8A | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS
Community Voices
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.
Moral of the Story — Fond Christmas Memories
By Karen D. Nichols
Author and Artist
Special to Siuslaw News
This is the time of the year
when many of us think back
fondly of past Christmas
seasons. I am no exception.
When I was a child, we
attended church on Christ-
mas Eve. However, Dad al-
ways had to go back in the
house for something before
leaving. Then Santa would
arrive while we worshipped.
One year, when I told
Santa I wanted, Mom said,
“That is too much for Santa
to bring.”
But, when I awoke on
Christmas morning, there
it was, topped with a big red
bow — a beautiful pram and
homemade blankets wrap-
ping a baby doll that needed
diapers when you put water
in the bottle. “All I Want for
Christmas is my Two Front
Teeth” played just for me.
One year, Dad took old
bike parts (a boy’s model),
assembled them, painted
them purple, and added
new tires. I thought it was
perfect since I was a tomboy.
I loved swinging my leg over
just like Calvin, my brother.
Part of the build-up for
Christmas was baking.
Since we didn’t have a lot
of money, the goods were
also gifts. Mom and I rolled
out sugar cookies, cut them
out, then invited Calvin to
decorate with sprinkles. He
made sure sprinkles landed
everywhere!
Then we made Ginger-
bread Boys with Red Hots
and white frosting.
Fruit cake? Well, there’s
good reason to joke about
fruit cake. After all that
work, I had to eat at least
one bite, thoroughly washed
away with milk.
Mom always made a
Christmas dress for me. The
green velvet and the blue
taffeta remain my favorites.
She even managed to get the
cocoa stain off the blue one!
The year of the blue taf-
feta brought three miracles.
On a church Christmas
trip, I ruined my brand
new, patent leather Mary
Jane shoes in the snow (my
first shoes ever that weren’t
corrective).
They were the only size
7 AAA shoes in town. But
since I received my first kiss
at Christmas camp and saw
it snow for the first time, I
could accept the loss of my
shoes.
Boy, was I surprised when
Mary Jane’s appeared under
the tree on Christmas Eve.
I didn’t have to wear cor-
rective shoes with my new
dress because Mom found
another pair!
As adults, the cherished
Christmas traditions have
continued.
Our children, Tina and
Jeff, also enjoyed the baking
custom. What a fun mess!
Making Christmas dec-
orations created part of the
joy. We decorated the Gin-
gerbread Boys, made chains
and strung popcorn for the
tree. We topped off the dec-
orations with red bows and
candy canes.
Then we got the puppy —
Brewster. He loved the tree
— a flavorful delight. After
cleaning up the mess, we
redid the tree.
We’ve even had Christ-
mas in Scotland.
We drove narrow roads
through herds of fat white
sheep without hitting any.
Then we checked into a
thatched-roof country inn.
Jeff married Tonya in a tiny
quaint church on the Island
of Skye. I had made the
girl’s fancy Victorian hats
for the themed wedding.
While the kilt-wearing
Scot played bagpipes, Jeff
and Ralph flipped down
the aisle in their morning
suits, tails a flappin’ with
the bride and bridesmaids
following. With the couple
off on their honeymoon, we
toured castles and searched
for the Loch Ness monster.
When we arrived in Flor-
ence just before Christmas
2005, with all our boxes
cramming our new house,
our neighbor suggested
we have a party and invite
her friends. This is an in-
novative way to meet new
friends when you know no
one! It was also a fabulous
way to make you speedy in
unpacking everything you
own and putting it away in
just two weeks.
It was like Christmas
morning opening all the
boxes when we had ev-
erything in storage for six
months.
Moral of the Story: Make
merry whenever, wherever
and as often as you can. And
maybe that means sharing
those Christmas memories.
Us TOO Florence — My Prostate Cancer Journey Continues ...
By Bob Horney
Prostate Cancer Survivor
Us Too Chapter Leader
Special to Siuslaw News
As I left you last month,
I had just set up a TeleMed
appointment with Dr.
McKimmy. The date of the
appointment was Nov.4 at
8:30 a.m. I went into the
appointment with one goal
— convince Dr. McKimmy
that Botox (in my case) was
“one and done” and it was
time to move on to a Su-
prapubic Catheter (SPC).
We ended the appointment
with Dr. McKimmy advis-
ing me that I would be con-
tacted by a staff member to
get the process moving.
So, I now have an early
Christmas present waiting
in the wings on Dec. 22.
Now, “I” am the kid waiting
anxiously for Christmas to
arrive, but for me it might
mean sleeping through the
night and missing the mid-
night arrival of Santa Claus.
That’s ok, just think of how
bright-eyed and bushy-
tailed I would be Christmas
morning!
Now, before anyone
looks at my Botox journey
and says, “Wow, what a ter-
rible procedure,” let me as-
sure everyone that there are
many individuals who have
benefited greatly from this
procedure and others who
will benefit in the future.
What I want is this: That
everyone keeps an open
mind about this proce-
dure and, if proposed as a
treatment, simply use my
journey/experience as in-
formation for consultative
discussion.
I believe my experience
has shown that my sphinc-
ter’s condition, “looks pret-
ty good, but is showing its
age,” doomed me from the
“get-go.” Even though the
Botox relaxed my blad-
der and quite effectively
stopped bladder spasms,
like a leaky faucet with a
washer that “looks pret-
ty good, but is showing
its age,” there was no way
to stop even the slight-
est amount of urine from
escaping
confinement.
Seemed like the bladder
was simply part of the pipe-
line rather than part of a
storage system because the
sphincter (faucet) could
not shut off the flow.
Another factor to consid-
er in my failed experience
is that I do a weekly (Sat-
urday), hour-long, 35-gram
home infusion of Gamma-
globulin and need to hy-
drate the day before and the
day of the infusion. Water
in — water out! My experi-
ence is that “water out” isn’t
reasonably complete until
at least Monday.
I have also complained of
it being so hard to totally
empty my bladder because
it was so relaxed. Even after
pushing as hard as I could,
invariably the sphincter
would get the last word by
emitting a drop/drops as
I reached down to pull up
my pants.
Now, looking forward to
this space for January 2022,
I want to accomplish two
things:
(1) I will do a short re-
port on my beginning jour-
ney with the SAC.
(2) This is where men
and women who have
had experience with Bo-
tox Bladder Injections can
share their experiences.
To the latter: I would sin-
cerely appreciate it if those
who have experienced this
procedure (both positive
and negative) would share
your individual experienc-
es with me to get published
in January. I absolutely will
not identify those who sub-
mit comments to me unless
they specifically instruct
me to do so.
I’m sure there are men
and women in our Flor-
ence community who have
reaped the benefit of this
procedure and I want to
get that information out for
everyone to read. All I’m
looking for are a few words:
Works great; Has changed
my life; Can’t believe the
difference it makes; etc.
However, you can give me
as much information as you
want.
For those men and wom-
en in our Florence commu-
nity who have had negative
experiences with this pro-
cedure, please share those,
because they would cer-
tainly add to the consulta-
tive discussion I mentioned
above.
Your information will
be particularly useful if
you can explain why Botox
didn’t work for you, such
as: Didn’t relax the bladder;
Injections hurt; Having to
repeat injections periodi-
cally; Couldn’t empty my
bladder; Urinary tract in-
fection; etc.
To get your informa-
tion to me, simply email
47maribob38@gmail.com
or call me at 541-999-4239.
I look forward to receiv-
ing your comments. Please
consider Jan. 5, 2022, as the
deadline for getting com-
ments to me.
ONE $25 FLOCAL GIFT CARD WINNER EVERYDAY
Holiday Shop Local Swe epstakes
with one grand prize winner who will receive $300 Flocal Gift Card!
The holiday season is here and the Siuslaw News, along with our sponsors Oregon Pacifi c Bank,
Kitchen Klutter and the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce, wants you and your family to shop
local and enter to win in our 10 Days of Giveaways contest!
Sponsored by:
Here is how it works:
Shop locally owned businesses between Wednesday, Dec. 8, through Friday, Dec. 24 — Christmas
Eve.
Bring your receipt to the Siuslaw News, 148 Maple St. in Historic Old Town Florence, or email a copy
to mberg@thesiuslawnews.com and you will be entered into the daily drawing for a $25 Flocal Gift
Card, plus the Grand Prize sweepstakes.
A winner will be announced every day between Dec. 13 and 24 (not including weekends) on this
page.
On Monday, Dec. 27, we will announce the grand prize winner who receives a $250 Flocal Gift Card!
Flocal Gift Cards can be used at variety of participating local businesses found online at https://
fl orencechamber.com/fl ocal/
Rules:
Receipts must be for a minimum purchase of $10.
Receipts must be from a locally owned or managed business in the Siuslaw Region.
Happy shopping!
..so much more than a kitchen store.
1258 Bay Street, Florence - 541-997-6060