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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (March 14, 2018)
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2018 THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ 9 A @ SIUSLAWNEWS Siuslaw News Community Voices U S TOO F LORENCE — Behind the headlines B Y B OB H ORNEY CANCER SURVIVOR U S TOO CHAPTER LEADER “I f it is going to affect my sex life, forget it!” This is the “elephant in the room” which sometimes frightens men, particularly young men, away from PSA testing and possi- ble early detection of prostate can- cer. They are young, robust and feeling fine. “You want me to do what?” The Large Urology Group Practice Association (LUGPA), Oregon Urology Institute and other expert urologists recom- mend men get a baseline PSA test, Digital Rectal Exam (DRE) and risk assessment during their 40s. Based on those results, urologists can assess your risk of prostate cancer 20 years in the future. Note: Some of those men are going to receive further tests because of their baseline results and be promptly diagnosed with prostate cancer. If you think that can’t happen to you, be aware that Us TOO Florence has had men diagnosed at ages 40, 47, 49 and 52, each with their very first PSA test. All are deceased due to prostate can- cer. Facts to consider: prostate can- cer is the most commonly diag- nosed invasive cancer and the sec- ond leading cause of male cancer deaths (U.S.); one in seven men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime; prostate cancer mortality has been signifi- cantly reduced using the PSA blood test; many men diagnosed today with the PSA test will have low grade, non-aggressive cancer, suitable for Active Surveillance (no immediate treatment); early stage PSA detected prostate can- cer, is usually without symptoms and more likely to be curable; prostate cancer detected due to symptoms is often advanced and unlikely to be cured. Here are some more facts: • All treatments for prostate cancer have potential side effects with the top two being impotence (inability to get an erection) and incontinence (urine leakage). The intensity of these side effects will vary, with much depending on whether the diagnosis was made early (prior to symptoms) or late (due to symptoms). • Once symptoms arise, the likelihood of the cancer having left the prostate is greatly increased. If further testing con- firms that the cancer has indeed escaped the prostate, curative treatment options start to fall by the wayside, dependent, of course, on exactly what the urologist finds. This may lead to an array of costly drugs which will have their own side effects, some tolerable, some not so tolerable. • Knowing that 6 out of 7 men will not be diagnosed with prostate cancer leads some men to risk those odds to avoid screening. Some will win, some will lose. Is the risk worth taking? The following are two approaches to prostate cancer screening to help determine which one is you: Man No. 1: He believes that screening will lead to more harm than benefit. He decides not to get the PSA test. Scenario (1): He is one of the 6 in 7 who remains prostate can- cer free. Gambled and won… so far. Scenario (2): He eventually sees his doctor or urologist due to symptoms such as urinary prob- lems, difficulty achieving an erec- tion or bone pain. Further testing leads to a prostate biopsy, revealing prostate cancer. Other tests show it has escaped the prostate gland (common with symptoms). His chances of a cure are not good and a reduced life span with diminished quality of life is likely his future. Gambled and lost. Man No. 2: He is very proac- tive with his health. Asked for, and received, a baseline PSA/DRE and risk assessment in his 40s even though without symptoms and felt great. Followed his urol- ogist’s recommended screening schedule. Scenario (1): He is one of the 6 in 7 who remains prostate cancer free. Has peace of mind with his screening results being normal. Scenario (2): His screening reveals a rise in his PSA. When a subsequent biopsy shows he has early stage prostate cancer, he is pleased with his proactive screen- ing decision. That decision has given him the best chance of beating the disease with a minimum of treatment side effects. It has also given him the best chance of reversing those side effects. Additional testing may show he is a candidate for Active Surveillance and might avoid treatment altogether. Which scenario are you most comfortable with? M ILITARY H ERITAGE C HRONICLES — Blimps at war B Y C AL A PPLEBEE Special to the Siuslaw News N HIT THAT LIKE BUTTON! F ACEBOOK . COM /S IUSLAW N EWS ot being a veteran, my fascination with things military started as a kid growing up in Tillamook. Even though I didn’t visit the WWII blimp hangars located there until my young adult years, I did learn of their existence and importance to WWII efforts while spending hours viewing the Tillamook Pioneer Museum displays. Blimps in warfare didn’t orig- FRAA ART CENTER 120 Maple Street Phone: 541-997-4435 Hours Open: Wed-Fri noon-5pm, Sat 10am-5pm, Sun. noon-5pm Classes, Workshops & Events Beginning Felting with Ginny Kliever - Take 2 Due to Popular Demand Saturday, April 7th, 1:30-4:30 pm Learn the art of felting making a coin purse. Bring a shank button; other material provided. Pre-registration req’d at FRAA or with Ginny. 541-521-3513 Crochet Workshop with Eleanor Ross Sunday, May 6, 1-4 pm Detailed description soon coming soon. Pre-registration req’d at FRAA or with Eleanor. Questions: 541-997-4435 FRAA April Display in the Chamber of Commerce Bring one of your 2D art (wired to hang) to the Chamber on Monday, April 2nd, from 10 am - 12 noon. We can also take a few larger 3D pieces. Writers on the River - Creative Writing Workshop with Catherine Rourke Sat., March 24, 10 am - 12 noon Memoir Writing: From Real Life to Real Story. Turn life experiences and family memories into captivating stories. All writing levels and genres, Contact: CJReditor@gmail.com , 541-708-2120 Next Art Change-Out Day Monday, May 14th, 9-11 am Please pick up your artwork and bring something new to help keep the art at FRAA fresh to our visitors. Whimsical Hand Building Ceramics w/ Alissa Clark Wednesdays, 3-5 pm & Thursdays, 6-8 pm Open Lab Ceramics on Saturdays Drop in, work at own pace. Sat 12-5 pm All ceramics classes held at Alissa’s Studio. 180 Laurel Street. Big Wave Poetry 1st Tuesday Open Mic April 3th at 6:30 pm. Admission is free and refreshments will be available. Painting with John Leasure Saturdays 9 am - 12 pm Contact: jnleasure@hotmail.com or 541-991-2754 for details and fees. Oil Painting with Michael Wood On hiatus but will be back in April. fmwood@msn.com to reserve a spot. For more information about classes, visit fraaoregon.org. To register for these classes, please call or visit FRAA at our art center on Maple Street. inate with U.S. military involve- ment in WWII. Their use as a weapon of war began in WWI, and the first “lighter than air” (LTA) flights took place more than a century earlier than that, in the late 1700s. Germans improved the tech- nology developed in the earlier years, to develop rigid airships as aerial bombing platforms in Europe’s great war. The United States military took notice of those efforts, and in post-war years both U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Navy began exploring the evolving technology and developed early prototypes, adding to their existing use of observation and kite balloons. Those early efforts included both rigid airships that could serve as aerial aircraft carriers, as well as smaller dirigibles to be used primarily for coastal patrol and escort missions, such as the blimps that become prominent in WWII. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company had been involved in building airships since WWI, and became the authoritative resource for the USN, which had become the leading military branch to embrace and utilize blimps in service. As WWII broke out, for America at least, the LTA efforts increased drastically, and Goodyear began manufacturing blimps for the Navy in response to the increased urgent need. Numerous Goodyear blimp pilots also began to appear in USN uniform to bolster the fledgling LTA training and man- power needs of the Navy. Like other WWII needs, the need for blimp bases around the country escalated, and the con- struction rush was on. Lakehurst, N.J., had long been the central point for LTA efforts, but bases were needed around the coastal borders of the United States to serve the new mission. Eventually, blimp bases were built in nine other locations along the east and west coasts, some at existing bases, and some at entirely new sites that previously had no military con- nection, such as Tillamook, to patrol the coastline of the Pacific Northwest. With construction beginning in July 1942, it was partially completed in astonishing time, despite inclement weather, by December, with the arrival of KRAB KETTLE 280 Hwy. 101 M 541-997-8996 Fresh Seafood Market Open Daily 10-6 the first of eight blimps in February 1943. Blimps conducted patrols constantly, with one LTA ship on patrol at any given time. While they could stay aloft for as long as 48 hours, typical mis- sions were usually 15-20 hours, with patrols up the coast to the northern Washington border, and down the coast as far as Eureka, Calif., on lookout for enemy submarines. Once the war ended, many of the newly created blimp squadrons were decommis- sioned, including Tillamook’s ZP-33. The last two airships left Naval Air Station Tillamook for Moffett Field in California in October 1945, barely two years after the squadron’s creation. In my research, I ran across information that indicated one of the Tillamook blimps was eventually purchased by Howard Hughes in 1946. The massive wooden hangars built for the blimps are marvels in their own right. Of the two built in Tillamook, one was unfortunately destroyed by fire in 1992, and the survivor, Hangar B, has served as a muse- um for the last couple decades, but it is in need of serious reno- vation, which was a contributing factor to the Erickson Air Collection re-locating to Madras several years ago. The USN’s official involve- ment with LTA ended in 1959. One retired blimp pilot indicated that the cost of the program equaled one aircraft carrier and one air wing, so the admiralty chose the latter. Experimentation with blimps has continued since then, both in the private and public sector. In the years since WWII, the hangar at Tillamook has hosted multiple private blimp projects and efforts with various goals in mind. One included the USFS seeking a LTA solution to lifting logs out of secluded forest areas. Having been a blimp enthusi- ast most of my life, a highlight was several years ago while still living in Central Oregon, when I had the opportunity to pilot a small blimp at the Madras air- show. Originally built in the 1980s for comedian Gallagher, the 48-foot-long airship was powered by pedal power. Learn more about military heritage by visiting the Oregon Coast Military Museum website at www.oregoncoastmilitary museum.com or visit the muse- um, 2145 Kingwood Street, which is open Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
