I Pediatric Pointers I
by Dr. Joey Bell, Pembroke Pediatrics
A seizure is the sudden rapid firing of electrical signals in the brain. Seizures
may lead to temporary loss of consciousness, abnormal muscular movements,
behavioral and emotional abnormalities, or loss of control ol bowel
and bladder functions. Infants, children, and adolescents are at greatest risk ot
havingseizures. There are primarily two ty pes of seizure- generalized seizures
and partial seizures. Generalized seizures involve the whole brain while
partial seizures involve only a part of the brain.
Behaviors seen with generalized seizures include muscle jerking and increased
muscle tone. Some behaviors common to partial seizures include lip
smacking, chewing, swallowing, excessive salivation, and picking and pulling
at clothing. A child who has had a seizure mav be able to tell his parent
and the health care provider w hether or not he experienced an "aura" tsuch as
stomach discomfort, a feeling of fear, or an unpleasant sensation) before the
onset of the seizure.
The cause of most seizures in children remains unknown. The sudden onset
of a seizure may result form a head injury , infection, brain tumor, or certain
genetic/hereditary disorders. Lack of oxy gen to the brain near the time of
birth is the most common cause of seizures in the new born.
It is important to protect the child from accidentally injuring himself during
a seizure. Any child who has had a seizure should be examined by a health
care provider. An electroencephalogram (EEG)may be performed to look for
characteristic changes in brain waves associated with particular types' of seizures.
Many children who have a single seizure do not experience recurrent seizures.
Having a single seizure does not mean that a child has epilepsy. Epilepsy
is a condition in which seizures unrelated to fever (nonfebrile) recur
overtime. Partial seizures are the most common form of epilepsy in children.
Treatment of epilepsy normally includes the use of anticonvulsant medications
when two or more nonfebrile seizures occur within a 6- to 12- month
period. If a child's seizures are completely controlled by medication for a
period of approximately 2 years, the health care provider along with the parents
may consider carefully weaning the child from anticonvulsants. The most
vulnerable time for seizures to recur is during the initial 6 months after anticonvulsant
medication is stopped.
For most children with epilepsy, seizures are well-controlled with the use of
medication and they can be expected to lead normal lives. Knowledge of first
aid by family members and others who will be around the child is important so
that effective treatment can be initiated quickly if a seizure occurs. Teachers
need to be made aware of the child's epilepsy. Children with epilepsy should
be encouraged to participate in all of their usual activities. The Epilepsy Foundation
of America and local meetings of epilepsy organizations along withthe
child's health care provider are available to help parents and children diagnosed
with epilepsy.
Reflections by Alt* Nye Oxendlne
MY 74TH BIRTHDAY
Last week Aundrea and I took.her sister back to the Chapel Hill hospital
where Sophia was airlifted last fall. Afterthe trauma surgeon checked out her
x-rays, and the leg where he had done the most recent surgery, we paused for
a few minutes at the gift shop. (Although I love to look around and 'window
shop' in that pleasant little nook. 1 had not planned to buy anything.)
But 1 did. a birthday present FROM me. TO me!
It's a key 'chain' to wear around the neck. When I saw other wcmen wearing
them, it seemed like a very good idea for anyone who spends as much time as
I do searching for keys on every trip.
What sold me TH IS time was the white lettering stitched on a Carolina blue
background, UNC TAR HEELS.
Other times this year when we've been in the hospitals' area of the Chapel
Hill campus I've been reminded of the two years Donny spent there.
Now I'll have a positive reminder of my special first son, my very first child.
(Of course, each of my three proved to be unique and extra special in a number
of ways.) Perhaps I'll be able to find something to commemorate that fact for
Gordon and their daddy. Fortunately. I can see. talk with, and give my daughter
a hug on a daily basis. But I want to go back to carrying pictures of her. her
husband and their Byron, as well the other three, again.
Doing special things over the past 21 years to reinforce positive memories
of each of those family members we "lost" has played a tremendous role in
healing my emotions. Thanks to people who suggested things like the
memorial window in the original First Methodist "League Room" fellowship
hall.
Especially since the people of this community have showered me with so
much of their love all this time, I feel that I must pass on to others suggestions
that have really worked for me. This is the main reason I keep writing about
them three or four times each year.
In several recent columns I've mentioned the stages of grief each of us needs
to go through. I wanted to emphasize the fact that it takes a LONG time (in some
cases a very long time) to go through all the stages and be able to proceed with
our lives. Some people have even expected the persons who are left here to
get through their grieving in a month or two. Impossible!
Others allow a whole six months. Impossible! I'm sure even a year is not
enough time for most of us. (If you are an impatient onlooker, just wait until
it's YOUR TURN to go through this.) Many people get stunted in their ability
to live a normal life because of skipping parts of the healing process.
One very important part of the process that I forgot last time is dealing with
GUILT and regrets. It looks to me as though the only "survivors" who do NOT
have to deal with regret are those who have already spent months or years
openly inter-acting in a positive way with a loved one who, they already know,
is in the process of getting ready to die. After our family's accident I found
myself envying families who have a chance to get things settled ahead of time.
Not only did my boys and I not take the time to say "good-bye" as they left for
the Farmers' Market. We had not been communicating all that well on a dayto-day
basis.
I sometimes wonder if we would have learned to do more positive communicating
IF they had made it past the teen years to a stage of life where the older
generation could be viewed more nearly as friends who were really on their
side. I felt like we hadn't finished our relationship, like it just got chopped in
two during one of the stages when it was hardest to understand each another.
If Dr. O'Brien, my first counselor, had not suggested that I write a letter to
each of my boys and to my husband. I don't know WHERE I WOULD BE BY
NOW! (I wrote lots of letters!) I had to get those depressing feelings OUT
of me. even if I could not really DELIVER any message to them!
PRETENDING I was talking to them helped me so much!
I've also had to deal with questions about some negative things they had
each said to me. Along with letter-writing, through these years God has helped
me to gradually forgive THEM, as well as to better understand where they must
have been coming from. AND (with my daughter's help) to forgive MYSELF!
What a wonderful relief!!!
Sleep deprived Americans
hew a 7t% Hpfeer Peatt rate.
A lack of sleep can cause marital strife,
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California Department of Health statistics
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WWWW?W*<ih<?WWlUm. Sleep problems
put drivers at risk for mlcrosleeps. Uncontrollable waves of fatigue
where you nod off at the wheel. Each year drowsy drivers cause
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Injuring another 71,000."
SIMP Mf It aVaiMMe. New treatments are helping millions
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Searcff for Truth
^ ^^^^byElderJoseph Buljard ==}*
A DIET FOR GROWN-UPS
Grown men can take solid food; their perceptions are trained
by long use to discriminate between good and evil. Heb. 5:14,
N.F..B.
In wruing the lx x ik n| Hehtcws, I*,1111 was coutettied that the
ones to whom he wrote, w hen thes ought 10 he teachers were set
themselves needing to he taught again the ABC's of the gospel
I lies hadn't taken adv antage of then opportunities to "grow in
the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
In the early church the apostles went from cits to city, raising
up companies o( believers. When a tompanv was sufficiently
strong it was organized into a church, with elders and deacons
who looked after the spiritual welfare of the church. Then the
apostle moved 011 to anothei field of labor. Hut as the church
became more settled, emphasis on evangelism faded and church
members began expecting thore of their bishop's time.
In the early days of the Seventh-dav Adventist Movement,
churches were more 01 less autonomous, served by their locallv
elected officers. Evangelists made a circuit of the towns in their
district; the work of shepherding the church members was done
by the local church officers. Now, again, we are seeing a tendency
for ministers to hover over their churches, to the detriment
of unreached communities.
Part of the responsibility lies on the minister who feels more
at home with his own people and ill at ease looking for lost
sheep. And part of the responsibility lies with those church
members who, instead of growing in grace, demand more and
more of their minister's time. New members need to be visited,
along with the sick and shut-in. Members of experience should
be aiding in this work, rather than requiring visitation themselves
to strengthen their faith, assuage hurt feelings, and so on.
"If nine tenths of the effort that has been put forth for those
who know the truth had been put forth for those who have
never heard the truth, how much greater would have been the
advancement made!"?Testimonies, vol. 7. p. 18.
How are things in your church? Or rather, what is yoXtr
relationship to the gospel? Are you part of the problem, or part
of the solution? Is your faith so well grounded that you can help
your brother? Are you feeding on solid food or are you still in
the milk stage? The latter would lie expected of a new believer,
but no one wants to stay there always.
" From the Desk of the ~ v
Superintendent j
by Dr. Barry Harding, Public Schools of Robeson County
The S100,000 grant received by South Robeson High School from BellSouth
a couple of weeks ago was something that has the potential of having a great
effect by providing funds to help in the recruitment and retention of quality
teachers for.thejcnool. Almost as important as the grant is the fact that jt is
hoped that what this company has done for us will encourage other large companies
to follow its lead and provide similar grants to aid in the improvement
of education not just at South Robeson but at some of our other schools which
may need the help that such grants can provide.
For now, though, we are pleased with what the BellSouth grant will allow us
to do. With the shortage of teachers across the country, the grant may be able
to provide us with financial incentives that can be used to recruit capable and
well-trained teachers in areas of expertise that are pressingly needed. Beyond
that, the grant provides funds which can be used to encourage teachers to stay
in the system by .providing economic benefits to those who complete five
years of exemplary service at the school or who earn National Board Certification
within three years.
In addition to providing us with an important tool to obtain and retain teachers,
the money can also be used to help those teachers to take part in workshops
and other ways to improve their teaching abilities thus contributing to
the improvement of the educational process at South Robeson.
Since implementing programs that support quality teaching and increased
student achievement often require equipment, materials and supplies that cost
money which might not otherwise be available, the grant funds can likewise
be used for them. Each teacher, for example, would have funds to use in his or
her classroom.
Besides the money provided in the grant by BellSouth, the company also
proposes to provide their personnel to work with South Robeson to see how
they might be able to provide volunteer resources to the school. Additionally,
the company would work with the school administration to see what leadership
programs BellSouth might have that could be made available to support
the school's goals and objectives.
So you can readily see that, while money is what initially catches your attention,
the additional features offered by the BellSouth Quality Teaching Fund
have the potential to contribute even more to any achievements that the school
might accomplish.
When I first got involved in working to obtain the BellSouth grant, 1 had in
mind what I referred to early in this article - as seeking out other large firms
which could become our partners in education. Having a Fortune 500 firm
such as BellSouth becoming our first such partner gives me encouragement
that others may follow when they see the value to our county of helping young
people come out of high school better prepared to take their place in a more
technically advanced workplace.
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Book on Indian basketball
nearing publication date...
As many of you know, Tim Brayboy and Bruce Barton have
been working on a book about Indian basketball in Robeson & adjoining
counties for some time. And the end is in sight. _
They expect to present the book at the second annual meeting of
the Indian Basketball Alumni Association, Inc. at the Indian Education
Resource Center (located in the old "Indian" Pembroke High School
building), next door to the UNC-Pembroke chancellor's residence. The
meeting will be held tentatively on December 13, 2001, beginning at 7
p.m. Hope to see you there. More information will be forthcoming in
the next few days and weeks. The name of the book is:
PLAYING BEFORE AN OVERFLOW CROWD.
The story of Indian basketball in Robeson
& adioinine counties between 1939-1967.
The book, now about 90% complete, is a history of
"Indian" basketball in Robeson as we remember it.
Information is scant, but it was a time of rank segregation
although positive currents emanated from the
unique social incubator and experiment. The book explores
what happened, where it happened, when, how,
who, and, most importantly, WHY?
Also, what valuable lessons can be learnedfrom this
special moment in time?
TO RESERVE A COPY, fill in the blanks and send it to
Indian Basketball Book, c/o Bruce Barton, Post Office
Box 362, Pembroke, N.C. 28372. Or call 910-521-2054
for more information. We also welcome old "Indian"
basketball photographs and memories.
Name
Address
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