SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, JULY 17, 2021 | 7A
Editor’s Note: Community Voices is a
monthly feature in the Siuslaw News. It
consists of viewpoints from people in the
Siuslaw region. Siuslaw News welcomes
these opinions as part of its goal to encour-
age community discussion and exchange of
perspectives, but they should not be inter-
preted as the views of the News or its staff.
Community Voices
Us TOO Florence — My Prostate Cancer Journey Continues
By Bob Horney
Prostate Cancer Survivor
Us Too Chapter Leader
Special to Siuslaw News
M
y post-prostate can-
cer journey took a
new twist on June 23, 2021.
The Oregon SurgiCenter at
Oregon Urology Institute
was my destination and Bo-
tox Injection in the Bladder
was my goal. Dr. Roger
McKimmy was my injector
following very profession-
al/effective and pain-free
prepping by Lauren.
Here’s what got me to this
point: Stable PSA at 4.1,
but with a suspicious DRE
in December 2001, was
confirmed prostate cancer
by biopsy. I had a radical
prostatectomy
(surgical
removal) on Jan. 30, 2002,
with the pathologist report
mentioning extracapsular
extension — cancer push-
ing against prostate capsule
— maybe got out, maybe
not.
I had a persistently errat-
ic PSA following the radi-
cal prostatectomy. Eventu-
ally (nearly 6 years later)
the PSA made 3 consecu-
tive increases which called
for action, as in scheduling
38 treatments of Image
Guided Radiation Thera-
py (IGRT) to the Prostate
Bed at the OUI Radiation
Center. A prepping scan of
my abdomen ruled out ra-
diation the normal (on my
back) way, as organs had
shifted. But, when scanned
on my belly, radiation was
possible to reach the pros-
tate bed. Radiation started
December 2007 and ended
on Valentine’s Day, 2008.
Radiation was followed
by increasing urinary fre-
quency over a number of
years which medication
couldn’t correct. This re-
sulted in a hand-off from
Dr. Bryan Mehlhaff to uri-
nary specialist at OUI, Dr.
Roger McKimmy. Next
came a cystoscopy by Dr.
McKimmy in 2017 con-
firming damage to my
bladder from the radiation
treatments. That diagnosis
qualified me for a referral
to the McKenzie Wound
Center on West 11th Street
in Eugene for 40 90-min-
ute treatments of Hyper-
baric Oxygen Therapy
(HBOT).
I did see some improve-
ment with the HBOT, but
never to the point of re-
ducing the involuntary
urinary incontinence nor
the frequency of nighttime
and even more frequent
daytime interruptions for
voiding. The prescription
drug, Myrbetriq, wasn’t
able to overcome those
conditions. Finally, wear-
ing urinary pads due to
urgency and incontinence
caused by my irradiated
bladder became necessary.
Thus opens this new
chapter along my nearly
20-year journey. Where
this chapter leads me is still
“in the works” as we wait
for the Botox to take full
effect.
For several months, Dr.
McKimmy and I had dis-
cussed my symptoms being
suitable for this procedure.
Botox Bladder Injections
for urinary incontinence
received FDA approval in
2013, so it isn’t a new pro-
cedure, just new to me.
If not for the COVID-19
pandemic and furlough
of our Us TOO Florence
meetings with Dr. Bryan
Mehlhaff and Dr. Roger
McKimmy, we undoubted-
ly would have many robust
discussions of Botox Injec-
tions for urinary inconti-
nence. Since it also works
well for women, we might
even have had some spous-
es speak up about it.
When Dr. McKimmy
and I decided to proceed
with Botox, he gave me
two choices for receiving
it — I could choose to have
it done under general an-
esthesia (such as used for a
colonoscopy) or opt to fill
the bladder with enough of
the anesthetic Lidocaine to
temporarily numb it pri-
or to the procedure. Un-
der general anesthesia, I
would not be aware of the
procedure. Plus, there were
many pre/post procedure
“conditions” with which to
comply.
With Lidocaine, I would
be awake during the pro-
cedure, able to talk with
Dr. McKimmy and observe
it on the monitor — just
as he used the monitor to
guide his injections. Since I
planned to write about the
experience for the benefit
of others who might choose
that procedure, I wanted to
know what was going on.
Upon completing my
HBOT treatments in Octo-
ber 2017, we had not used a
cystoscope to look around
in the bladder to see what
degree HBOT had been
successful. We relied on my
symptoms. Knowing that
Dr. McKimmy was going to
go in through my urethra
and sphincter to get to the
bladder, I wanted to have
the chance to question him
about what “we” saw — in
live time — particularly
regarding the condition
of the sphincter and com-
paring the pre/post HBOT
condition of the bladder.
Next month … in we go!
Closing The Loop — Food Waste: Prevention is Key
In addition to the global,
By Britte Kirsch
Lane County Master Recycler social and economic impacts
of food waste, we need to
Special to Siuslaw News
consider the environmental
e all need to eat and impacts associated with our
that means we have to food systems. Food waste
find and acquire food, either releases 3.3 billion tons of
by shopping, farming, glean- CO2 into the atmosphere
ing or hunting and gathering. every year, or about 1,000
But between the time our tons per minute. As for land
food goes from the field to use, every year about 1.4 bil-
our fork, there’s an enormous lion hectares of arable land
amount of waste generated. — the size of the U.S., India
Americans waste 150,000 and Egypt combined — are
tons of food each day, which committed to food that will
is equal to the weight of a not be eaten. Let’s not for-
small sedan being thrown get about the pressure food
away every second.
production puts on water
Currently, there are nearly resources. A quarter of our
a billion hungry and mal- global freshwater is lost un-
nourished people world- necessarily to growing and
wide. Sadly, over a third of processing our food.
our food is wasted, even
Why are we wasting so
though we produce more much food? In North Amer-
than enough food to feed ev- ica, it all starts at the farm
eryone.
with 17% of food grown be-
W
ing rejected for size, appear-
ance or damage. Additional-
ly, there are production and
storage issues, with 16% of
food lost during processing
and distribution, much of it
occurring when supermar-
kets and fast-food restau-
rants reject delivery.
About 20% of household
food waste is caused by the
lack of label standardization,
where foods get thrown away
because of inconsistent date
labels and perceived short
shelf life of foods. But a lot
of waste is caused by con-
sumers not being mindful of
how much food waste they
generate.
Studies have found that
only 3% of respondents felt
guilty about throwing away
food compared to 74% who
would turn off lights and
55% who would turn down
heat to save energy and mon-
ey. The low stigma to food
waste and lack of perceived
value to saving food does not
encourage a personal food
waste reduction habit.
As shoppers, we often
don’t make shopping lists,
we tend to buy more than
we need and we impulse buy.
We forget about what is in
our fridge and we don’t think
about “leftovers” or re-pur-
posing food. Maybe it’s just
a lack of awareness about
the fact that rotting food in
landfills is a major driver of
climate change.
Whatever the reason may
be, statistics show that pre-
venting food waste has a far
greater potential to reduce
environmental impact than
recovery methods such as
composting and anaerobic
digestion. With that said,
if you are a die hard home
composter (or even if you are
new to composting) please
keep it up! It is an economi-
cal and effective way to recy-
cle and reuse your own food
waste.
So, because the best ap-
proach to reducing food
waste is not to create it in the
first place, here are some tips
to keep our unwanted food
out of the landfill:
• Be a smart shopper and
plan your meals and shop-
ping list.
• Buy ugly fruit and veg-
gies so the stores don’t have
to throw them away.
• Eat your leftovers and
re-purpose your food. Be
creative with what you al-
ready have at home.
• Know how to store your
food properly in the fridge,
pantry or freezer.
• Pay attention to what you
are throwing away and adjust
your buying habits accord-
ingly.
• Pay attention to your
portion size — at home (use
smaller plates) and at restau-
rants (split an entree).
• Donate what you know
you can’t use to food banks
and soup kitchens.
More tips and ideas can
be found at www.eatsmart-
wasteless.tips brought to you
by Lane County Waste Man-
agement. Find additional
information at savethefood.
com and stopfoodwaste.org.
Got ideas for future arti-
cles? Need more information
about closing the loop? Have
questions about your recy-
cling efforts? Please contact
me at britte.kirsch@gmail.
com or visit Waste Wise Lane
County.
Pastor’s Corner — 2 Chron 20: The Battle Is Not Yours
By Pastor Logan Schultz
Florence Seventh Day
Adventist Church
Special to Siuslaw News
H
e was a powerful king.
His name was Je-
hoshaphat, King of Judah.
The Bible states that he had
1.1 million soldiers at his dis-
posal, as well as guarded and
fortified storage cities. Look-
ing at this man, it is obvious
that he was very capable and
ready for what the future
might throw at him. One
day, the king got news of an
approaching enemy army.
What the king does next
is worth an investigation.
Remember, Jehoshaphat
was a strong king. We as
well, have capabilities, re-
sources, intelligence and
strengths. We also have
various stresses, difficul-
ties, and trials that seem
to war against us. What
Jehoshaphat does though,
serves as an example of
how we can have victo-
ry in our life, no matter
LifeMed
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what we are going through.
This story is found in 2
Chronicles 20:1-30. Rath-
er than trusting in his own
strength, the king’s first ac-
tion is to pray to the Lord.
The Lord answers in an
interesting way. He says,
“Don’t be afraid of this large
army; for the battle is not
yours, but God’s. You will
not need to fight in this bat-
tle, stand still, and see the
salvation of the Lord who
is with you. Go out and
stand before them. I will
be with you” (2 Chronicles
20:15,17).
Now, the king has a
choice: stay in his guarded
city or go stand before the
enemy, completely vulnera-
ble, yet obeying the Lord.
He chooses to not only
obey, but he and his people
decide to sing songs of praise
for a promise of victory that
has not happened yet! They
stand before the enemy with
their only defense being the
promises of God.
They don’t know how the
Submit your community, arts,
entertainment and other events to
Editor@TheSiuslawNews.com
Hoberg’s
Complete Auto Repair
www.hobergsautorepair.com
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Offere
complete. God’s people are
saved!
What battles do you face
in your life? We face a diffi-
cult world with perplexing
issues. The Bible, however,
gives us just the example we
need when going through
difficulty. Remember to
pray, claim God’s promises
for you, praise Him for his
power to deliver, and finally,
stand still and see the salva-
tion of the Lord who is with
you. For the battle is not
yours but God’s!
Six local pastors will be
participating in the Pastor’s
Corner. Look for other Flor-
ence-area church leadership
in future editions of Siuslaw
News’ Community Voices.
Cel
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Lord might deliver them.
They just know that He will.
As the story goes, the
enemy rushes to destroy
Jehoshaphat and his peo-
ple. The people stand still
as God has commanded.
They have prayed, claimed
God’s promises, and praised
Him for a victory they be-
lieve will come. The people
watch in amazement as the
Lord honors their faith and
obedience. He confuses the
enemy warriors. They turn
upon each other until the
massive army is completely
obliterated.
It takes the king and his
people 3 days to gather
all the treasure left on the
battlefield. The victory is
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Come Join
Youth Cheer Camp
Grades 1-8
July 19th-23rd
8am-12pm
They will learn cheers, dances, earn bows,
shirts and be able to perform at
our fi rst home football game during half time.
We are fundraising for new uniforms,
new warm ups, travel fees, competition fees,
new signs, new gear for games and competitions.
Watch the Siuslaw News for more
fundraisers to come this summer.
We are always accepting cans and
bottles as well. For more information
email Siuslaw Cheer Coach
Teri Straley at
tstraley@siuslaw.k12.or.us