Smoke Signals
10
SEPTEMBER 15, 2011
Elder's bingo changes days
Bingo at the Elders' Activity Center is held the second and fourth Friday of the
month. A potluck dinner starts at 6 p.m. and bingo begins at 6:30 p.m. For more
information, contact Elder Activity Assistant Daniel Ham at 503-879-2233.
Smoke Signals photo
reprint policy
See a photo you like in Smoke Signals?
Want a copy, or several copies?
Want to see if a photo that was taken but not printed in Smoke
Signals because of space limitations might be something you'd like
hanging on your living room wall?
Tribal members can order either 8-by-10 or 5-by-7 inch copies of
photos taken by Smoke Signals staff members regardless of if they
were published in the newspaper.
Charge is $1 for each print ordered.
Reprint orders must be pre-paid with a check made out to Smoke
Signals. A photo reprint order form is available in the Publications
Office of the Tribe's Governance Building in Grand Ronde, or can be
mailed upon request.
All photos contained in Smoke Signals' current archive are available
for purchase, but people interested in going through the archive must
make an appointment to review photos for possible purchase.
No rush orders will be permitted and requestors must allow 30 days
for delivery. Requestors must be Tribal members.
In addition, reprint requestors must agree that the reprint is for
personal use only, and not for use in an ad, or for commercial, political
or promotional purposes.
Smoke Signals reserves the right to decline a reprint request.
To request a reprint order form, write to Smoke Signals at 9615
Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, OR 97347, or call the Publications
Secretary at 503-879-1453 or 800-422-0232. B
Graves teaching
basket weaving class
Tribal Elder Connie Graves teaches a basket weaving class at
12:30 p.m. Tuesdays in the Elders' Activity Center.
The class is open to the public.
For more information, contact Tribal Cultural Education Special
ist Brian Krehbiel at 503-879-4639 or brian.krehbielgrandronde.
org. D
University of Oregon store
seeks artwork for sale
The University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History's
museum store, Past and Presents, is seeking a limited number of artists
interested in selling their original artwork on consignment in the store.
Pacific Northwest Tribal members interested in the opportunity should
submit five images of their work for consideration to traceyuoregon.
edu.
The university's Museum of Natural and Cultural History protects
significant collections, enhances knowledge and encourages stewardship
of human and natural history through research, preservation and educa
tion. Past and Presents offers a comprehensive selection of regional books
and gifts that reflect the museum's exhibits, collections and research, as
well as the inspiration of the Pacific Northwest landscape.
The store features handcrafted goods from local and regional artists,
including jewelry, pottery, basketry, woodworking and more.
For more information, contact Tracey Bell at 541-346-1574. U
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Photo by Michelle Alalmo
Tribal member and Tribal Lands Manager Jan Michael Reibach, right, was
diagnosed with a hereditary case of Protein Enzyme C Deficiency in 1994.
Recently a change in his medications put him in the hospital fighting for his
life, obviously scaring his wife Rhonda and their son Tribal member Shane.
Shane has been tested for the deficiency and the test came out negative.
REIBACH continued
from front page
The disease, which affects about
600,000 people or 0.2 percent of
Americans, causes Reibach's body
to grow blood clots.
Sometimes huge clots.
In 1994, before much was known
about the disease, it was growing
blood clots in Reibach's veins. Doc
tors called it thrombophilia, a term
referring generally to all coagula
tion problems.
Two clots in Reibach's body broke
off, causing strokes. The strokes left
scar tissue on his brain that led to
seizures. The seizures scared the
wits out of Reibach's young son,
Shane Michael, who also is a mem
ber of the Tribe.
Before it was all figured out,
Reibach had suffered paralysis and
could not walk. Doctors warned him
and his family that he might have
only days to live.
"It was a lot more rare in 1994,"
says Reibach, "and they didn't
know what it was. My uncle, Mi
chael Standing Elk Reibach (who
walked on in 2005), came to see
me in the hospital. He brought an
eagle feather and he was praying
over me. My doctor came in and
said, 'Is this guy Indian?' And Mi
chael told him, yeah, I was a Grand
Ronde Indian. The doctor ran down
the hall and told my wife, 'I think I
know what he has.' "
It was Protein Enzyme C Defi
ciency. In those days, some physicians
thought there might be a connec
tion between the disease and hav
ing Indian blood.
Once he had the disease nailed
down, Reibach's doctor prescribed
Coumadin, a blood thinning medi
cation that stopped the blood clots,
strokes and seizures.
It took nearly two years of physi
cal and speech therapy for Reibach
to regain his functions.
Reibach had been on Coumadin
since then until recently, when his
primary care physician decided
to try a different blood thinning
medication, Pradaxa, even though
it was not tested or recommended
for people with Protein Enzyme C
Deficiency.
Pradaxa was never tested for Pro
tein Enzyme C Deficiency, reports
a medical scientist for Boehringer
Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, maker
of Pradaxa, with U.S. offices in
Richfield, Conn.
The doctor's idea, Reibach says,
was that Pradaxa would be easier
on his body than Coumadin, the
medication he had been using for
many years.
Like many medications, Couma
din has a reputation for being hard
on the body and though Reibach
had not suffered from taking it all
those years, physicians often make
.the effort to use newer medications
that promise to be easier on the
body.
After the change in medications,
however, the blood clots returned
and Reibach found himself back to
fighting blood clots, and fighting for
his life in the hospital.
Reibach spent time in the hospi
tal and underwent surgery to get
rid of the blood clots that formed
after he went off Coumadin.
With the decision to return
Reibach to Coumadin, the success
in fighting the clots was just as
dramatic as in 1994.
Reibach e-mailed his family,
friends and Tribe: "Today in sur
gery, the vascular surgeon found
that there was a 100 percent HEAL
ING in all my Iliac Veins (veins
that return the blood from the legs
through the hips and pelvis). They
were really surprised to find that
all the scars and damage from the
blood clots were COMPLETELY
GONE! With no trace from the
prior clots at all. My circulation was
tested and it is in perfect working
order with no stents needed!"
"I know that this may sound
weird to some," says Reibach, "but
I embrace this disorder and am
glad that I got to experience being
a paraplegic and losing everything.
It really helped me learn compas
sion for others who are sick and
served as an inspiration for my
lifeway."
It just may be that his case will
serve as a warning to others.
Reibach says he is now work
ing with doctors to help educate
the medical community about the
potential complications of new
anti-coagulants for people with his
condition. B