On the mend

Since retiring to the beautiful northern Black Hills region of South Dakota, we’ve become acquainted with many other retirees. Among these new-found friends are Roger and Fran Whorton, who grew up near Waterloo, Iowa, and were wed in 1966.

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Roger served a stint in the Marine Corps and ended up as a career officer in the U.S. Coast Guard as a pilot. He served in a variety of interesting assignments, including one as Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Air Station at Barber's Point in Hawaii. They have three grown children. Roger retired as a Captain in 2002, and he and Fran moved to Spearfish.

In the few years that we’ve known them, the Whortons have had their world altered considerably, due to a life-changing health condition. Roger has reflected upon their experience, and he's been kind enough share it with the Black Hills Journal. That's Roger pictured above -- on the mend -- and showing a renewed appreciation for health. He cites the role that stress can play in recovery, or lack thereof, especially when induced by burgeoning costs for major surgery.

In the final of three installments, Roger Whorton pens another episode of...

A HEART'S STORY

(Part 3)

by Roger Whorton

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Home is the place to recover. Hospitals do a great job at taking patients through the critical times, when you are helpless and need treatment. But danger lurks in the form of hospital infections and illnesses, especially after an operation. If I knew then what I know now about hospital infections! (Read more...)