Welcome to the OFAC 2012 Challenge. We are excited to present a health and fitness challenge that we hope will inspire you to better your health in 2012.

 Registration has been strong with over 150 participants joining us from Afghanistan, Calgary Canada, Tennessee, Georgia and of course, Ohio.



The weekly challenges are designed to introduce some variability into your routine. We have created the first few weeks starting off with a 5k walk/ run. If you are in Columbus please join us for First on the First at the Westerville Medical Campus.

The fitness challenges for February and March will be inspired by you. Start thinking of your suggestions.



OFAC Facebook page is the challenge headquarters. Use this site to log your accomplishments, comments, questions, and challenges. Everyone needs encouragement.

Katie Allen from the OFAC team has graciously accepted the role of contest coordinator. Together we are excited to guide you through a great kick start to 2012
. We look forward to celebrating all of our accomplishments and announcing the winners of this years challenge at our “Guilty Pleasure Party” in April.

Good luck to everyone, have fun with the competition, and here’s to your good health in 2012!

Dr. Greg Berlet

We are sponsoring families and elders for the holidays by selecting ornaments off a tree with a
 list of items that they are in need of for the holiday season and then will purchase the items for them. We are happy to bring everyone some additional holiday cheer and have been very impressed with the services provided by W.A.R.M.

The OFAC team is grateful for all that we have thanks to our fantastic patients and our OFAC family/friends. We want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Dr. Scott Ekroth came to OFAC by way of Syracuse NY, where he went to medical school and did his residency. His wife, baby boy, and he are happy to be closer to home since they are native Midwesterners. He is excited to join OFAC because of our commitment to excellent patient care and our dedication to improving foot and ankle surgery through new procedures and technology.

Dr. Shawn Morrow and his wife are originally from Wichita, KS. They have been in Kansas City, MO for the past 9 years during his medical school and residency. They have 4 kids, identical twin boys that are almost 5, a 3 1/2 year old girl, and a 1 1/2 year old girl. Most of his interests and spare time revolve around his family/kids. He is excited to be at OFAC and to be working along side physicians who have an outstanding reputation in the orthopedic foot and ankle community.

Dr. Ryan Scott is originally from Cleveland, OH.  He received his BS in exercise physiology from the University of Dayton, attended medical school at DesMoines Unversity – Des Moines, IA, and completed residency at Detroit Medical Center – Detroit, MI.  He is excited to join the OFAC team as a fellow and work with one of the best foot and ankle groups in the country.  He is really looking forward to expanding his knowledge and surgical ability in the field of foot and ankle surgery.

Please help us welcome them into our home at OFAC.

Join us on New Year’s Day to kick off the OFAC Fitness Challenge! This is a great event and we are excited to be a part of it again this year. Bring your friends and family; start 2011 off on the right foot.

Event: 5K Run/Walk or 2K Fun Walk  (these are pet friendly events). Directly after you finish you will grab a plate and be served a hot roasted pork sandwich and black-eyed peas to ring in the New Year!  Hot drinks and Powerade will also be available.  In the case of cold weather, take your plate inside and enjoy the warm hospitality of OhioHealth.

Distance: 5K Run/Walk or 2K Fun Walk

Location: OhioHealth Westerville Medical Campus, 300 Polaris Parkway, Westerville, 43081

Date: Saturday, January 1st, 2011

Start Time: 11:00am

Registration/Packet Pickup: 10:00am

Packet Pickup: Begins Thursday, December 30th through Friday December 31st  at Fleet Feet Sports during regular business hours. Fleet Feet Sports is located just off Polaris Parkway at 1174 E. Powell Rd. in Lewis Center.

Registration Prices:

5K Run/Walk – $35 through December 21st and $40 December 22nd through race day.

2K Fun Walk (Untimed) – $20 through December 21st and $25 December 22nd through race day.

Family Pack – $25 each (you must sign-up online and all 4 family members need to be signed up in the same transaction)

For more information and to register on-line  click here.

The purpose of the challenge is to get fit through healthy, smart habits that can be used the whole year round.

Lose weight

Gain stamina

Try new things

Start regular healthy habits

There will be three distinct sections to this year’s competition named, “Hot Pursuit”.

Part 1.  The Bod Pod (40%)

Everyone will enter the dreaded Bod Pod at Baseline Fitness to get exact muscle and fat measurements.  These measurements will remain confidential throughout the entire contest.  Everyone will be asked to schedule his or her body assessment before January 1, 2011.  Call now or schedule online (614-880-9180/ www.baselinefitness.com). Eve Ann Buxton is expecting your phone call.

Weigh out will be April 1, 2011.  We will weigh out anytime from April 1 to the time of the Weigh out Party, which is currently scheduled for April 7, 2011.

40% of your score will be determined by the total percentage loss of body fat and the total percentage gain of body muscle mass.  For those people who have spent the last 7 years trying to cheat this machine will attest to its accuracy. The Bod Pod does not lie.

Part 2. Hot Pursuit (40%)

The 4 attending surgeons of OFAC will represent 4 healthy habits.  Each contestant will try to match or beat the doctors attempt to consistently maintain their healthy assigned healthy habit.  Each category must be done each day for a maximum weekly score of 7/7 days.

Category 1 – Dr. Philbin – Pedometer – 1 point

Dr. Philbin will walk 12,000 steps every day.  He will attempt to reach this goal every day of the week.  1 bonus point will go to the contestant who scores the daily highest step number for the week.

Category 2 – Dr. Lee – Calories consumed – 1 point

Dr. Lee will maintain calorie consumption at 500 calories below metabolic baseline.  Baseline Fitness will calculate each person’s individual metabolic baseline at your weigh in.  If every person successfully consumes 500 calories below this threshold, they will lose 3500 calories for the week or 1 pound/week.

Category 3 – Dr. Berlet – Push up/Sit up Quotient – 1 point

Dr. Berlet will do 100 push up and 100 sit up each day.  He will attempt to do this consistently every day of the week.  Simply do these each day, every day, consistently.  No bonus for doing more than 100.  No point if you do less than 100.  Girls will be allowed to do girlie push ups.  Sits up can be of any variety including crunches, leg lifts, and sits up machines.

Category 4 – Dr. Hyer – Resistance training – 1 point

Studies continue to show the health benefits of resistance training.  Whether you go to the gym to lift weights or do lunges and squats at home, pushing up against heavy things is good for you.

Unlike the first 3 categories, this will be measured as a weekly total.  This will allow contestants to accomplish the weekly goal in any frequency that they would like.

Each week, females must lift 100,000 lbs and males must lift 200,000 lbs in any fashion they would like.

Daunting, but not really.

If a typical 150lb person does 100 squats at home each day, that is 15,000 lbs or 105,000 lbs for the week.  Of course we would encourage each contestant to go to the gym and consider a full body workout using a variety of weights for both upper and lower body muscle groups.

Our hopes are to encourage everyone to go to the gym regularly (3x week) and engage in diverse resistance training regularly. Our super smart personal trainers will also be available to help train you at super discounted rates.

1 point for each contestant who achieves this goal each week.

Part 3. Challenges (20%)

Every so often, we will post individual and group challenges for that week.  Points will be awarded to anyone who successfully participates in that weeks challenge and documents it with a photo on Facebook.

Be prepared, the first one will be bowling.  This was the most popular challenge from last year.

Points are for participation but occasionally, prizes will be awarded for the winner of a challenge. For instance, the highest posted bowling score will win a free pair of shoes from www.footsourcemd.com

So join us this year.  We will kick off Hot Pursuit at the First on First 5K at the Westerville Medical Campus. You can see there will be a premium on doing healthy things regularly and keeping track of your progress.  We hope everyone will lose a little weight, pick up good habits, and mostly, have a lot of fun with our growing family at OFAC.

Please invite your friends, families, and co-workers to participate. Send Katie Allen an email at allenkm@orthofootankle.com to register by Dec. 29. Information will be sent to participants via Facebook and email.  Follow us on Facebook at Orthopedic Foot and Ankle and add us to your fan pages. If you have any questions, please contact Katie Allen.

Contact: Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Center
Holly Bezold
614-818-6689
bezoldhs@orthofootankle.com

A safer alternative to oral medications for the treatment of onychomycosis is
now available at Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Center

Columbus, Ohio, November 22, 2010 – Genesis Plus, a new laser procedure for treating fungal nails without downtime, side effects, or pain is now available from the expert foot and ankle specialists at Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Center in Westerville, Ohio.

“Fungal infection of toenails is a very common and often very difficult problem to treat,” says Dr. Christopher Hyer, Podiatric Surgeon at OFAC. “Topical medications and ointments alone work occasionally, but require continued, often lifelong use. Powerful antifungal oral medications are available, but they’re quite expensive and may cause unwanted side effects, including liver damage or dangerous interactions with other medications.”

The Genesis Plus laser procedure is ideal for almost any patient suffering from onychomycosis, commonly known as fungal nails. This latest technology offers a non-invasive, non-toxic treatment, which is fast and effective for treating toenail fungus, even in diabetic patients. For the best results, the treatment requires two, 20-minutes sessions at the physicians’ office. After the first treatment patients will begin to see results as healthy, clear nail grows in; complete results are seen after three to six months.

How it works: • During the fast, 20 minute-procedure, pulses of light are gently delivered to the nail and nail bed.
• The laser simultaneously sends heat into the deep layers of the nail and nail bed killing the fungus
• Patients have minimal to no discomfort, adverse events, discoloration or loss of nail after this procedure
• Clear nails will begin to grow after the first treatment; re-treatment will occur three to four months later to ensure all the fungus is killed.
• Post care instructions from the physician will reduce the risk of re-occurrence.

The Genesis Plus laser, made by Cutera, Inc. is a powerful Nd:YAG laser. Clinical studies are underway in the U.S. as well as in Europe. Early results show high success rates ranging between 70 and 90 percent for treating onchomycosis. Older alternatives range from a 50 percent success rate with the oral medications, to as low as, a 10 percent success rate for the lacquer treatment.

“This new treatment modality provides a safe and effective solution for the millions of people afflicted by this embarrassing and often painful problem.” Says Dr. Terrence Philbin, Orthopedic Surgeon at OFAC.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, please contact the Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Center at 614-895-8747 and speak to the Genesis Laser Team. Before and after pictures are also available upon request.

It was Edgard’s idea in the first place. He thought we could take the white marker board from one room and move it here. Maybe we could put information on it. As we talked together, we came up with the idea of putting a table in the room and creating a meeting room for the doctors and nurses to meet every morning.

Just as we spent days fixing broken bones, we began to dissect every broken room in the hospital. The vital entrails were strewn across the open air hallways as the patients watched with an expression I saw during our emergency code 2 days ago. We struggled with the anatomy of what could become an effective field hospital. Homemade shelving with a new homemade operating room table was delivered. Plywood would never receive as much glory as it would on this day. And with the same urgency and panic I’ve had every day, I wondered how I was going to finish this operation by the end of the day.

As Edgard motivated me to get up and continue on the white board project, this disaster as a metaphor became complete. The room would only become complete with the help of my Haitian interpreter. The hospital could only be complete with the cooperation of Haitian doctors and nurses. This disaster will never recover without mutual growth of who we are with who they are.

The simplicity of the white board will be to track every patient that is in the hospital. The medical teams will stare constantly at the board like travelers in a snowbound airport. Patients will never be forgotten and mundane tasks will always get done. This small little idea will save more lives than all our operations this week.

One of my most important lessons this week has been about the elegance of simplicity. We’ve gotten by on a diet of rice and beans, we’ve watched joy and sorrow in each others eyes without the benefit of any electronics, and we’ve communicated as a group without the aid of conference calls or webinars. Last night, we even clutch started a 2 ton truck without the need of a battery.

As we close our work this week, I know Haiti may have healed me more than I have healed her. Though nature has exacted a huge force in the course of our patient’s lives, I hope we have been able to alter their course at least slightly. Their coastline is filled with plenty of jagged reefs but they have equal amount of safe harbors.

“Be safe”.  It infects nearly every decision.  Because the water is not drinkable, a slight mistake brushing your teeth can lead to days of diarrhea.  The dirt road separating the hospital from our cabin has large trucks and buses barreling along at 45 mphs.  Besides getting run over, the shower of rocks and pebbles pelt my surgical eyeglasses and headlamp that I wear all the time.  If you forget your bug repellant or your malarial medication, any one of my numerous and growing mosquito bites would be the concern for serious illness.  During one of our surgeries yesterday, safety was never more evident as one of our very own team members sat in the corner with an IV to hydrate as we addressed a child’s perforated intestine.

Safety is a constant process that weighs on every decision.  In surgery, we have to organize our own equipment.  Because there is only one sterilizer, if you forget an instrument, a scissor, a scalpel, or a screw, you will have to wait nearly 30 minutes before that critical tool is available.  Forget twice and it’s an hour. An hour more of anesthesia is also an hour more for the flies to roost on your surgical field and an hour more of danger for your patient.

There is no easily available x-ray.  To x-ray a patient a team member has to transfer the patient on a wobbly wooden stretcher and pull the cart across the gravel road 300 yards to the ancient machine where a near nuclear dose of radiation will produce a gray plastic image to be read like tea leaves.  There is no safety in making orthopedic decision without x-ray.  There is no safety in surgery without proper instruments.  How would we know if our bones are straight or if our screws are too long or too short?  How would we put a screw in without the proper screwdriver? Like Hamlet agonizing over death, we ask, “to be safe or not to be safe”.  I wonder which will lead to more regret.  I know what it means to be safe.  But do I know what it means not to be safe?

There is a patient here with a complex femur fracture.  We were planning an operation to fix it without x-ray or the proper insertion equipment.  If the surgery went smoothly, we could straighten his crooked leg in 30 minutes.  If it went badly, we would struggle for hours and then amputate his leg.  In the aftermath of our recent death, I chose to be safe. Far better, I reasoned, for him to have a crooked leg than no leg at all.  There was no need to be dangerous.

As I unpacked newly arrived crates of equipment today, the insertion tools for his operation hid in the corner of the box.  Then a pick up truck began backing into the dusty entrance with an 1800 lb crate protecting a full size portable x-ray machine.

Goethe said, “be bold and great forces will come to your aid”.  As I looked at the newly arriving aid, I regret the decision I made for my patient.  It is too late in the week to tackle such a large operation. Fortunately, it will be an easier decision for next week’s team.  So I wonder about the words “be safe”.  What is the opposite?  Is it “be dangerous”?

Like a man standing in the middle of the highway, he must decide to jump left or to jump right.  Because to play it safe and stand still will lead to a far worse outcome.

The opposite I think is “be bold”.  By coming to Haiti, I have learned that I may never have enough information or equipment to make a perfect decision and that even an imperfect decision may be better than no decision at all.

As we tried to resuscitate her our medical group continually talked, reviewed, and strategized.  Even if we couldn’t have our modern life saving equipment, at least we’ll act and behave as if we were in the ICU. The only place she really should have been all along.

Her heart was weak. She was anemic. She hadn’t had adequate nutrition in weeks. There were more germs in her bed than my son’s football locker room. Yet, she needed her operation. She was transferred here to specifically get this major operation.  If she didn’t have it, her leg would cease to function, become paralyzed, and the month of constant pain she had already suffered would be permanent. Without the surgery, she would flounder in this bed until she was overcome by the germs of her mucus, urine or feces.

We brought together everyone who was involved in her care that afternoon. I wanted to review her story. Her operation was difficult yet it was quick. It had also been successful. Her pelvic bone returned to normal place. She didn’t have excessive bleeding. After surgery, she was not in excessive pain. Her blood pressure was low but curiously her pulse did not respond to her condition. As if the last month was too much, or perhaps the last 67 years was too much, the heart refused to beat any faster. We did whip the heart with medication, trying to spur a quicker pace. Like the donkey that wakes me every morning, it took a few rapid stumbling steps forward and finally refused to pull any longer.

Oxygen could have helped. So would an EKG machine, a Swan Ganz catheter with a pressor drip and a ventilator. If we had the equipment, we could have done all that. We could have actually improvised many of those things.  But then where would we send her? She and her granddaughter were lying in an open air room behind an iron gate (the closest thing we had to an ICU) for at least 2 hours with an emaciated pregnant dog walking by.

Every day in Haiti, hundreds of people die. Last week, thousands of people died, and the week before tens of thousands of people died. But at least I know it will be less next week. I do not know the stories of all these people. What is important to me is that I know the story behind my patient.  It’s important to our team and all the people who were in her room this morning.

Is the shame that so many people died or that so many stories were never known?