Vet appears in Netflix documentary

KCaulder@CalhounTimes.com

Local veterinarian Jodi Sexton never expected to find herself in front of the camera.

A self-described introvert who doesn’t even like getting her picture taken most days, Sexton said the opportunity to appear on screen in a new Netflix documentary series was unexpected — especially given that she usually works with animals, rather than people.

Based on a New York Times Magazine column of the same name written by Dr. Lisa Sanders, “Diagnosis” crowdsources diagnoses for mysteries and rare medical conditions in humans in the hopes of finding solutions and treatment options.

“I’ve always been the most obnoxious person when anyone is in the hospital because I’m right there, micromanaging and asking questions of the people doctors. My family laughs because I say things like, ‘Well, if you were a poodle, it might be this,’ but that’s really what got me on the show,” said Sexton, who owned Calhoun’s Best Friends Animal Hospital for 20 years before selling the practice in 2016.

NETFLIX,

Sept. 2, 1944, was to be a day that George Herbert Walker Bush would remember for the rest of his 94 years. For the second day in a row he was to take his TBF over the Japanese stronghold of Chichi Jima, an island in the Bonin chain located 150 miles from Iwo Jima and 500 miles from the Japanese mainland. The target was an important Imperial Navy radio tower. After a one hour flight from the San Jacinto, he and his squadron mates encountered especially intense anti-aircraft fire from the ground.

Before actually reaching the point where his bombs were to be released, Bush’s aircraft was dealt a mortal blow from enemy flak. As his wings ignited in flames and the cockpit filled with smoke, he instinctively knew that in a few moments his plane would either explode in the air or plummet to the ground. Pressing on, he dropped his payload of bombs on the communications tower and struggled to aim his dying bomber toward the open sea. Once over the water, he radioed his two crew members, John DeLaney and William White, to bail out. Neither made it, although fellow flyers did observe that one of them managed to get free of the aircraft. His parachute, however, failed to open.

As Bush managed to tear himself free from the pilot’s seat, he was thrust backward and received a cut to the head from the plane’s tail. At 2,000 feet some of the panels from his own chute tore away and he plunged deeply into the water upon impact. After involuntarily ingesting salt water, his miseries were compounded by the painful sting of a Portugese Man O’ War. Dragging himself into the small life raft that had been attached to his life vest, he began to vomit and tearfully think of home. Barbara, the fiancée that he might now never marry, was especially on his mind.

As Bush’s raft drifted steadily back toward Chichi Jima and certain capture, his squadron mates still in the skies above fought off a Japanese boat headed out to seal his fate. Four hours later, the U.S. submarine Finback, patrolling in the area for the very purpose of rescuing downed airmen, surfaced next to the raft and whisked Bush away to safety.

Eight other U.S. Navy flyers on the Chichi Jima run that day had bailed out and been captured. Others had died in the fight. Of those who had gone down, only George Bush managed to escape. Later on it would be revealed that the captured airmen had all been executed by the Japanese, some by beheading. Even worse, certain enemy officers had practiced ritual cannibalism on the bodies of the executed airmen, actually eating body parts in a celebratory meal. Those perpetrators were eventually found guilty of war crimes and executed by the Allies at war’s end.

A legacy of service

For the rest of his life, George Bush would mourn the loss of his two crewmen, White and DeLaney. Beginning with his days on board the Finback, he would ponder why he alone had been spared. Coming from a family in which Bible reading and prayer were part of daily life, he wondered what purpose God might have in store for him.

Refusing orders that would take him back stateside following his ordeal, Bush would go on to fly a total of 58 missions before war’s end. In the years to come he would serve his country, a goal nurtured in him by his family, as a U.S. Congressman, ambassador to the United Nations, special envoy to China, director of the CIA, vice president for eight years with Ronald Reagan, and as our 41st president. In the providence of God, it was President Bush’s steady, experienced hand that led our nation, and the world, during the tumultuous days of the break up of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Iron Curtain, and the spread of freedom throughout eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics. Why had God spared him years before at Chichi Jima? History has now, in large part, answered that question.

Very few of the millions of Americans who served our country in uniform during World War II were ultimately cast upon the world stage as George Bush was. But, they all deserve to be remembered and honored for what they accomplished for American and for the world ... 75 years ago.

“If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are.” — Ronald Reagan

It all started back in April 2018. She was reading the latest “Diagnosis” column, which centered around a 23-year-old nursing student named Angel Parker. Parker was experiencing shooting pain in her legs and back, muscle cramping, fatigue and unexplainable darkcolored urine, and had been since she was 14. Dozens of doctors had tried and failed over a period of nine years to uncover and treat the disease causing Parker’s pain. None succeeded.

Sexton became “consumed” by the case right away.

“As a veterinarian, I started thinking about what animal diseases it sounded like. I realized it was pretty similar to a hereditary, metabolic disease in horses,” she said. “So, I wrote in and said, ‘Here is what I think this is, and here’s why.’ I was asked to write more, explaining exactly what I thought might be going on in her case.”

So, she did. Sexton said she received a call from producers at Netflix asking her to be part of the documentary series a few weeks later. In May, they gave her instructions on how to Skype in to them and record a call that they could use on the show, including specifics about what lighting should be like, how to sit, what to wear and how to answer questions.

“I talked to them for almost two hours that day in an interview format. Then there was a really long gap after that when I knew I was going to be on the show and couldn’t talk about it to anybody,” Sexton said. “The show only came out this August, so it was a long time to keep quiet.”

She found out by watching the show that Parker was finally diagnosed with carnitine palmitoyltransferase deficiency II, a condition that prevents the body from using certain fats for energy. The very rare condition is passed down genetically and is, indeed, similar to fatty acid oxidation problems seen in horses. Her pain can be managed by decreasing the amount of fatty acids she eats and increasing her sugar intake.

“I’m very happy they found out what was wrong,” Sexton said. “It’s just an example of what I think is so great about the column. Crowdsourcing is a really genius idea for medicine. I think there’s always something we can learn from talking and bouncing ideas off of each other.”

Appearing on the show hasn’t changed much for Sexton, who now works as a veterinarian at the Animal Hospital of Whitfield County. She still volunteers with the local school system, which she has done for several years, and teaches children about dog bite prevention and veterinary science as a career. The only thing different about her life now versus before is her renewed focus on writing, which she said she does daily for a secret project she is working on.

“I can’t talk too much about it right now, but I will say being on the show has opened other avenues of opportunity, particularly with writing. I’m going to try and focus on that a little more. I don’t want to be in front of the camera very much,” Sexton said. “It may be a package deal, but we’ll see what happens with it. I’m very excited.”