Others Really Do Care

              Health/Medicine THE SHREVEPORT TIMES Sun.. Oct. 29,1978 3-E
Measuring blow
Twin Ryan Edison blows into a Wright
Peak Flow Meter to register in liters per
minute his ability to exhale air rapidly. The
needle's final movement will show his max-imum
ability or effort. (Times photos by
Langston McEachern) LSU medical student examines Rhonda Edison Dr. Bettina Hilman (left) and J. D. Patterson
...go over X-rays on double-screen viewer
Church houses clinic
Others really do care
By MADELYN ARTIBEE
Times Lifestyle Writer
"Your helping us shows that oth-ers
do care," the parents of 9-year-old
twins afflicted with cystic
fibrosis told the Rev. Kenneth Paul,
rector of The Church of the Holy
Cross Episcopal, recently.
"We CF families are so caught up
in the struggle of keeping our kids
healthy, making ends meet through
medical expenses, and trying to pro-vide
as normal as possible'a life for
our families, that sometimes we feel
'alone,'" said Chris Edison, father of
twins Rhonda and Ryan.
CF patients and their families
found they weren't alone in their
problems in July when Paul's con-gregants
agreed to house and aid the
outpatient cystic fibrosis program
for the Pediatrics Department of the
LSU Medical School in Shreveport
TRe clinic project was the first
adopted by the Holy Cross Communi-ty
Services Program set up to de-liver
personal, psychological, social
and spiritual services to individuals,
families or groups without regard for
religious affiliation, race or econom-ic
status.
In other projects since then, the
program has awarded one of two
one-year scholarships of $100 a
month to Louisiana Tech University
student Paul Willcox, the son of the
Rev. and Mrs. William A. Willcox,
and booked the Rev. Joseph Fletcher
to speak in the spring or 1979.
Fletcher, an Episcopal priest, is a
profesor of ethics at the University of
Virginia Medical School.
"With action at least begun on all
three projects, we have done some-thing
about all three service aims of
the program," Paul said. "I believe,
particularly through the clinic's use
of the building, the church is fulfill-ing
her purpose — to exist to serve in
whatever way she can."
The calm of a church
Cystic fibrosis clinic clients and
their relatives agree. They say,
"Where better can you get a sense of
calm than in a church situation."
"The building is so perfect for the
needs of both the patients and the
medical staff," Edison said. "Never
before have we had such comfort,
privacy, and quiet."
Prior to the clinic's movement to
the Holy Cross Community Service
Center adjacent to the church,
clients had no permanent "home" to
go to for treatment. They were
hopscotched around to sites, includ-ing
Schumpert Medical Center and a
local venereal disease clinic.
"It was all so cool, a cool transient
situation, and impersonal," the
young father said of the previous
situation. "The parents didn't get a
chance to know one another and they
had to cope with having very person-al
and private talks with physicians
in the hall.
"Then too, the children were
frightened in unfamiliar surround-ings
with constant traffic flow like in
a hospital situation. They had no
place to play between treatment
phases." As Edison made his com-ments,
the sound of his children's
laughter floated down the hall from
one of the service center's two rooms
designated as play areas. There was
no fright here. A platinum blonde
two-year-old client passed along "the
hall, cookie in hand, gleefully
munching on the treat made with
special MCT oil. She'd just emerged
from a refreshment room manned by
volunteers from the Eight and Forty
Club.
From Sunday School to therapy
Other of the center's nine rooms,
used on a regular basis for Sunday
school classes and religious educa-tion,
are transformed twice a month
into nurseries and conference, diet,
therapy and examining areas. In
addition, a sitting room is provided
for parents and relatives.
Many of the 55 families serviced
by the clinic travel long distances to
receive medical treatment, accord-ing
to Dr. Bettina Hilman, clinic
head. Some come from as far away
as Sulphur, Rayville and Monroe
within the state. Several are treated
from areas just over the Texas and
Arkansas lines. Because the clinic
treatment lasts several hours and
much time is often spent in transit to
the center, Edison said the visit can
be "a strain on parents and children
alike" and it's important "for the
children to be able to play freely
while parents wait comfortably."
"We feel that having such a nice
space for a clinic improves emo-tional
well-being and even helps the
all-important doctor-patient rela-tionship,"
he said.
The church has also provided the
clinic with over $600 in equipment
with the help of funds from a $250,000
donation made in August by two
congregants, Margaret Bollinger
and Mildred Tippett, to the church's
Community Services Endowment
Fund. Items, including a double view
X-ray box, scales and an examining
room screen, would have never been
afforded if it wasn't for the program,
according to Dr. Hilman. "What
donations we usually receive are
used directly for treatment of those
persons of low income, and none is
left for additional equipment," she
said.
Cystic fibrosis, an incurable genet-ic
disorder characterized by life-threatening
breathing problems and
often severe digestive problems, re-quires
extensive treatment at home
and through the clinic, including pos-tural
drainage and physical therapy,
medicinal masks, antibiotics and
digestive aids. Equipment to prolong
life and determine the progression of
the disease is expensive, according
to Mary McKinney, coordinator and
pulmonary technician for the clinic.
The clinic's patients, from age 0 to
32, require the use of everything
from scales, used in monitoring pos-sible
diet problems, to flow meters,
used in measuring in liters per
minute the ability of a child to exhale
air rapidly. Other treatment equip-ment
used as indicators of the
progression or recession of cystic
fibrosis are: a finger cast, the study
of which indicates the destruction of
lung tissue; caliphers, which meas-ure
the transverse and AP (anterior
and posterior) diameter of the chest
to discover the extent of airway
obstruction; and a Breon pirometer
to measure lung functions.
"In the past we only had the space
to do the studies that technically
needed to be done," Ms. McKinney
said. "Now we hope with the addi-tional
space we can provide the extra
free service of education for parents
and families through slides and
tapes on such things as bronchial
drainage."
The cystic fibrosis clinic is fulfill-ing
its work through the church's
center, according to Paul. And, in
doing so, it and the Community Ser-vice
Program are helping the church
"fulfill her mission in the world."