SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 2019 | 7A
Community Voices
Natural Perspective — A Walk In The Fen
By Emily J. Uhrig, Ph.D
Special to Siuslaw News
S
ummer is arriving
and it’s time for trav-
el and outdoor adven-
tures. While some folks
head to far-flung desti-
nations in search of ex-
otic surroundings, there
is a place much closer to
home that offers some-
thing of a tropical vibe:
the Darlingtonia State
Natural Site just north of
Florence.
Saturated with slightly
acidic groundwater, the
boggy site is properly
known as a fen. The high-
light of this unusual hab-
itat is its population of
Darlingtonia californica
pitcher plants, also called
“cobra lilies” thanks to
their snake-like shape.
Although they may
WE ARE YOUR ONE STOP CAR CENTER
look more at home in a
jungle than along High-
way 101, they are native
to our area. In fact, Dar-
lingtonia is only found in
northern California and
southwestern Oregon.
Like other pitcher
plants, Darlingtonia is
carnivorous.
Digesting insects gives
the plants a crucial ni-
trogen source within the
otherwise nitrogen-poor
environment of the fen.
The pitcher, which can
be over 3 feet tall, is actu-
ally a leaf modified into
a tubular structure with
a curved hood hiding an
Locally Owned. Community Minded
By Bob Horney
Special to Siuslaw News
in Real Estate
VOTED #1 REALTOR 5 YEARS
Siuslaw News Readers Choice
im Hoberg is a Florence native,
and has been working in
Real Estate since 1989. He has
served as a Realtor for 30 years. He
has obtained several designations
that require continuing education,
which keeps him on the cutting edge
of the industry and he is constantly
J
looking for ways to expand his
areas of expertise. Recently he has
earned the NAR Green designation
and the Senior Real Estate Specialist
designation. Jim enjoys helping
people fi nd solutions to their real
estate needs and discovering why
Florence is such a great place to live.
JIM HOBERG
Broker/Owner
• • •
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541.997.7653
Fax: 541.997.7654
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R
ecommendations!
What would we do
without them? They are
often the deciding fac-
tors behind our decisions.
They can set us in the
right direction or lead us
down a regretful pathway.
Unfortunately, many men
are finding the 2012 U.S.
Preventive Services Task
Force
recommendation
that men not get screened
with a PSA test has turned
into a regretful pathway.
Why? Because either
they or their doctor fol-
lowed it. As a result, their
prostate cancer had time
to grow undetected from
early stage to metastatic
(tumor cells have left the
prostate).
As I mentioned last
month, Oregon Urology
Institute (OUI) has seen
a tripling of men being
diagnosed with metastat-
ic disease at first visit. An
increase in metastatic di-
agnosis was expected with
reduced PSA screening.
FRAA ART CENTER
A great opportunity to
check out prostate cancer
screening recommenda-
tions is right here in Flor-
ence at our Us TOO Flor-
ence meetings.
This is where the “rub-
ber hits the road” with
urologists joining us to
help make sense of recom-
mendations that are vying
for our attention.
We have some men at-
tending with no prostate
cancer and others with
diagnosed disease rang-
ing from very low risk to
very aggressive and all the
points between. Hearing
from our urologists that
no two prostate cancers
are alike drives home the
point that there is much
more to prostate cancer
than the data that serve as
the basis for most recom-
mendations.
When it comes to pros-
tate cancer, my confidence
is in how OUI urologists
consider each of us ac-
cording to our own risks.
Many of us have individu-
al risks that must be con-
sidered when screening
for prostate cancer…they
can (and do) make the dif-
ference between life and
death. For over 15 years,
I have sat in our meetings
and listened to Dr. Bry-
an Mehlhaff explain why
simple recommendations
without professional sup-
port don’t cut it.
I want my urologist to
interpret how my indi-
Classes, Workshops & Events
Felting 4 with Ginny Kliever -
Needle Felting/Facial
Expressions
Writers on the River - Creative
Writing Workshop w/ Catherine
Rourke
Friday, July 12th, 1:30-4:30 pm
Open to anyone who has taken Felting 3 -
Needle Felting. Pre-registration req’d at
FRAA or with Ginny. 541-521-3513
The Blank Page: How to Conquer and
Master It
Sat., June 29, 2019 10 am - 12 noon
Surefire way to fill your pages
All writing levels and genres, Contact:
CJReditor@gmail.com , 541-708-2120
Saturdays 9 am - 12 pm
No painting experience required.
Contact: jnleasure@hotmail.com or
541-991-2754 for details and fees.
Spirit of Summer Art Exhibit at
the FEC
Deadline for Entry: June 20th, Art drop off
June 25th, 9:30-11 am at the FEC,
Reception July 26th, 5-7 pm. Hope you
can help make this a great show. Details
and applications on our website.
Pacific Publishing Phone Book
Cover Contest
Deadline for Entry is June 30th. Calling all
2D painters to submit their works showing
a local theme. Details and links to enter
on our website.
Next Art Change-Out Day
Monday, July 8, 2019, 9-11 am
decaying remains of the
less fortunate insects.
So, should you fancy
a tropical feel without
the hassle of long-dis-
tance travel, drive up the
highway and take a walk
through the fen.
June is a good time to
visit as the Darlingtonia
are in bloom with purple
and yellow flowers stand-
ing on tall stalks among
the pitchers.
This site may not be
such a fun destination for
insects, but, for us, a vis-
it showcases the unique
plants that can be found
right here on the coast.
Big Wave Poetry 1st Tuesday
Open Mic
Tuesday, July 2, 2019 at 7:00 pm.
Admission is free and refreshments will be
available.
Poetry Workshop
Small group meeting of poets to enhance
their written word.
Last Tuesday of each month, 6:30-8:30 pm
Write fraaoregon@gmail.com if you are
interested in joining.
Writers Workshop
Writers discuss their current works and get
inputs from other writers.
2nd Tuesday, Monthly, 1-4 pm
Write fraaoregon@gmail.com for more
details.
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.
vidual risks play into my
screening.
The PSA screening rec-
ommendation suggested
by Dr. Mehlhaff and his
partners at OUI makes
sense to me because they
are ready to give each man
the professional support
to make that recommen-
dation work.
Here’s their recommen-
dation: Get a baseline PSA
test during one’s 40s and
then start annual screen-
ing at age 50.
This is much more than
just a blood test. Our
urologists will conduct a
thorough risk assessment
which is now far more
extensive than was the
case just a few years ago.
This helps them consider
all our risk factors along
with the results of the PSA
blood test. We’ll also get a
digital rectal exam (DRE)
just in case we happen to
be one of the 25 percent
of men who are diagnosed
due to an abnormal pros-
tate gland.
That baseline PSA test
saves lives! First, it will
catch men who may need
further testing because of
an elevated PSA or an ab-
normal DRE.
Further, if a man’s PSA
is normal for his age and
his prostate is normal,
those baseline results will
serve as reference points
for future tests.
What are these risk fac-
tors? From the 2019 up-
dated Prostate Cancer Pa-
tient Guide just published
by the Prostate Cancer
Foundation, we learn the
risks include age, family
history, genetic factors,
race, lifestyle and dietary
habits. This Guide is avail-
able to either download or
order a copy at www.pcf.
org/UsTOO.
It is 80 pages of infor-
mation including the lat-
est USPSTF screening
guidelines; prostate can-
cer prevention; treatment
options; new FDA treat-
ment approvals for men
with non-metastatic cas-
tration-resistant prostate
cancer; genetic and family
risk across cancers; nutri-
tion and lifestyle changes
checklist.
For comprehensive in-
formation on all the above,
I highly recommend this
Guide.
The Prostate Cancer
Foundation expects to up-
date the Guide every quar-
ter because new informa-
tion is developing so fast.
So, here’s the deal: Down-
load the current edition at
the above address and you
will automatically receive
the updates online.
Better yet, get month-
ly updates by simply at-
tending our local Us TOO
Florence meetings at
Ichiban Restaurant, sec-
ond Tuesday (5 to 7 p.m.)
with Dr. Mehlhaff and 3rd
Tuesday (noon to 1 p.m.)
with Dr. McKimmy.
Life with MS — Five Stages
120 Maple Street
Phone: 541-997-4435
Hours Open: Mon 10am-2pm,
Wed-Fri 11am-5pm,
Sat 10am-5pm, Sun. 11am-5pm
Painting with John Leasure
worse as they fall into a
pool of watery fluid that
lies at the bottom of the
pitcher. There, they are
digested. While many
carnivorous plants use
digestive enzymes, Dar-
lingtonia primarily relies
on microbes within the
fluid to take care of prey
digestion.
Despite being a house
of horrors for many in-
sects,
Darlingtonia’s
pitcher is not a death trap
for all who enter.
There are, for instance,
species of mites and fly
larvae that live inside the
pitcher and feed on the
Us TOO Florence — Behind the headlines
• Full Service Repair • Tire sales
• ASE Certifi ed Technician • Shrink Wrap
C elebrating 30 Years
opening at the top. At-
tracted by nectar, unsus-
pecting insects enter the
pitcher, but many find it
impossible to exit.
Translucent
win-
dow-like patches on the
upper part of the pitcher
confuse insects and ob-
scure the only real exit.
Insects trying to land for
a rest, find they cannot
get traction on the pitch-
er’s waxy interior and slip
into its base where down-
ward-pointing hairs fur-
ther impede their crawl-
ing out.
Eventually, the insects’
day goes from bad to
By Lloyd Little
Special to Siuslaw News
I
n 1986, the neurologist
informed me by phone
that the spinal tap results
confirmed a diagnosis
of Muscular Sclerosis
(MS). My initial reaction
was relief. I finally, after
eight long months, had
a name for the physical
discomfort and pain I
was experiencing.
Individuals may re-
spond differently than I
did when given news of
a life altering event. Eli-
zebeth Kubler Ross stud-
ied how terminally ill
patients reacted to their
diagnosis. She published
a book on these respons-
es in 1969 titled “On
Death and Dying.”
In it, she discussed the
five stages of grief: Deni-
al, anger, bargaining, de-
pression and acceptance.
The stages occur in no
particular order and
may occur off and on for
someone’s entire life.
I researched MS and,
after everything I read,
there was no denial stage
for me.
The second stage is an-
ger. I certainly was angry.
That very night I vented
my anger as a referee for
city league basketball;
I was an angry official,
giving a good friend of
mine a technical foul for
no real reason.
One common thought
in this stage is “Why
me?” or “Life’s not fair.”
Anger then can be redi-
rected towards others for
your situation.
My bargaining stage
involved a change in my
diet. The Dr. Swank diet
was specifically targeted
for MS patients. When
I learned of the benefits
of the diet, I thought by
following it to the let-
ter I might get better.
One year into the diet
and with another child
on the way, the diet be-
came difficult to con-
tinue; different food for
the family was costly. I
then altered my diet reg-
imen to be more family
friendly.
I also made an effort
to reduce the stressors
in my life and alter my
perception of otherwise
stressful situations.
The fourth stage, de-
pression, seldom entered
my thoughts. With four
children and the respon-
sibilities of work and
coaching, I did not have
time to be depressed.
Did I sometimes wish
things were different for
me? Sure. Did I dwell on
it? No. In fact, I made
a promise to myself to
maintain enough mobil-
ity to walk all my daugh-
ters down their wedding
aisle. (One down, two to
go.)
The last stage is ac-
ceptance. I progressed to
this stage very quickly. I
knew what I had and I
knew I was going to at-
tack it like the teams I
played for and coached.
I may not always be
ahead but I will always
be in the game of life.