Letter From Editor Aug 2022

August brings with it the final dog days of summer. As a matter of fact, August 11^th is the last of these days, which began July 3^rd. We are winding down from the high temperatures and peak humidity.

At least that’s the idea.

I’m not so sure, as I sit post-storm in what can only be described as clinging humidity, that the dog days won’t last a bit longer. Something tells me August 11^th won’t usher in cooler temperatures and drier air, but I remain ever hopeful that fall is, indeed, around the bend.

This month we explore Pelvic Floor Dysfunction (PFD) in our feature. We are lucky to gain insight and advice in an interview with Dr. Sara Morrison, PT, DBT. Dr. Morrison, a physical therapist with a practice based in Lillington, explains what PFD is, what the symptoms are and how it can be treated for better quality of life. You’ll want to read this for yourself and your loved ones, many of whom suffer in silence.

In this month’s Ask the Expert, AOS Care Management Associate Ashley Seace answers a reader’s question about MedicAlert bracelets including what they are, who should consider wearing one and why they’re important for safety, security and independence.

Finally, we begin a monthly series on personal storytelling and family history, which will continue throughout the rest of 2022. This month, we begin with the concept of a genogram, the basis for exploring much of our family history and providing a framework for not only creating memoir but also better understanding our family dynamics.

Perhaps the most accurate description of these August days comes from Natalie Babbit’s children’s book, Tuck Everlasting:

“The first week of August hangs at the very top of the summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color. Often at night there is lightning, but it quivers all alone. There is no thunder, no relieving rain. These are strange and breathless days, the dog days, when people are led to do things they are sure to be sorry for after.” 

Here’s hoping to cooler temperatures and no regrets!