Herald & Lantern 23 January '85 !■ J' 43

BREATHING HELP — Robert Attenborough, 4, of Denmsville, helps respiratory therapist Sam Ferueeio demonstrate Burdette Tomiin Memorial Hospital s new jn.OOO Servo Ventilator. New machine offers breathing assistance that can be fine-tuned to individual needs

Type-A-Thon For Leukemia

COURT HOUSE - Students at the Cape May Vocational Technical Center will take part next month in a Type-A-Thon sponsored by the Southern New Jersey Chapter of the Leukemia Society of America. Mrs. Rae Frankel, HOSA (Health Occupational

Students of America) advisor, and Mrs. Mary Lou Robinson, office practice instructor, will coordinate the event. "The students will obtain pledges for each correctly typed word, so even less experienced typists can raise funds," Mrs. Frankel explained.

Rx Health Watch — e by Dr. Robert G. Seitman

Continuing with our discussion of bladder cancer, it is helpful to i understand that there are i several different forms of I bladder cancer. Eighty- 1 eight percent of cases are made up of "papillary" 1 and "transitional cell" i types. (

"Papillary" is the easiest to cure and the most common. The growth begins on the wall of the bladder and then grows into the cavity of the bladder. To the doctor it appears to be attached to a stalk like a mushroom. The transitional-cell type is usually found to resist treatment more than "papillary". It grows through the wall of the bladder, which causes more damage and tends to get infected and develop ulceration. TWELVE PERCENT of the bladder cancers are rarer forms, such as "squamous cell' and "adenocarcinoma." Although I do not commonly go into such detail in this column, I have listed the chemical causes and indepth issues of bladder cancer to expand public awareness on today's topic. I find people tend to think of cancer as one disease, when in fact, as we have seen today, even the term "bladder cancer" is too general; there are many types. Each type will take different treatment approaches and have different rates of survival. FORTUNATLEY, bladder cancer tends to send off cancer to other parts of the body very slowly. This means that even with late detection the chances for cflre are better than with kidney, prostate or testicular cancer, where "metastases" can occur rapidly and prove the deciding factor in survival. When you report symptoms of blood in the urine, known as "hematuria", a burning when you void and i a tendency to urinate in i small amounts at frequent < intervals, your doctor will first attempt to determine whether you have an infection, stone or tumor. i

TESTS WHICH often prove helpful include cystoscopy, (looking into the bladder with a thin, flexible tube fitted with a and light). The tube is gently fed through the opening where urine comes out urethra ) so that the doctor can look inside the bladder clearly through the microscope-like lens. i UUVIWUJ^UAV IOU.

If a tumor or other growth is discovered a tiny biopsy can be taken during ' the examination to be sent to the lab to check for cancer. Certain X-ray tests can also be very helpful. The I VP lights up the urinary tract and the cystogram lets the doctor watch the flow of urine to check for abnormal action. YOUR TREATMENT will depend greatly upon the extent of the disease. In some cases the cystoscope can be used to look back into the bladder, slip in a heated probe and burn off the tumor. If the damage is fairly widespread, more conventional surgery may be needed. When the whole bladder has to be removed, people end up with what is called a "urostomy," a situation where the urine is channeled to an opening in the body and an appliance is attached to catch the urine, since the bladder is no longer available. THIS IS a very safe process. Our local chapter of the American Cancer Society has a self-help / group for individuals with "ostomies", where people can share helpful ideas and gain emotional support in dealing with their changed body image. The Cancer Society also sends volunteers to meet with people to whom an ostomy has been recommended, to help them better understand the experience and what it may mean to them. For information on either project, call 886-1154 or contact me directly. Health Watch is a public education project of the American Cancer Society of which Dr. Batman is president -elect. t

I Joy ride III * By Libby Demp Forrest \

"Is this the way you kept clean in the old days when you were a kid]" No. 2 asked as I shivered in the early morning, washing myself in a basin. "No, it wasn't," I said grinding my teeth. "Hot water 1 came out of faucets even in those days." Murphy's Law. If you complain because the water in the pipes isn't hot enough, give it a day or two and there'll be no hot water at all. It all started when No. 1 came into my bedroom to announce he couldn't seem to get any hot water going in the shower, "Just give it a few minutes," I said. "I've given it 10 minutes, Mom," said No. 1. I got out of bed and checked the shower. Then I went downstairs and peeked into the water tank. "Hmmmm " I said. THE PLUMBER sounded the death knoll. "You need a new water tank," he said. "How much is it going to cost]" I asked. "Just run over to the bank and get a loan," he joked. "Very funny," I said. "I'll order a new tank for you now," the plumber said. Murphy's Law. Appliances break down and people get toothaches on weekends. WHEN THE DISHES got dirty, I boiled kettles of water on the stove. TT>e Hubby came into the kitchen and saw all the water boiling away. "Is someone here having a baby]" he asked. "Very funny," I said. In my bedroom is a charming artifact of the Victorian era, an old pitcher and basin sitting on an old.washstand. Never did I think the day would come when they would come back into vogue. But there I stood in the early morning cold, pouring water out of the pitcher into the basin. "Brrrr," I said. "IS THIS THE WAY you kept clean in the old days when you were a kid]" No. 2 asked. t "I'm not that old," I said as I watched my knuckles turn blue. "You kept saying the water tank was going to go one of these days, Mom," No. 1 reminded me. "I say that about a lot of things," I said. "Including myself."

^From The Principal

I By Stanley Kotzen R Principal, Lower Cape May Regional High School

r "Following a solid performance by our starting i team, the Capers held oh to - their perch in first place r with a big win last week." i If you thought you were s reading the sports page of your local newspaper, you've been deceived. Sorry! i I am not talking about i our basketball team ( which is currently in first place in the Cape Atlantic II League) I am talking about our Math League team that has the highest score of any school participating in Cape May and Atlantic Counties. THE MATH LEAGUE is a unique operation. There are "franchises" in 213 high schools ( 10 in our two counties) that participate in six contests spread out over the full school year. Each competition is staged in a regular mathematics classroom, and the "games are 30 minutes in length. Our team has three x*»aches: Matt Soennichfsen, Cynthia Matthews, and Leon Rojas, and our team members come primarily from 10th, llth, and 12th grade Academic classes. Boys and girls compete equally, and we never have any complaining about an official's call in these contests. AS A SPECTATOR sport, the Math League does not have the fan interest to attract a television contract, and the stars in the league seldom are recruited to endorse toothpaste or detergent. The competition is relatively easy to administer, since there are no buses needed for away

games and no expenses for timers, scorers, tickettakers or security personnel. We don't sell refreshments, and we don't have any injury factor to contend with in these contests. The Math League offers nothing more than pure academic competition, i bright kids vs. bright kids in an effort to solve six tough math problems in each outing. SO, SIX TIMES each year (three so far this year) during our fourth period, our teams report to their coaches and the contest beings. Each test includes at least two problems requiring no mathematics beyond Elementary Algebra and the traditional Geometry . course, including Coordinate Geometry, and may include any problems from the scope of the traditional Pre-Calculus curriculum. Our current team "suits up" 70 members, but our starters and high scorers are Melvin McDaniels, Chris Marinozzi, Carolyn Morse, Mark Halbruner, and Matthew and~MTchele Sobel. Three are seniors, so we will have a solid nucleus to build on next year. Our JV and Freshmen programs are very promising. We expect to do well in the Math League each year because we feel that with good coaching our youngsters will perform at a consistently high level. So, let's hear it for our math learn _ "Rah! Rah! Intellect and concentration." Three cheers for academics and problem solving! All hail to brainpower!.

Doris Ward FROSTY OMEN — Heather Hand, 5, just completed this snowman on the Shore Road lawn of her Court House grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hand, over the weekend before the mercury plunged and snows fell to make him feel comfortable. TTie snow sculptress daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Hand of Woodlatfh Avenue, Goshen.

Cffunty Library | by Kathleen Duffy Tho hni:a«.. .-i • ...

The spending spree has expired and my empty purse makes me conscious of dollars spent and value received. America's greatest consumer value is the library. The 1982 Economic Census released this fall by the U.S. Bureau of the Census reported the nation's citizens spend about $2.5 billion a year on public libraries. When you consider the lifelong benefits gotten in return and the number of people who have access to this storehouse of information you will agree this is definitely a bargain.

liquor STORES — twice as numerous as the estimated 17,000 public library outlets— gulped $17.1 billion from American pockets. This .is not to decry the purchase of liquor by those who enjoy it. Librarians have been known to drink their share. I merely offer a perspective. If American people wish to suppbrt 61,188 bars to the tune of $8.6 billion a year, that's their business. Americans bought $8.3 billion dollars worth of jewelry. But more encouraging to those of us pushing reading and intellectual stimulation, Americans spent $3.1 i billion in 9,312 bookstores. But they spent $3.2 .billion i in toys and games stores i and $32 billion on com- I puters Sales of ice cream I and other frozen foods exceeded library expen- | ditures by a half billion I dollars. ] AMERICANS, it turns i out, spend less for very few 1 commodities than for their I family library - services. | The only such items found ( in the 1982 Economic Cen- \ s u s was ''coffee t whitenerr ". Americans i spent less for these dry t dairy substitutes - $260 million - than they did for a public libraries. c When citing some of c these findings at a recent t holiday gathering, I was n asked if I didn't think it was tJ only fair that those who use e

should pay for them and other taxpayers should be exempted. My reply was that a public library was so prominent on the American scene because a library constitutes a public good — a service that improves the community to everyone's benefit, even that of the citizen who never enters the door. EVEN IF a particular citizen does not avail him or herself of his borrowing priviledges for books, records, art, tapes, newspapers, or magazines, or ask for inter-library loan materials from another institution or take advantage of the professional reference and information services provided, he is still receiving his money's worth for his tax "investment". How? Even if the citizen does not have a spouse or children who use the facility for assignments and personal expansion, the citizen undoubtedly reads a newspaper of watches TV news reports. Where do reporters get their background information? Sunday sermons by the local preacher, the luncheon speaker, the extension agent— where do these people get the information they pass along to us? Were they born with it? Or did - they get an education in their youth and they just everything from that time on? The citizen who never • through the door of the community public benefits in a myriad of ways by the library's' being a community asset for others. Such people benefit in a secondary instead of a primary getting their information from others who have — used the library to amass ' the information. Perhaps those who don't avail themselves of their communities' greatest community consumer the library, are not aware of the extent of benefits by its mere existence.