I suspect that elsewhere in this issue of The Highlander, there is a story or two about the very encouraging news regarding an imminent sale of Saddleback Ski Area to Arctaris Impact Fund based in Boston, so I am not going to dwell on that topic…right now at least.  But that doesn’t mean that I am not as upbeat about the prospect as most of you are.

However, I also know that we have been down this road before…sort of.  The major difference is that Arctaris is a well capitalized investment organization with very skilled and proven leaders at the top….as opposed to the Aussie organization that showed its true “smoke and mirrors” approach when its leader was tossed in an Australian jail for serious and proven fraud.  A very big difference, I’m sure you would agree.

Nonetheless, we will all certainly exhale with a large sigh of relief when the sale is finalized in mid-December and real plans and timelines begin to be shared with the Rangeley community.  This is a big reason for thankfulness during this upcoming Thanksgiving season.

It is certainly a time to be thankful for all that is positive with respect to the most important focal points in each of our lives,…our families are always #1:  Good health, good grades and other accomplishments in school and/or life in general, good fortune in sports activities, and so forth.

And speaking of sports on a broader level, Boston/New England professional sports teams are enjoying very good fortune right now.  I just had to share my photo of the standings for three of those sports as of this past Saturday, November 9th.  They were positioned side by side in a New York Times’ sports page…this, in a city that harbors serious rival teams in all of these currently active sports…and especially the one making its home in Fenway Park.  Thank goodness the Red Sox’ season is over….and we can focus on next year.  There is, of course, always the coming year and hopes for another “worst (almost) to first” season.  We have to believe that will happen again in 2020, right?  Hope doth spring eternal.

Evidence that New England sports fans have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season. (Thankfully, the Red Sox’ 2019 season is in the past) Allen Wicken

For me, the category of thankfulness that I have been thinking about the most for the past two or three weeks is related to a news story on National Public Radio (NPR) I heard one morning about a breakthrough combination of drugs that are proving to be a source of real hope (finally) for those young people with cystic fibrosis, upwards of 90% of those afflicted the report stated. The story struck me because the researcher who was being interviewed had the wavering sounds of true emotion in his voice.  I could relate to his excitement, just as any health professional who has worked with cystic fibrosis (CF) kids could also relate.

In the 17 years I directed the physical therapy division at Maine Medical Center, from 1975-1991, I and my staff worked hard to help many patient types with acute problems that were at times life-threatening.  Few patient categories (other than badly burned patients such as the firefighters who were recently injured in the horrific propane explosion in Farmington and sent to Maine Med), were more challenging to treat, and more in need our daily services, than the CF kids.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease whereby the carriers of the defective gene usually have no symptoms.  Children born with the defective gene combinations have a very serious complex of physical problems.  The most serious, and life threatening, lead to pulmonary (breathing) problems, usually infections of the lung tissue, that significantly impact the young patient’s lives.  When these infections become serious enough, they would be admitted to Maine Medical Center for management of the infections and especially their impact on basic effective breathing.   Physical therapists are key, via breathing exercises, positioning and other techniques to make their coughing most productive in clearing the mucous build-up in the lungs of these kids who are constantly struggling to breath and hence get the needed oxygen so their bodies can function.

In the early ‘80s, recognizing that our cardiopulmonary services needed to be strengthened due to the increasing complexity of the patients we were seeing with heart and/or lung conditions requiring a strong multi-disciplinary approach to be most successful in reaching the most positive outcomes possible,….and in the case of CF, the greatest longevity well into the teenage years.

In the early ‘80s, I saw the growing need to get approval for an experienced cardiopulmonary specialist physical therapist to lead our cardiopulmonary services.  That approval, with the help of the fine pulmonary medicine physicians, was granted, and I was able to recruit a very good clinical specialist to lead our services for a wide range of diagnoses involving breathing problems (to include, among others, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, most often related to chronic smoking).

Over time, a number of our PTs began focusing on lung problems as their chosen area of practice.  And with that, many became dedicated to working with the young CF patients who were admitted for very focused care to win the battle against yet another lung infection and its life-threatening consequences.  The frequent returns to the medical center resulted in a closeness by staff;… physicians, nurses, and physical therapists, with these kids.  It was a very human result.

Hence, even though it has been many years since my tenure at Maine Med, my being extremely heartened by that news report a couple of weeks ago regarding a medication development that gives true hope for these kids and their families was not surprising at all. I am very, very thankful for this breakthrough that has been the goal of those researchers for many years, dedicated to helping the children dealing with cystic fibrosis on a daily basis.

My interest in improving lung health in Maine continued years later.  I was asked to be on the Leadership Board of the Maine Lung Association for over a dozen very rewarding years from 2002-2016  (see photo).  It is a very effective organization that has raised millions of dollars over the years for lung health care in our state via the “Trek Across Maine” (a 3-day cycling event I have ridden five times, and was a volunteer staff member for at least as many more)… Thoughts of the many patients with breathing problems we treated at MMC were with me on each of those rides…especially those special CF kids who continued to fight for every breath, every day.

So, for this medical progress I am thankful as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches…also all the good things regarding our wonderful sons and their young families,…and of course, the very encouraging progress we all share regarding the prospective, and impressive, new owners of Saddleback and, of course, the positive impact the new ownership is sure to have on this very special Rangeley Region and its residents.

However, I guess we have to continue to keep in mind the insightful words of Yogi Berra: “It ain’t over ‘till its over”.  Finalization of the sale in mid-December WILL, I believe, then be a very welcome Christmas gift for this very special community!

We need to write, otherwise nobody will know who we are.                                                                  Garrison Keillor

I’ll be ridin’ shotgun, underneath the hot sun, feelin’ like a someone….                                                                                                                                               Pomplamoose

Per usual, your thoughts and comments are more than welcome.  Jot them down on a 3”x5” card and slip it inside the log door on our mudroom on the rockbound west shore of Gull Pond….or simply fire off an email to allenwicken@yahoo.com  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments are not available on this story.