“Anticipating an ‘awesome’ birthday - Wilkes Barre Times-Leader” plus 1 more

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Anticipating an ‘awesome’ birthday - Wilkes Barre Times-Leader Posted: 26 Aug 2020 10:39 AM PDT As Mary Doyle's shirt explains, 'This is what an awesome 101 year old looks like.' She will turn 101 on Saturday. Mary Doyle of Harveys Lake, formerly of Pittston, and even once-upon-a-time from Niagara Falls, will turn 101 on Saturday. In honor of the occasion her granddaughter Amy Balent has given her a t-shirt that lets people know "This is what an awesome 101 year old looks like." If you'd like to know what an awesome 101 year old sounds like, too, well, as Doyle explained to a reporter on Tuesday, she's always been outspoken and honest, saying just what she thinks and "taking no baloney." For example, there was the time about six months ago when she went to Mass and the priest gently chided her because he heard she'd been doing volunteer work at a local soup kitchen. "He said, 'Mary, when are you going to realize you're 100 years old?' "I said, 'Back off, Father. I'm 100 and a half." Then there was the time she decided to stop visiting an arthritis specialist. "He had me coming every three weeks and I thought, what the devil? I told him 'I've got a plan. I'm discharging myself.' He said, 'But, Mary, I love to talk to you.' With my finger I poked him in the chest and said 'You know there's no cure and I know there's no cure. So I'm discharging myself.' " Her blunt manner isn't a recent development, Doyle said. She remembers the time she was 27, living in her hometown of Pittston, and resisting her mother's attempts at matchmaking. "My mother was in church, praying the rosary, and I was taking care of the altar linens. She said, 'Mrs. So-and-So wants you to meet her son.' I said, 'Maybe they match people up that way in Europe, but I'm not interested.' My mother said, 'But you're 27!' and I said, 'I don't care if I'm 37!' " Eventually, one of the young men from the neighborhood, Joseph P. Doyle (his middle name was Patrick but "He always told me the 'P' stood for 'prince.') made his own overtures and captured her heart. They had two children, Joe and Barbara, and lived in Niagara Falls for about 10 years. "My son just reminded me about the lady who was running with twins," Doyle said, recalling how a woman was hurrying to get her two second-grade boys to the neighborhood school in upstate New York, so she could quickly return to her elderly parents, who needed care. Realizing she could help, Doyle offered to walk the two little boys to school every day, home for lunch, and back for the afternoon session so their mother could stay with her parents. "Maybe that's why God is keeping me around. So I can do his work," she said. "I like to help people." "It's been an interesting life. I can't complain," she said, recalling a time when she worked in a cigar factory, packing 90,000 cigars a day for $45 a week, which was better than the blouse factory where she was paid 2 cents for every 100 shoulder pads she made. She survived a bout with cervical cancer when she was 48, lost her husband 18 years ago after his second stroke, and says life always has "its ups and downs." Explaining "I have no power in my hands," she said she can't cook and bake the way she used to but she still cleans. "I have to keep my blood and my muscles moving," said Doyle, who moved in with her daughter's family when she was 80. Mother of two, grandmother of seven and great-grandmother of six, Doyle says her family gives her joy. They also honored her 101st birthday in advance, with a party about two weeks ago. "They had tents out in the yard, and wouldn't tell me what they were doing out there," she said. The party was fun, though it was small-scale compared to last year's event, which Doyle remembers as "120 people at Newberry Estates, sweet mother of God!"

Safety never stops - Wilkes Barre Times-Leader Posted: 10 Aug 2020 12:00 AM PDT Life during the novel coronavirus pandemic has been difficult. Frankly, the combination of public health crisis and social isolation has been a lot for anyone to navigate with any sense of confidence or assurance. Throw in a laundry list of societal tensions and discord, and moments have been downright maddening. But we're resilient, and we're fighting, and we're working hard, and we're hopeful. And the silver lining in any time of great struggle is we're learning. What we have learned and will learn may very well change the way we live for the better. For instance, we know the transmission of a respiratory virus of this nature can be slowed by staying physically distant from others, wearing a mask over the mouth and nose whenever among others in public, and maintaining good hand and respiratory-tract hygiene. So, those practices will stay with us for a while, at least until the spread of COVD-19 has been controlled through the development and distribution of a viable vaccine. I say "at least" because if you take more than a moment to think about it, these are safety measures that could serve us well whenever we're in the middle of a particularly worrisome virus season. Being vigilant about these safety precautions during a deadlier-than-average flu season, for instance, could go a long way in protecting those in our communities who would be at higher risk for severe symptoms, complications or death. Before you take objection, I am not suggesting we wear masks wherever we go every day, even beyond the era of COVID-19. I'm simply pointing out that we know these tactics work. They've saved lives and could save many more in times like this and the spaces between. And the truly encouraging thing is, these are not the only things we've learned during COVID-19 that should stick with us going forward. You know that whole "if you're sick, you should stay home" recommendation? Well, that's something we should not stop taking heed of when we're no longer in the grips of a pandemic. Americans, by nature, are prone to working too hard. We feel almost obligated to be productive no matter the challenges, and we neglect to take care of ourselves. And just maybe, if we learned how to take sick days when they're necessary and stay home — not only to rest and get well but also to avoid infecting others — we might make flu and cold seasons easier, shorten the lives of those "office stomach bugs," and better prepare ourselves for the unforeseen infectious diseases of the future. You know what else is promising? Public health is not nearly the only discipline that has evolved during our current crisis. Hospitals and health systems have made gains in infrastructure. We've developed methods of screening and triaging patients that will help us manage future emergencies. The adaptations that were born out of necessity during COVID-19 will affect the way intensive care units respond to critical moments ahead of us. From the way we deliver care — via telemedicine these days far more than ever before — to the way we evaluate what procedures are truly necessary or emergent when other, environmental factors may be presenting more risk than a medical condition, we've improved the way we treat people when life isn't normal as we know it. Furthermore, we've tested and vetted methods of caring for patients that were experimental when COVID-19 reached our communities but have emerged as valuable and potentially lasting techniques in healthcare. We'll get back to this notion in coming weeks, but for now, stay safe, watch out for your loved ones and neighbors, wear your mask, wash your hands, and be well. Dr. Alfred Casale, a cardiothoracic surgeon, is chief medical officer for surgical services for Geisinger and chair of the Geisinger Heart Institute. Readers may write to him via [email protected]

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