The Silent Killer

 The Importance of getting Tested for Hepatitis C

The year was 1998. My husband had a neck ache  when he was jogging. We were visiting his sister in San diego, and each morning he jogged, the pain would worsen.

When we got home to the Boston area, I insisted  he see his primary care physician at Lahey Clinic Medical Center; there, they ran a multitude of tests and did an evaluation. One of the questions was, “had you used drugs or were using drugs.”

My husband answered honestly. He had experimented with Iv drugs in the early seventies and eventually quit. Could this be part of his pain?

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The answer was no. The pain in his neck was never diagnosed but the blood tests showed hepatitis c.
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He had been living with this disease since he was probably 20 years old when he used drugs. Even though he was drug free for 40 years, hepatitis c grew silently in his blood stream and liver.

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No symptoms showed with my husband and he got treated with medications; Ribovirin and Interferon, which made him sicker than his disease, but it cured him.

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Others are not so lucky. Liver damage can occur, maybe a liver transplant if you are lucky or medications. But for some people there is no hope.

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That is why testing is necessary. A simple vial of blood can diagnose hepatitis c; especially baby boomers born between 1945-1965.

Blood was not tested until 1992 for hepatitis C and many people were infused with this virus when receiving blood transfusions.

Today there is hope. A simple test can lead you to a negative result or medication that can help cure.

In my book LOVING JOE GALLUCCI, I portray the character Jimmy Romano, a former drug addict who contracted hepatitis c. Because of his wife, a nurse and her persistence, he was diagnosed and received a liver transplant. Jimmy is a healthy 60 y/o today.

For more information, please contact the liver foundation or email me for questions or help at kgeno67176  {@} aol.com

Kate Genovese RN

www.kategenovese.com

 
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The Google News search on
Hepatitis C has trending articles
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&authuser=0&q=hepatits+c&oq=hepatits+c&gs_l=news-cc.3..43j43i53.474.2634.0.2949.13.6.0.6.6.0.406.2276.3-5j1.6.0...0.0...1ac.1.PyUXsreA8VY 

The huge story trending on this is the ex-Las Vegas doctor guilty of murder in the
Hepatitis c outbreak

/ July 2, 2013, 6:45 AM

Ex-Vegas MD guilty of murder in wide Hepatitis C outbreak

 Prominent former Las Vegas doctor and endoscopy clinic owner Dipak Desai was convicted Monday of all 27 criminal charges against him -- including second-degree murder -- in a 2007 hepatitis C outbreak that officials called one of the largest ever in the U.S.

A former employee at Dipak Desai's Endoscopy Clinic of Southern Nevada, nurse-anesthetist Ronald Lakeman, was found guilty of 16 of 27 charges against him but was spared a murder conviction stemming from the death of 77-year-old Rodolfo Meana in April 2012.
Defense attorneys for both men said they'll appeal.  Read more here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57591914/ex-vegas-md-guilty-of-murder-in-wide-hepatitis-c-outbreak/

The Little Walter DeVenne Interview - The Road Back to Good Health

 
  Kate Genovese, RN, talks to DJ "Little" Walter
Essay by Joe Viglione; interview by Kate Genovese

Rock & Roll fans in Boston know the legendary radio show that is Little Walter's Time Machine, hosted by Deejay Hall of Fame member Walter DeVenne.  DeVenne is also a mastering engineer who preserves the sounds the way he - and you - heard them way back when

Along with the re-mastering work and his radio program still in syndication, Little Walter also appears live at nightclubs in the New England region, his memo of June 20, 2013 has this to say about upcoming events:

Hey Rock & Rollers:

     First we have Saturday, June 29th at SAYDE'S BAR AND GRILL in Salem NH at 136 Cluff Crossing Road (603 890 1032).  Getting there is easy. Take exit 1 off Route 93.  Take a right on South Broadway (route 28.  Take the first right (street not the Mall)  That is Cluff Crossing Road.  Sayde's is down the road on the right with plenty of parking in the back.  I'm not sure of the time but you can call Sayde's.

     Then on Sunday June 30th we're back home at the New England Seafood Rest-Lounge in Methuen from 7 to 10.  (978 965 2242)  We'll have a ball.  See you then, Keep Rockin',  Little Walter
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RIP BIG JOHN
RIP SPEEDOO
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    Walter gives a nod to Big John and Speedo at the end of the missive.

    Big John was one of the driving forces at Cheapo Records in Cambridge and Speedo, of course, was from The Cadillacs  ( Earl "Speedo" Carroll was the lead vocalist of the group which had the hit entitled "Speedo".) They were close, personal friends of Walters who both passed on recently

       Walter DeVenne oversaw the audio for a massive 15 CD boxed set for Bear Family Records in Europe.  Street Corner Symphonies:The Complete Story of Doo Wop volumes 1-15
 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Street+Corner+Symphonies

Street Corner Symphonies: The Complete Story of Doo Wop, Vol. 10: 1958 by Various Artists (Oct 23, 2012) - Import

With 30-35 tracks per volume that’s well over 300 songs that Walter had to adjust the audio for including The Shirelles “Dedicated to the One I Love,” the Flamingos “I Only Have Eyes for You,” the Coasters “Charlie Brown,” Dion and the Belmonts “Teenager in Love,” on CD  #11, the Platters with “Only You (And You Alone),” on CD 7, Johnny Otis Orchestra with vocal by The Robins, “Turkey Hop, Part 1” and The Shadows “I’ll Never, Never Let You Go” on CD 2,  The Ravens, the Swallos, the Orioles, the Larks, the Four Dots and the Four Knights on CD 3 (see a pattern?), Walter lovingly preserves the sounds that he heard while growing up in Medford, Massachusetts while working in record shops and, eventually, radio.



* * * * *

Street Corner Symphonies: The Complete Story of Doo Wop, Vol. 15: 1963 by Various Artists (Mar 29, 2013) - Import

    In my earlier articles on Little Walter's work for Radioworld and The Medford Transcript (Walter and his family lived in Medford, Mass. before moving to New Hampshire) it was noted that DeVenne was diagnosed with cancer in 2005 after cat scans and pet scans discovered lumps in his neck. Afterwards he underwent a successful surgery.  More recently Walter was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and survived - given a clean bill of health by the doctors.  

*   *   *   *   *

    Nurse Kate Genovese, host of Table Talk on Woburn Cable TV and author of three published books (with more to follow), asked Walter about his past and recent recovery, and his plans for the future:


Kate Genovese:   Walter, how did they discover the most recent health situation, the pancreatic cancer?

Little Walter: I fell down a flight of stairs and hurt my back bad. I spent about a week at the hospital where they took an MRI and Cat scan and discovered something on my pancreas.  After another test where the doctor put a tube down my throat, they found out it was cancer on my pancreas.

Kate Genovese:  Did the doctor suggest the Whipple Procedure?

Little Walter: No

Kate Genovese: You still have physical evidence of the previous treatment from the original surgery, but you are still as active as ever.  How do you maintain your positive outlook and continue to do your work?

Little Walter: After an operation to remove the "lumps" and about 6 months of Chemo and radiation I was given a clean bill of health in 2007.   I beat Cancer!  Then I started working again in clubs and put the cancer behind me (for the time being)

Street Corner Symphonies: The Complete Story of Doo Wop, Vol. 7: 1955 by Various Artists (Oct 23, 2012) - Import 

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Kate Genovese:  What have the doctors suggested for maintaining your regained good health?


Little Walter: Nothing really.  I had the surgery on April 22nd, 2013 . The doctor that did the surgery was Dr. Roger Jenkins.  There was a lot of pain in my gut for about a couple of weeks after the operation.  The doctor told me to take it easy which wasn't that hard to do because of the pain.  I returned to the club scene on May 19th at the New England Seafood Restaurant and Lounge in Methuen. What an oldies party we had---the club was more than packed.

Kate Genovese: What are some of the boxed sets you are most proud of? 

Little Walter: The Fats Domino box for Bear Family records out of Germany and the DOO WOP box volume 1 and 2 for Rhino Records. Then there were box sets on Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, the Platters, Jackie Wilson, The Cadillacs (RIP Speedoo), Little Richard and countless others.

KG:  With all your work with classic “oldies recordings”, I was wondering if you knew or if you had ever met Dick Clark?

Little Walter:  I met him once when I worked at WBCN.  What impressed me about him was how tiny he was.  Very short.

KG:  You were instrumental in the Doo Wop Specials on PBS, could you tell us a bit about them?

Little Walter:   I just helped the producers (TJ Lubinski) find some of the members of a bunch of groups and I did some mastering for their CD releases.


KG: We look forward to seeing you in the clubs, Walter, hearing your show on the stations playing it, and listening to some of our favorite recordings as compiled by you with their original sound intact.

Little Walter: Thanks Kate.

Street Corner Symphonies: The Complete Story of Doo Wop, Vol. 12: 1960 by Various Artists (Mar 29, 2013)

 

Previous article on Little Walter

http://www.littlewalter.com/viglione1.htm

Nursing and Ethics - a commentary by author Kate Genovese

KEEPING UP WITH THE CODE OF EITHICS IN NURSING

I recently read the article in the Boston Globe about the nurses, who cared for the terrorist, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after setting off bombs at the finish line at the Boston Marathon; injuring hundreds and killing four innocent, beautiful people. An eight year old, just starting his life, two beautiful young women  in their twenties, and a young MIT security policeman, just starting his career and looking forward to so many more days of aprofession he chose and loved. All of them; their lives brought to an end abruptly because of a 19 year old Chesnian and his brother; young men who used our system and thought nothing of taking away lives and livelihoods of those injured.

As a registered nurse myself, I have taken care of hundreds, thousands of Americans and foreigners that have entered our country, legally and then who are not.

I didn’t much care. My job was to value their existence, dignify their place in this universe, and find worth in all people.

After 35 years of nursing I am not sure I could have followed the CODE OF NURSING ETHICS that I learned so many years ago in nursing school.

When I read the story of “Marie” and how she struggled with caring for the 19 year old Dzhokhar; being his bedside nurse; having to comfort him, medicate him to be free of pain and help heal his physical wounds, I wondered if I could have been so brave and followed Florence Nightingale’s practice of all people are equal and worthy of getting well.

Although a different scenario, I thought back to the early 1990’s when I worked the later shift at MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY. Being right next to the Charles Street jail, we often had a prisoner or two come our way for day surgery, or being sent to the Mass General for a burst appendix. I always took care of them in a sympathetic, caring way. Although they were prisoners, had done something against the law, I felt it was my responsibility to help them heal and keep them pain free; until I was faced with an emergency one evening.

My shift was to end at 6pm and I was anxious to get home, attend my ten year olds hockey game, but instead I found myself calling my husband telling him he was on duty for the rest of the night, a patient/prisoner from Charles Street jail was coming to us; he had badly beaten  up  one of the other inmates who was sent to Mass General, where his life was hanging by a string; the gentleman I was to care for after his eye surgery had beaten the other so badly that his kidneys had failed and he had severe internal bleeding.

As I read the story as what had happened, I suddenly felt no remorse for prisoner “Tommy”

That was the name I had given him.

I suddenly felt anger, hatred towards this guy for what he had done! Tommy was forty years old; no family, friends or significant other. I pictured this angry middle-aged man who blamed the system for everything that happened in his life.

Yes, I was projecting. But I couldn’t believe otherwise. The inmate he had injured was a 25 year old father and was being transferred to another facility west of Boston and had only another year to serve the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for a drug crime that hurt him more than anyone else.

So when “Tommy” was wheeled to me on his gurney into the recovery room, I was already going against the nursing Code Of Ethics in my head. I didn’t want to treat him with dignity or him having any value in this universe.

No, he certainly wasn’t a terrorist, what happened to me has no comparison to what happened on marathon Monday with those wonderful angels of mercy at Beth Israel and surrounding hospitals. What they had to deal with and face; being courageous themselves and hold their true feelings aside.

Because that is what we were taught to do; drilled into our heads in nursing school and in our own practices over the years; the worth of all people- no matter what the circumstance.

I remember getting report from the operating room nurse, all had gone well. He was stable. I looked at his hands, chained to the side rails and two guards standing next to him for hours.

I remember taking a break and calling my husband to see how my son Danny did in his hockey game. My husband asked about the patient. I told him it was difficult for me to be nice, kind after what he did to another person.

My husband had no response; he knew me and knew I would do the best I could for this man, because that is who I was and still am; a nurse, a professional that took an oath and a good standard of care  for all my patients.

And I am sure “Marie” had the same whirlwind of thoughts and emotions that I had over twenty years ago; only a little more intense.

It makes me wonder if this 19 year old held any of the values, ever, that we Americans hold and stand by. Did his brother influence him? Was he brainwashed?

We may never know. Nor did I ever find out what happened to my patient Tommy after I discharged him back to jail and their infirmary.

And the other inmate? He lived. He survived. He made it out of there and headed west of Boston to another facility months later.

Decisions to care, treat everyone equally helps us all grow on an emotional and spiritual level.

I question that even today. When I take care of a patient I know that is abusive to their family or lives a below-standard life. What, really, would God want me to do, expect of me?

Because it really isn’t about the other person, but about ourselves and what is right. There is a saying; just wake up in the morning and always, always, just do the next “right” thing for yourself and the universe, and God will see to it that things will just fall into place.

Many thanks to the wonderful nurses and support staff who had to deal with the injured, their families and attempt to try with God’s Blessings to do the next right thing and to help all of us continue to heal and help each other since the Boston Marathon.

Because of this, we have become a stronger Boston, a beloved Watertown and a country and profession I am proud of.

Kate Genovese RN

Author/THIRTY YEARS IN SEPTEMBER; A NURSES 

MEMOIR

WWW.KATEGENOVESE.COM