Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2007)
Siletz Community Clinic Expands Hours Efforts to Quit Smoking Pay Off by Judy Muschamp, Health Director by Joyce Retherford, grateful Siletz Tribal member Beginning July 2, the Siletz Com munity Health Clinic’s hours of opera tion will change. We will be open for patient care all day Tuesdays and closed from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Friday morn ings. This includes all clinic services. Normal hours will be Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. We will be closed all day July 4 for Independence Day and July 24 for a mandatory al I-staff meeting. Staff Changes Affect Department by Judy Muschamp, Health Director As I wrote this article, 1 received news important to all tribal members who access Contract Health Services. Danise Barker. CHS technician I, has tendered her resignation and we all will miss her infectious laugh in the office. Danise was directly responsible for processing CHS payments, issuing checks, and ordering the pharmacy cards. She worked closely with STBC to implement the new out-of-area health benefits. We wish her the best of luck in her new endeavors. Patients at the clinic will recognize a new face. Dr. Beverley Phillipson has retired and we are happy to introduce Dr. James Haeg as our clinic physician. Dr. Haeg is a family practice phy sician with many years experience in the Bellingham, Wash., area in private practice. We welcome Dr. Haeg to our community. We have had several changes in our Dental Department. Dr. Randall Teich has submitted his resignation ef fective July 3. He has been an excel- lent provider and administrator, bring ing stability and professionalism to the program during his seven years of employment with the tribe. Dr. Teich isn’t leaving the commu nity, though. He has opened a private practice in Newport and we wish him success in this exciting time. Unfortunately, it has been very dif ficult to access dental services for the past several months as we searched for a replacement dentist. I am very excited to report that we have signed a contract w ith Molly Francis to join our dental team. Molly is a recent graduate of the Arizona School of Dentistry and origi nally is from Spokane, Wash. As a Colville Tribal descendent, Molly looks forward to beginning her dental career within the tribal health care system. We also have a change in our den tal assisting personnel. Kristi Cline re located out of the area at the beginning of June. We were fortunate to recruit Misty Reed as our new dental assistant without a break in coverage. Siletz Community Cancer Support Group Meets the third Tuesday each month: July 17, Aug. 21, Sept. 18 Siletz Library Community Room - Noon to 1 p.m. Community members who are directly or indirectly affected by cancer are invited to attend - cancer patients, survivors, family members, support people, and care providers. For more information, contact Sandra Hahn at 541-444-9627 or 1-800-648-0449, ext. 1627; or DeAnna Pearl at 541-444-9659 or 1-800-648-0449, ext. 1659. Native Cancer Rates Normal, But Survival at All-Time Low While cancer in American Indians/ Alaska Natives (AI/AN) is about aver age, people surviving their cancer is at an all-time low. Some barriers to sur vival are: • • • • Clinic Health CHA-MAY WEEYA - MEDICINETALK Late detection Poor compliance with treatment Presence of other diseases Access to up-to-date treatment methods Tobacco abuse is a lifestyle risk factor that causes one-third of all can cer deaths. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death for AI/AN men. A criti cal role of prevention in lung cancer is simply not smoking or being exposed to secondhand smoke. We know that cancer survival can be improved by increasing participa tion in screening and early detection services. Secondly, increasing exercise and improving your diet will decrease cancer risks. If you have or someone you know of has cancer or questions about screenings, contact Sandra Hahn, can cer nurse navigator at the Siletz Clinic, at 541-444-9627 or 1-800-648-0449, ext. 1627. Early Detection Can Save Your Life or The Life of a Loved One. Be a Star at Your Own Screening! Breast Cancer Cervical Cancer Prostate Cancer Colon Cancer I was asked by Deanna Pearl to write about my journey to becoming a non-smoker. I told her I would love to do that because I am very proud and happy about my success. The first time I tried to quit smok ing, it was very easy. This was about seven years ago. There wasn’t a lot of tension and I just quit. I didn't smoke for nine months (no. I wasn't pregnant). One day I just decided I would smoke one cigarette with my husband. I was a non-smoker so one wouldn't hurt. The next thing I knew. I was ask ing him to leave me a couple when he went to work or I went and begged one from the neighbors. All of a sudden. I am buying packs and smoking again. Now. that was re ally easy. Then next time I wanted to quit, about a year to a year and a half ago, it was hard! I was using the patch and the gum and the inhaler. I was irritable (bad), tense (gritted my teeth so hard that I loosened them and had a knot on my neck that wouldn't go away), and wanted a cigarette so bad that there was no way this was going to work, especially since my husband also was trying to quit. I could smell cigarettes on him when he came home and you would have thought that I could smell another woman. I was nuts. Quitting didn't last long. The next time we decided to quit, my husband said, “Don't you want to live long enough to see Riley (grand daughter) grow up?” That's it. I thought. I am gonna do it. So 1 went to see a nurse at the clinic and told her that I was going to try again. This time I wanted to do the patch and some wellbutrin. She told me about a new pill called chantix. She said it’s pretty expensive, but with my employee insurance, it would cover the cost. She went on to say that it has worked wonders on long-time smokers and it has a very high success rate. I don’t know why (probably in my head that nothing would work that easily), but I said I would give the other a try first. So I took my little bag of stuff home and started the pills that evening. I had set my quit date for two weeks down the road, when the wellbutrin had had a chance to build up in my system. I started wearing the patch and tapering down on smoking until I didn't lake any to work with me. It was very difficult. Once again. I was very tense and still wanting a ciga rette bad. I couldn't take it anymore. I made an appointment with the nurse again and requested the chantix. She called it in to the Fred Meyer pharmacy and I started taking the pills the next day. I set my new quit date for two weeks down the road. I couldn't be lieve it. I felt good, very little tension, no teeth grinding, no more grouchy than usual. When it was the quit day, I just didn't smoke anymore. I had four cigarettes in a pack lead ing up to my quit day and had bor rowed one from my boss during that week. On my quit day, they were just gone and I was done. I really do believe this is a miracle drug. I am not saying it doesn't take a desire to stop smoking and some real willpower, but it works if you want it to. I bought my husband a prescrip tion for his birthday and he is doing really great. I am proud of him. I hope everyone who has a chance will take this step. It works! I haven't had a cigarette since Feb. 22 and don't feel like I need one. In fact, the smell is nauseating to me. Thank goodness - and Deanna Pearl and CTSI. Restrictions on Contract Health Services by Judy Muschamp, Health Director We are now halfway through the 2007 fiscal year and the CHS program, once again, is experiencing funding shortfalls. The reason for these shortfalls is a high number of high-cost catastrophic cases, combined with Congress' contin ued freeze on increasing domestic ap propriations. As you probably know, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are cost ing the United States billions of dollars, prohibiting increases in domestic pro grams such as the Indian Health Service. We received notice in late May that the catastrophic health emergency fund (CHEF) is depleted, putting all CHS programs at risk of depletion without a national pool. Now it’s more important than ever that you access alternate resources as much as possible. This includes the Oregon Health Plan. Medicare, private insurance, worker's compensation, motor vehicle insurance, VA services, or victim's assistance. It's also important that you call CHS for prior approval of any health care appointment. With funds depleting, we are less likely to overturn a denied claim if not pre-authorized or if an alternate resource would have been available. Unfortunately, the CHS Gatekeep ing Committee is faced with tough de cisions in order to operate within our approved funding level. Unless there is a fracture or severe injury, orthopedic care is not within current funding priority. As we approach the summer months, please remember to be safe and have a healthy summer. July 2007 • Siletz News • 19