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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 5, 2019)
BlueMountainEagle.com COMMUNITY Wednesday, June 5, 2019 A7 Community HEALTH BEAT WHAT’S HAPPENING The deadline for What’s Happening items is 5 p.m. Friday. Call the Eagle, 541-575-0710, or email editor@bmeagle. com. For meetings this week, see our list in the classifi eds. Wednesday, June 5 Grant County Senior Citizens Advisory Council semi-annual meeting • 11 a.m., Prairie City Senior Center New members of the council appointed by the Grant County Court will be introduced. Bylaws will be reviewed and approved. Offi cers will be elected. Council members may propose new business items. The public is welcome. For more information, contact Frances Preston, 541-820-4463. Fused glass class • 6 p.m., Grant Union art room Participants will learn basic glass fusing techniques and will make four to six items each. Materials and equipment are included, and the cost is $45. Class size is limited, so preregistration is required. For more information or to reg- ister, contact JJ Collier at 541-575-1799, ext. 36, or call 541-980-4258. Friday, June 7 First Friday poker walk • 6-9 p.m., downtown John Day Prizes will be given for the best and worst hands. Spe- cial deals and refreshments will be available at participating businesses. For more information, visit the Downtown John Day First Friday Facebook page. Friday-Saturday, June 7-8 ‘62 Days Celebration • 4 p.m. Friday • 7 a.m. Saturday • Canyon City The annual celebration of the discovery of gold fea- tures a variety of events. On June 7, vendors will set up throughout the day; Sels Brewery opens at 4 p.m. or ear- lier; Copper Ridge performs music at 9 p.m. On June 8, breakfast starts at 7 a.m. at Mabel’s Cafe; the Gold Rush Run and Walk starts at 7 a.m.; the parade begins at 11 a.m., with registration beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the Humbolt School parking lot; other events start after the parade, including children’s activities, bed races and an ice cream social; a simulated gun fi ght and hanging takes place at 2 p.m. in front of Sels; and Copper Ridge per- forms at 9 p.m. The Grant County Historical Museum will offer tours at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. with an Oliver Milk Wagon presentation at 10:30 a.m., Ameri- can fi ddle tunes at 2:30 p.m., a Cy Bingham enactment at 3 p.m. and an Annie Luce enactment at 3:15 p.m.; for tour reservations, call 541-575-0362 or stop by the museum. The People Mover will provide transportation every half hour in the paved area by the park. For more information, call 541-575-0329 or email whiskeygulchgang@gmail. com. For more information on the parade, call Melissa Galbreath at 541-620-0898. Frontier Writers’ Rendezvous • 4-7:30 p.m. Friday • 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday • Canyon City Community Hall Workshops will be offered on writing, publishing and more with readings by 12 authors, a book fair and pub- lisher’s representatives both days. The event is open to the public. For more information, contact Dave Driscoll at 248-719-2122 or driscolldg@gmail.com or visit ore- gonguidespublishing.com/fwc. Saturday, June 8 Gold Rush 5K Run/Walk • 8 a.m., Sel’s Brewery, Canyon City Sponsored by the Strawberry Striders and Whiskey Gulch Gang, in conjunction with the ‘62 Days Celebration, the race is 5,000 meters (3.1-miles), starting and fi nishing at Sels Brewery. Entry forms will be available at the Grant County Chamber of Commerce and online at gcoregonlive. com. To preregister, mail in or drop off the early $18 regis- tration fee with checks made to Strawberry Striders. Race- day registration is $20 from 7-7:45 a.m. For more informa- tion, call 541-575-0547 or 1-800-769-5664. Homebuying workshop • 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Umpqua Bank Umpqua Bank is sponsoring a workshop presented by Debbie MacBaker, housing resource manager of Commu- nity Connection of Northeast Oregon, with an additional session from 3-3:30 p.m. about individual development accounts and down-payment assistance. RSVP by June 6. For more information or to RSVP, call Susy McBride at 541- 963-3186 or email susy@ccno.org. Saturday-Sunday, June 8-9 Magone Lake trail work weekend • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Magone Lake A community build will take place for new mountain bike trails. Tools will be provided. Bring lunches, snacks, water, gloves, long pants, long-sleeved shirts and weather-suit- able items. Children must be supervised. Free camping is offered at the Magone Lake group site on Friday and Satur- day nights. For more information or to sign up, visit bmlt. org/events. Quality Healthcare Close To Home 170 Ford Road, John Day • 541-575-1311 • www.bluemountainhospital.org June is Cataract Awareness Month By Dr. David Archibald Optometrist, John Day Eye Care As an optometrist, patients often express to me that one of their greatest fears in life is to go blind. Fortunately for most of us, legal blindness will not happen in our lifetime. However, the majority of us will experience some decreased visual performance due to aging. As we age into our 60s and beyond we will develop the eye condition called cataracts. In my experience, cataracts are one of the top two causes of vision loss related to aging. So what exactly is a cataract? The human eye is born with a natural lens, positioned inside and directly behind the iris (the structure that we use to classify eyes being blue or brown). A cataract is a condition where the lens inside of the eye loses clarity. Cataracts can be defined as any abnormal opacity in the natural lens. So what does a cataract do to light transmission? Cataracts cause light to become distorted and it loses the potential to be properly focused. Many of us who have worn glasses or sunglasses have experienced poor vision when the lenses become smudged, dirty or damaged. Light will not transmit clearly through those damaged plastic or glass lenses. Natural lenses in people under age 50 are typically very clear, and transmit focused light very well. As we age, these natural lenses actually grow thicker and become denser each year of our life. As the maturing occurs, the biology of the natural lens is affected. This biological change can result in the lenses becoming more cloudy, opaque, developing yellow or brown pigment, or even sometimes spots appear similar to a pair of dirty spectacle lenses. These developments for most people happen gradually. Some people will notice glare, difficulty with night driving, halos around lights, or difficulty reading small print. However, due to the gradual slow changes many people are unaware that they have cataracts. So what can be done about cataracts? Luckily, we live in a day and age where cataract surgery is performed as an outpatient and routine surgical procedure. Modern cataract surgery is performed without general anesthesia and completed within 10-15 minutes. Patients typically report no significant pain or discomfort. They are awake during the surgery in order to assist in following the surgeon’s directions. Many patients express apprehension thinking about having surgery done to their eyes. Fortunately, during the entire surgery patients typically only see a blurry fixation light and are unable to detect exactly what is occurring in their eye. To aid with anxiety most surgeons relax patients with medication to help them stay calm. As I visit with patients for post-op care, the majority express that the experience was much easier than anticipated and they usually look forward to having a second procedure on their other eye. So what exactly does the surgeon do? The natural lens of your eye performs a critical function of focusing light. As a surgeon removes the cataract lens in surgery, it needs to have an artificial lens replacement put in the eye. Without any lens in the eye, it would be left severely out of focus. So a surgeon uses very small incisions (typically less than 3mm in size) to insert tools that remove the cataract lens. Other surgical tools inject a collapsible artificial implant lens. The new plastic implant lens remains in the eye permanently. It is specifically powered to give each patient’s eye the best natural focus possible. There are some different types of lenses available in modern eye surgery. The most common implant lens has one focus power and we call it a monofocal lens. Typically it is calculated to set the eye’s focus for long distance vision. This situation results in people using reading glasses or bifocal spectacles for near vision demands. There are other more specialized implant lenses as well. What is the recovery from cataract surgery like? Recovery from cataract surgery normally consists of using medication drops and protecting the eye from physical stress or trauma over three weeks. There are typically two or three post-op visits to ensure normal recovery and a new assessment for glasses needs. Within just a few days most patients have an obvious improvement in vision clarity; many patients even report it the same day of surgery. How can I get cataract surgery in Grant County? We are very fortunate in Grant County to have an ophthalmologist, Mitch Brinks, M.D., M.P.H., visit Blue Mountain Hospital and John Day Eye Care every one to two months to provide cataract surgery. He travels from his full-time employment at OHSU to our county. I have been impressed by the individualized care and attention to detail that Dr. Brinks provides. Dr. Brinks performs surgery in the surgical suite at Blue Mountain Hospital. Patients are then able to stay close to home as they can have surgery at our hospital and all pre-op and post-op visits at John Day Eye Care. If you have any questions about your eyes or think you may have cataracts, feel free to call John Day Eye Care to schedule an eye exam 541-575-1819. Medicare and other health insurance plans do cover eye care for eye disease such as cataracts. Further details regarding insurance coverage can be explained by calling the eye clinic. JUNE VISITING SPECIALISTS June 12, 25: Bend Cardio - Dr. McLellan June 13: Bend Ortho - Dr Lilley June 3, 24: Baker Podiatrist - Dr. Rushton Wednesday, June 12 Grant County Art Association meeting 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Church of the Nazarene annex Painting, drawing and sketching will be followed by the regular meeting that begins at 11:30 a.m. and lasts approxi- mately 30-40 minutes. For more information, call Eloise at 541-987-2138 or Mary at 341-575-0911. Bark planning area pre-scoping meeting • 4-6 p.m., John Day Forest Service offi ce, Juniper Hall Malheur National Forest offi cials are seeking feedback on developing a proposed action for landscape restoration on the 84,000-acre Bark planning area, 13 miles southwest of John Day. The team will be available to share information and answer questions about the proposed project. An infor- mation packet will be available by June 12 at fs.usda.gov/ projects/malheur/landmanagement/projects. For more infor- mation, contact Bethany Parker at bethany.parker@usda.gov or 541-575-3187. Arlita Arnett was born on March 19, 1940 in Mt. Vernon, Oregon to Herman and Josephine Smith. She has two brothers, Gary and Norbert. On June 11, 1959, she married Jerry Arnett and they had four children, Kevin, Mark, Marlene and Joanna. They were raised here in Grant County, in Mt. Vernon and Canyon City. Arlita worked as a waitress and bartender. She has traveled to Washington, Idaho, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, Colorado and, her favorite, Hawaii. Blue Mountain Care Center Resident of the Month ARLITA ARNETT Arlita enjoys crocheting, gardening, puzzles, puzzle books, reading romance novels, baking, cooking and fishing. Arlita came to the Blue Mountain Care Center on August 1, 2018. 125245