Laser Surgery

Her son came home with a bulldog on his chest, and Sally Dietrich doesn't know how to get it off. She's not trained in laser surgery, nor does she have the money -- up to $3,000 -- to pay for its removal. So she's pretty peeved.How would you feel if your 13-year-old showed up with a bulldog tattooed to his chest?I'll tell you what. You probably wouldn't lay a high-five on him.You'd probably -- how should I put this? -- express disappointment with the misdirected youth, then send him to his room with no Sega.

GOLDEN, Colo. - Linda Ham seldom worried about the future during a 21-year career that saw her become one of NASA's most powerful space shuttle managers. Since a year ago today, however, when the Columbia accident claimed the lives of seven astronauts, the future is never far from her mind. For the past two months, the former shuttle executive has been working in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains outside Denver - about 900 miles from her husband and sons in Houston - to help organize a government energy initiative.

Federal authorities investigating a bacterial outbreak at Johns Hopkins Hospital are also examining at least 59 other reports of problems with Olympus bronchoscopes at other hospitals over the past six years. The incidents in Food and Drug Administration files range from bacterial contamination to cracked valves, rings tumbling off into patients' lungs and laser surgery devices bursting into flame inside throats. Twelve deaths and 60 infections are listed in the reports, but most of these problems had unknown causes and were not blamed on the devices, according to the records.

This has not been the best of years for Laurel manager-trainer Adrian Davis, whose youngest of two fighting sons, Demetrius, battles Rockville middleweight Les Johnson in the feature bout at Martin's West on Tuesday night.An outstanding welterweight in his own right in the 1970s, Davis is one of the more respected fight trainers in the Maryland area.He recently was hired to resurrect the career of former welterweight champion Simon Brown, who pulled out of his title match with World Boxing Council junior-middleweight king Terry Norris hours before their pay-per-view fight in Las Vegas on Sept.

What's new: Boomer Esiason comes to RFK Stadium on Sunday with the Arizona Cardinals to take on the 7-2 Redskins and he's as quick with a quip as always."

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Assurances that he's the Orioles' starting first baseman bring some comfort to Jay Gibbons, but not as much as knowing he's got a job. Any job. It's apparent that Gibbons didn't feel very secure this winter after going on the disabled list twice last season with back and hip injuries, and hitting .246 with a career-low 10 home runs in 97 games. His RBI total fell from 100 to 47. "I saw him as a coach, so I know what he's capable of doing," manager Lee Mazzilli said.

Three years ago, when the vision in her right eye started to become cloudy, 85-year-old Georgia Just didn't know what was happening. She'd had the same pair of glasses for years and had never had any serious problems with her eyesight. Suddenly faces were blurry, household tasks were increasingly difficult, and reading and watching television were impossible. A retinal specialist told her she had developed a blood clot behind her eye. Laser surgery helped stabilize her remaining eyesight, but couldn't restore the vision she'd lost.

First baseman Derrek Lee appeared to be on the verge of making his Orioles exhibition debut, but he will be held out of Saturday's game against the Boston Red Sox because of soreness in his right wrist. Lee is coming back from surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right hand, and the wrist soreness might be related to the resumption of regular baseball activities after a lengthy layoff. "The good news is there's no problem at all with the thumb. … It feels good," manager Buck Showalter said before Friday's win over the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium.

When her sister's kidney transplant failed after six years, Mary Keehan began thinking about whether she could donate one of her own kidneys for a second operation. Then she heard about a new surgical procedure that made the decision to be a living donor easy.Mrs. Keehan, 46, gave her sister, Verna Barranco, one of her kidneys last July in an unusual operation designed by doctors at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center to expand the donor supply. Her kidney was removed by laser surgery, speeding her recovery to weeks instead of months, eliminating the long, ugly scars and significantly reducing the pain, too. She went home in six days.

Sally Dietrich says her 13-year-old son isn't happy anymore about the bulldog he defiantly had tattooed on his chest in September -- but neither mother nor son can do a thing about it.Laser surgery to remove it would cost thousands of dollars the Dundalk mother doesn't have, and the artist who did the job can't be punished because Baltimore County has no law regulating the tattoo business.That last part may soon change.County Councilman Vincent J. Gardina, a Perry Hall Democrat, introduced a bill last night making it a crime to tattoo anyone under 18 without parental permission.