October 2021

October 2021

TEXARKANA MAGAZINE October | 2021 | Volume 2 | Issue 10

44. S T Y L E Happiness is Homemade 52. L I F E Go Pink or Go Home 54. S T Y L E Halloween Soirée Style

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10. c o v e r/ B U S I N E S S We’re All in This Together 20. P O L I T I C S Meet the Candidates

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38. S P O R T S Kickin’ it in Germany 42. E N T E R TA I NME N T Good Evening TXK

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26. C OMMUN I T Y So Much More 34. C U L T U R E How Music Shapes a Memoir

56. S H A R E T H E L O V E Milestone Celebrations 58. T X K R O O T S Caroline Cotten Grenier

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What I love about fall…

CASSY MEISENHEIMER …FOOTBALL season! Flag football, high school football, college football,

TERRI SANDEFUR …cooler weather so I can f inally drive my 1998 Miata again because the AC doesn’t work.

KARA HUMPHREY …sitting by the f ire, hoodies and sweaters, the smell of people burning leaves, and Aggie football! It’s the greatest time of year!

LEAH ORR …cooler temps and sitting by a f ire!

professional football and fantasy football!

MATT CORNELIUS …sweater weather, pumpkin spice lattes and Dillard’s holiday sale.

BRITT EARNEST …the illusion that cooler weather is coming! #texas

BAILEY GRAVITT …NOT the pumpkin spice lattes, that’s for sure!

TERRI GRAVITT …pumpkin spice lattes with LOTS of whipped cream!

MEGAN GRIFFIN …football season! #WPS

JOSEPH GUERNSEY …motorcycle riding and the leaves.

TIFFANY HORTON …cooler weather and hanging out around a f ire!

BRIAN JONES Really though, fall around here is just second summer.

PATSY MORRISS …the sound of a high school band drum line.

EMILY SARINE …f leece, food and football, in no particular order!

JONATHAN WEAVER …tailgates and grilling.

LIBBY WHITE …the colors! Fall is my favorite!

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C O N T R I B U T O R S

T E X A R K A N A M A G A Z I N E

2801 Richmond Road • Suite 38 Texarkana, Texas 75503 903.949.1460 [email protected] txkmag.com Publisher C A R D I N A L P U B L I S H I N G Staff C A S S Y M E I S E N H E I M E R [email protected] T E R R I S A N D E F U R [email protected] K A R A H U M P H R E Y [email protected] L E A H O R R [email protected] M AT T C O R N E L I U S [email protected] B R I T T E A R N E S T [email protected] Local Sources C L A R E A N G I E R J O H N L U K E A N G I E R M A R Y C A R O L I N E A N G I E R

is on television, making him an automatic Meisenheimer and a perfect fit for our crazy football loving family. I am (mostly) always proud of my kids. But when I witness my boys busting their tails and trying so hard at something, my heart bursts with excitement for them. They do not have the natural genetics to be all- star athletes, but they have the heart to put their all into it. When either of them make a catch, pull a flag, score a touchdown… wave at me… basically anything they do, I am there cheering them on, letting them know their momma thinks they are A++ even though we may peak at very average. On the other side of the pride I get from watching them is the chance they get to learn humility, and that is an important lesson. When they miss the flag, drop the catch, or lose the game, they get the chance to exercise their character and integrity. Hopefully, as parents, we take advantage of the opportunity we have to exercise ours as well. When we see the disappointment on their sweet faces and we see them fighting back tears, empathy always saves the day. Hold on to that empathy and allow it to breed self-control. That can be a very important lesson for the parents of kids in youth sports. Sometimes it is easy to judge ourselves based on our best intentions, but harshly judge the actions of others. Giving grace to our kids and people in general and allowing them to make mistakes with dignity makes our community a better place and raises a kinder generation. Isn’t it amazing what you can learn from a football game?! As our family is in the thick of football season, our local healthcare workers have been in the thick of the ongoing, seemingly ever-strengthened COVID-19 pandemic. This difficult season does not seem to have an end-date in sight. Texarkana Magazine is grateful to have our incredible hospitals and staff working tirelessly to serve our community during this time. These great health systems are Texarkana’s winning team, and the grace and empathy of the excellent health care workers of this city are getting us through to better days.

John Henry, Cassy and George Meisenheimer

T his is a season I look forward to every year because it comes with a break from the heat, and yes, my friends, football season is finally here in full force. I know I am not alone in saying the seven long months between Super Bowl Sunday in February and the beginning of September without football are like spending time on the dark side of the moon. I truly think I function at full capacity during football season. Football season is a way of life at our house. We love flag, fantasy, college, professional and any other kind of football equally. We have Monday Night Football, which keeps us up too late on school nights. Flag football takes over our Tuesday and Thursday evenings with practice and most of our Saturdays with games. Fridays are spent cheering on our favorite local high school team. Saturdays, when not playing flag football, are for watching any college game on television, and Sunday afternoon football games get me through all the laundry and ironing required to get the next week started. Basically, if you cannot find us this time of year, you must not be at a football game. Anton, our German foreign exchange student, has just recently experienced his first American football game. He had heard about it, but now he “gets it!” This kid went from never seeing a game to wanting to attend every game he can and is equally obsessed with tuning in to whatever game

P H I L I P A N G I E R A N G E L A E V A N S J AY C E K E I L

TA M M Y L U M M U S V I C K I M C M A H O N H A N N A H M I L H O R N J O E R E G A N M O L LY R I L E Y

C R A F T E D I N T E X A R K A N A . E M P L OY E E OWN E D A N D L O C A L LY S O U R C E D .

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Texarkana Magazine is a multimedia publication showcasing the Texarkana area and is designed and published by Cardinal Publishing, LLC. Articles in Texarkana Magazine should not be considered specific advice, as individual circumstances vary. Ideaology, products and services promoted in the publication are not necessarily endorsed by Texarkana Magazine .

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P U B L I S H E R ’ S L E T T E R

T E X A R K A N A M A G A Z I N E

WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER BY L IBBY WHITE Over the past year, it has become normal for “COVID talk” to creep its way into everyday conversations. Whether it’s with someone who is venting their vaccine opinion, or with another whose loved one is struggling on a vent in the Intensive Care Unit, it has become normal to accept that COVID-19 has crept in and decided to stay awhile. This unwelcomed guest has brought a myriad of challenges to our local health systems, and in a recent conversation, we were able to sit down with two women who are leading on the front lines. Dr. Loren Robinson, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System and Shelly Strayhorn, Chief Nursing Officer at Wadley Regional Medical Center shared their viewpoints on topics such as getting the vaccine while pregnant, the truth about Ivermectin and revealed the current state of Texarkana’s hospitals. Surprising yet heartwarming was the underlying unity these women, and the health systems they represent, are demonstrating behind the scenes. Having two unique health systems in a smaller town is a rare but an invaluable resource for our community. Pull up a chair and join our conversation.

photo by Matt Cornelius

submitted rendering

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B U S I N E S S & P O L I T I C S

B U S I N E S S & P O L I T I C S

T E X A R K A N A M A G A Z I N E

“ FromDecember 2020 toMay 2021, we administered over 25,000 vaccines. ”

What was the path you took to your current role?

Shelly Strayhorn “I started as a nursing assistant over 34 years ago on the Progressive Care Unit at Wadley [Regional Medical Center] while I was in nursing school. My nursing experience includes roles as Director of Critical Care, Surgical Services Medical/Surgical Unit, and the Director of Regulatory Compliance and faculty at Texas A&M-Texarkana. I have been the Chief Nursing Officer of Wadley Regional Medical Center and Wadley Regional Medical Center of Hope since 2011.” Dr. Loren Robinson “My path has been a winding one. I went to medical school thinking I wanted to do Patient Care, which I love. I love patient stories which I think motivated me to go into medicine. The change for me came prior to working for CHRISTUS St. Michael. I wanted to improve health care at a more administrative level. I served as the Deputy Secretary of Health for the State of Pennsylvania. I am currently the Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System.” How has COVID-19 affected you personally over the past year? Dr. Loren Robinson “I think in our personal lives it’s as big an experience as in our professional lives. I think everyone has their own story. For me, the thing that totally changed was that we became pregnant last fall. We have a two-year-old son, and we were so excited to welcome the newest member of our family this June. In the middle of all that, the vaccine was rolled out. I was nervous because it came out fast, and it came to Texarkana quickly. I was sure I was going to have to go to Dallas or some big city to get this vaccine, and then it showed up on the hospital’s doorstep. We were expected to get it to our associates and patients and offer it to the community. Then they started talking: ‘What about pregnant women?’ And there just was not enough information. I was nervous, so I waited to get more information. I think we had this natural experiment where the

—Dr. Loren Robinson, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs

CHRISTUS ST. MICHAEL HEALTH SYSTEM

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T E X A R K A N A M A G A Z I N E

whole world got to see what happened to those who went first. I had colleagues, I had doctors, administrators and nurses, who took the vaccine because they wanted to protect their families, and I got to see they were okay, and they remained COVID-free. Or, if they got sick, symptoms were mild. So, I felt comfortable making that decision for myself, and I got vaccinated in April 2021. I was about 32 weeks pregnant, and I think the main reason I did that is because I wanted to make sure I could protect my baby. I knew I would not be giving a newborn a vaccine right away. That was off the table. But I found out that it’s true when pregnant women get vaccinated, they pass antibodies on to their babies. Those antibodies are also present in breast milk. So here were two ways that I could get just a simple vaccine and a sore arm, maybe a little bit of fever, but totally worth it to me to make sure my baby is as healthy as possible. I had hoped COVID would be gone by now, but now that the Delta variant is here and we know more variants are coming down the line, I’m so glad I made that decision. Every time I look at my baby who is laughing or smiling or trying to roll over, I think, ‘You can do that because you’re healthy, and you are healthy because I made the decision to get vaccinated.’” Shelly Strayhorn “It has been a whirlwind since March 2020. I have spent many more hours at the hospital planning, developing, revising and implementing procedures to ensure quality care is delivered to our patients, than I have at home with my family. My nephew lives with us, and he was doing remote learning. It was difficult because I would get online to make sure he was doing all his assignments, and I would follow up after working a full day. It was 2:00 a.m. sometimes when I was trying to make sure Jacob was doing okay, and all was well with school. Trying to balance everything was a challenge.” What is the reality of what we are currently facing with COVID-19 in Texarkana? Shelly Strayhorn “The health care facilities are stretched to the max, and the staff is growing weary. It is not just physically demanding, but emotionally demanding as well. Currently, because of the need for inpatient beds, elective, non-emergent cases are evaluated daily to ensure hospital beds and staff are available. We must get our vaccine rates up. Around 90% of all admissions to our hospital are unvaccinated. We are seeing younger patients and children in need of care. Availability of children’s beds is extremely tight. Since they cannot yet be vaccinated, we must take all precautions to keep our children safe.” Dr. Loren Robinson “Nobody anticipated this summer would look worse than last summer. We really thought that COVID-19 would be in a more manageable place. Instead, our numbers are higher than ever in terms of our outpatient visits to clinics and folks getting tested and testing positive. Looking at who is coming to the hospital, our patients are younger than before. Most of them are unvaccinated, and that’s sad because we are seeing young people pass away. We’re seeing people in their 20s, 30s and 40s pass away. And they

shouldn’t have passed away. These are folks who were previously healthy. Interestingly, even though our hospitals are not connected as a health system, we each have the same rate in terms of admitted patients who are vaccinated versus unvaccinated. Only one in ten people who are admitted to our hospitals with COVID-19 are fully vaccinated. Meaning, if you admit ten people into the hospital, nine of those people are not vaccinated. So, if you’re vaccinated, your chance of actually having to be admitted into the hospital is much lower. If you get COVID and you’re vaccinated, you’re more likely to have fewer symptoms and be able to manage that at home and get back to work and back to life as normal, as opposed to being admitted to the hospital and maybe ending up in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or on a ventilator. I think that’s the thing that is so different this time—we’re seeing so many more young, healthy people getting sick quickly. It has been slower for us to get the help we needed at the hospital in terms of those extra nurses coming from the State. We have those now, and I think that’s helping. It’s helping us open our surgery schedules. But it changes so much day to day, that it is really a challenge and continues to be something we are working on every single day.” Are patients able to remain in local care? Shelly Strayhorn “We have been able to effectively and safely care for patients of all ages in our community, ranging from non-critical to critical. Of course, there have been times we have transferred to a higher level of care or to a long-term care facility. And young children are typically transferred to a children’s hospital.” Dr. Loren Robinson “As the COVID numbers continue to go up, there’s this question of ‘Is the hospital still a safe place for me to receive care?’ And I would say, ‘Yes!’ Both for Wadley and CHRISTUS St. Michael. So much so that some of the smaller hospitals are calling and asking to transfer their patients in. I think one thing that is a blessing about having both hospitals in the area is that if one of us gets very busy and gets full, for whatever reason, the other hospital isn’t as busy or as full at that exact moment. Having that ability and being able to lean on each other, knowing we are just a phone call away, is an invaluable resource. It may seem that I’m pushing the vaccination, but it’s very striking to me when I see the news, that these ICUs are filling up. Specifically, if you look at pediatrics. If something were to happen and a child needed severe ICU or pediatric specialists, we’d want them to go to a pediatric hospital. But when you see that Texas Children’s in Houston is full, Dallas Children’s is full, Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock is full, Vanderbilt’s Pediatric ICU in Nashville is full. Where would our babies go? We are having to look as far away as Chicago and that means there’s a challenge. We want to make sure that by being vaccinated, we can keep people out of the hospital. We can help keep these ICUs empty, so if a child is really sick, we can easily transfer them to one of our centers close by, whether Dallas Children’s Hospital or Arkansas Children’s Hospital. We need for them to open up, and for that to happen, the solution is for people to get vaccinated.”

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B U S I N E S S & P O L I T I C S

T E X A R K A N A M A G A Z I N E

“ Around 90%of all admissions to our hospitals are unvaccinated. ”

—Shelly Strayhorn, Chief Nursing Officer WADLEY REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

photo by Brian Jones

How many vaccines has your hospital distributed locally? Shelly Strayhorn “We have administered over 2,500 at Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana and 200 at Wadley Regional Medical Center in Hope.” Dr. Loren Robinson “At CHRISTUS St. Michael we were excited to administer about 2,000 vaccines to our employees, physicians and local frontline workers. Then, in February 2021, the State of Texas recognized the hospital as a vaccination hub. The State was sending us vaccines every single week. From December 2020 to May 2021, we administered over 25,000 vaccines. That was really exciting for our area because we know that we have fully vaccinated folks who are trying to get back to their new normal. It was interesting because we had people come from outside Texas and our region even. We had someone come from Spain, some who came from Mexico, and I’m glad we were able to deliver care to those folks. Sometimes people discount small towns and think they can’t get top care there, but they can! We led the region and are a leader in the country in terms of how we did our vaccinations.”

What are your thoughts on alternative or preventative treatments such as Ivermectin that have become popular? Dr. Loren Robinson “I think Ivermectin is a hotly debated issue. Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic drug. It’s most popular for use in horses and dogs for heartworms. But especially in our area, it is used on cows and horses. I think one challenge is that for medications for your animals, it is easier to get them than going to a doctor. What I’m cautioning people about is don’t take medicines that are made for animals. The concentrations are different. You are not a horse, so do not take horse medication! That being said, Ivermectin is available for humans and there are doctors who are prescribing it. If you are interested in that, talk to your doctor about it. I’ve talked to doctors who are taking it for prevention. I think there is less evidence there for that. But what we do know is that there is some evidence that Ivermectin can work in the early stages of COVID-19; however it is not approved by the FDA for the treatment of COVID-19. We don’t know exactly how, so I think some doctors are reluctant to say, ‘Yes, let’s do Ivermectin.’ I think it is a little premature right now, but I think it’s very important for folks to be talking to their doctor to find out if it’s something that may be right for you.”

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Shelly Strayhorn “Ivermectin is not authorized or approved by FDA for prevention or treatment of COVID-19. The National Institutes of Health’s COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel has also determined that there is currently insufficient >Page 1 Page 2-3 Page 4-5 Page 6-7 Page 8-9 Page 10-11 Page 12-13 Page 14-15 Page 16-17 Page 18-19 Page 20-21 Page 22-23 Page 24-25 Page 26-27 Page 28-29 Page 30-31 Page 32-33 Page 34-35 Page 36-37 Page 38-39 Page 40-41 Page 42-43 Page 44-45 Page 46-47 Page 48-49 Page 50-51 Page 52-53 Page 54-55 Page 56-57 Page 58-59 Page 60

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