♪[ opening music ]♪ ♪ Hello, I'm Beryl Dakers.

Welcome to Palmetto Scene.

Healing comes in many forms in today's world of medicine, and in this episode, we'll look at some alternative approaches to treating illness.

In our first segment, we'll visit Janel Ralph, owner and C.E.O.

of Palmetto Synergistic Research L.L.C.

Janel was simply trying to find a way to curb her daughter's seizures, when she ended up with a company that helped pave the way for hemp cultivation in South Carolina.

<Janel Ralph> So my youngest daughter was born with a rare, very rare genetic condition.

It's called Lissencephaly.

Her name is Harmony, named after our company and she is really the reason why I've gotten into the C.B.D.

industry.

Your brain looks like a waffle.

Because your brain forms in utero from the inside out.

And that last layer gives you the gyri that helps your synapses fire.

And unfortunately for Harmony because of her genetic mutation, that last layer of her brain didn't actually form.

So it's considered smooth brain as well, because her four hemispheres of her brain are smooth.

It is a terminal diagnosis.

They give us a life expectancy of about four years old.

It's simply because of the uncontrollable seizures that go along with that particular disorder.

She was put on several different pharmaceuticals.

We did steroid injections, which were extremely expensive.

It was $100,000 for a 34 day course of treatment.

Luckily, though, there's an organization called the National Organization for Rare diseases, and they were able to cover the expense of her A.Z.T.H.

Because Harmony's diagnosis is so rare.

There's only about 600 cases worldwide of Lissencephaly, that are diagnosed, probably due to the mortality rate.

And at about three and a half is when the steroids stopped working.

Right before she turned four, they basically had told us that we needed to start looking at hospice because they were out of options for her.

And that's when, you know, my journey at that point led me to C.B.D.

and the C.B.D.

treatment for Harmony.

When we first started giving it to her, her seizures completely stopped for 12 days, and then they came back.

And they were really strong and forceful.

So we adjusted her dose down, and we ended up getting really good seizure control.

So the longest she's gone since we started is 42 days without a seizure.

I started looking at, you know, what are the hemp regulations around the country?

How do we, how are we able to access this?

How can we grow it legally?

How can we make these products where they're safe, they're tested, they're compliant without having to deal with having to enter this shady world of of the marijuana industry to try to find medicine for our children?

So I created the CBD 4 Children With Epilepsy group.

They figured if I had enough demand in a marketplace, somebody would step up with the supply.

So we had passed a C.B.D.

legislation here in South Carolina that allowed for us to have it.

So we couldn't grow it here and we couldn't get it.

I figured somebody'd step up with the supply.

It was a horrible mistake.

Several of our parents were stole from.

We got sold bad product.

If we're going to do this, we're just going to have to get into this industry.

The 2014 farm bill Kentucky was compliant as a pilot research program.

They were the first in the country to grow hemp legally.

We bought the first crop.

We extracted in Kentucky.

We brought it back here, and we bottled it here and we distributed it.

<David Dewitt> Yeah, Janel was an integral part in getting hemp growing in the state.

Going to legislature meeting in Columbia had several hearings there to start with and then she applied to be one of the first 20 growers in the state of South Carolina as well.

They about 20 permits in the first year of 18.

<Janel Ralph> We've been able to supply you know, Harmony with a safe tested, quality product.

We've led, you know the industry on compliance and making sure that we're producing a product that is safe, effective, transparent, and it's you know, not going to make anybody sick.

I don't I don't create something different for Harmony.

Literally, the Palmetto Harmony original I just go in, take it whenever she runs low.

You know, Harmony just celebrated her 12th birthday, which in and of itself is a miracle.

She still does have seizures.

She still has epilepsy.

She still has a terminal diagnosis.

So I want to be clear that people understand like, we have just improved her quality of life.

She has a terminal diagnosis.

But we've got a 90 percent reduction in seizures and we've been able to remove 95 percent of her pharmaceuticals.

You know, fortunately, she's touched so many other people's lives, too buy this.

So it's been quite the journey for sure.

<Beryl Dakers> With shots very much on almost everyone's mind, let's talk about a different type of needle.

Not your typical needle.

This one instead is four times as small as a hypodermic, and it's used by practitioners, whose art is rooted 1000s of years ago in ancient China.

For years through her company, A New Acupuncture And Wellness, Noemi Martinez has helped others experience the possibilities that acupuncture and its surrounding elements can offer to aid the body and the mind.

My name is Noemi Martinez, and I am a Chinese medicine practitioner, which encompasses several different modalities, which is acupuncture, Chinese herbs, cupping gua sha, tuina, that's all part of Chinese medicine.

Acupuncture basically stimulates the body to naturally heal itself.

The thing about Chinese medicine is that it's got deeper roots than functional medicine.

Back 5000 years ago to 2000 years ago, they didn't have labs.

They didn't have hospitals to take tests.

So they had to figure out how to read the internal body in different ways.

And so one of the ways was through pulse taking, which is very much a skill that's learned over a period of time.

I mean, there's some Chinese medicine doctors that I've studied with that can feel for gallstones and thyroid issues like in the polls, like the tactile skills of that are just incredible.

<Debra Galloway> I'm a general practice attorney, but predominantly, what I do is I represent parents and vulnerable adults in abuse and neglect cases.

So it's a stressful job.

Every case tends to be kind of horrible.

And that keeps my stress level at 10.

And it's not something that's going to change tomorrow.

It's just kind of the nature of the job.

And so it kind of come regularly to help me to manage the stress, the acupuncture and cupping both kind of work cohesively to circulate the energy, to reduce some of the inflammation in my body so that I can be effective at my job.

I also have a lot of headaches and migraines as a result of the stress level.

And so she does a bloodletting technique.

It instantly relieves the pressure.

<Noemi Martinez> There veins, arteries that go behind the ear to the head where the pressure builds up in the head.

So this is a great way of instantly relieving pressure from the head whenever there's a headache, that's kind of stubborn.

This will help relieve the pressure and then the acupuncture can do its thing by circulating blood and chi to the areas that needs it.

Yes, it's totally safe, we use sterile needles, and it doesn't hurt.

Pain is an interesting word, right, and it means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

There's definitely sensations that you feel with acupuncture.

But like if you've gotten a tattoo, or you've had blood drawn, those needles feel totally different from acupuncture needles.

Acupuncture needles are like hair-like thin.

You can fit 10 acupuncture needles into one intradermal needle.

So that's how thin they are.

So like I said, you're gonna feel sensations and I am trying to feel into your energy fields like in the body, so in the meridians.

So there may be some electrical feeling, electrical sensations under the skin.

Some areas are more sensitive, like the, like the hands, the feet.

They're more sensitive because they have more nerve endings or the face has more nerve endings.

There's different lines on the head.

In scalp acupuncture that relate this, this line relates to motor function.

So I'm measuring here.

We're going to get the motor line so that we can work on the function of his muscle.

And then we'll go to the sensory line.

<Robert Shafer> I don't understand it.

I don't know how it works.

I don't know if it would work for everyone.

But I do know that it has definitely worked for me.

About a month ago, I had a Bell's palsy attack while I was on vacation, and the right side of my face is paralyzed.

You know I had success with acupuncture in the past and I thought this would be a good opportunity to try it again.

Probably about 10 years ago, I had a knee issue where the cartilage is gone.

And the doctor told me that all they could do is give me cortisone shots until they didn't work any longer.

And then I could have a partial knee replacement.

And someone suggested acupuncture.

I came in and gave it a try.

And the knee pain went away and never returned.

Once my knee was better, you know, I was a believer that acupuncture work.

And when I had the Bell's palsy attack, I knew that I could come to Noemi and and get some help.

So each point we put in has an indication.

And the indication sends a specific message to the brain, like, hey, this is the issue.

This is where the issue is.

Fix it.

And your body fixes it.

It's amazing.

Like it's really, really cool.

And then the Chinese herbs just kind of going hand in hand with that, and would help support like the body in different ways.

I have a patient today that's coming in that has been throwing up.

He's got some food poisoning from last night.

And so we're going to give him some raw herbs to decoct to help his digestion, boost his immune system, and just help him feel better.

My name is Patrick Herring.

I generally come here between once or twice a month, depending on how our schedules line up.

<Noemi Martinez> Alright, so we're giving you these herbs today.

This is the prevention formula.

Got mulberry leaf, licorice root, Yin chen.

I don't know what the English translation is.

But this is to help clear heat from the lungs.

<Patrick Herring> I come here pretty routinely for maintenance or any other variety of health issues, physical pain to any sort of digestive issues, any sort of sleep issues and by staying up on it, I feel pretty good on a regular basis.

<Beryl Dakers> More than 4000 people in the state of South Carolina are experiencing homelessness.

In the Charleston area alone, there are more than 400 homeless people, veterans, seniors, individuals and families.

A Charleston resource center for people experiencing homelessness uses telehealth to provide medical care to one of the state's most vulnerable populations.

<Marie Roland> We get over 24 families a month that are homeless.

And if we really started knocking on the hotel doors, we'll probably find more.

It's really hard to get out of homelessness.

Otherwise, they just live in a crisis mode and do what they configure to keep a roof over their heads and just keep doing the same thing over and over again.

<Cristin Adams> More than 4000 people in the state of South Carolina are experiencing homelessness.

In the low country, it's more than 400 people.

And about 80 percent of those in the low country is just in the Charleston area.

<Marie Roland> For the last five years or six years, we've been serving homeless veterans.

Then the mayor asked us to take over this this resource center for the homeless.

A lot of people can't get into a shelter.

There's no family shelters here.

There's people that just can't be in a confined place because of a lot of the medical and mental health issues that we're addressing.

What the Navigation Center does is coordinate that and really look at the root causes of why they're homeless.

And really the Navigation Center, we want it to be a medical and mental health model to address the homelessness of these folks.

♪ <Layne Walker> What you think of when you think of telehealth, you think, okay, the provider has a screen and the patient has a screen.

But here we have use of two rooms.

This room actually still is the room where we check in the patients.

We get their vital signs.

A medical student, volunteer or other health professional student is here to do that.

We get their kind of chief complaint, why they're here and some of their past medical history.

And then we go across the hall, where we have a camera setups, so that provider can see them and there's a large screen and they can see the provider at M.U.S.C.

We'll see everything from someone that comes in with a burn or to someone with diabetes that's having trouble managing their blood sugar.

It's a really wide range of sort of acute issues, as well as kind of more chronic everyday diseases.

<Layne Walker> There's a stethoscope where, you know, the volunteer in the room, places it on the patient's chest or belly, whatever it is, and the provider is actually hearing that.

So it's as if the provider was in the room.

We have OTA scopes, which is just a fancy word for a camera that we can use to look in people's mouths eyes, ears.

With the help of the student volunteers, This telehealth really works and we can see a large amount of patient complaints because we have this technology, <Marie Roland> Telehealth is, it's an amazing technology for us.

They can just walk in and meet with M.U.S.C.

and start their diagnosis, whether it's just prescriptions, or if it's maybe they need to go to be referred to a psychiatrist.

Maybe they need an operation.

It's a way for them to start getting back healthy.

So they can make the right decisions and the right choices for their next steps.

<Cristin Adams> This population's used to basically waiting until it's an emergency to seek care.

[ sound of siren ] Emergency room utilization among the homeless is, you know, way beyond what it is in the general population.

And so what we try to do is capture patients before things become emergent.

And we're providing this care at a place where they already are.

So there's no transportation barrier for the patient.

And probably most importantly, they're at a place where they, where they have trust.

So this is often stigmatized and marginalized population.

And often there's a lot of distrust with the medical system.

Understandably, and, and so we're, we're providing this care at a place where they've already developed relationships, and they have trust, and it's us coming to them in their space, as opposed to vice versa.

<Layne Walker> This Navigation Center is the home for them.

It's not just a medical home or a mental health home.

It's also you know, they have laundry services, they help people get connected with resources.

So this is a really supportive environment and a springboard for them to get what they need.

<Cristin Adams> Every individual is different, just like every individual that has secure housing.

So it's so important to recognize that and to listen to whatever part of their story they want to share.

And beyond that, to just do the best job caring for them, based on the situation that they're in.

The caveat to that is being really careful to assess social determinants of health.

You know, do you have transportation?

Are you getting access to regular food sources?

Do you have a job?

Those things are, are really important to assess for all people, but definitely in this population, in particular, because it will affect the medications that you're able to give.

It'll affect the follow up appointments, you're able to make.

<Layne Walker> You know, your health, your mental health, all of it is intertwined with sometimes things that are out of your control, and sometimes things that, that you can work toward.

As a health care provider, you really need to be cognizant of where your patients are coming from, what their beliefs are, in order for you to partner with them to improve their health and also in order for you to get them the resources that they need.

And you won't know that unless, unless you ask and you try to work toward being culturally aware of what's going on and all of your patients lives.

So it's a lifelong learning process.

<Beryl Dakers> And now I look at another form of healing.

When art exhibits closed across the country, two upstate artists found a unique way to express themselves during the pandemic.

While some people say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, others argue that art is that soul poured out into a medium.

♪ <Nancy Wofford> Art is to me a universal part of self expression that human beings have just like music and other things, and I think it's there within all people.

The story behind the pieces is very important, because that connects the human to the human.

And I think there's so many millions and millions of levels of human expression through art, from the great masters down to just the scribbles of the petroglyphs, for example.

They're all important, and it's all that human being behind it that's making it important <Narrator> South Carolina artist and Winthrop alumna Nancy Thomas Wofford reconnected to her classical art roots and set up a Michelangelo cast in her Greenville studio.

<Nancy Wofford> I think that the cast is a fundamental beginning to learning how to observe the natural world around you.

And the art student in that process is more aware of how to translate the natural world into the practice of drawing.

The human mind has more capability than we realize.

So in trying to tackle a difficult task like this exercise, you do get a sense of accomplishment and encouragement to go further.

It automatic actually improves draftsmanship and that improvement and draftsmanship will stay with you, technically, for the rest of your life.

<Narrator> Nancy invited the O'Neal family to do a cast drawing exercise with her.

One line changes the entire drawing and all the relationships change and that's why we have to correct so many times.

<Jimmy O'Neal> What's really helping me is, you know, it goes so far down the abstract wormhole, even though I layer a lot of realism, and I've got a classical background, I haven't done a cast drawing since, I don't know, like 30 years.

So getting to go back to the basics and the classical realm.

Where it really helps me is with perspective from looking at one point and how things can change.

<Nancy Wofford> What our instruction always said, told us we need to do, come in and take the first minute and just look at your cast drawing with a fresh eye.

And that is when you capture so many of the things that you didn't see when you left it the day before.

<Narrator> No matter the medium or genre of art you fancy, cast strong is often considered a must have experience to unlock an artist's potential.

Jimmy O'Neal echoes the sentiment.

<Jimmy O'Neal> I am an artist and I'm pushing the boundaries of paint.

I developed a paint that is a mirrored paint about 20 years ago, and have still been pushing different ways of making that a lens.

Because since I'm now working with a camera embedded in a painting, and wanting the viewer to see themselves as that painting, perspective becomes important.

It's just good to get your chops up again, you know, and do something that's completely out of the realm or unexercised space that I've been in.

And also getting to work with somebody like Nancy, who's amazing, you know.

I'm in awe of what she does.

♪ <Nancy Wofford> When I take a measure, you know, horizontally across the tip of the whole thin, you've got all your basic critical horizontals and verticals matching up really beautifully.

Cast drawing is a setup in the studio situation, where you will be using a cast of white plaster cast of, of usually a famous Greek or Roman figure.

And it's placed on a pedestal and you have your drawing, your easel and you're drawing paper next to it.

And there's a process that you go through to align that piece with your paper and use your charcoal to replicate that.

And it requires a tremendous amount of observation, correcting going back and re measuring and your goal is to get an exact replica.

<Narrator> The O'Neal kids teamed up to draw the cast with a little help from Nancy Of course.

<Mezzmyrh O'Neal> I feel like this is a very powerful experience my sister and I as friends and as artists.

We got to work together with Nancy to create this piece and we learned so much because I never even used a plumb line before.

And now I'm like that's all you need.

<Narrator> Even without traditional art training, the O'Neal kids took a lot away from this experience.

<Mezzmyrh O'Neal> I learned so much from this process.

Because Nancy, she taught us how to be active in our learning and go back and forth from being away from the piece and towards the piece.

So it's very much an active process with the teacher.

<Nancy Wofford> I'm going to take a look at it through the rectangle.

I think when you learn not only the technical aspect of your exercise in what you're trying to accomplish, but as you work this form, this particular figure, you start becoming emotionally involved in that form, and then historically, you begin to think about that character in history.

So it enriches your art history as well.

<Narrator> Nancy says that during the Renaissance, the scholars realized that the classical Greeks had come to a deep understanding of the nature of beauty through figurative art.

Therefore, beauty was in the antique for them.

Art students had to master the antique before being allowed to draw from the life.

<Nancy Wofford> As time progressed, certain let's call them famous characters in Greek and Roman history were preferred by the artists.

And so they became the standards that were used over and over again through the centuries in Europe as the atelier and as the classical instruction progressed.

So I think that Belvedere torso that Michelangelo so adored would be a good example of that.

The Venus de Milo, others that we see repeated over and over again.

And they were beautiful and they were learning tools for how to represent beauty, and perfection of the form.

Michelangelo is probably my favorite of artists and and has been since art school days.

But I think the dying slave or dying captive as it's sometimes called, represents a condition in humanity and has great emotion to it.

And I wanted to have an opportunity to try to, try to learn how he did that, to capture his genius, as an artist, as he was trying to give us an emotion at that time.

<Narrator> Emotion is ever present, from the original Renaissance artists' feelings, to the student executing a cast drawing and sharing a piece of themselves in the replica.

<Nancy Wofford> I think the Venus cast for me is probably my most important piece because it was my, it was my second cast drawing, but it was done at a time that my father was leaving us and I had great pleasure in working on that piece.

So I think it imbues a kind of emotion in the work itself that was not in the plaster model and express some emotional feelings that I had at the time.

♪ <Narrator> Can you feel the emotion?

♪ <Beryl Dakers> For more stories about our state and more details on those stories you've just seen, do visit our website at PalmettoScene.org And of course, don't forget to follow us on social media, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @SCETV #PalmettoScene For all of us here at E.T.V.

and Palmetto Scene, I'm Beryl Dakers.

Good night and thanks for watching.

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