OR EYES
How to avoid a trip to the OR
by
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In later years, I often wondered how many of those young men were HIV positive and went on to develop AIDS years later. After all it was 1978 when I assisted with these procedures. AIDS also is a blood born disease, a viral infection and is transmitted in exactly the same way in which these young homosexual men contracted their anal condylomata (anal warts) and perhaps syphilis. In retrospect, they were all probably HIV positive but no one knew it yet. We know now that the incubation period of AIDS, the period between contracting the infection to when any symptoms develop is approximately 10 years. The acronyms HIV and AIDS were not invented yet, because AIDS did not exist yet, at least not in 1978. It would be another few years before enough numbers, weird untimely deaths, and rare diseases and infections erupted that we would realize that there was a bigger problem on the horizon. A new pandemic was in the making. It was just waiting. There was never any “Gay Plague” as some people would incorrectly call it; It was only brewing. No, it was worse than the Plague!
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About the Book
Unbelievably real operating room cases brought to book format told from an OR nurse’s professional point of view so you too can learn to prevent the sometimes disfiguring and disabling effects of some of the most common diseases affecting people today; Diabetes, heart disease and some cancers are just a few. “We’re going to amputate his penis, the source of his infection” said the surgeon as I passed him the scalple. “But we’re only going to amutate the distal 1/3” the surgeon continued. Oh that’s just great I thought to myself in disbelief. I would not have believed it if i didn’t see it with my own OR EYES!
About the Author
I, Kathy Volple-Schaffer have been a practicing professional RN for over 30 years with the bulk of my professional career spent in the operating room as a professional OR nurse. I have a BSN degree from Thomas Jefferson University '88 and a Masters of Science from Rutgers University '99. I sat for the professional family nurse practitioner's licensing exam in 1999 and passed, but I do not maintain or practice as a FNP anymore. My professional career was cut short due to multiple sclerosis so I view this book as a continuation of the nursing practice I loved. The cases I participated in the OR affected me so much that those events motivated me to write this book and to communicate to all and empower people to take charge of their health by learning the easy way through my OR EYES, the title of my book. I've seen the worst of the worst and at times I could not believe what I was seeing in the OR if I had not witnessed it with my own "OR EYES". The health promotion measures I teach about are regarding some of the most common preventable diseases or conditions affecting populations worldwide, or at the very least disease conditions that could be easily overcome if detected early. For example: Breast cancer, Diabetes, drinking & texting while driving, organ donation issues, smoking and lung cancer, abortion, obesity, AIDS and the importance of eating a healthy diet are issues communicated and discussed. The most important factors I demonstrate are how all of these diseases and or tragic events are almost 100% preventable and or easily managed if people are made aware and knowledgeable of self risk management.
I was born in Philadelphia, Pa., but now reside in Southern New Jersey with my family- my husband Vincent, my mother Theresa Volpe, my daughter Natalile Schaffer and my puppy Molly, a Bichon Frise.