Gary Gute considers himself among the lucky ones.
In May 2010 Gute went to the doctor for what he thought was kidney stones. A CT scan revealed something else completely. Gute had a tumor on his pancreas. Further tests revealed the growth was an islet cell, or neuroendocrine, tumor --- the same kind of cancer Steve Jobs was diagnosed with in 2004 and died from earlier this month. Only about 5 percent of all pancreatic cancer diagnoses are islet cells, which are more slow-growing than the more common adenocarcinoma tumors, which are very aggressive and fast growing.
"I didn't have any symptoms. I am extraordinarily fortunate that it was picked up incidentally on that CAT scan," he said. Without that scan the tumor, which did not secrete any hormones, likely would have gone undetected for much longer. "There is no mechanism for screening the general population for pancreatic cancer. That's a big reason why the death rate is so high."
According to the National Cancer Institute the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is only 6 percent. And that hasn't changed in more than four decades, Gute said. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network was founded in 1999 to "advance research, support patients and create hope," according to the organization's website.
Gute and other local volunteers recently began working with the organization to develop a local chapter. The group meets four times a year to plan events and "get involved in the fight against pancreatic cancer," Gute said.
Ethan Fischer's knowledge of pancreatic cancer was limited to Randy Pausch and his infamous "last lecture" given at Carnegie Mellon University in 2007 just months before pancreatic cancer claimed his life. Then his father was diagnosed with the disease in November 2009. He died in February 2010.
"We searched the Internet and all indications were that it was a very serious form of cancer, but there was little known about it and little funding for research," said Fischer, who is working with Gute to organize the local support network. "I said I would do whatever I could to help with raising money and awareness."
2011年10月23日星期日
2011年8月28日星期日
Canyon textile artist inspired by nature
Bea von Allmen designs and sews eye-popping, classic-looking women’s clothing, makes elegant jewelry and sells produce grown on her Canyon farm. But it is her raku-fired bird heads, mounted on steel rods and adorned with gorgeous fabrics, that capture the imagination of her many admirers.
“I don’t like making people’s faces,” is her simple explanation of why she has become so enamoured with creating upright, human-like characters with long-beaked faces.
She and her husband, Ernst, moved to the Creston Valley 10 years ago from their home country of Switzerland. They longed for the space offered by the Canadian countryside and the chance to own property that would allow them to produce their own food and pursue their own creative passions. The Creston Valley, with its temperate climate, rich soil and close proximity to Kootenay Lake, was an easy choice once they saw fruit trees growing when they arrived from the east.
In Switzerland, von Allmen did clay work for 25 years, mainly for jewelry. She also worked with Ernst, who had an oriental rug business.
“But we always wanted to own a farm,” she said. “We wanted to grow our own food and have a better lifestyle. This valley had all the things that were on our wish list.”
The von Allmen farm is a warm and welcoming site. Located at 4341 Muzzy Road, it is a model of tidiness. Rows of firewood are stacked in an open shed, sorted according to species and log size. The completely renovated house boasts a clay workshop that becomes von Allmen’s studio and another basement studio where she sews. A spotless chicken coop is home to surprisingly content birds. Out back is a huge shop in which Ernst keeps busy with his many hobbies and projects. Last week, a long line of braced steel fence corner posts was in production. All were made with recycled steel, awaiting several coats of paint before Ernst undertakes a 1,300-foot fencing project that will allow the couple to pursue their next dream, landscaping the area around the house and protecting their gardens from the area’s abundant wildlife.
Creston has a four-season climate and the von Allmens revel in it, adjusting their activities to the weather. What serves as her gallery during the summer will revert to her clay studio in the winter, when she is more drawn to the physical activity of making and firing clay. When she isn’t working in the garden during the spring and summer months, she repairs to her above ground basement sewing studio, which is replete with framed old pages from a sewing magazine, open shelves of impeccably arranged bolts of cloth and a pair of comfy upholstered chairs brought from Switzerland.
“I don’t like to work in a messy space,” von Allmen said, pointing out the obvious. “Wherever I’m working I want to make it feel like a living space. So I always have chairs and art and maybe even an espresso machine in that space.”
In the winter, she said, “My clay shop is my sanctuary. To be creative I have to dig into my inner self, either in a workshop or out in nature.”
Visitors to the Creston Valley Farmers Market will be familiar with von Allmen’s elegant clothing displays and neatly arranged produce. But her clay bird and cat characters are reserved for display in galleries, including her own and Eileen Hirota’s (the pieces were a popular attraction in the now-closed Painted Turtle Gallery on Canyon Street).
“I dream of a fantasy or theme and then I work towards it,” she said in an effort to explain her latest series that features characters from an imaginary oriental marketplace. This year she has created several dozen pieces, including an alchemist, a silk trader, a jewel salesman, an oil sheikh, a prince, a bride-to-be and… well, you get the idea.
“I have had a lifelong passion for markets,” von Allmen explained. “In the old days, everyone looked forward to market day. Back then, markets were a necessity. They were the only place that people could sell, buy and trade. Vendors from near and far would meet a colourful mix of farmers, traders, salesmen, musicians, entertainers and buyers. Even the odd thief would sneak in!”
The oriental marketplace experience was inspired in part by a trip to Turkey when Ernst was still in the rug trade. And her fascination by markets extends into her participation in the local farmers market. She speaks of markets with passion and doesn’t measure her success in them in terms of sales.
“With markets you have to be patient as an artist and don’t expect to make sales,” she said. “Advertising fees is what I call the space rental. You have to give customers time to identify with your work and they want to get to know you, so continuity is the key. I started my artistic career by going to markets 30 years ago and I have had offers to exhibit in shows and galleries ever since.”
“I don’t like making people’s faces,” is her simple explanation of why she has become so enamoured with creating upright, human-like characters with long-beaked faces.
She and her husband, Ernst, moved to the Creston Valley 10 years ago from their home country of Switzerland. They longed for the space offered by the Canadian countryside and the chance to own property that would allow them to produce their own food and pursue their own creative passions. The Creston Valley, with its temperate climate, rich soil and close proximity to Kootenay Lake, was an easy choice once they saw fruit trees growing when they arrived from the east.
In Switzerland, von Allmen did clay work for 25 years, mainly for jewelry. She also worked with Ernst, who had an oriental rug business.
“But we always wanted to own a farm,” she said. “We wanted to grow our own food and have a better lifestyle. This valley had all the things that were on our wish list.”
The von Allmen farm is a warm and welcoming site. Located at 4341 Muzzy Road, it is a model of tidiness. Rows of firewood are stacked in an open shed, sorted according to species and log size. The completely renovated house boasts a clay workshop that becomes von Allmen’s studio and another basement studio where she sews. A spotless chicken coop is home to surprisingly content birds. Out back is a huge shop in which Ernst keeps busy with his many hobbies and projects. Last week, a long line of braced steel fence corner posts was in production. All were made with recycled steel, awaiting several coats of paint before Ernst undertakes a 1,300-foot fencing project that will allow the couple to pursue their next dream, landscaping the area around the house and protecting their gardens from the area’s abundant wildlife.
Creston has a four-season climate and the von Allmens revel in it, adjusting their activities to the weather. What serves as her gallery during the summer will revert to her clay studio in the winter, when she is more drawn to the physical activity of making and firing clay. When she isn’t working in the garden during the spring and summer months, she repairs to her above ground basement sewing studio, which is replete with framed old pages from a sewing magazine, open shelves of impeccably arranged bolts of cloth and a pair of comfy upholstered chairs brought from Switzerland.
“I don’t like to work in a messy space,” von Allmen said, pointing out the obvious. “Wherever I’m working I want to make it feel like a living space. So I always have chairs and art and maybe even an espresso machine in that space.”
In the winter, she said, “My clay shop is my sanctuary. To be creative I have to dig into my inner self, either in a workshop or out in nature.”
Visitors to the Creston Valley Farmers Market will be familiar with von Allmen’s elegant clothing displays and neatly arranged produce. But her clay bird and cat characters are reserved for display in galleries, including her own and Eileen Hirota’s (the pieces were a popular attraction in the now-closed Painted Turtle Gallery on Canyon Street).
“I dream of a fantasy or theme and then I work towards it,” she said in an effort to explain her latest series that features characters from an imaginary oriental marketplace. This year she has created several dozen pieces, including an alchemist, a silk trader, a jewel salesman, an oil sheikh, a prince, a bride-to-be and… well, you get the idea.
“I have had a lifelong passion for markets,” von Allmen explained. “In the old days, everyone looked forward to market day. Back then, markets were a necessity. They were the only place that people could sell, buy and trade. Vendors from near and far would meet a colourful mix of farmers, traders, salesmen, musicians, entertainers and buyers. Even the odd thief would sneak in!”
The oriental marketplace experience was inspired in part by a trip to Turkey when Ernst was still in the rug trade. And her fascination by markets extends into her participation in the local farmers market. She speaks of markets with passion and doesn’t measure her success in them in terms of sales.
“With markets you have to be patient as an artist and don’t expect to make sales,” she said. “Advertising fees is what I call the space rental. You have to give customers time to identify with your work and they want to get to know you, so continuity is the key. I started my artistic career by going to markets 30 years ago and I have had offers to exhibit in shows and galleries ever since.”
2011年6月19日星期日
10-year-old boy injured in ceiling collapse
A 10-year-old Palestinian boy sustained serious injuries on Saturday morning after concrete from the ceiling of a chicken coop outside their house located in the Dhafan area of Ras Al Khaimah collapsed on him. The boy was feeding chicken when the accident occured.
The boy, Abdul Rahman Obaid, was admitted to Saqr Hospital in an unconscious state.
Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Director of Saqr Hospital, said the boy sustained wounds on his head and fracture on his right leg. The wound on the boy’s head required nine stitches after which his fractured leg was operated upon, said Al Nuaimi.
The boy’s father said his son was in the chicken coop located outside their main house when parts of the ceiling collapsed and fell on him.
Family members who were in the main house heard Obaid screaming and shouting for help and they hurried to rescue him. Family members rushed the boy to the hospital.
According to the boy’s father, the rented house which is nearly 30 years old is in a dilapidated condition and needs thorough repair and maintenance.
He said he had on several occasions talked to the owner of the house to do maintenance work, but he has been reluctant to do so.
“I have sometimes hired men to do maintenance work on the cracked walls and ceiling, but the house is too old,” said the father.
He stressed that the landlord is not willing to pay for the maintenance work despite the fact that the house rent was hiked a couple of months ago.
Obaid’s father said this was the second incidence of ceiling collapse. Last year, parts of the kitchen ceiling had collapsed and had fallen on his wife as she was cooking.
The boy, Abdul Rahman Obaid, was admitted to Saqr Hospital in an unconscious state.
Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Director of Saqr Hospital, said the boy sustained wounds on his head and fracture on his right leg. The wound on the boy’s head required nine stitches after which his fractured leg was operated upon, said Al Nuaimi.
The boy’s father said his son was in the chicken coop located outside their main house when parts of the ceiling collapsed and fell on him.
Family members who were in the main house heard Obaid screaming and shouting for help and they hurried to rescue him. Family members rushed the boy to the hospital.
According to the boy’s father, the rented house which is nearly 30 years old is in a dilapidated condition and needs thorough repair and maintenance.
He said he had on several occasions talked to the owner of the house to do maintenance work, but he has been reluctant to do so.
“I have sometimes hired men to do maintenance work on the cracked walls and ceiling, but the house is too old,” said the father.
He stressed that the landlord is not willing to pay for the maintenance work despite the fact that the house rent was hiked a couple of months ago.
Obaid’s father said this was the second incidence of ceiling collapse. Last year, parts of the kitchen ceiling had collapsed and had fallen on his wife as she was cooking.
2011年4月6日星期三
Damage in Md. chicken coop fire estimated at $7 million
A team of fire investigators from the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office is combing through the ashes of a Cecil County chicken coop, trying to determine what caused Monday night's multimillion-dollar blaze at the egg producing plant.
Deputy State Fire Marshal Bruce Bouch said the 3-alarm fire at the ISE America egg processing plant at 605 Sassafras Road in Warwick, about a mile and a half from the Delaware line, destroyed about 220,000 chickens, each valued at $3.
The fire began at 7:20 p.m. Monday in the #2 chicken coop and quickly spread to two other 50-foot-by-530-foot coops before being brought under control by firefighters battling the flames and high wind conditions.
Bouch said the fire destroyed three coops and damaged a fourth chicken coop, which sustained heat damage.
Each coop was valued at $2 million.
The farm manager was alerted to the fire by a working high heat alarm system and called 911 when fire was seen coming from the #2 coop.
More than 100 firefighters from Kent and Cecil counties in Maryland as well as Delaware firefighters battled more than five hours to control. One Odessa firefighter was treated at Union Hospital in Elkton for a wrist injury and released.
Damage was estimated at $7 million, Bouch said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Deputy State Fire Marshal Bruce Bouch said the 3-alarm fire at the ISE America egg processing plant at 605 Sassafras Road in Warwick, about a mile and a half from the Delaware line, destroyed about 220,000 chickens, each valued at $3.
The fire began at 7:20 p.m. Monday in the #2 chicken coop and quickly spread to two other 50-foot-by-530-foot coops before being brought under control by firefighters battling the flames and high wind conditions.
Bouch said the fire destroyed three coops and damaged a fourth chicken coop, which sustained heat damage.
Each coop was valued at $2 million.
The farm manager was alerted to the fire by a working high heat alarm system and called 911 when fire was seen coming from the #2 coop.
More than 100 firefighters from Kent and Cecil counties in Maryland as well as Delaware firefighters battled more than five hours to control. One Odessa firefighter was treated at Union Hospital in Elkton for a wrist injury and released.
Damage was estimated at $7 million, Bouch said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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