Home Care in Buford, GA

Buford man undergos new liver cancer procedure

A Buford man was diagnosed with colon cancer in March 31, 2023. He recently received new treatment available for patients with liver cancer.

BUFORD, Ga. - Jeff Reid says he got the first hint something was wrong in early 2023.

"I started to feel discomfort in my abdomen, and, you know, a loss of appetite," Reid remembers.

His doctor ordered scans, then biopsies.

But as the months passed, his weight went into a sudden free-fall.

"I had lost about 20 or so pounds," Reid says.

On March 31, 2023, Reid, who is now 55, was diagnosed with colon cancer, and told the cancer had metastasized, or spread, to his liver.

He was now stage IV.

"I was shocked," Reid says. "I'm not a smoker. I was in good health. You know, very active, and physically fit."

And, Reid and Stephanie Garcia were just 4 days away from their wedding.

"I just felt like I was on a huge roller coaster where we were so happy, excited about getting married, then found out this news," Garcia says.

They got married on Jekyll Island and then Reid began treatment.

Reid is not a candidate for surgery, so he began intense chemotherapy.

"I was getting heavy chemo, more than the normal person, because I was otherwise healthy," he says.

At the same time, Dr. Nelson Royall, Reid's surgeon at Northeast Georgia Medical Center, was exploring a new option for patients with liver cancer: histotripsy, using sound waves to destroy tumor cells.

"The first time I saw this technology, I almost didn't believe that this was real," Dr. Royall says. "It really came out of left field. And it's incredibly exciting to have as an option."

April 19, with Reid under anesthesia, he became the first Georgia patient to undergo the procedure. Dr. Royall and his team used intensely-focused ultrasound waves to target and break apart Reid's tumor cells, without damaging his healthy liver tissue.

"And, interestingly, a lot of times it actually preserves the normal liver that used to be where the tumor was," Dr. Royall says. "The tumor is gone and has been reabsorbed by the body. But the bile ducts and the blood vessels have have come back to function."

And, because this procedure is non-invasive, requiring no incisions, Reid has been able to continue his chemotherapy.

"It does not have any side effects, is as far as, you know, things like, neuropathy or hair loss," he says. "There is none of that."

Jeff Reid believes the procedure is helping him, but his cancer is advanced.

"I have numerous tumors in my in my liver," he says. "They're not going to be able to get them all. But, it's also, you know, maybe there's an opportunity for me to have this treatment again."

And Reid and Garcia are grateful he had this option.

"Because it's just one more thing that can help lengthen his life," Garcia says. "It's not a cure. We know it's not a cure. But at least we get more time together.

Last season, 23 football players from the town of 16,800 dotted the rosters of the five most prominent college conferences.

Credit: AP

BUFORD, Ga. — Four days before the biggest game of their lives, dozens of 6- and 7-year-olds wearing full pads and Kelly-green jerseys bounded onto a practice field in suburban Atlanta.

Under bright lights last fall, the Buford Webb football team performed tackling drills and ran sprints. Players reviewed concepts such as how to fill a C-gap — all in preparation for the Gwinnett Football League championship game that Saturday. Winning would represent a proud achievement in Gwinnett County, where over 3,200 children ages 6-15 took part in the GFL’s 2023 football season.

Increasingly, evidence points to the dangers of repetitive hits through contact sports. A recent Boston University study found that young athletes are at risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease associated with repeated blows to the head. Those who played football for many years were more likely to be diagnosed, the study found.

In Buford and Gwinnett County, parents, coaches and league administrators acknowledge playing football comes with risks. They’ve attempted to mitigate them. But they’ve determined the joys and rituals are worth preserving.

A J McDonald participated in the GFL from ages 7-13 and works today as an attorney. Playing football caused him to experience headaches as a kid. He suffered “probably three” concussions in his career.

McDonald wouldn’t have reservations if his son, born in July, followed in his father’s footsteps.

“It’s a special bond — there’s nothing like a football bond. I’m friends with kids that I played with on my 8-year-old team.” McDonald said.

Buford, a town of 16,800 residents that’s an hour’s drive north of Atlanta, excels at producing football talent, according to a Capital News Service analysis of the five most prominent college conferences.

During the 2023 season, 23 Power Five college football players were from Buford, the analysis found. In all, Buford produced more Power Five players than 12 states and Washington, D.C.

Buford’s success begins with a robust youth sports culture. With nearly 400 players, the Buford Youth Football Association is the largest of 20 Gwinnett County organizations that form the GFL.

Games and practices are held at Buford Youth Sports Complex, which is set to undergo an estimated $1.5 million renovation to its lighting system and synthetic turf fields, according to Ken Burge, a third-generation Buford resident and football director of the Buford Youth Football Association.

To many in Buford and the GFL, football is not just a sport. “I look at football as an opportunity to really build life skills … accountability, respect, team building,” said Buford Webb coach Markell Webb, whose 7-year-old son Micáias, played on the team in the 2023 season. They argue that football’s unique elements — the way players play through adverse weather and hit each other — offer lessons that other sports cannot.

“If you can make it through football and play football, you can do anything in the world,” said Gerald “Boo” Mitchell, president of the GFL

Buford Webb called one of its final practices before the GFL championship “Competition Tuesday.” For much of the 90-minute session, shoulder pads and helmets clacked and thwacked.

Mitchell said despite the hits, youth practices look different than in the past, part of the GFL’s attempts to make the sport safer. Full-contact practices are limited to twice a week.

“We love to see how football used to be played … but you have to understand that the game has changed,” said Keybo Taylor, a former GFL coach who today serves as the sheriff of Gwinnett County.

Even as youth teams in Buford and the GFL try to mitigate the risks of football, there is a perception that dangers are overstated, especially for younger kids.

“At this age, they don’t hit hard enough,” said Jimmy Williams, whose 7-year-old son, Christopher, played this season for Buford Webb. “It’s all fun.”

At the end of a long season, Buford Webb won the GFL title, defeating Lawrenceville, 24-6 on Nov. 11. Players received championship rings and were featured in the Gwinnett Daily Post.

“They feel like local celebrities,” Webb said.

The GFL now is in offseason, but football in Buford goes on. Parents pay for kids to work out with trainers. Children compete throughout the year.

“This is a 365-day-a-year football community,” Mitchell said. “It never stops.”

ROSWELL, Ga. — A doctor is facing federal charges for allegedly running a pill mill out of his offices in Roswell and Buford, where the U.S. Attorney’s Office said he “illegally prescribed excessive amounts of narcotics.”

Isaac Sved, 65, of Gainesville has been indicted on charges of maintaining premises for drug trafficking, unlawful dispensing and distribution of controlled substances, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Sved ran the operation through FamCare in Roswell and Valere in Buford, which are now occupied by other businesses.

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Sved was registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration to prescribe controlled substances, including the opioid Oxycodone, according to a federal indictment. It states that patients received minimal or no evaluations before Sved prescribed pain medications such as Oxycodone, Alprazolam, and Carisoprodol.

The indictment goes on to say that “FamCare serviced an inordinate amount of people from an area of Georgia over 50 miles away, many of whom were ‘referred’ by existing patients and sponsors.”

FamCare was only open on Sunday, when all the other businesses in the office park were closed, and had armed guards patrolling the clinic, according to the indictment.

Sved is also accused of receiving large sums of cash from a co-defendant, Bobby Lamar Mosley, who obtained prescriptions “for purported patients, some of whom were never examined,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

“Regrettably, the opioid epidemic has at times been fueled by physicians who abused their positions of trust in illegally prescribing excessive amounts of narcotics,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan in a statement. “Those who abuse the power of their medical profession to unlawfully profit must face the consequences of their actions.”

The indictment further alleges that Sved falsified patient files to make it look as though the patient had been evaluated on certain dates “when, in fact, the patient was not even present at the clinics,” the news release said.

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Sved has three co-conspirators, none of them doctors, who are charged with running the operation: Mosley, 60, of Buford; Dikla Rosh, 45, of Dunwoody; and Lucciano Lopez, 27, of Sandy Springs.

The indictment says federal investigators seized more than $200,000 in cash from the defendants in December 2022.

The pill mill had been in operation from as early as May 2017 to December 2022, according to the indictment.

Channel 2′s Bryan Mims tried to reach Sved by phone, using a phone listed for his offices but was told it was the wrong number.

State records show that Sved began practicing medicine in Georgia in Aug. 1994 and that his license expired Nov. 30.

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A new brewing company headed to Buford aims to bring live music, a laidback vibe, and a variety of beer to the area.

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Meander Brewing is in the works now, a project from longtime friends and brewers Michael Branam and Paul Bushell.

“We’re trying to target that feeling you get when you go to a lot of breweries, where it’s laidback, where you’d want to hang out and listen to music and things like that,” Branam told What Now Atlanta.

Expect acoustic performances, family-friendly games like cornhole, and a beer to suit every taste.

“We’ll be doing everything from a light lager to getting into more of the Belgian beers,” Branam said.

For the food program, they want to link with local eateries to provide bites along with the beers, aiming to create a system where that restaurant’s food will be served at Meander Brewing. They’ve been talking to local restaurants, and they’ve already got one in mind. They’re also seeking to expand the patio area, creating a warm and welcoming outdoor space.

This is Branam and Bushell’s first time opening a brewery, but their interest and experience in the craft goes way back, both at home and professionally, getting a taste for commercial brewing by working with Monkey Wrench Brewing in Suwanee. They’ve also won competitions for their beers, which led to more and more people suggesting they make it official and open a brewery.

“It got to a point where everybody was saying it all the time,” Branam said. “We’ve been looking for a place for several years before we found what we think is gonna be a really great spot in Buford.”

The two are excited to be part of a vibrant area with charm and character, where they feel that investment from the city has helped businesses thrive.

“Buford has just a great sense of community,” Bushell said. “It’s also a draw in the sense that it’s got a beautiful historic downtown.”

The two forged a friendship over their mutual interest in brewing, first meeting in 2006 when Bushell was playing cards at a friend’s house.

“My friend said, ‘You have to try this beer,'” Bushell said. “He took me to Mike’s. We crashed his son’s high school graduation party. That’s how I met Mike. He said, ‘How about a pale ale?’ and poured me one. I was blown away. I wanted to get into it. We’ve been brew buddies ever since.”

The name of the company is a testament to Branam’s innovative spirit – and the pair’s ability to laugh at themselves.

“Mike is a jack of all trades, a true craftsman in whatever he does,” Bushell said. “In his backyard, he put in a waterfall that came down and went into a pond. It was beautiful. He had that ever since I knew him… He said, ‘I’ve gotta redo my pond.’ I said, ‘Is it leaking? It’s beautiful as it is.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, it doesn’t meander enough.'”

To Branam, the waterfall looked too contrived. So he ripped it apart and moved several tons of rock to renovate the waterfall in order to make it, at last, meander enough.

“I wanted it to look like it was a real waterfall you’d find in nature,” he said. “After that, my family thought I was nuts. All my kids, their spouses, every time I would do any project, plant some plants, they’d say, ‘Is it gonna meander?'”

Naturally, Bushell suggested that as the name for their venture. Now, the two are preparing to open in the next several months, as early as May or during the summer. Equipment should arrive in early March, as they navigate through the waters of permitting and polishing off the design.

“There’s a lot of different breweries out there, very good ones,” Bushell said. “But we can set ourselves apart with the beer and the environment we want to make at Meander.”