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Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

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Mr. Deer Goes To Washington

In Health, Local News, National News, Opinion, Science, Technology, Uncategorized, World News on February 28, 2025 at 4:55 pm

Deer In Headlines II

By Gery Deer

According to the National Kidney Foundation, more than 20 million Americans are affected by renal (kidney) and urological conditions. It goes on to say that millions more, currently unaccounted for, are at risk. The causes range from congenital issues to diseases that affect the urological system.

I happen to be in the category of the former. In March, I’m joining a couple of hundred other patients, caregivers, and advocates to meet with congressional representatives about more support to care for, as I will explain in my case, adult patients with congenital urological conditions.

I was born with a rare condition known as bladder exstrophy. It affects about 40,000 people worldwide, and only a few specialty hospitals in the United States specialize in the predominantly pediatric component of treatment. As a child, I was treated in Dayton, Ohio, by some of the best pediatric surgeons in the country who were, it’s safe to say, figuring it out as they went. But they did a tremendous job, and here I am.

From just a few hours old, I was looked after by a contingent of physicians and specialists in what I’ve come to refer to as the “pediatric bubble.” My healthcare providers communicated with each other and consulted on various issues as they perfected this procedure or completed that surgery. As complex as it might seem, my parents were kept well-informed and had direct lines of communication with my general practitioner and my surgeons.

Unfortunately, once you hit about 21 or 22 years old, your pediatric bubble bursts and you are unceremoniously dumped into the world without proper adult urological care. Fortunately, my pediatric surgeon handed me off to someone he trained with, an adult urologist who looked after me for 25 years until his recent retirement. For the first time in my life, I was without a specialist, and my particular problem created a barrier to finding new care.

This situation is familiar to patients with many congenital conditions that carry over into adulthood. To maintain continuity of care, most continue to see their specialists for decades, long after the primary reconstructive surgeries are complete. Thankfully, I was left with few residuals as I grew up, but maintenance needs require somewhat more specialized attention. In addition, as patients age, their physicians must know something about the situation.

Bladder exstrophy, or BE, like many other congenital problems, requires a specific set of surgical skills, reconstructive knowledge, and urological and renal expertise. There is also a critical shortage of practicing urologists. All of this, combined with the potentially long-term commitment to the patient, leaves most urologists choosing not to treat BE patients, and therein hangs the problem.

Enter the Association for the Bladder Exstrophy Community, or A-BE-C, and its newly formed Adult Patient Advisory Council (APAC), of which I am an organizing member. While A-BE-C’s global mission began as primarily pediatric, the advisory council was established to provide resources for adult patients. The goal is to ease the transition from pediatric BE care into adulthood. That’s where me and my plane ticket to Washington, D.C. come into the story.

I’ll represent our organization at the American Urological Association’s annual patient advocacy summit. It’s an opportunity to share these concerns and potential solutions with congressional representatives.

I hope they’ll listen to some of my ideas, including a subsidy or tax credit funded to help encourage young doctors to specialize in urology and, even more so, help them to dedicate some of their practice to adult BE care. With all the tragically unsympathetic, uninformed budget cuts, I wish I was more optimistic. But I will still try, and you may be able to help.

Patient advocacy isn’t about awareness and support. It’s about action. Sadly, urological problems are generally the subject of lousy humor, ignorance, and ageism. But I assure you, there’s nothing funny about it for the patients and caregivers. For them, it’s a daily struggle to maintain proper care.

You can help by following A-BE-C on social media and sharing educational content. You can also contact your congressional representatives to remind them about this. These patients don’t need more research. They need qualified specialists and the peace of mind that their cause matters.

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The Big Terrible Thing

In Health, Opinion, Uncategorized on October 2, 2024 at 1:05 am

Deer In Headlines II

By Gery Deer

I just finished reading Friends star Matthew Perry’s autobiography, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.” As you may know, Perry died by drowning in 2023 after injecting ketamine. This dissociative anesthetic has become one of the injection hallucinogens of choice. He was only 53 years old.

In his book, released very shortly before his death, Perry detailed his life as what he calls an “unaccompanied minor,” the term given to children who fly commercially without an adult. He started drinking at the age of 14. At one point in his life, he was taking more than 50 oxycontin pills every day – still not achieving the high craved by his addiction-raddled brain.

Perry called addiction “the big terrible thing,” and it quite literally controlled his life. He had it all at one point – a million bucks a week on America’s number-one TV show, movies, and fame. But Perry suffered from terrible depression, fear, and insecurity. Pills were the only way he could feel, well, as he says it, nothing.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse defines addiction as a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite adverse consequences. It causes functional changes to the circuits of the brain responsible for self-control, reward, and stress, lasting long after the addict has stopped drug use.

Late ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry struggled with addiction throughout his life.

I may seem out of depth on this topic to those who know me. I’ve been very, very lucky. My father’s side of the family is a tapestry of alcoholism. But, when my grandmother died, Dad was only three years old, and his alcoholic father left. A religious grandmother and strict aunt raised him, so he didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps. My mother wanted nothing to do with any of it either. So, growing up, I wasn’t exposed to any controlled substances because they weren’t in our home.

As I got older and went to college, then out into the business world, drinking and other drug use are far more prevalent. But I think somewhere down the line, I must have adopted an attitude of, “What do I need that for?” Even in my fraternity days, I was the non-drinker taking keys and getting people home safely. But I could have easily ended up on the pill side of things.

Many people with a substance use disorder start because of prescribed medications due to an injury or surgery. I think I’ve been lucky there, too, given the staggering number of surgeries I had as a child and young adult. I don’t think I ever got past the first two doses of any pain med, and even those were half-strength. I couldn’t handle the “out of control” feeling that euphoric high addicts live their lives trying to get. It was frightening. However, the problem for far too many people is that once they start, regardless of the reason, that may be the ball game.

Far too many people think addiction is about willpower or self-confidence. That’s ridiculous. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the disease of drug addiction may be woven into your DNA. They note that about half of your susceptibility to developing a substance use disorder (SUD) can be hereditary. That makes a person more prone to use alcohol, tobacco products, or drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and opioids. All it might take to put you on the road to addiction is that first high. From there, that’s your life.

As the lovable and hilarious Chandler Bing, Matthew Perry will forever live in our hearts. Sitting on a couch in a New York coffee shop with his five “friends,” he made millions cry laughing. Could he be any funnier? (If you know, you know.) But his passing shocked a generation, and the most painful part is that as sick as he was, it could have been prevented.

As of the time of this writing, five people, including two doctors, have been charged for supplying the drugs that led to Matthew Perry’s death. Hopefully, prosecutors can shut down the supply and save some lives. At least that would be something to give meaning to Perry’s death because, to those of us who admired him, that was the big terrible thing.

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Bully For You

In Children and Family, Education, Health, Local News, Uncategorized on August 25, 2024 at 12:15 pm

Deer In Headlines II

By Gery Deer

Some kids in school have a built-in homing device for bullies. I was one of those kids. I was ten when I started my fifth-grade year at a new school. It was great for the first couple of months. My teacher was nice. The homemade-style country food in the cafeteria was fantastic. I mean, biscuits and gravy for lunch. How amazing is that? My schoolwork was going well, and I even made a few friends. But things changed pretty quickly—for the worse.

Being new was the first thing that automatically marked me as target zero for the persecutor of the week. I was fresh meat. Unless they were influential athletes or just scary, the new kids always got subjugated first. There is nothing like a playground shakedown for milk money on the first day of school. Yikes. The worst part was that my oppressors didn’t even buy milk with it. Oh, come on.

Next, I was smart – too smart, it seemed. After all, nobody likes a kid who waltzes in from nowhere and changes the grading curve. Seriously? Couldn’t those losers have just cracked a book once in a while? Or maybe if they’d actually listened during class… bygones. Eventually, I just didn’t care anymore. From that time forward, my grades rose and fell like yo-yos.

Also, I was “sick” a lot. At least, that’s what everyone said (even the teachers). There are few things worse than a bully. However, one worse thing would be when faculty members went along with the abuse (and there were many of them). No joke. Sometimes, they made it worse by reinforcing kids’ ridiculous ideas about me.

I’ve written many times about the fact that I had a severe birth defect, which required a couple of major surgical procedures every year until I was about 13. I know, bummer, right?

However, my parents and the doctors did their best to give me as normal a life as possible, scheduling procedures around my academic calendar. Occasionally, surgeries were scheduled during the school year, which meant I’d sometimes miss a few days. Once kids got wind of this information, my tyrannization value skyrocketed.

I had no cane, prosthetic, wheelchair, or any other sort of apparatus to suggest that there was anything wrong with me. I think that confused students and faculty alike. Maybe they expected someone who’d been through so much to exhibit more visible signs of it? The truth is, I was never weak or infirmed. After surgery, they had me up and around almost immediately – not that they could keep me in bed much anyway. So, I recovered quickly.

Unfortunately, rumors and false statements made by teachers confused things further and left my classmates anxious about being around me. From there, the bully brain (that’s what I called it) distorted the facts even further. All I ever wanted was a supportive, positive school experience. But that just wasn’t in the cards for me. Even my bus rides to and from school were unbearable. Worse yet, thanks to the internet, today’s bullies can torment victims anywhere, anytime.

In theory, nobody likes a bully. The idea that it’s become politically correct, woke, or whatever the term, to be anti-bullying seems ridiculous. I guess I’ve never understood what kind of person would favor bullying in the first place, except maybe the bullies. I could write an entirely different piece on that question.

So, what’d I do about it? Almost nothing. “Did you tell the teacher?” My mother would ask. Exactly how much did my parents dislike me? Did they want me to get the crap beat out of me repeatedly? If you’re going to snitch, you might as well wear a big sign saying, “Hey, I’m over here. Come, beat me up!” But that’s what parents always want you to do.

Bullying isn’t funny. It’s neither a rite of passage nor acceptable behavior.  As for me, I hold no malice toward the kids who bullied me, but I still have nothing but contempt for the school officials who allowed it. No one should have to endure that kind of trauma, and the powers that be should better protect our kids, whether in school or online.

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Password fatigue

In Health, Media, Technology, Uncategorized on August 13, 2024 at 2:45 pm

Deer In Headlines II

By Gery Deer

Last night, I dreamt I was in front of a door with a sign. I pushed and pushed on that door, and I pushed, and I pushed. Then, I finally noticed that the sign, positioned over some keypad, read, “Please enter your password.” 

From what I remember—it was a fuzzy dream at best—I tapped in something on the keypad. That was instantly answered by a blinding, flashing light and a horrendous honking noise. I tried another code. Same result. Then, a third, no change. The honking continued. 

Suddenly, a sign lit up in front of me. “Please use two-step verification,” it glowed. I woke up. The horrible honking sound was my phone alarm. The irony is that I had to punch in a password to make it stop.

Passwords. They help keep your information secure. Still, they remain a constant source of frustration whether you’re trying to download coupons, make a simple phone call, or get access to your hard-earned money trapped behind the screen of an ATM. 

Digital security measures can create an endless and unbreakable barrier to some of the simplest aspects of day-to-day living. And then what happens? Someone in Brazil hacks your bank account and charges a parasailing to your credit card. Seriously?

If all of that isn’t enough to make you throw your cell phone at the wall, now we have artificial intelligence demanding some cybernetic confab before allowing even the most innocuous transaction. It’s even more frustrating if you happen to be part of the older generation, including mine, who were suddenly and unabashedly confronted with these technologies. 

I remember the days when, to withdraw some money from the bank, all you had to do was walk into your local bank, show a picture ID, give them your account number, and sign a piece of paper. That might sound complicated, but the whole process took less than a minute. If there was a problem, you were standing in front of a person who could solve it. You didn’t have to spend two hours proving who you were to some AI bot to withdraw 10 bucks. I know I sound like some grumpy old Luddite. I am, instead, quite a technically skilled person and even I concede that it’s become ridiculous.

Recent surveys indicate that the average person reuses the same password more than 14 times across all their digital accounts. So, it’s no surprise that, believe it or not, all that mucking around with passwords, usernames, and account verification can result in a potentially serious health issue known as password fatigue.

This phenomenon occurs when functionality and security conflict directly with the user’s perspective. We develop frustration, stress, and exhaustion from having to reset, remember, or otherwise manage an onslaught of passwords and other account security information.

How could we not experience stress from all of this? Sometimes, you just want to unlock your mobile phone but can’t manage to properly punch in the correct numbers. It locks. You wait the required time. Try again and again. Finally, it works. Your pulse and blood pressure have skyrocketed, your shoulders tense, and a simple phone call has become a project. 

You’ll hate this advice, especially after all you’ve read here. But there are only a few ways to stay safe, or as secure as possible, in our cyber-consumed world. First, you can go entirely analog and off-grid. It’s not impossible, but it’s tough – especially when banking or handling healthcare issues. The other option is to minimize your stress by keeping a written – pen and paper – password log.

But you must be diligent. Since the best advice for cyber safety is to change your passwords often and make them increasingly complicated, you need to write them down and date-stamp them with every change. It would also benefit you to designate someone you trust to access your accounts in the unfortunate instance of your incapacity or death.

It might seem challenging, but with a little pre-planning and diligence, you can reduce your password fatigue moving forward. And with that, although I’m a bit sleep deprived, I will try to get some more work done. Fortunately, no password is required on a typewriter.

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TCN Behavioral Health Announces Annual School Supply Distribution Events

In Dayton Ohio News, Health, Local News, News Media, psychology, Uncategorized on July 8, 2024 at 10:36 am

TCN Behavioral Health Services, Inc. announces their annual School Supply Drive Distribution Events. TCN annually collects school supplies and donations for the children in their service areas. In 2023 they provided supplies to over 300 children and hope to expand that reach in 2024. The five distribution events listed above will include free pizza and beverages as well as school supplies while supplies last.

“Every year, TCN provides supplies to more than 300 students within our local communities. This helps ensure a successful beginning to the school year for these students, alleviates some of the financial strain on parents and caregivers, and supports educators who frequently contribute their own resources to support classrooms,” says Tasha Jones, TCN’s Executive Administrative Assistant. “This wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of our donors and volunteers.” The five events will be held from 4-6 PM at the following TCN office locations:

Wednesday July 24 – 1825 Commerce Center Blvd, FAIRBORN

Friday July 26th – 1522 E. US Hwy 36, URBANA

Thursday July 25th – 1021 N. Market Street, TROY

Tuesday July 30 – 118 Maple Avenue, BELLEFONTAINE

Wednesday July 31 – 452 W. Market Street, XENIA

TCN accepts donations of school supplies at all locations, or donors can shop the School Supply Drive Amazon Wishlist at https://a.co/i3dO9iF to have supplies shipped directly to TCN for preparation and distribution. The organization also accepts monetary donations at tcn.org or https://tcn.jotform.com/202296368911965 by selecting “school supply drive” in the dropdown menu. Volunteers can sign up to help at their local events here: https://tcn.jotform.com/223056028945962.

Founded in 1990, TCN Behavioral Health Services, Inc. is a comprehensive behavioral health agency dedicated to improving lives by providing clinically excellent and accessible behavioral health services. TCN provides mental health, substance use and psychiatric services for adults and youth in Champaign, Greene, Logan, Miami, and Montgomery counties. For more information or to donate to TCN call (937)376-8700 or visit www.tcn.org.

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Greene County is Unplugging on March 1, 2024. We Hope You Will Too!

In Children and Family, Dayton Ohio News, Health, Media, psychology, Technology, Uncategorized on February 22, 2024 at 11:35 am

GREENE COUNTY, OH —Do you spend a lot of time scrolling through social media, watching short videos, commenting on, or reacting to various posts? Do you have multiple cell phones? Are you documenting every move, event, and emotion on social media platforms and find it hard to get through a meaningful conversation without adding to your story? Are you mindlessly scrolling through YouTube videos, chatting on Discord or other apps? We miss out on the valuable and meaningful moments of our lives as we pass the hours with our faces buried in our smart phones, documenting every move through social media and shielding ourselves from the outside world, where real connections and memories are made.

If you notice these mannerisms in yourself – or your friends & family, the Disconnect to Connect Coalition would like to invite you to commit to the Global Day of Unplugging (GDU) right here in Greene County from sundown on March 1 through sundown on March 2.

We invite you to encourage those around you – your business colleagues, your students, your co-workers, your neighbors, your family, and your friends to take this day and carve out precious time to unplug, relax, reflect, be active, visit the outdoors, and connect with loved ones. We ask that you share a message about Global Day of Unplugging on your marquis sign if available, tell your friends and neighbors, share it in a newsletter, announce it on the radio, or any other way that you can think of to get the message out. Use the hashtag #GreeneCountyUnplugged and share our daily posts from our social media platforms.

We hope you will join us in this effort county-wide on March 1, 2024! Ideas to Unplug:

  • Join up with Greene County Parks and Trails and take a walk in the woods
  • Go on a scavenger hunt
  • Have lunch with a friend you haven’t seen in a long time
  • Ride a bike
  • Bake some cookies
  • Volunteer at the Food Pantry
  • Grab some sidewalk chalk and help your kids get creative
  • Blow and pop some bubbles
  • Create a joke jar
  • Plan an evening out with friends for dinner and/or a comedy club experience
  • Host a game night with cards or board games
  • Host a spa night

Disconnect to Connect (D2C) is a committee made up of professionals from several different county organizations, including Greene County Public Health, the Greene County Educational Service Center, Mental Health and Recovery Board of Clark, Greene and Madison Counties, Greene County Children Services, Greene County Family & Children First, and the Greene County Public Library. The group was developed to tackle the concerns of parents, educators, and community members about the effect of digital devices on the mental health and well-being of our youngest community members.

For more information or questions, please call 937-374-5669 or email lfox@gcph.info

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TCN Behavioral Health Announces Opening of Second See U Now (“SUN”) Clinic

In Charities, Dayton Ohio News, Health, Local News, psychology, Uncategorized on January 11, 2024 at 9:07 am

TCN clients can now access SUN Clinics on Tuesdays from 1pm to 4pm and Fridays from 10am to 1pm.

Bellefontaine, Ohio – January 9, 2024 – TCN Behavioral Health Services, Inc. announces the opening of its second See U Now (or “SUN”) Clinic on Tuesday, January 9, 2024. The clinic, located physically in the Bellefontaine office at 118 Maple Avenue, will be open weekly on Tuesdays from 1pm to 4pm and can see clients both in person and via telehealth.

TCN’s first SUN Clinic opened on January 6, 2023 in TCN’s Xenia office, and in 2023 provided 434 services to 262 clients both in person and via telehealth. The SUN Clinic is intended to serve clients without a prior appointment as their need arises. A Clinic Coordinator works with the client to choose the services they wish to receive from a multi-disciplinary team of providers including nursing, psych, MAT, primary care, substance use and mental health counseling, case management and peer support. The Clinic accepts all payment options including Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance, and self-pay. As with all TCN services, local board funding is available for clients who qualify.

“TCN is always proud of our innovative practice to meet clients where they are, and the SUN Clinic is another example of this,” says TCN CEO Lori Strobl. “SUN’s motto is “nothing about you, without you” and its mission is to empower the client to be in control of their healthcare and truly partner with their clinical team.”

“We are very excited to welcome this new model of behavioral health care to our communities,” says Dr. Adam Sorensen, Executive Director of the Mental Health Drug & Alcohol Services Board of Logan & Champaign Counties. “TCN’s SUN Clinic approach has a proven track record, and it is a perfect example of TCN’s commitment to offering high-quality, person-centered care. We appreciate TCN’s ongoing partnership and willingness to be innovative with our shared goals of improving access and quality of care in our neighborhoods.” 

Founded in 1990, TCN Behavioral Health Services, Inc. is a comprehensive behavioral health agency dedicated to improving lives by providing clinically excellent and accessible behavioral health services.  TCN provides mental health, substance use and psychiatric services for adults and youth in Logan and Champaign counties.  For more information or to donate to TCN call (937)376-8700 or visit http://www.tcn.org.

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Food allergies are no yolk!

In Children and Family, Food, Health, Opinion, sociology, Uncategorized on January 7, 2024 at 12:46 pm

Deer In Headlines II

By Gery Deer

“Then the Whos, young and old, would sit down to a feast. And they’d feast! And they’d feast! And they’d FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! They would feast on Who-pudding, and rare Who-roast beast.” – Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”

Admit it. You just read that in Boris Karloff’s voice, didn’t you? But what if you’re the one Who, for whom a feast could be a culinary minefield? What if you’re the Who who’s allergic to the Who-pudding and rare Who-roast beast?

If you’re like me and the other 26 million Americans who suffer from food allergies, holiday buffets can be a dangerous foray into the unknown. Food allergies might be lampooned on your favorite sitcom, but there’s nothing funny about them. It’s true that most result in mild skin irritation or digestive discomfort, but many are life-threatening.

Within seconds, an exposed victim can experience severe swelling of the throat and larynx, constricting their airway, and even suffer anaphylactic shock. In these situations, quick medical attention is vital.

Whether you’re a member of the allergy club or not, it’s probably a good idea to learn about food allergy causes, symptoms, and first aid. Some of the most common foods people are allergic to include cow’s milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, strawberries, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. These are certainly not the only ones, and you might not even know you’re allergic to anything until it hits you.

Just because you weren’t allergic to something as a kid doesn’t mean you won’t be as a grownup. For about half of food allergy sufferers, the affliction didn’t develop until adulthood. I only recently discovered my own allergy to kiwi fruit and cantaloupe. For years, I thought cantaloupe was supposed to burn the inside of your mouth. You know, like a spice or something? Idiot.

Processed food contains a plethora of dangerous ingredients, and most allergens are printed on pre-packaged food labels. Unfortunately, depending on the amount, some ingredients might not be listed. For example, it’s still common for some labels to omit sesame among potential allergens. A Google search might show detailed ingredient lists or allergy warnings for specific products. Otherwise, steer clear altogether.

If you or someone in your family suffers from food allergies, I can offer a few tips to help navigate the holidays, and the first one is a no-brainer. Since many holiday gatherings are potlucks, you can bring your own safe food and avoid everything else. Or you could host the event yourself for peace of mind. If you do host, label the dishes, and maybe, if you want to be an allergy-safe superhero, provide a full list of ingredients.

For children, carry safe food, or see to their plate for them. Kids also seem especially sensitive to nuts, and holiday goodies are full of them, so keep an eye out. To avoid cross-contamination, use disposable utensils to serve yourself or carry your own flatware. Trust me, it’s worth the trouble.

Incidentally, some people are quite sensitive about publicly outing their allergies. For instance, I am allergic to eggs. But I’d rather not discuss it because I feel like a freak. If it comes up, I get bombarded with questions like, “Can you have cookies? Bread? Pancakes? What do you eat for breakfast?” And on and on. People just can’t leave it alone.

I understand they’re curious and trying to be helpful. But the nature of the allergy can be difficult to explain (although I really shouldn’t have to), and it doesn’t affect anyone but me. I never ask hosts to alter their menu or anything they’ve planned. I simply avoid those foods that might be dangerous or questionable.

For the food-allergic out there or their caregivers, you might want to ask your primary care physician if you should carry a preloaded epinephrine injector (otherwise known as an “EpiPen”). If your allergic reaction were to cause respiratory distress, it might be a good idea to be prepared. A food sensitivity test might also help.

Food allergies don’t have to wreck the halls – or any other occasion. All you need is a little preplanning so that no one turns as green as the Grinch after a helping of your famous Who hash.

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GCCOA Hosts Memory Loss Presentation

In Children and Family, Dayton Ohio News, Health, Local News, psychology, Science, Senior Lifestyle, Uncategorized on January 4, 2024 at 1:47 pm

The Greene Count Council on Aging is hosting a free memory loss information session titled, “Is It Dementia?” The event will be held at 2:30 PM, on Wednesday, January 10th, at the Xenia Community Center, 1265 W. Second St., in Xenia. Seating is limited, so please call 937-376-5486 or email YourFriends@gccoa.org to reserve yours.

From the GCCOA information:

We all experience memory loss at one time or another and many of us are fearful of what it might mean. Is it ‘normal’ memory loss or is it caused by dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease?

Experts will answer your questions, address your concerns, discuss the types of dementia and explore things to consider as a caregiver or someone wanting to learn more about memory loss and dementia.

From the editor: For more on dementia, here is a study from Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center – https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/one-10-older-americans-has-dementia

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Deer in … headlights.

In Business, Health, Local News, Opinion, State News, Uncategorized on December 29, 2023 at 9:10 am

Deer In Headlines II

By Gery Deer

A few weeks ago, I was driving along minding my own business when a deer decided it would be a great time to remodel the front end of my pickup truck. It was dark but I was neither sleepy nor distracted yet saw nothing in advance of the collision. The animal seemed to come from out of nowhere. There was a loud, metallic bang, a hard shudder, and the hood of my truck popped straight up in front of the windshield.

Fortunately, I could see well enough around the hood to get the vehicle to the side of the road. Once I stopped and the dust had settled, the first words that entered my mind were, “So that happened.”

I called 911 to report the accident, and no irony was lost on either me or the dispatcher about a guy named Deer hitting a deer. Not to worry, she was great and sent an officer right away. If you have followed my column, you know this was certainly not my first traffic accident, nor was it the most serious. It was, however, my second deer strike in about four years. Enough, already. I’ve met my quota now, right?

Here’s a photo of Gery’s Ford F-150 truck from this article. It was totaled.

I think I was most upset because I had recently paid off the loan on the truck and, just that morning, even ordered new tires. Ever the optimist, I remember I laughed out loud and said to nobody, “Well, at least I don’t have to buy the tires now.” Like they say, onward and upward, right?

Hitting a deer on an Ohio roadway is almost a rite of passage. I’m surprised our driver’s education classes don’t include a section detailing what to do after a deer strike. I can hear it now, in the best 1970s filmstrip narrator’s voice. “After you have hit the animal, get out to see if it’s still alive. Oh, it’s a six-pointer! Be careful. Those antlers are sharp!” Then, it would go on to tell you to call the police and decide what to do with the carcass.

Here in the Buckeye state, if you hit a deer with your car, you’re entitled to keep it. What you do with it after that is entirely up to you. The first time it happened to me, the responding police officer asked if I wanted the carcass, and I said no. Then she said, “Well, you’ll need to decide which of the guys arguing over it gets to take it home.” Seriously? I told her to flip a coin. In hindsight, I should have sold it to one of them. After all, I was out a truck, and they got free venison.

Between hunters flushing them out of the woods into the road and people feeding them on the back porch, deer strikes are becoming more problematic every year. I read an Ohio highway statistic that vehicles had hit more than 13,000 deer in 2022. I can believe that. The day the body shop picked up my truck, the flatbed driver told me he’d hauled four other deer-damaged vehicles just that afternoon. With an overall deer population in the state just under 800,000, I’m surprised the accident tally is so low.

What can you do to avoid hitting a deer? Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer. The problem with deer is that they’re jittery, indecisive, and never travel alone. Trying to outguess them will get you hurt or worse.

The best things you can do are buckle up, drive with your bright beams on in rural or wooded areas, and always remember when you see one, there are always others. By the way, those deer whistles that you stick to the grill don’t work — a siren, maybe, but not those.

Above all, avoid distractions while driving, especially at night. No text, call, or cigarette is that important. Put that stuff down and pay attention to the road. Trust me, it takes only an instant for everything to change.

Although my truck was totaled, it was at least large enough to protect me. I have seen deer go up the hood and crash through the windshield, seriously injuring the driver and passengers. So, please watch out for those… deer in headlights.

Publication Notices: Deer In Headlines and Deer In Headlines II are media properties of Gery L. Deer and GLD Enterprises Communications, Ltd., who is also the copyright holder. The product is distributed via The Jamestown Comet.com (A property of GLD Communications), and by Green County Newspapers / The Xenia Daily Gazette by special permission.

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