Health UPSTATE
Summer 2013
UPSTATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
Strategies for a
peaceful life Treating
severe asthma How to lose
110 pounds
Childhood surgery inspires nursing career
Their story:
A cap, a cloak Want your
lab results Supporting a TRANSGENDERED CHILD
first?
& other symbols of Upstate
Upstate Health magazine is a community outreach service of Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY. Upstate is an academic medical center with four colleges – Medicine, Nursing, Health Professions and Graduate Studies – and an extensive clinical health care system that includes Upstate University Hospital’s downtown and community campuses and the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital (pictured). Part of the State University of New York, Upstate is Onondaga County’s largest employer.
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f ever you have wondered, “What is Upstate?” our collection of nostalgia starting on page 11 (and on the back cover) will go a long way toward answering that question. The academic medical center in Syracuse has a rich and interesting history that continues to influence our mission today. We train doctors and nurses and other health professionals, and we also provide vital medical care and conduct a variety of research endeavors.
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Our campuses house some of the most respected experts in the Central New York region – and starting with this issue, Upstate Health is tapping their knowledge to answer your questions. We aren’t giving personal medical advice. For that, you’ll need an appointment. (Call 1-800-464-8668 for referrals.) Instead, our health care providers and scientists will field general questions, such as those on page 7: Does blood type change after a stem cell transplant?
in to “HealthLink on Air,” Upstate’s weekly radio talk show, from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays on WRVO Public Media, part of National Public Radio. Enjoy your Health, brought to you by Upstate.
Need a referral or more information?
For appointments or referrals to the health care providers on these pages, or for questions about health topics, contact Upstate Connect at 315-464-8668 or 1-800-464-8668, day or night.
Between issues of Upstate Health, stay in touch with us on Facebook or by subscribing to the “What’s Up at Upstate” blog at www.upstate.edu/whatsup. You can also tune
Health
Summer 2013
PUBLISHER Wanda Thompson PhD Senior Vice President for Operations
Contents
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Leah Caldwell Interim Director, Marketing & University Communications
PATIENTS FIRST
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF WRITERS
Amber Smith
Amber Smith, Jeff Kramer, Jim McKeever
DESIGNER
Susan Keeter
PHOTOGRAPHY Susan Kahn (cover, pages 4, 5, 6, 14, 15, 18, 19) Robert Mescavage (pages 2, 10, 13, 21) William Mueller (pages 6, 12, 13, 14, 20) Medical Photography (page 9, 11) Susan Keeter (pages 11, 12, 13, 16) Amber Smith (page 11) Associated Press (page 16) Chuck Wainright (page 17) Bob Shea (page 22) Wendy Kates (page 23) ILLUSTRATIONS Dan Cameron (pgs. 23) Randy Glasbergen (pg. 3) For more information, visit us online at www.upstate.edu or phone us at 315-464-4836. For corrections, suggestions and submissions, contact Amber Smith at 315-464-4822 or smithamb@upstate.edu ADDITIONAL COPIES: 315-464-4836. Upstate Health offices are located at 250 Harrison St., Syracuse, NY 13202
FOR OUR COMMUNITY
*cover story
Read about Central New Yorkers who survived stroke, open heart surgery,* and a brain tumor pages 4-6
FROM OUR EXPERTS New feature, ‘Upstate Answers’ fields questions from readers
page 7
Supporting transgendered children
page 8
Should patients get lab results before their doctors do?
page 9
Living a life of peace
page 15
Hurricane help
page 16
Volunteering
page 17
ON THE JOB Walking is good medicine
page 18
IN OUR LEISURE
page 10
Enthusiastic about Zumba
page 19
Baking tilapia
page 20
How a librarian lost 110 pounds page 21
IN THE KNOW A glimpse of Upstate in 14 objects
Upstate Connect operators are always on call
Why we love photography
page 22
page 11
ON THE COVER: UPSTATE NURSES MEGAN HAVENER RN AND HER MOTHER, DEBORAH HAVENER RN, SHARE THEIR STORY ON PAGE 5. PHOTO BY SUSAN KAHN
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PATIENTS FIRST
Therapy targets severe asthma any people with asthma rely on inhaled medications and avoidance of allergens to keep their disease under control. But some have severe, persistent asthma. Medicine is ineffective. They end up in the hospital frequently and miss lots of school or work.
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Now these patients have another option: a procedure offered at Upstate called bronchial thermoplasty, the first non-drug therapy for asthma approved by the Food and Drug Administration. In an asthma attack, the smooth muscle that surrounds the bronchial tubes constricts, causing wheezing and shortness of breath. Thermoplasty – completed in a series of three steps – damages the muscles surrounding the bronchial tubes so that they lose their ability to narrow the airway, says Robert Lenox, MD, division chief of pulmonary/critical care. “The procedure is new, but it’s presumed the effect may last a lifetime,” he says. To learn more, contact Upstate’s Pulmonary Clinic at 315-464-3835 or 315-492-5804.
Listen to this interview at upstate.edu/ healthlinkonair by searching for “asthma.”
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Upstate student —and stroke survivor — Kristin Tanyag (in t-shirt) with her graduating class.
Stricken by stroke at age 24 MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIST MAKES ‘AMAZING PROGRESS’ BY JIM MCKEEVER
tudents in Upstate’s Medical Technology Class of 2013 knew where they were headed as soon as Commencement ended May 19.
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One of their own, graduating senior Kristin Tanyag, missed the ceremony because she was in Upstate University Hospital recovering from a stroke. “We felt bad,” Matthew Jackson recalls. “She deserved to be there.” So her classmates showed up at the hospital, still in caps and gowns. Tanyag, 24, had completed all of her academic requirements, with a grade point average of 3.95. But 10 days before graduation, she couldn’t shake a headache. When she woke up the next morning, her right arm began to go numb. Tests at Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown revealed a blood clot in the frontal lobe of her brain, and she was transferred to Upstate, a designated stroke center. Tanyag’s parents flew in from California, as they had planned for graduation, but spent several anxious days with her in the hospital. “We were shocked that this could happen at such a young age,” says her father, Henry Tanyag. “But she’s strong. Her
summer 2013
speech has improved, and she has a strong handshake.” No surgery was required. A regimen of medication and several hours a day of therapy has paid dividends. “I notice slight improvements Tanyag in the lab every day,” Tanyag says. Shernaz Hurlong, DO, Tanyag’s primary physician in the Inpatient Rehabilitation Center, says, “Kristin is very diligent and determined in her recovery. She made amazing progress every day and focused on the functional gains; she stayed positive and worked hard with intensive daily therapy to make progress.” Classmate Bryan Rudy describes her as “one of the most determined people you’ll ever meet. She works hard and never gives up.” Tanyag was discharged May 23 and is back home with her husband. She plans to take the national certification exam that would qualify her to work as a medical technologist — just like the rest of her classmates. ●
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PATIENTS FIRST
Trading bunny slippers for nurse’s shoes CHILDHOOD SURGERY INSPIRES MEGAN — AND HER MOM — TO FIND CAREERS IN NURSING BY AMBER SMITH
urse Megan Havener of Canastota was born with a heart defect that required surgery at age 4. Her chest still bears the 6-inch scar from the operation she underwent June 16, 1989 at Upstate University Hospital.
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She has memories of the play room, her fuzzy bunny slippers, and the times her blood was drawn. Her best memories are of a nurse named Kate. “She’s the reason I became a nurse. She was my guardian angel when my parents weren’t there,” says Havener. “She gave me a teddy bear necklace that I still have. It’s in my jewelry box. “Growing up, I wanted to be just like her.” Today, she is. Havener and her mother attended Mohawk Valley Community College together. They graduated from the nursing program last year and took the state licensing exam for registered nurses the same day. Both have worked at
Upstate University Hospital for eight years. Deborah Havener began as a licensed practical nurse and now works in rehabilitation at the Community Campus. Megan Havener began as a health care tech- Megan, 5, a year after lifesaving nician and now works in the Pediatric Intensive Care heart surgery unit, caring for some of the sickest children at Upstate. One of the physicians with whom she collaborates is Frank Smith, MD, the pediatric cardiologist who took care of her when she was a child. On occasion she will share her story with families facing similar diagnoses, although the surgeries today leave scars that are tiny by comparison. She believes her experience as a patient gives her valuable perspective as a nurse. And, she prefers covering the night shift, instead of days. The pace is slower, which affords her more time to interact with patients. “I like the fact that it’s not constantly busy, and you have a chance to make those memories.” ●
Lessons FROM UPSTATE
USE CAUTION WITH ACETAMINOPHEN
Acetaminophen is known as a safe and effective pain reliever and fever reducer. You may recognize it as Anacin or Tylenol, but acetaminophen also shows up in prescription and over-the-counter medications that may not list acetaminophen, Anacin or Tylenol in the name. “Despite its safety when used properly, acetaminophen is a common overdose reported to poison centers,” clinical toxicologist Alexander Garrard* writes in Critical Care Clinics. Acetaminophen toxicity can damage kidneys and is the most common cause of acute liver failure in the U.S. Toxicity can be the consequence of acute overdose, or of repeated excessive dosing – which can happen unintentionally if several medications containing acetaminophen are taken. Overdose symptoms may begin vaguely, with nausea, malaise and vomiting, and develop into pain and tenderness in the upper right area of the abdomen. How to protect yourself? Read ingredient labels and dosing instructions, and talk with your pharmacist.
*Garrard recently departed Upstate to join the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta
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PATIENTS FIRST
BY THE NUMBERS
Transformed by a tumor
100 P MORE THAN
A THERAPIST SHARES HIS ROUTE TO A MEANINGFUL LIFE BY AMBER SMITH
languages spoken by Upstate University Hospital patients and loved ones who made use of interpreters in person, by phone or video to communicate with healthcare providers in 2012.
aul Dunning was a sick and frightened patient when he came to Upstate University Hospital because of seizures in 1986. Doctors found a brain tumor and told him he might only live 6 months. Today when he comes to the hospital, Dunning, 47, of Syracuse wears an identification badge and reports to the rehabilitation unit where he works as a recreation therapist. Dunning has been a hospital employee for 17 years. Before that, he was a student interning in recreation therapy. Before that, he volunteered. But first, he was a patient.
Geri Hall NP with a patient
8,000+
babies Dr. Richard Aubry estimates delivering during his 50-year career at Upstate, where he was medical director of the Center for Maternal and Child Health before retiring this year.
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personalized fabric squares contained in each of the 45 quilts made by the Towpath Quilt Guild for children with cystic fibrosis treated at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital. Patients and families decorated the quilt squares through a Child Life program.
He was 20 when his brain tumor was located. “At the time, I just had my immediate family. That was a lot for my parents to deal with. Now, as a parent, I can’t imagine what they had to go through.” Prior to the surgery, the surgeon gave three possible explanations for the tumor, the least likely being cancer. “I still remember waking up in recovery like it was yesterday,” Dunning recalls. His eyes remained taped. “Paul?” the doctor queried. “It was cancer, wasn’t it?” Dunning responded. “I’m so sorry.” Dunning was ready for the fight. Radioactive “seeds” were planted in the tumor area. He also underwent external radiation therapy and multiple surgeries. He never
uses the word “cure,” but Dunning today considers himself a cancer survivor. He is even grateful for the cancer: He met Jennifer on his last day of outpatient therapy at Upstate. She was in her first week of training as a physical therapy student. Now they are married with four children, ages 6 to 15. As his therapy progressed and he got better, Dunning began volunteering on the rehabilitation and the pediatric hematology-oncology units. “I wanted to give back to the hospital and the people who gave me back my life,” he says. Once his health stabilized, he realized he no longer wanted to pursue a degree in accounting. Instead, he enrolled at Onondaga Community College for a two-year degree in leisure and recreation studies, started working, and then attended SUNY Cortland to graduate with a four-year degree. He completed an internship at Upstate and was hired when a recreation therapy position opened. Dunning has a visible scar on his head. He wears a brace on his right leg for support due to foot drop. To rehabilitation patients, his physical scars and weakness provide a comfort level that allows for conversation. He readily shares his challenges, and the triumphs, the way he had a bicycle adapted so he could ride with his wife, the way he hikes with his son. Dunning’s physical deficits have not hampered his work as a recreation therapist. On the contrary, he says. “I think that’s why I’m here.” ●
To stimulate short-term memory, Paul Dunning, right, plays chess with Merrill Cline, 49, in Upstate’s rehabilitation unit. Two weeks earlier, Cline was airlifted from Oneonta to the Upstate Stroke Center after dizziness and headache proved to be a stroke.
Madison Green with her quilt
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FROM OUR EXPERTS
UPSTATE
“
answers
Sometimes just as I am waking up, I suddenly cannot move my body, and it’s a dreadful sensation. What is happening?
—YUDY KUSH, BALDWINSVILLE
This is known as sleep paralysis, a relatively rare event. The individual wakes up, generally in the third part of the night, with a sense of being unable to move, of being unable to talk or shout or ask for help, and it’s very frightening because they are totally paralyzed and unable to do anything but wait it out. It lasts 1 or 2 minutes, and then it disappears.
“Sleep paralysis is a remnant of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, the time of the night when we dream. During REM sleep, we develop paralysis of all the muscles of the body, except the eyes and the diaphragm so that we can continue breathing. If the individual wakes up during that particular time, they have this experience of not being able to move while awake.
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“We have medications that can be prescribed if sleep paralysis is especially troublesome.
—ANTONIO CULEBRAS, MD, NEUROLOGIST AND CONSULTANT FOR THE SLEEP CENTER
If a doctor wants you to take a prophylactic antibiotic before a medical procedure and determines you are resistant to a certain antibiotic, will you always be resistant to that antibiotic?
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—BRIAN DEJOSEPH, SYRACUSE
Resistance — or ‘being resistant’ in the context of antibiotics — implies resistance that develops in microbes, not humans. Any antibiotic use can create resistance in microbes. There are at least 10 times as many bacteria as human cells in the body. This is called the human microbiome, and is currently under study. We do not know how long organisms (resistant or other) stay in the body and the environment.
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After someone receives a stem cell donation, does his or her blood type change, like from O positive to A negative? – KIMBERLEE GARVER, MANLIUS
Blood type will not change if the stem cell transplant comes from your own stem cells (autologous transplant). If the stem cells come from a donor (allogenic) and the donor’s blood type is different, your blood type will change to that of the donor. It takes about three months. The same goes for histocompatibility antigens (HLA), which are proteins on your cells that your immune system uses to recognize which cells belong in the body and which do not. Your HLA antigens will also change to the donor’s HLA type.
“So the short answer is, if the antibiotic is used for a limited time (such as the day of surgery) the chance of developing resistant microorganisms is much less than from prolonged use. The need of prophylactic antibiotic and the benefits usually outweigh the limited risk of resistance.
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—ROBERT CORONA, DO, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR OF PATHOLOGY
—WALEED JAVAID, MD, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE SPECIALIZING IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Have you got a question for Upstate Answers? Send it to whatsup@upstate.edu summer 2013
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FROM OUR EXPERTS
For Caregivers – from Caregivers
Accepting and supporting a child with gender dysphoria ransgender children who identify with the gender opposite of the one with which they were born face additional challenges as they enter adolescence.
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“Kids say they’ve known for a long time that something’s not right. However, they often can’t put it into words until they’re older,” says Irene Sills, MD, a pediatrician at Upstate specializing in endocrinology. Sills cares for children and adolescents with gender identity issues. The medical term is gender dysphoria, and the cause is unknown. “These kids sometimes are troubled because they don’t know where they fit in. Some see suicide as the only solution,” Sills says. “The good news is that with greater recognition, they’re getting medical and psychological care earlier and becoming happier, better-adjusted adults.” Treatment may include counseling, hormonal therapy and surgery. Hormone blockers that block puberty in the “wrong gender” give children time to consider whether they are truly transgender, with the help of a mental health professional. Trans hormones are used to help the child through puberty and into the “right gender,” but only after a long mental health assessment and confirmed diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Many children in treatment don’t think of themselves as transgendered, Sills explains, “they think ‘Now I’m finally right.’”
How can family and friends be supportive? Two parents whose male teens are transitioning into females share their experiences and advice:
A Binghamton father thought his son might be gay— at 14, he was enamored with My Little Pony, collectible toys aimed at girls. So he asked him. “I’m not gay,” came his son’s reply. “I’m transsexual.” The parents didn’t know what that meant. They quickly learned – and learned that their church was in opposition. “It took us three months to come to grips with this,” he says. “It was tough. We talked, just between us, and for us, it came down to love.” They learned that their child wasn’t going through a phase, or being impulsive or rebellious. They began treatment and agreed on a female name. They spoke to school administrators for accommodation: their child uses the bathroom in the nurse’s office and will start classes as a female student in the fall. They removed photos from their home in which their child appears boyish and made plans to replace them with more current images.
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Focus on what will help the child. Find an experienced medical provider. Help the child appear as the gender with which he or she identifies. Realize educating yourself about transgender may take time. A book to consider: “The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals” by Stephanie A. Brill and Rachel Pepper. A support service: The Q Center in Syracuse, a service of AIDS Community Resources, 800-475-2430.
The father regrets that he and his wife didn’t know sooner. Hormone treatment is best begun before puberty is underway. Also, he is sad that the child’s older sister has refused to acknowledge this change while the younger sister is fine with it. Today the father refers to his child as ‘she’ and readily takes her shopping for dresses. “That helps her feel good about herself – that she’s being looked at as the sex that she feels.”
The courage to speak out
A Syracuse mother says her 16-year-old son approached her a year ago to tell her he was transsexual. “It takes an awful lot of courage to say something,” she says. Her mind raced after the child’s announcement. She thought about how to help her child, how to help her child get through it, and about the future. “Then you realize nothing matters but ‘what can I do to help my child feel better?’ There’s nothing to think about. You just do it.” She worried whether her child – who still needed reminders to put homework in the backpack – was mature enough to understand gender identification and make such a life-altering decision. After all, “that is a more powerful decision to make than most people make in 90 years.” As they shared the news, people would inevitably ask some version of “Does he realize how cruel people can be?” The mother was quick in her response. “That’s irrelevant,” she’d say. “She can’t be what she’s not. If people are mean, it’s better to be happy on the inside and feel like yourself.” Her child will start the new school year as a female. Yes, that creates stress, but the mother says, “I think it’s more stressful to pretend that you’re a boy when you’re a girl inside.” Regarding transgendered teens she adds, “There’s no sense in delaying what they need. They have to be able to show their truth on the outside.” She says since that first conversation, and since the family has begun using feminine pronouns, “I see a more relaxed kid, more at ease with life.” The mother doesn’t have all the answers, but she has one guiding principle: “You just have to love your kid.” ●
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FROM OUR EXPERTS
Q A
Should patients get lab results before their doctors do? new federal law proposes that individuals be able to access their lab results before their physician has the information. Right now, at least seven states allow direct access to patients. If passed, the law would force changes to processes and policies, says Robert Corona, DO, who chairs Upstate’s Department of Pathology.
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Q A Q A
What would be included?
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What’s the impetus for this?
“There is interest in having patients have more accountability for their care.
“Sometimes when a physician gets 20 or 30 laboratory values a day in their office, it is easy for things to slip through the cracks. There have been biopsies results and abnormal lab values that never make it to the doctors for review. People have had their care delayed because they didn’t get the results. There is a lot of information to manage, and if patients are empowered to help themselves, the thought is this will improve care and outcomes.”
Q A
WITH
DR. ROBERT CORONA
Is it a good idea?
“It’s troublesome to think that all laboratory data would be released and that patients are going to be left to interpret those data for themselves. I think we need to look at each individual lab test and what it might mean and how a patient might react.
“Lab results are just one component of diagnosing a disease. Without perspective, lab values can end up being misleading. “For instance, let’s say there is a complex test that for the most part points to a benign diagnosis. The pathologist would share insight with the primary care doctor so he/she keeps a close watch on the patient over time. There may be no need to create anxiety for the patient, as the interpretation is complex and best left to the primary care doctor who is objective and has perspective. “There’s a lot to be said for a primary care physician knowing the whole patient. We in the lab are just getting a little snippet of data.”
“Anything that involves tissue or body fluids.”
What role will laboratories play?
“The laboratories are going to have to work together with the clinical physicians. When the data’s released to the patient, if this law goes into play, the labs need to contact the physicians and let them know, ‘your patient has now been informed that they had a breast biopsy that has a borderline cancer diagnosis, and here are the options for communication.’ The laboratory will have to help educate the patients, as well. “I think a pathologist may give an interesting perspective to the patient. Say somebody has a breast biopsy. We can sit down with them and say, ‘You need to go over what the therapy’s going to be with your physician, but here is a picture of your biopsy, and you can see that all of the cancer has been removed. You can see the margin of where the surgeon cut, and there’s no cancer at the margin.’ I think that will be very powerful, that image that the cancer’s out of the body. “Pathologists already work closely with clinical physicians to help them understand the meaning of some of the tests. And there are so many new tests in the world of molecular genetics, cancer diagnostics, infectious diseases. It can get very, very confusing.” ●
Robert Corona Jr., DO, is professor and chair of Pathology at Upstate. Listen to an interview on this topic at upstate.edu/healthlinkonair by searching “lab.”
WHAT ACTION IS APPROPRIATE IF THE MENTALLY ILL MAKE THREATS?
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he perception may be that people with mental illness are to blame for society’s violence, but psychiatrist James Knoll IV, MD says that is not reality. “If you look at all the violence committed in society, and how much is done by the mentally ill, it is a sliver of a fraction.” Even so, if someone who sees a psychiatrist regularly makes a threat during a session, does the therapist have a duty to alert law enforcement? Not in New York State, Knoll says, adding, “There is a mental hygiene law that gives therapists the authority to warn, which is different than a duty.” In any case, to be taken seriously, threats must be specific, credible and realistic — and lodged against an identifiable third party.
THE UPSTATE
Ethicist
Knoll advises psychiatrists and other therapists to thoroughly document their decision and reasoning if a patient makes a threat. Among the options: warn the police, warn the third party, increase the frequency of outpatient visits or escort the patient to the emergency room for an evaluation and possible hospitalization. To be committed, patients must be mentally ill and dangerous. “It has to be mental illness that causes someone to be a danger to themselves or others. That causal link is crucial,” Knoll says. “If they’re just dangerous, or just mentally ill, that’s not enough.”
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FROM OUR EXPERTS
Strategies for a healthy, peaceful life BY KAUSHAL B. NANAVATI MD
iving a healthy, peaceful life is a decision we make. No matter the challenges we each face, we can choose a life of peace, or a life of misery. Our decision won’t necessarily make the challenges go away, but it will influence how we weather each storm. I have chosen a life of peace, and I find these four pillars of health to be important components of that life:
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Nutrition
Stress management
· Eat seven to nine servings of vegetables daily.
· Sleep for 7 to 9 hours each night.
· Eat one to two servings of fruit daily — (no more than one serving for people with diabetes, early in the day, or split into two half servings). Choose fruit over fruit juice so that you ingest insoluble fiber to aid in digestion.
· Recognize that stress is caused by one of two things: things you can do something about, and things you cannot control. Do the following exercise:
· Include at least 10 grams of protein with each meal, with beans and legumes as the primary source. · Do not eat bread, rice, potatoes, pasta or cheese after lunchtime. · Limit red meat consumption. If you eat meat, emphasize fish, turkey or chicken, and add it to your plate only after it is loaded with vegetables, grains and beans. · Avoid processed meats (cold cuts, bacon, sausage, ham.) · Make whole grains (including oats, barley and quinoa) a part of your diet. · Walnuts and almonds are better for your cholesterol than cashews or peanuts. · Get your dairy primarily from yogurt or buttermilk. · Drink water.
· On a sheet of paper, make a list of all the things that create stress, tension, worry, anxiety or concern. · On a second sheet of paper, create two columns. Label the first “stressors I can do something about” and the second “stressors I cannot control.” · Look at the list you made and sort each item into its proper column. · The stressors you cannot control (for example, what other people say or do) will remain on the list until someone else takes care of them. · The stressors you can do something about are truly yours to deal with. Take one at a time and make a written action plan for resolution. When it is done, cross it off your list. This act of physically crossing it off will give you a sense of control over your stressors.
Physical exercise
Spiritual wellness
· Get 30 to 60 minutes of exercise on most days. Choose an activity or activities you enjoy and can do regularly.
· The achievement of peace can mean different things to different people. You have to figure out what peace means to you. Once you define peace, make a plan to get to that place in your life where you have a sense of peace. Then comes the important but tricky part: Don’t let anyone get you out of this place. There may need to be some give-and-take, so determine what is important and what is not so important to you.
· Walk at a brisk pace, or get a pedometer. Walk 10,000 steps a day to maintain your weight, or 12,000 to 14,000 steps a day to lose weight. · Working out first thing when you wake up, before you eat, will help your body burn more fat than at other times of the day. · Lift weights before, rather than after, you do a cardiovascular workout, and explore “interval” training for your cardio portion in order to burn more calories and increase your metabolism. · Stretch muscles before a workout as well as after, to help prevent injury. Ingest 10 to 25 grams of protein within a half hour of working out, to help with muscle recovery. · Consider Tai Chi, one of the most complete forms of mind-, body- and spirit-strengthening and balancing exercises.
· Some people meditate daily. Others use 10 to 15 minutes of deep, slow abdominal breathing to clear their heads. Such breathing can reduce anxiety, avert anxiety attacks, reduce blood pressure and increase focus and concentration. You breathe in through the nose for a count of five or 10, and then out through the mouth. When you inhale, your shoulders should not rise, but your abdomen should push out. When you exhale, the abdomen sucks back in.
Kaushal Nanavati, MD is an assistant professor of family medicine at Upstate. Listen to this interview at upstate.edu/ healthlinkonair by searching for “wellness”
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IN THE KNOW
What is Upstate? T he modern day Upstate Medical University campus pays homage to history with an eloquent, bronzed lobby dedication “to all those of scientific mind and investigative spirit who purpose to serve humanity.” The academic medical center at the heart of Syracuse has roots and a mission dating back almost two centuries, to the inception of Geneva Medical College in 1834. Over the decades, Upstate’s mission has evolved to include not just education but research, patient care and community service. Where nostalgic words begin a story, artifacts help convey its narrative. We’ve curated a few objects that help define Upstate. The Syracuse Knee Upstate laboratories contain researchers chipping away toward solutions for cancer and multiple sclerosis and many other diseases, but one of the highest profile contributions came from David Murray, MD. He designed, developed and patented the variable-axis knee prosthesis in the 1980s, and for many years his prosthesis was referred to as the “Syracuse knee.” It laid the groundwork for the replacement knees in use today.
Weiskotten chandelier The chandelier hanging in the lobby of Weiskotten Hall is made of goldplating and nickel-plated brass. It is not particularly fancy, but its understated elegance is as solid and enduring as the academic medical center it shines above.
Donated shoes First-year medical students volunteering at Syracuse’s Rescue Mission created “Helping Hands for Forgotten Feet,” just one way in which students, faculty and staff members care for the disenfranchised. This community service project includes shoe drives, monthly foot care clinics and ongoing foot care education for the homeless.
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IN THE KNOW
A glimpse of Upst
Nurse’s cap One of the earliest nursing schools in Syracuse was affiliated with Syracuse General Hospital. As was standard practice at many nursing schools, the female students participated in a capping ceremony at the start of hospital training, donning the cap of their school, the size and style of which varied considerably. During the 1960s when nurse’s caps began losing favor and more men sought careers in nursing, Syracuse General Hospital merged with Community Hospital. The resulting Community General Hospital became part of Upstate in 2011. Today nursing students at Upstate work toward bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees, and they participate in a white coat ceremony as they begin their studies in the College of Nursing.
Cash register From its original location in the bookstore in what is now called Weiskotten Hall, this cash register transacted the purchase of every textbook – back when the quintessential “Gray’s Anatomy” sold for $9. The book sells for $209 in today’s bookstore in the Campus Activities Building. Such a colossal register speaks of a simpler era, though the education over which it presided is as valuable in 2013 as it was in the late 1940s. Today, Upstate boasts of training a higher percentage of New York residents than any other allopathic medical school in the state.
Mercer microscope The historical collection in Upstate’s Health Sciences Library contains medical texts from the 1600s written in Latin, knives that were used for one of the oldest medical techniques — bloodletting — and early microscopes, including this one that belonged to Alfred Mercer in 1845 and is believed to be the first microscope used in Syracuse. Look just a few hundred yards across campus for the modern juxtaposition: digital references on iPads, robotic devices from the operating rooms, and the advanced tools surgeons use to remove tumors and repair blocked blood vessels without large incisions.
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Chunk of quartz Quartz is, literally, part of the foundation of Upstate. A large vein of quartz, one of the most abundant minerals of the Earth’s crust, runs beneath Upstate University Hospital in downtown Syracuse. This beautiful diamond-like chunk, loosened during a dig to install a cooling system a decade ago, symbolizes the abundance of good that occurs at this location and may not always be visible to the outer community.
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tate in 14 objects Lemon Upstate’s founding father, Edward Cutbush, MD, a Navy veteran and the first dean of Geneva Medical College, advanced the scientific understanding of epidemics. He contributed to public health and preventive medicine decades before the existence of master’s degrees in public health and board certifications in preventive medicine. He was the first American to use lemon juice to prevent scurvy and was among the first group of physicians to promote vaccination (against smallpox in 1803.) Public health remains a vital part of Upstate’s existence, through education and research as well as patient care.
Leaves from the Memory Tree Signed baseball Even — perhaps especially — in highstress environments, America’s pastime is really about team building. Medical faculty sailed for England in January 1943 to help establish the 52nd General Hospital in Worcestershire during World War II. They also fielded a baseball team.
Some people, despite the best efforts of medical staff, don’t go home from the hospital. Families of patients and staff from Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital collaborated on what became the Memory Tree. Engraved “leaves” honor children whose lives were cut short and remind us of the preciousness of life.
Iron lung Our evolution in the understanding of contagious diseases – and tact — is demonstrated by this machine known as an iron lung, which was restored in recent years as a respiratory therapy class project. These precursors of the modern-day ventilator were used to treat polio patients in Syracuse’s City Hospital for Communicable Diseases, built in the 1920s to replace a structure off of Teall Avenue that was called, simply and awkwardly, the “Pest House.” That name was retired, and City Hospital remained the primary facility for Central New Yorkers with infectious diseases through the 1960s. Today, the old City Hospital is called A.C. Silverman Hall, and it houses Upstate’s College of Health Professions, which trains respiratory therapists.
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A glimpse, continued... Medical cloak The spirit of Upstate contains some trailblazing, which dates back to 1849 when medical students attended Geneva Medical College alongside Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to gradate medical school in the United States. Balanced with the pioneer spirit is conformity, which also goes back generations. While doctors of yester year donned cloaks — (this one is from the estate of Clara Hale Gregory, a woman who entered Syracuse University Medical College with three other women in 1913) — doctors at Upstate, and elsewhere, typically wear white coats today. Upstate’s medical school was housed at Geneva and SU before becoming part of State University of New York in 1950.
Collection of heart paintings Just as patients are more than humans wearing hospital gowns, the paintings that hang in Upstate’s Heart and Vascular Center are more than valuable works of art. The 22 paintings of hearts have a timelessness about them, but the staff chose the artwork for the walls because of their story. The artist, Ludwig Stein, a Syracuse University professor, painted a heart for his wife, Nancy each year for Valentine’s Day. After she passed away in 2000, Stein donated the collection to Upstate in honor of Dr. Charles Hodge, MD, who introduced the couple to one another.
Cadaver Memorial Service Upstate students organize the annual Cadaver Memorial Service to show gratitude to families for the donations of loved ones’ bodies, which are crucial components in the teaching of human anatomy. The solemn event (which this year included the unveiling of this painted mural) demonstrates the compassion and dignity that generations of Upstate doctors exemplify.
This article was assembled with assistance from associate professor of microbiology and immunology David Beach, PhD; associate librarian James Capodagli; physical plant administrator Doug Joseph; retired curator of historical collections Eric vd Luft, PhD; and emeriti faculty members Maxwell Mozell, PhD and William Williams, MD.
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FOR OUR COMMUNITY
Always on call: Upstate connects with doctors, patients, community days, nights, weekends BY JEFF KRAMER
ot a question about your sick child, but it’s after hours? Just got home from a surgical consult, and you have questions? Dealing with an embarrassing medical matter you’d rather not share with your primary care doc?
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The to-do list is long and getting longer. Among the center’s myriad tasks: providing medical referrals to the public, which means maintaining updated physician profiles for a vast swath of New York state —- whether they’re affiliated with Upstate or not. That’s a lot of expertise to track.
Who you gonna call?
“We service an 18-county area,” says MD Direct manager Kari Fitzgerald “It’s a lot. Physicians move around. They’re all over the area. It’s a big job.”
For tens of thousands of Central New Yorkers, it’s the Upstate Connect call center — and the call is free. Averaging a staggering 125,000 calls per month — the archive contains 7 million recorded calls — the center functions as a region-wide medical switchboard serving residents, physicians, Upstate patients, first-responders and others. It’s located on the sixth floor of a downtown office building. Nothing in the ho-hum arrangement of work stations and tap-tapping of computer keys hints at the scope and drama of the center’s mission. If a patient at Upstate suffers a stroke or goes into cardiac arrest, it’s the call center that gets alerted first and must dispatch the appropriate medical team to the right room. The center also is responsible for arranging transfers of roughly 200 patients per week to Upstate. Most of those patients have urgent medical needs, and many arrive from smaller hospitals where specialized care is becoming increasingly scarce.
Among the Upstate Connect staff are Nimer Shehadeh, call center representative, Kari Fitzgerald, MD Direct manager, and Jewel Hunter, call center manager
The toll-free Upstate Connect number is 800-464-8668. Registered nurses staff the center 24/7. In the event of a serious threat to public health such as a flu pandemic or an anthrax scare, the call center is part of the New York State Hospital Emergency Response Delivery System, which involves relevant agencies to establish a “help line” for the public. There’s also a translation function. If someone comes to the Emergency Department who only speaks, say, Burmese, Upstate Connect finds a translator and sees that he or she arrives at the hospital. Not every call is life and death, although sometimes callers don’t know that. It’s not unusual for the center to field inquiries from desperate students needing help with research papers. Sometimes things get flat-out weird. Once the center received an apparently sincere call from an individual requesting step-by-step instructions on how to deploy a common contraceptive device. All in a day’s work for the 48-member Upstate Connect team, the medical switchboard for Central New York and beyond. ●
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FOR OUR COMMUNITY
First response after Hurricane Sandy: ‘I have to do what I can to help’ BY AMBER SMITH
fter Hurricane Sandy hit New York and New Jersey last fall, Tim Kelly, 30, of North Syracuse knew he wanted to do something to help. He had friends living in that region, and the news footage of the devastation quickly spurred him into action.
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“So in a little over a week, we were able to fill a truck completely without much more than social media and talking with some friends.”
“It’s part of human nature to help others when they need it,” says Kelly, who works as Upstate’s trauma registrar and volunteers with North Area Volunteer Ambulance Corps. “When I see somebody who needs something, in my heart I feel I have to do what I can to help. It’s the way I was raised. If somebody is knocked down, help them back up.”
He found the Plains Volunteer Fire Department in Toms River, New Jersey to receive and distribute the goods, and he and a friend made a Tim Kelly is the registrar for Upstate one-day trip on Nov. 11. trauma services. They arrived to an area that was still largely without power, with many roads blocked, but the firefighters made them sit down for a meal before they headed back to Central New York. Later, the department sent a thank you note.
Kelly figured he would load supplies into his minivan and drive to a fire station near the affected area. He posted his plans on Facebook and asked: Is anyone willing to help? He was overwhelmed by the response. A 23-foot truck was donated, and he estimates some 50 people filled it with clothing, food, water, blankets, coats, toilet paper and other essentials.
“It was a small thing and took a little bit of our time,” Kelly says of his effort, “but it made a huge difference.” ●
S T R O K E S OCCUR IN THE BRAIN. BUT THERE SHOULD BE
N O IN
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WHERE TO TREAT THEM.
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This photo of volunteer Matthew Byrne with a young patient was displayed on Capitol Hill in June as part of the national Children’s Hospital Association Photo Exhibit. The purpose of the traveling exhibition is to “offer a look at the everyday heroes at children's hospitals.”
He wears a smile for his hospital shift atthew Byrne started volunteering at Upstate 17 years ago when the Child Life Program was in need of someone to read to hospitalized children.
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Byrne, a Syracuse lawyer who represents nonprofits, treasured reading time when his daughter was growing up. “The first thing I did when I held her was to read to her,” he recalls. As she aged, her bedtime routine included stories and songs with Dad. “We did that every night for more than 10 years.”
So when a volunteer spot opened up, he took it. He reads and sings songs with the children, plays games, makes art projects, helps with feeding and accompanies patients on walks. He’s flexible, offering whatever is needed. One little baby a few years ago just needed to be held. “He was really sick, and he just wanted to snuggle.” Byrne obliged. This picture of him loving the child, taken by photographer Chuck Wainwright, was selected for a traveling exhibition of photographs from children’s hospitals. It reminds Byrne of the joy he feels as a volunteer. ●
To learn about volunteer opportunities at Upstate University Hospital, call 315.464.5180 or visit www.upstate.edu/hospital.volunteers
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ON THE JOB
Nurse’s prescription? Walk, walk, walk... nn Hendrickson of Marathon obtained her master’s degree from Upstate in May and is now a clinical nurse specialist taking care of medical/surgical, geriatric and oncology patients. She has more than 20 years of experience in acute care, community nursing and home health care. The mobility protocol she devised for her capstone project is being implemented on several units throughout Upstate University Hospital. She explains:
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“I noticed that patients didn’t seem to be out walking in the hall, moving around as much as I remembered in the past. “In our hospital, in the Intensive Care Unit, where people go in and they’re very, very ill, we get them up out of bed as they heal. And on the post-surgical units, we are very good about getting patients up and walking. But on general medical floors, a mobility protocol was not being implemented. There just wasn’t one. “I started looking into some research and realized that especially older people can lose quite a bit of muscle strength by not getting out of bed and walking while they are in the hospital. It can contribute to them not going home but having to go to a nursing home. It can contribute to longer lengths of stay in the hospital and
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to losing function that they may or may not get back. “So I looked at several ways we might be able to help and developed this mobility protocol that is driven by the nurses. It encourages patients to get out of bed for each meal, to sit in a chair rather than in bed, and to get up and walk in the hall a minimum of 25 feet three times a day, which is basically between one door and the next and back. “Research shows that it does improve function and health.●
Interested in nursing? Upstate offers degree programs for registered nurses seeking bachelor’s and master’s degrees and doctorates. Hendrickson says the field offers many opportunities. “If you haven’t made up your mind what you want to do, nursing offers something for everyone,” she says. Learn more through the College of Nursing at www.upstate.edu/con or by calling 315-464-4570. Listen to this interview at upstate.edu/ healthlinkonair by searching for “walk”
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ZUMBA ESSENTIALS • dress in shorts, leggings or sweatpants, whatever makes you feel comfortable • wear shoes that allow you to twist (those with lots of tread may not work well) • bring a bottle of water • don’t worry about what you look like when you move • adjust your intensity depending on your health and fitness level
Off with the scrubs and on with the music ZUMBA APPEALS TO DANCERS, RELUCTANT EXERCISERS ALIKE ediatric nurse Alisa Hoff doesn’t make a lot of promises, but she has this to say about the popular Latin dance fitness classes she teaches: “Absolutely you are going to sweat, and you are going to have fun.”
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Hoff, who teaches hour-long Zumba two or three times a week at Dancing Kats in Mattydale, got hooked on Zumba when coworkers insisted she try it. Previously she did not follow a fitness routine. “I used to run, but I never stayed with it,” she says. “This is the first thing that I actually stayed with continually. It’s fun. It’s the results, and it’s the people you’re with that make it fun.”
She has seen herself and others lose both pounds and inches and increase muscle tone. She has also watched students build confidence. They start out at the back of the room and gradually take places on the front row. Most of the classes are filled with women, but some men enjoy Zumba, too. “The best thing about Zumba is, it doesn’t matter what you look like when you’re moving,” Hoff says. She tells her students, “I want to see a lot of smile and a little bit of sweat.” To anyone who hasn’t tried it, Hoff explains the simplicity of Zumba. “It’s just dancing your stress away. You’re guaranteed to feel better afterward.”●
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Chick Pea Muffins Ingredients
11 ounces canned garbanzo beans (chick peas), drained and rinsed 4 tablespoons 100 percent orange juice 1 tablespoon lemon juice ¼ cup canola blend oil 2 large eggs, separated 1 tablespoon fresh orange peel, finely grated 1 teaspoon lemon peel, grated 5½ ounces all purpose flour 6 ounces granulated sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder
Preparation 1. Rinse garbanzo beans in cold water. Place in a food processor with blended oil, lemon and orange juices. Process until smooth, about 4 minutes. 2. Prepare batter by separating egg whites and yolks. Combine garbanzo puree with egg yolks and lemon and orange zest. 3. Dry ingredients: Reserve 1 tablespoon of sugar, for whipping of egg white. Fold remaining sugar, flour and baking powder into bean batter. 4. Whip egg whites and 1 tablespoon sugar to medium peaks, using a mixer. Fold gently into prepared batter. 5. Spray a muffin tin with baking spray. Portion batter into muffin tins. o
6. Bake at 320 for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Nutritional information, per muffin
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208 calories 6 grams total fat 34 grams carbohydrates 2,862 grams sugars 30 milligrams cholesterol 5 grams protein 2 1/2 grams dietary fiber
U P S TAT E H E A LT H
Herb-topped baked tilapia
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f you’ve been promising yourself to eat healthier, here’s an easy way to add fish to your diet. The recipe serves four, and it’s designed to use frozen filets in order to obtain the desired golden brown, herb-topped crust.
Ingredients 4 frozen tilapia filets
for mustard sauce 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon light mayonnaise (double the sauce for extra zip)
Preparation
for herb topping 1 cup Panko-style bread crumbs 1 ½ teaspoons white wine 1 pinch table salt 1 pinch fresh thyme (dried may be substituted) 1 pinch fresh cilantro 1 pinch fresh grated lemon peel 1½ teaspoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped 2 teaspoons olive oil
1. Prepare mustard sauce by blending two ingredients in one bowl. In another bowl, prepare herb topping by combining all ingredients. 2. Brush each frozen fish fillet with a very thin layer of mustard sauce, about 1/2 teaspoon. Then top each fillet with 2 tablespoons of the herb topping. 3. Preheat oven to 375o. Lay fillets on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan and bake in oven for approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until fish is cooked through and internal temperature reaches 145o. The fillets should be golden brown on top. (Digital thermometers are available in grocery and kitchen supply stores.) 4. Serve on warm plates with favorite side dishes.
Nutritional information, per filet 220 calories 12 grams total fat
2 grams saturated fat 280 milligrams sodium
68 milligrams cholesterol
RECIPES FROM MORRISON HEALTHCARE, FOOD SERVICE PROVIDER FOR UPSTATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY.
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110 POUNDS LIGHTER
IN OUR LEISURE
Jason Meany teaches scuba diving and brokers dive trips through his company, Deep Stop Scuba.
Librarian explains her weight loss BY AMBER SMITH
year ago, Cristina Pope stepped on the scale and saw 249.7 pounds. Today the Director of the Health Sciences Library at Upstate weighs a healthy 140 pounds. Along with 110 pounds, she lost 80 inches of girth. The percent of her body fat improved from 40 to 22 percent.
about losing weight.
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Impulsively, she joined Gold’s Gym in June 2012 and started the Biggest Loser contest (which she went on to win – twice.) She started eating less, moving more and carefully watching her nutrition intake, not taking in more than 1,200 to 1,500 calories per day. Five or six weeks into the program —which includes weekly training sessions and daily workouts and nutrition advice — she shed 30 pounds.
She tracks everything she eats, and spends many hours exercising, lifting weights, swimming and running. “It’s not for a week or a year,” Pope says of her new lifestyle. “It’s forever.” She was pudgy as a child, but slender as a young adult when she had a job that allowed her to walk to work. She put on weight when she began commuting, married and had a family, with big sit-down meals every night and little in the way of exercise. Relatives nagged her for years about her weight. She saw therapists and nutritionists. Not until she leafed through a catalog of library furniture — and saw bariatric chairs for people weighing 500 to 600 pounds — did she become serious
How she does it
Since December she has kept her weight at about 140 pounds, and because she exercises so much, she now eats 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day. Pope says losing the weight has been gratifying. She gets chilly more easily without the insulation, but her joints don’t ache anymore, and she no longer avoids mirrors. She ran her first 5K in 27 minutes, 20 seconds. Toning and sculpting her abdomen will take another year of work, but Pope enjoys her time at the gym and the new friends she met there. ●
HERE’S A TYPICAL DAY FOR CRISTINA POPE: All day ● drinks 64 to 100 ounces of water, sometimes with lemon, throughout the day ● tracks exercise and food intake using My Fitness Pal, available for free on line or as an app ● weighs herself on a scale ● uses a Fit Bit to count her steps ● walks on a treadmill attached to her desk at about 2 mph, logging 5,000 to 10,000 steps per day if she is away for meetings; up to 40,000 if she is at her desk all day
Cristina before the weight loss
Breakfast ● makes her own cereal by blending shredded oats, toasted whole wheat O's, rolled oats, Kashi Go Lean and Grape Nuts. She scoops 1 cup of cereal, then sprinkles 1 tablespoon each of chia, flax and cocoa nibs, with 3 ounces of nonfat Greek yogurt instead of milk ● 4 ounces orange juice ● coffee ● and a multivitamin Morning workout ● swims laps for an hour four times a week ● works out with a trainer twice a week Mid-morning snack ● five shrimp and half an avocado ● or a homemade nutrition bar (100 grams each rolled oats, Medjool pitted dates, unsulfured apricots, dried goji berries and hazelnuts, 50 grams sunflower seeds, 1 tablespoon each cocoa powder and maca powder, 1 teaspoon each cinnamon, cloves and ginger, and about ¼ cup pure maple syrup.)
Lunch ● roasted root vegetables (Brussels sprouts, rutabaga, sweet peppers, squash, fennel, turnips, etc.) ● with 3 ounces of protein Afternoon snack ● crisp bread with almond butter and banana Pre-workout snack ● apple or orange Afternoon/evening exercise ● participates in a variety of cardiovascular exercise classes ● or takes yoga ● also completed Fleet Feet No Boundaries running program ● and takes tap dancing class at the Jewish Community Center Dinner ● Vegetables and 3 ounces of protein ● or a protein and fiber smoothie Midnight snack ● Almonds, Brazil or macadamia nuts
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A focused passion SURGICAL TECH, RESEARCHER SHARE THEIR LOVE OF PHOTOGRAPHY he ubiquity of cell phone cameras allows the capture of many more moments in time. That works fine for Instagram. But to get some photographs requires a little more than pointing and shooting. Meet two photographers from Upstate:
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PHOTOGRAPHER: Bob Shea of Camillus, a surgical technologist in the pediatric operating room. CAMERA: Canon 70 D, with a full series of lenses. START: “I started photography as a hobby in high school and fell in love with it. This was back in the day of film and darkroom. I was trained in the old ways. If you told me then that it would turn digital, I would have never believed it.” TODAY: “With the ease of digital photography, I have been able to start a small part-time photo business.” SUBJECTS: “Portrait and wedding photography. These are very special times in people’s lives. I not only feel privileged to capture this time of their lives, I also enjoy getting to know these people for a short time and giving them a product that they may view for many years to come.” ENJOYMENT: “One of my favorite aspects of photography is its artistic interpretation. I believe that a photo is moving and has all the correct elements of an artful photo, and the person standing next to me can think that it is not worth the paper that it is printed on. That's the beauty of art.” ADVICE: “The best way to get people to smile is to make them feel relaxed.” CHALLENGE: “One of the biggest issues with the computer age is an unrealistic alteration of the photograph. Overcorrection and digital alterations are some of the most common mistakes that a nonprofessional makes.” ON CELL PHONE CAMERAS: “They are increasing in their quality; however, their digital plate will continue to be on the small side. This will limit what you can do with the photo and print size. I only use a cell phone camera for casual photos or photos that I will use as a backdrop on my phone.”
calorieBURN The exact number of calories you burn is affected by your age, gender, body size and composition and level of physical fitness. Here’s an estimate of how many calories someone weighing 176 pounds would burn if he or she did the activity for an hour.
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Photographer Bob Shea enjoys capturing special times in people’s lives through portraits. He says the best portraits have great composition, great lighting and evoke great emotions.
Archery: 312 calories Sailing: 210 calories
Ballroom dancing: 492 calories
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Photographer Wendy Kates spends many weekend mornings at a pond near her home in Syracuse. “It’s a challenge, not only because birds flit and move so quickly,” she says, “but also because my hearing impairment puts me at a distinct disadvantage in localizing bird calls.” PHOTOGRAPHER: Wendy Kates of Syracuse, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. CAMERA: A Canon Digital Rebel, which is from Canon’s consumer line of single lens reflex cameras. START: “It coincided with the time in my life when I began to develop a progressive hearing impairment. I had worked as a clinical psychologist for many years, but in about 1992, I began to lose my hearing, and my hearing loss led me to refocus my career on research in neurodevelopment, using the analysis of MRI scans as my primary research method. Basically, I had to stop relying on my auditory and listening skills, and start relying more on my visual skills. And of course this affected my choice of leisure activities. I became much more interested in photography, which was the perfect adaptation to my hearing loss.” TODAY: “I haven’t been paid for my photography yet, but I’m still hoping. My main photo ‘job’ at this point is to produce a calendar of my photos each year, which I distribute to members of my family.”
SUBJECTS: “I am most drawn to nature photography. Even before I got started in photography, I have always cherished the sense of solitude, tranquility and peacefulness that I experience when I am hiking or camping. I try to evoke that quietude, as well as a sense of place, in my photographs.” ENJOYMENT: “I feel such a sense of accomplishment when I finally get a good shot.” ADVICE: “The best time to shoot landscapes is during the ‘golden hours,’ within two hours of sunrise or sunset.” CHALLENGE: “At first, I was shooting in jpeg, but eventually I realized that I would have much more flexibility if I shot in raw format. Shooting in raw format meant that I had a lot more control over exposure, and I had to read up on all the elements that go into exposure to make the correct choices.” ON CELL PHONE CAMERAS: “I love the convenience of taking photos on my husband’s iPhone, and I’m amazed at how good they come out.”
GOOD music Dan Cameron, an artist in marketing, listens to all types of music, so choosing a favorite album could be an undertaking. He quickly names the Beatles’ “White Album,” which he loved at age 4, partly due to his mother’s Beatle-mania. “Blackbird” was the first song he learned to sing.
FIVE ARTISTS TO TRY
“I cannot imagine a world without music,” Cameron says. Here’s what he’s listening to: ●
Miles Davis’ album, “In a Silent Way,” from the start of the musician’s electric period
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Indie rock band, Neutral Milk Hotel
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punk-blues singer/guitarist Jack White, whom Cameron calls “a true artist”
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English rock band, Genesis – but only when it included Peter Gabriel. “Anything after he left, no thanks”
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Leon Russell, whom he describes as “a poor man’s Jerry Garcia”
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750 East Adams Street l Syracuse, NY 13210
Documenting the creepy and crawly SCIENTIST PUT PARASITOLOGY ON THE MAP he best scientists are innovative and precise and leave a mark in their specific area of research. Starting in 1930 as an adjunct lecturer in the College of Medicine, Justus Mueller, PhD became the swashbuckling Indiana Jones-like explorer/artist who elevated the reputation of parasitology. He studied the life cycle of the tapeworm, which he isolated from a snake he found in Oneida Lake. His malarial life cycle illustration is still used in teaching, as are the tapeworm molds he created. Below is his drawing (color added) of toxoplasma gondii, the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis. For more images that tell the Upstate story, see pages 11-14.
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Justus Mueller, PhD in a rainforest near Juanjui, Peru, 1941.
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