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.
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