CLOSE UP by Brian Rudnick

How would pro-life student regulate abortion?

A student who attends a Christian high school describes himself as "pro-life" and ponders how he would regulate abortion.

-----------------------------------------------------

 

I had off because I didn’t have a midterm test at school. I came in to work, 10:30 and after I’ll go sit down somewhere and study for the exam. WHAT’S THE EXAM ON? History, U. S. History. AND THIS IS AT..? Philmont Christian. AND WHAT ERA OF U.S. HISTORY DO YOU HAVE TO KNOW TODAY? It actually goes from the creation of the Constitution to modern day so we learn about cases and amendments, that stuff. DO YOU TALK ABOUT ROE V. WADE IN AMERICAN HISTORY CLASS? Yeah that’s one of the cases. WHAT DO YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT THAT DECISION? Which one is that, again? THE ROE V WADE RIGHT TO ABORTION DECISION? I’m definitely pro-life. I’m against abortion. A small percent of circumstances like rape and stuff like that obviously is really tough, a tough call but I think that even if someone isn’t born, the life is still important. HOW DO YOU BELIEVE THAT SHOULD BE REGULATED? It’s tough to say. I’m not sure, yeah, I’m not sure. Brett Steiger of Abington, Cedars Café, Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Watch video here.

Was near death, now teaches balance, Tai Chi and shenanigans

I am the only child or Roscoe and Virginia Pauline Warner… HOW DID YOU GET INTO PHYSICAL THERAPY? Football injury in high school. Then I went to Shepherd University played four years as starting center at Shepherd. So if I messed up, everybody knew it and the play was toast.  ARE YOU STILL ACTIVE ATHLETICALLY OR SPORTS-WISE? Keystone Senior Games. I did ten events. Shot-put, discus, hammer throw, foul shooting, badminton, tennis, swimming…. March first I will be seven decades. But I was getting all ready last summer and I just didn’t feel right. And in February my intestines blew. And so I went from playing tennis to emergency surgery. Eight days of induced coma. During the coma (I’m sure it was sometime there) I went, ‘God, are you sure you got the right guy?’ And he didn’t answer. And then he came back in and He says, ‘George, I will take you home some day but I got some things for you to do.’ ‘God, please tell me it’s a long list.’ During that time I felt no fear, anxiety and it’s true. I think they did shift work between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit- you know, around the clock. And the surgeons told my wife, ‘There’s no way he’s going to survive this’ because I had pneumonia, peritonitis …and it wasn’t to be my time. So since that time I teach a class once a week- balance, flexibility, isometrics, tai chi and shenanigans.  And I do it for free. CAN YOU SHOW US A SHENANIGAN?  Do you want my wife to really do me in? [To his wife] Young lady, do you know what a shenanigan is? George Warner of Hershey, PA spending New Year’s in Carlisle, PA.

Watch video interview here.

 

 

Med student preps for exam

Divya Arun, of Roxborough, a 3rd year medical student at Drexel University, studies the clinical manifestations of diseases at Chestnut Hill Coffee cafe in preparation for an oral exam.

I SEE YOU HAVE EVERYTHING SET UP HERE, YOUR DRINKS YOUR BANANA, YOUR BOOK, YOUR NOTEBOOKS, YOUR PEN. WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON? I’m actually in medical school. We have an oral exam coming up Thursday so I ‘m preparing for that. I have to pick fifteen different medical topics and know ever thing about them. And they’ll randomly ask me questions about the topics so I have to prepare the clinical manifestations of diseases and things like that. WHAT AREA IN MEDICINE ARE YOU INTERESTED IN? I’m not sure, Third year we go through the different specialties like medicine, pediatrics, ob-gyn, surgery, psychiatry, family medicine and you kind of decide from there. That’s what this year is about and I haven’t figured it out yet. DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA WHAT SETTING YOU WANT TO PRACTICE, WHETHER CLINICAL OR RESEARCH..? Definitely clinical probably not research although I’ll have research integrated in whatever I do but not totally research. WHAT INTERESTS YOU IN THE FIELD? It’s constantly changing, you work with people day in and day out. You get to help them most of the time. It’s pretty rewarding, feeling you’re doing something productive every day. CAN YOU THINK OF AN INSTANCE WHERE YOU FELT GRATIFIED HELPING SOMEONE? I volunteered last year at the Eliza Shirley Clinic which is a domestic violence shelter for women and their children who are abused and have nowhere else to go and I felt that was pretty rewarding. We had a student run clinic and you just see whoever wants to be seen with one of the doctors from Drexel who comes. WHAT KIND OF MEDICAL ISSUES DO THEY PRESENT WITH? They present with the gamut. We see the adults on the adult clinic day and the “Peeds clinic”, the pediatricians come in. Lots of colds, lots of gyn-related problems, really anything. AND YOU’RE STUDYING WHERE? Drexel University School of Medicine. AND THIS IS YOUR OFFICE AWAY FORM HOME? Pretty much.

Divya Arun, of Roxborough, studying at Chestnut hill Coffee cafe.

Watch video here.

 

Jenks students cheer on walkers for breast cancer cure

JM: The reason we’re doing this is for our sister-in-law who had breast cancer diagnosed three (?) years ago. LS: Three years ago. She had a double mastectomy at 40. JM: She’s a survivor and we’re doing this in her honor. WHERE ARE YOU STARTING OUT FROM? LS: We started out from Willow Grove Park Mall and we’re from New Jersey. WHERE ARE YOU HEADED? LS: Now we’re headed to lunch. JM: We got forty more miles to go. Sixty miles total. We’re going to end up at the naval shipyard. Jim Myers and Linda Schwartz, participants in Susan G Komen 3-Day for the Cure, Germantown Avenue. Watch video here

Cat kidney transplants and adorable, adoptable Darla, rescued pit bull

WHAT’S NEW? “Well, we have kidney transplants. We have a cat that we had a kidney transplant done. So they take a kidney from a donor, put it in your cat and then you have to adopt that cat. That’s been going on a few years. It’s a nice thing we can do today. DO YOU DO IT HERE? No we send it to Penn. It’s working very well. HOW DOES A CAT BECOME A DONOR CAT? That’s a cat that’s usually from a shelter and the kidney’s taken out or they may have them at Penn, donors ready to go. And then you adopt that cat too. So you have two cats now, instead of one. You have two healthy kidneys in the house one in each cat… and this is Darla, she’s being fostered. She’s a rescue from down south, a real sweetie, so if anyone wants to adopt Darla, she’s here in our hospital. She comes with Julie our technician.” Sheldon Gerstenfeld, VMD, Chestnut Hill Veterinary Clinic, Erdenheim, with Darla and Julie Raymond. Watch video interview here.

Shopper spots doctor cousin on shopping cart advertisment

YOU JUST STOPPED ME TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE PHOTOGRAPH [ON THE SHOPPING CART] “Yes, I noticed it was my cousin, Dr. Milbourne, my name is Aaron Donaldson. He started out wanting to be a veterinarian. As a child he always loved animals, always had a lot of passion towards this life. He turned out to be a heart doctor and what a great heart doctor he is. One of the proudest moments of our entire family is him. We love him dearly.” Aaron Donaldson, outside Pathmark. Watch video interview here.

Flourtown evacuates heart patient by helicopter

“What it is- we get involved. It’s the heart rescue program out of Chestnut Hill Hospital. The individual has a ‘STEMI’, a blockage in his neck and they get to Penn Presbyterian within a 90 minute time frame and they have a 95% recovery rate. So the fastest way to get down there for them is to take him by helicopter. This year we’re also celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Flourtown Fire Company being a hundred percent volunteer- started in 1910 and still going strong in 2010.” George B. Wilmot III, Chief, Flourtown Fire Company.

Watch helicopter evacuation and interview here.

View Larger Map

Why my world looks colder after cataract surgery

I NOTICE THAT OUT OF THE EYE WITH THE NEW LENS IN IT, THE WORLD SEEMS A LITTLE LESS WARM “More cool or bright?” COOL OR BRIGHT. NOW IS THAT BECAUSE MY PUPIL IS STILL OPEN? “Actually, because you’re comparing it to the right eye which is developing a mild cataract. A cataract is kind of an amber-colored filter. It’s more brownish as you get older. So your brain has been adjusting to that slightly yellowy color over the years and interpreting that as white. Now we suddenly take that amber filter away and your brain says, ‘Man, this is very bright and blue.” This is actually the correct color you’re seeing out of your left eye and your brain will adjust.” Amy E. Weber, Ophthalmologist, Wyndmoor, PA. Watch video interview here.

Primary Care Doctor: Patients should have a medical home

ANY OPINIONS ON HEALTH CARE REFORM? “I think any health care reform bill that helps people have a primary care doctor would probably be an improvement. It would be nice to see the whole bill in writing before it gets voted on so we can see exactly what’s in there. I think if it limits access to specialists or to other doctors, that would probably be a bad thing. So hopefully it will be a balance between lowering cost without restricting access to doctors… I think it would be an improvement for patients to have a medical home where there’s one doctor who knows all their conditions…” David R. Smith, MD, Chestnut Hill Family Medicine. Watch video interview here.

Cardiologist supports universal health coverage, introduces prominent health care industry critic

 

“I am a cardiologist and a consumer of health care as well and it is clear to me that the present health care system is deeply flawed and reform is urgently needed and, I believe, inevitable. Looking back to my years in medical school, I remember how we would discuss the impending Clinton reform proposal. We had such clarity and certainty that universal health care was a right, a necessity and that obviously the way to achieve universal health coverage would be through a public option. In my entire medical school class, we wall started out believing this. Now as time went on, as actual practicing physicians, our stance on some details may have shifted a bit and for some, quite a bit. But believe it or not, most physicians I know are still in favor of universal coverage and many are in favor of the public option.” Niku Thomas, Einstein Medical Center Cardiologist, right, introducing Wendell Potter, former head of corporate communications for CIGNA, now a vocal critic of the health insurance industry. Germantown Mennonite Church. Click here to see video.