ADHA Center for Lifelong Learning and the 89th Annual Session, update on Esther Wilkins, ADHA Standards

The theme of the Center for Lifelong Learning and the 89th Annual Session is Navigating through a Changing Profession and Seizing the Opportunities of Tomorrow. There will be over 28 CE sessions, exhibits, social events, and networking with over 2,000 dental hygiene colleagues. The meeting is in Phoenix, Ariz., June 13-19, 2012. The Keynote Presentation will be by J.R. Martinez, the Season 13 Winner of “Dancing with the Stars.” I cannot wait! I will be teaching “The New Periodontal Disease: Navigate the Emerging Solutions,” with two follow-up hands-on courses entitled: “Put Power in Your Hands.” I am teaching in conjunction with Casey Hein, BSDH, MBA, and Marie Schweinebraten, DDS. We will focus on periodontitis as a major chronic infection and a disease of inflammation, and how to determine who is at risk, in order to prescribe the corresponding therapy. It will provide the science, technology, tools, and techniques needed to manage the complex periodontal patients presenting in today's practice of dentistry. At the end, we trust the participants will better understand chronic inflammation and develop successful outcomes in the operatory.

The meeting will not be the same without our beloved Esther Wilkins. Esther is making remarkable progress after fracturing her skull. She has a subarachnoid hematoma and a blood clot in her right inner ear that has caused complete deafness in that ear and problems with her equilibrium. She still has dizziness if she moves her head or changes position too quickly. She uses a walker, her mind is still sharp, and she is getting back to her old self! I hear she is “bossing" the nurses around in her own special way. While her memory is good, Esther sometimes is reported to be at a loss for a word or a name, but she can usually recall it after a short while. Of course, we have all been there without the excuse of a skull fracture! According to good friends who have visited with Esther, the rehabilitation facility is excellent. It opened this year and has exceptional staff and the best equipment. Esther has four hours of physical therapy and one hour of occupational therapy every day with excellent therapists. Esther is thrilled with the cards and notes she is receiving every day. She remembers every person who has sent her a card and keeps them all in a special basket. She really appreciates the flowers that have been sent by several of you. She looks forward to her mail every day and is saving every card and note like a treasure. She is not able to access her email in the hospital. No visitors are allowed, and she is supposed to be in rehabilitation another week or so. Dr. Esther M. Gallagher, New England Rehabilitation Hospital, 1071 Varnum Avenue, Room 125A, Lowell, MA 01854. As well, her home address is: Dr. Esther Wilkins Gallagher, 151 Tremont St, Suite 12N, Boston, MA 02111. Thanks to Anna Matsuishi Pattison, RDH, MS for keeping all of us updated! I had the pleasure of speaking with Esther today (Monday, June 11, 2012) and she was in good spirits and is improving daily. Our mutual friend, Pat Cohen, was with Esther. Pat told me that Esther has a huge basket of cards and reads and treasures each one. She immediately thanked me for sending a card, her mind is still sharp! I understand there might be some sort of video at the ADHA meeting about Esther, but I am not sure where or when!

Thanks to Denise Bowen, RDH, MS, Jacque Freudenthal, RDH, MHE, Shelby L. Kahl, RDH, and Lynn Terracciano-Mortilla, RDH, for their contributions to this newsletter. And a big thanks to ADHA President Pamela Quinones, RDH, BS, (photo above) for her wonderful leadership this past year. Sincerely,