Tips for controlling bagworms
In addition to treatments, the cancer care program also offers nutrition counseling, emotional and mental health counseling, support groups, fitness classes and weight management programming to cancer patients.
Lanell Jacobs, director of oncology services, said cancer patients benefit greatly from a streamlined program since each person’s needs are different and most require multidisciplinary care.
“We approach it in a very individualized fashion,” she said. “We help patients feel whole through their cancer journey.”
Craig Box, MD, surgical oncologist and medical director of the Edna Owens Breast Center, said the tumor board, which is made up of physicians from different areas of the cancer care program, works so well together that they often anticipate each other’s recommended courses of treatment.
“One of the things that’s kept me in Calhoun is the luxury of having close-knit care, and I think patients can feel it, sense it and take great comfort from it,” he said.
Box is the region’s only-fellowship-trained surgical oncologist, and he has been part of AdventHealth for 21 years.
AdventHealth Harris Radiation Therapy Center
William Tong, MD, a radiation oncologist at the AdventHealth Harris Radiation Therapy Center, said AdventHealth’s attention to providing bright, aesthetically pleasing facilities also plays a valuable role in fostering a comforting place to visit.
“It’s part of the overall experience,” he said. “We’re very focused on making sure everyone is taken care of and has a good experience.”
At the AdventHealth Harris Radiation Therapy Center, a a small fee involved, but other times, it’s free. I always opt to stay and watch other riders go, since I usually have to trailer out to get to the clinic, meaning it’s a bit of a project just to get there. Why not stay and make a day of it?
You can learn so much by watching another rider work out kinks. After all, effective riding, no matter the discipline, always relies on the correct use and application of aids. In other words, our problems aren’t all that divergent, no matter the level. I watched a young rider have a lunge lesson after my turn with Stephanie, and although he was at the beginning of his riding career, I could see that the changes he made had a definite effect on the horse. I also saw a rider schooling several levels above me working on maneuvers I haven’t yet done with Ava, but I saw how the techniques Stephanie worked on with me were still coming into play for this rider.
Here are a few more tips for getting the most out of a clinic:
Have someone take notes linear accelerator provides customized and targeted radiation aimed at destroying cancer cells while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue.
“The technology with radiation and radiation planning has evolved significantly in the last 20 years,” Tong said. “We use computers to do calculations we couldn’t possibly do on our own and three-dimensional imaging to see inside the body.”
Tong said treatment planning is a true team effort, with a medical physicist, dosimetrist, therapists, nurse navigators and front desk personnel working together to ensure a positive experience for the patients.
Surgical oncology
Hak Lee, MD, serves as the director of robotic surgery and is the region’s only fellowshiptrained urological oncologist. He is also is trained and certified in robotic surgery.
Lee said great care is taken to ensure patients never feel like a case number.
“When talking to my patients about surgery, I promise them that no matter what happens, I will never desert them in their time of need,’” he said. “I will always go through the entire process with them.”
AdventHealth Gordon is just as committed to providing stateof-the-art technologies to complement its whole-person approach to cancer care, he said.
In addition to traditional surgery, AdventHealth Gordon also offers multispecialty robotic-assisted surgical procedures for various types of urological cancers. Lee brought robotic-assisted surgical skills to the hospital when he joined the team in 2015 and now leads the robotics program, enlisting other surgeons to perform minimally invasive surgeries using the high-tech system.
“We have over 400-plus cases for you. My friend was also at this clinic, and she handed me a full page of notes after I rode — score! Now I don’t have to rely on my brain to catalog everything Stephanie said.
Have someone video you or shoot photos. We were fortunate to have a fellow rider and professional photographer shooting this clinic, and we could see how our rides improved. If you’re going to have someone video or photograph you, just make sure it’s OK with the clinician.
Relax and have fun! If you’re working with a seasoned clinician, chances are she’s used to working with riders of different levels. You’re not going to show her any problems she hasn’t already seen and fixed.
P.S. If you’d like to learn more about Stephanie Mosely, see www.theempoweredrider.com. that we’ve done,” he said. “People used to go to Atlanta or Chattanooga to get their care, but they can get the same care or better cancer care for urology right here in our community.”
Edna Owens Breast
Center
As part of a $25 million capital improvement plan, AdventHealth Gordon constructed the Edna Owens Breast Center. The center, which opened in July, provides one-stop, streamlined breast health care services, complete with the latest advances in breast imaging technology.
Jacobs said AdventHealth Gordon has been designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology for the past 12 consecutive years.
“That means we have the highest level of certification for breast mammography, breast ultrasound, breast biopsy and breast MRI,” she said.
In addition to ultrasoundguided and stereotactic breast biopsy capabilities and enhanced X-ray technology for performing bone density scans, the center boasts two mammography suites with high resolution 3D SmartCurveTM mammograms.
The breast center also offers genetic screening. “Many women take comfort in learning if they have a genetic disposition for breast cancer,” said Emily Tarpley, the center’s manager. “Genetic screenings start with a quick questionnaire, and then the screening progresses from there.”
After arming themselves with the knowledge, patients who screen positive can take a proactive approach to breast health.
“If we catch things early, the cure rate is very high for most cancers,” Jacobs said. “Screenings help us detect those things early, and that usually results in much easier treatment.”
Before I get into the topic of the day, I would like to put in a plug for soil testing at the UGA soil test lab. Soil testing itself is very economical at $9 per sample, which includes shipping.
It is a great tool to help a person obtain fertilization and liming recommendation for what they are growing in the soil on their property. Even though COVID-19 has temporarily changed how we work, we are still shipping samples to the lab and having results sent back in a timely fashion.
If you would like the UGA pamphlet on how to collect soil samples, just email me and I can get that sent to you. The pamphlet will go over proper procedure, sample depths for your activity and how to dry the samples if they are wet for example. I will also encourage you to check us out on Facebook at Gordon County Extension/ Agriculture and Natural Resources for out latest tips and timely information.
Finally, UGA Extension is encouraging everyone to take part in the 2020 Census. Your participation can help valuable federal funding dollars to make it to our local community.
Now back to our topic of the day concerning bagworms. We are entering the time period to be on the lookout for newly hatched bagworms. These caterpillars are unique in their life cycle and can cause damage to our deciduous and evergreen trees. Bagworms can be especially problematic to juniper, arborvitae, spruce, pine and cedar.
I have seen a few Leyland Cypress that had bagworm damage and were either killed by the caterpillars, drought or disease. Large populations of bagworms can remove tree foliage and cause the tree death.
I am going to be sharing information from the UGA Center for Urban Agriculture, but from a source by University of Kentucky entomologists M.F. Potter and L.H. Townsend. I will also add information from our 2020 Georgia Pest Management Handbook for homeowners.
From an entomology standpoint, bagworms are cool in their life cycle. The damage they can do is not fun. A bagworm is the larval stage of a moth that you seldom see. The male can develop into a moth that can fly while the female will stay more grub appearing. The female will stay in the bag they make until just prior to her death.
Bagworms will spend the winter as eggs inside the bag that held the previous year’s female. The bagworm will hatch from the bag in middle to late May. When they hatch, the small larvae will crawl around looking for food. Soon after hatching, bagworms will use silk and plant material to make a small bag around their hind part that will appear like a tiny and upright ice cream cone. As they feed and mature, bagworms will enlarge the bag which will give them a place to withdraw into when they are disturbed, per Potter and Townsend.
Infestations can go unnoticed because the protective bags made by the caterpillars are mistaken as either pine cones or other plant parts. I normally will receive calls in later July or early August when folks notice stripped areas of foliage. By early fall, the bags can reach a size of 1.5 to 2 inches. By this time, the caterpillars will permanently hang the bags pointing downward from twigs so the bagworm can transform into the pupa stage before becoming an adult.
When they turn into adults, remember the male is a flying moth. The male will go to bags containing the grub-appearing female for mating. The female will lay hundreds of eggs in the bag. She will drop from the bag and die. The eggs will stay in the protective bag till the next May and will hatch to start the life cycle again.
What can a homeowner do? If you have the preferred ornamentals for bagworms, I would start investigation now. If you see the attached bags from last year, you may still have time for hand removal and destroying of the bags if you can do in a safe manner. This can work if you have only a few infested trees or shrubs. This can work in the fall, winter or early spring.
If you do not hand remove attached bags, you can use insecticides when the bagworms are small, such as in June. Insecticides for bagworms will work better when the bagworms are less than .50 inch long. The bagworms are hard to see, but you can look for the upright bags that look like ice cream cones. Our information states that preventive treatment is often warranted on ornamentals that were infested with bagworms the previous year.
Our information states the Bacillus thuringiensis products such as Biotrol WP, Thuricide or Sok-Bt can be an option. Safari by Green Light with the active ingredient dinotefuran is mentioned, along with malathion 57EC and other various pyrethroids. I will add to read the label of any product for safe and correct usage.
Also, be mindful of our pollinators in the home landscape and use of products around blooming plants including trees and weeds that could be damaging to our pollinator population.