisis that accompanied the pandemic, my thoughts returned to Crisis Text Line and the difference they made for me during my time of need. Could I provide that same help to others?

I applied and was accepted to train as a volunteer crisis counselor. As a professor of communication for over 20 years, I was surprised that I had so much to learn.

All my work had been around the power of public speaking and here those gifts were not required. I resisted the first lesson on listening skills, thinking, “What is there to hear in a text conversation?” I was so very wrong; in fact, there was a great deal to hear, but not with my ears. I was exposed to an entirely new experience of communication through text messaging, and the power it held particularly for young people who’d grown up with this medium.

The harder part was for me to learn to listen and not offer advice from my years of experience. Instead, I learned to ask thoughtful questions, to help the texter realize patterns, and move from heated to calm. In the spring of 2021, I completed my training and overcame my own feelings of inadequacy and fear. I became the stranger at the other end of the conversation and started to see how I too could be helpful to others.

Now, I’ve come full circle from that moment when I first dialed 741741. Most Friday nights, after my kids are in bed, I log on and take a four-to-six-hour shift of texting with strangers at their time of greatest need. Last month, I completed my 500th conversation on the platform. While I believe I’ve helped others, what I’m most clear about is how volunteering in this way has changed me. I listen better. I am slower to offer advice and look instead for ways to help others find their solution. I now know a ton about resources on a vast array of mental health topics, but I offer those only when it seems right. What people need most is empathy, my presence and connection, not my experience or wisdom.

Admittedly, I was doubtful when my student first shared about the power of text message exchanges between strangers to reduce depression, anxiety and loneliness. Now, I am convinced that text messages can, and do, make a difference one conversation at a time. It’s humbling to admit I was wrong but encouraging to see week after week how much text messages help. Ironically the same device that has the power to sometimes isolate us from others can also bring us together.

—Mr. Schramm is a mental health advocate, speaker, and writer. He serves on the faculty at USC’s Annenberg School of Communication and writes a regular newsletter, Communication Matters. His 2011 TED Talk, Break the Silence for Suicide Attempt Survivors, has been viewed over 2 million times. He and his husband, Rev. Ken Daigle, reside in Marin County with their three children.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Catching up

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by Debbie Walker

So, I did go to the audition. Before the night was over, I decided I didn’t come close to the other actors with their college degrees in theater. They also needed an assistant to the stage manager, with the plan being once trained they would become The stage manager. Well, I am now the assistant to the stage manager, at least I am going to try it.

The play is called Mistletoe Ridge, and it is quite the little comedy. I know we have laughed enough at the auditions and the first practice. I can’t wait for the next meeting, that will be Tuesday! I will keep you to date and maybe even get a picture with everyone of the cast in their costumes.

My bedroom project is pretty much finished. I have the black and white material as blinds, and I made two shams with left over fabric. The black fabric I bought I used for a King bed skirt, but I cheated and bought two pillowcases (yes, they are black). Now that it is done, I am quite pleased with the room.

Poor Dave, the first couple of days he was not pleased with all the black, said it reminded him of a funeral home. Since he has now appreciated how much better he has been sleeping he’s quite pleased. Some things just take time.

It’s gotten to the time of year when I think of gingerbread. Gingerbread with whipped cream on top. Yummy! Did you know it has historical roots? Some of us now make gingerbread house and cookies. But long ago it landed in Europe with an Armenian monk who brought home a honey and spice cake to other monks in France, and it quickly became “food from Heaven”. Typical medieval recipes for gingerbread include no ginger. It once was a treat only for the elite.

I read something in Woman’s World magazine from October. I learned you can spray a wreath with hairspray to help it last. It also mentioned putting petroleum jelly to boost the life of your jack’o lantern. I’m sorry it’s not much help this year but you’ll have it for next year’s pumpkin.

Do you have a single glove or mitten? Don’t throw them. You can use them to hold potpourri’ in. The article I read was recommending you fill the glove half with dry rice, then fill it with dried herbs. In the article I read it said to tie the glove closed with a ribbon. I might do the ribbon, but it will be sewed shut first. I don’t trust just a ribbon. One use is in your drawers for sachet. I will use lavender in mine and put it in my pillowcase to help sleep.

I like this one. How much do you “waste” on bathroom smellies? Maybe instead try an empty toilet paper tube. Paint it or decorate it to suit you. Put cotton balls in it. Then put some of your favorite smelly stuff on the cotton balls.

I’m just curious what new projects you have started. Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org. with questions or comments. Have a great week.

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Actress: Lee Grant

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Lee Grant

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Lee Grant

On the basis of three different roles, I currently find Lee Grant, still alive and very sharp in her late 90s, my favorite character actress.

The emotional nuance, strength, vulnerability, anger, calm before the storm, joy, love, maturity, chaos, decorum-every ounce of one’s humanity – is channeled from her very inner self with phenomenal discipline and authenticity into the trio of characters mentioned below:

The 1964 Fugitive episode Taps for a Dead War presented Miss Grant as Millie Hallop, a widow who owns a diner, and lives with her teenage son and brother-in-law, the latter with serious PTSD issues of his own as a Korean War veteran who was grossly disfigured by an explosion from a hand grenade tossed at him by an enemy soldier.

Meanwhile Millie is stressed out by everything that could stress out a widow raising a son, running a diner, dealing with an emotionally fractured brother-in-law and experiencing her own issues of harrowing loneliness with minimal help from the people around her.

Lee Grant has spoken of how she would draw on her own life experiences of loneliness, anxiety and anger to pour into her character roles. This statement verifies her rightfully celebrated ability to convey being on the brink of some unpredictable explosion resulting from the loneliness, anxiety and anger. When her brother-in-law, portrayed by the also very gifted Tim O’Connor, brings home the Fugitive title character Richard Kimble, whom he recognizes as a war-time buddy, Millie very quietly tells Kimble to leave immediately and never ever show his face at the diner again. The look of sulphuric rage in her eyes was honed to a precisely outstanding degree.

The 1967 Oscar winning In the Heat of the Night featured her as a grief-stricken widow Leslie Colbert who spasmodically flings her hands in the air when she is informed by Sidney Poitier’s Virgil Tibbs of her husband’s murder. At that moment, one is not sure if Mrs. Colbert is going to slap Tibbs or sob uncontrollably.

In a 1970 Columbo episode, Ransom for a Dead Man, she portrayed a murderess Leslie Williams who shoots her husband cold-bloodedly yet elicits a bizarre sympathy as she charmingly interacts with Peter Falk’s socially inept but phenomenally shrewd detective with his “Just one more thing” and “Thank you very much!”; and guardedly with a very suspicious stepdaughter. If I didn’t know any better, I would have rooted for her to get away with the murder.

One very memorable scene is when Leslie, being a licensed pilot of small aircraft, takes Columbo for a daredevil ride in her own plane and she is beautifully dressed and wearing designer sunglasses.

Born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal, in New York City, to parents who were Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia, Lee Grant caught the stage bug very early in childhood and her Wikipedia biography gives an interesting account of her career with its setbacks and successes.

She was nominated for the Oscar best supporting actress award in 1951’s Detective Story in which she played a shoplifter; was named best actress at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival; but then blacklisted as a communist from 1952 to 1964 because, even though she was never a communist herself nor was ever interested in its ideology, her first husband and scriptwriter Arnold Manoff was a communist and she wouldn’t testify against him. During the 12 years, she was ekeing out a living through a few stage and TV roles and teaching to support herself and her daughter, actress Dinah Manoff.

In her 2014 autobiography, I Said Yes to Everything, she writes :

“Dinah was my grail, my constant; nothing and no one could get between us. Dinah, and my need to support her financially, morally, viscerally, and my rage at those who had taken twelve working, acting years from my life were what motivated me.”

More about Lee Grant can also be accessed via YouTube, etc.

THE BEST VIEW: And then…

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by Norma Best Boucher

I just spent one of the best mornings I could want. I didn’t set out to do that. I don’t think that life works that way. I do try to start every day with a positive attitude, but this morning God just pointed me in a direction and said, “Enjoy!”

The weather was cool for Florida, a beautiful winter morning, when I took my early morning walk just as the sun came up. I usually walk with my neighbor’s Yorkie, Scooter, but today I was especially early and just took off alone. I didn’t realize that I usually look down or at eye level when Scooter is with me. I have to be careful that he doesn’t step on fire ant hills or disturb any snakes. Today, I looked everywhere and discovered a leafless deciduous tree silhouetted against the morning sky. Suddenly, my mind was back home in Waterville, Maine, walking on Elm Court and School Street on a beautiful cool day.

Florida is filled with beautiful full-leaf and flowered trees that thrive in the winter, but at that Maine memory moment the leafless branches on that tree were more beautiful than all of the other trees combined. Right next to it was a smaller palm tree. The two trees together seemed to epitomize my own life – the majority of my years spent in Maine and the last of my years spent in Florida. The larger tree had the deepest and best root system just like my own life in Maine.

And then – My cat Olivia and I were sitting on the screened-in porch when a beautiful hawk landed a few feet from us. She saw him first. I saw her body stiffen and followed her gaze. The hawk was perched on the roof in a majestic pose. As his head turned, I saw the downward curve of his sharp beak and his proverbial “hawk eyes” sizing up the backyard. Olivia did not move. Neither did I. He was even more beautiful when he took flight and flew past us.

And then – I went for my daily ride along Indian River. The morning was still young. There was a very light rain that appeared on my windshield but was too light to disturb the mirror surface of the river. Hundreds of seagulls were perched on the long river docks, much, I imagine, to the chagrin of the owners. One lady was taking pictures of them. I stopped my car and saw several files of “ducks in a row” at varying distances in the river. All were paddling north.

And then – I saw them, three dolphins. Indian River is quite shallow, so I could see them intermittently breaking the water. They, too, were going north. I don’t know whether they were feeding or just playing, but I never tire of watching them just living their lives for all of us to enjoy.

The first time I saw mammals swimming in a river was when I was seven years old in 1954. My father drove my mother and me from Waterville to Bangor, their hometown, to see the two white whales that had swum to Bangor up the Penobscot River. We drove in my father’s 1948 Studebaker. There was no Interstate 95 highway then, so the trip took two hours up and two hours back. We could go no faster than 45 miles an hour because the car shook at faster speeds. Seeing the whales was quite a thrill. Seeing the dolphins brought back to me another cherished Maine memory.

As I left the River Road area, I stopped at a stop sign and saw perched on a tree limb a different but still beautiful lighter colored hawk. He was watching me as intently as Olivia and I had watched the earlier hawk.

And then – I left the serenity of the scenic river ride to go to a gas station to pump gas into my vehicle. The prices had dropped. Another Maine memory came to mind. Again, my father had driven my mother and me to Bangor to see the gas war.

“Norma,” I remember him saying. “Remember this day. Gas is 18 cents a gallon.” I watched as a man filled the gas tank. We turned around and left Bangor for the long two-hour ride home.

Today, I paid more for my gas than 18 cents a gallon, but who cares? I enjoyed a million-dollar morning and Maine memories.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Lung cancer screening saves lives

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Submitted by MaineGeneral
Medical Center

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. Though lung cancer remains the deadliest cancer in Maine and the U.S., catching lung cancer early increases the chance of survival by 20 percent.
MaineGeneral offers low-dose CT (LDCT) screening, an important tool that can save your life.

Patients urge others to get scanned

Millard Jackson, of Augusta, got screened at the urging of his family – and is glad he did. “The screening is a real piece of cake,” Jackson said. “You’ve got to find out what’s wrong with your car to fix it, right? The same is true for yourself!”

A screening and biopsy found Jackson had two different types of cancer in the same lung. He had surgery performed by Dr. Seth Blank, thoracic surgeon at MaineGeneral, to remove his lower lobe. Now, he’s cancer-free.

“I’m back to work, happy, feel good… healthy!”

Sharon Mercier, of Sidney, was urged to have a screening by her primary care doctor. “I didn’t expect them to find anything,” she said. “I had no symptoms, no shortness of breath, no weakness. My results came back and I had a mass in my left lung.” Mercier also had surgery and is recovering well. She urges others to think about getting a LDCT scan.

“The scan is very easy. It’s not scary or intimidating,” she said. “It’s really a regular test. I knew my results within four days, and they moved right on it. I can’t stress enough for people to get theirs early. I just thank God every day that they caught mine in time – and they wouldn’t have if not for that CT scan.”

What is a low-dose CT scan?

A low-dose CT scan is a type of X-ray that looks for early-stage lung cancer. The scan does not hurt and takes less than five minutes to complete.

Talk to your doctor about getting screened if you:

• Are 50 to 80 years old;
• Are a current or former smoker;
• Have quit smoking within the last 15 years;
• Have smoked one pack per day for 20 years or two packs per day for 10 years.

If a scan finds cancer

At MaineGeneral, you have access to a complete set of services for state-of-the-art care, including screening, diagnostic testing and treatment with specialists in thoracic surgery, medical and radiation oncology and interventional pulmonology.

Currently, MaineGeneral is the only medical center in Maine with robotic broncoscopy, performed by MaineGeneral Pulmonary, which maps a lesion and can access otherwise hard-to-reach lesions in the lung.

“We do flexible bronchoscopy, endobronchial ultrasound and robotic bronchoscopy at the same time,” said Dr. Ranganath, of MaineGeneral Pulmonary. “We get the diagnosis and the staging made at the same time. So, when that patient goes to a surgeon or oncologist, they already know the diagnosis and the staging.”

All this care is available right here in the Kennebec Valley. There is no need to travel to get a screening and, if needed, treatment.

Learn more

Visit our webpage devoted to lung health information:

• Hear from MaineGeneral patients who got low-dose CT screening;
• Watch a video about the screening;
• Hear about cancer prevention;
• Learn about other lung cancer risks such as radon and arsenic;
• View videos by some of our caring doctors and support staff and submit questions for our doctors to answer.

Go to www.mainegeneral.org/lung.