BLUE & YOU-SUMMER 2019 (WEB)

it was the offer of free help and guidance
and the presence of some of her fellow
patients that prompted her to leave her
comfort zone and adopt a new wellness
mindset. “I hate to run,” Cannon confided.
“I’m more of a walker. But here, there’s so
much you can do, you don’t have to stick
with one thing. I like a variety. ... I just
think staying active is the most important
thing. Of course, it’s more fun to exercise
if somebody is doing it with you. Plus,
Erik is so positive and encouraging. He
praises you even when he probably
shouldn’t. Then, when the weight just
starts falling off, it really makes you want
to keep going.”
Another patient, Carolyn Ng, age 64,
who has had weight struggles for
many years, has lost 31 pounds so far
(with 24 more to go), has reduced her
blood pressure and now takes much
less medicine. “I don’t get tired quite
as easily, I don’t have dizzy spells like I
did, and I am hardly taking any insulin
anymore – after 12 or 13 years of being
on it,” Ng said. “But the main thing is
that I’m feeling better about myself
mentally, even more than physically. I’m
excited, too, because I know I’ll be able
to do more without my knees and back
hurting all the time. And I’m already
fitting into clothes I haven’t gotten
into in quite a while.” Ng said the
integrated approach and attentiveness
of the staff have helped her succeed
more than anything else she has ever
tried. “Everybody seems to care about
you – from the bottom to the top – and
they all take the time to answer all your
questions.” she added.
At the age of 74, a third patient, Majorie
Worley, has some very special reasons to
improve her health – her grandkids. The
lifelong Sevier County resident recently
moved from Dierks to De Queen, where
she lives with her daughter and son-inlaw
and helps care for their three children
(ages 5, 9 and 11). She has been a patient
of Dr. Lofton for about five years but is
new to the wellness program. Just two
weeks in, she already had lost nearly 10
pounds, and her blood
pressure had dropped
from 150/80 to 107/70.
“I’ve tried to lose
weight on my own
several times before,
and I’d stay on a diet
for two or three weeks,
but then I’d quit,”
Worley said. “And I
was addicted to my
recliner. But my three
grandkids are very
important to me. I want
to be able do things we
can enjoy together. I’d
like to be around for
their teenage years.”
Specifically, getting stronger, improving
her balance (after some recent falls) and
getting her blood pressure under control
without medicine are her main goals.
She’s already seen enough progress to
convince her that this approach works.
“It’s convenient to have somewhere you
can go and exercise, and yet the clinic
is right there, and they know everything
that is going on with you,” Worley said.
“I had been praying that I would find
something that would help me stick
with it and actually get healthier. Then
a lady at my church told me about this
program. So I thought, ‘There’s my
answer.’ This is exactly what I needed.
It gets me out of the house more and
gives me something to do. And when I
get home, I have so much more energy
to do housework or do things with my
grandkids. I am so grateful.”
A bright future
Smith gets a kick out of this new
dynamic. “Sometimes, in school, the
kids I was working with didn’t really
want to be there – they had to be
there,” Smith said.
“But here, everyone who comes
through those doors wants to improve
themselves and get better. I get to share
Smith (left) helps Cannon adjust an exercise
machine setting.
in their pride when they meet their
goals, but more than that, I know that
this is actually changing lives – blood
pressures are falling or cholesterol is
going down. I get to be a part of helping
people use fitness as an alternative to
taking medicine, and the gratification I
get from that is fantastic.”
Dr. Lofton says good news is traveling
fast. “Patients are starting to share their
success with their friends and neighbors
and families,” he said. “We are so excited
about this program and its potential that
we are considering offering it to patients
from other practices in our area. We are
doing this to have a healthier population in
Sevier County, so as long as we are seeing
success, I cannot see why we would limit
it for anyone.”
As for such a forward-thinking program
springing up in an unexpected place
– like De Queen? “We have a great
team here. We had an innovative idea.
And, thanks to a program like CPC+ and
payers like Arkansas Blue Cross, we
have some funds and discretion to make
an immediate change,” Dr. Lofton said.
“It only goes to show that just because
you’re in a small town, that doesn’t
mean you don’t have the opportunity
to do something great or unique or
meaningful.”
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Blue & You SUMMER 2019