Open Forum in The Villages, Florida
This weekly podcast will cover in detail, people, clubs and activities here in The Villages, Florida. Each show will run 10-30 minutes. Become a Supporter of this show for $3/month. Supporters will have access to all episodes. Our newest Supporters will get a Shout-out during a show.
Open Forum in The Villages, Florida
Cross-Continental Chronicles: Dr. Salvatore Forcina's Pursuit of the American Dream and the Art of Aging Well
Embark on a transcontinental tale of resilience and ambition with our esteemed guest, Dr. Salvatore Forcina, whose life story captures the essence of the American dream through an international lens. As Dr. Forcina recounts his odyssey from Italy to Argentina, and then to the United States, we uncover the layers of determination it took to adapt, overcome, and ultimately succeed in a medical career across different countries and cultures. His narrative, woven with the unwavering support of family and a relentless pursuit of his goals, paints a vivid portrait of a man who not only chased a dream but grasped it firmly, even in the face of daunting barriers.
In the second part of our journey with Dr. Forcina, we step into the vibrant life of a senior in The Villages, a community where retirement is redefined through active engagement and zest for life. Our conversation shifts from the past to the present, exploring how one navigates the unforeseen turns of health and well-being. Dr. Forcina shares his transition from the frontlines of the medical profession to embracing a preventive approach to health, spotlighting the importance of maintaining vitality as we age. His story is not just about enduring the challenges of life but thriving in them, an inspiration for anyone looking to cultivate a life filled with purpose and joy, regardless of the years.
Open Forum in The Villages, Florida is Produced & Directed by Mike Roth
A new episode will be released most Fridays at 9 AM
Direct all questions and comments to mike@rothvoice.com
If you know a Villager who should appear on the show, please contact us at: mike@rothvoice.com
Welcome to the Open Forum in the Villages, Florida podcast. In this show we talk to leaders in the community, leaders of clubs and interesting folks who live here in the Villages to give perspectives of what is happening here in the Villages, Florida. We are a listener-supported podcast.
Mike Roth:How can you support our podcast? This is Mike Roth and listeners, I'm thrilled to share with you this podcast, which is my passion project for you. This podcast brings me joy, brings you knowledge, inspiration and a lot of things that people need to know about the villages and the people that are living here and what's actually going on. Creating this podcast is a labor of love, even though it demands more time than I can easily spare. But hey, time isn't something we can buy back right Now. Here's where you come in, the unsung heroes and heroines. You can help us keep the podcast alive and thriving. How? By becoming a supporter.
Mike Roth:There are two simple ways that you can support us. The first is a small monthly donation. Visit our podcast website, openforuminthevillagesflorida. com and click on the black supporter box. Even a small $3 to $10 a month donation makes a difference. And guess what? You can cancel anytime, no strings attached. The second way that you can contribute to the podcast is by making a purchase of an Amazon product at Amazon standard prices, and we are paid a small commission on each purchase as an Amazon affiliate. That way, there's no extra money out of your pocket, but you are supporting the podcast. Check every week because we're going to be adding new Amazon products that you can buy and support the podcast with. Thank you, and your support means the world to us. Stay curious, stay inspired and keep those headphones on. This is Mike Roth on Open Forum in V illages, Florida. I'm here today with Dr Salvatore .
Mike Roth:He's a medical doctor. Thank you, Mike. Thank you Good. How many years did you practice as a doctor?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Approximately 40 years.
Mike Roth:Okay, and Sal, you have an interesting background. I'm pretty sure you were born in Italy, yes, and then you have an interesting background. I'm sure you were born in Italy, yes, and then you grew up in Argentina.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yes, when I was eight years old, my parents moved to Argentina because the effect of the war there was. The location where we were in Italy, casino, was the front of the war there and there a lot of destruction and, as a matter of fact, my brother, my father, lost his brother and there was a lot of misery. So my father, in desperation, really went on to go to the end of the war he was at that time Argentina to stay away from war and possibly brother and you stayed in Argentina, in Argentina, until you were how old?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Until I was 28 years old. I spent in Argentina 20 years.
Mike Roth:Okay, so you went to medical school in Argentina.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yes, I did All the secondary classes, college and university and I graduated in Argentina as an MD.
Mike Roth:And you went back to Italy after that.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yes, because I'm very historical. I like history, the ancestors background. So I was dreaming about going to Argentina, hoping that I could specialize there, and that was my dream. But eventually, when I was there, I saw that there was no future for me there either, because the bureaucracy it was not too different from Argentina. So I was lucky enough that where my parents live, Scauri is a summer resort and during the summer some distant family from the United States me there and we started to talk. We were having a cup of coffee and they say, son, what are you doing here? You have to come to the United States. Me there. And then we started to talk. We were having a cup of coffee and they say, Sal, what are you doing here? You have to come to the United States. So it was easy to say, because at that time I didn't have a clue. First of all, my degree was not recognized in the United States. Your medical degree Medical degree I didn't speak English At that time. Spanish and Italian Medical degree I didn't speak English, that time Spanish and Italian. So what happened was I wrote to my cousin that was here in the United States. They said you're welcome, come here. Whatever I came.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:And of course, for day number one, I was impressed. I said this is the promised land for me. There is a future here for me if I apply myself. So eventually I find out. I had to take the exams, special exams given to the foreign graduate, or that foreign graduate or the American graduate graduated outside United States and this was given twice a year. And, of course, this exam was a nightmare for me because I never saw multiple choices in my life and they were thinking and reasoning. When you are 28 years old, it's very difficult. It was very difficult for me All my life. I have been a guy like being in the middle of the ocean with a small boat and you look at the surrounding and you don't see any land. I don't see anything and you are at the mercy of the wind, and that have been my life.
Mike Roth:Okay, so what city in America did you move to?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:I went first to New York and spent two years with my uncle and then and so eventually, I had a family in Connecticut Stanford, Connecticut and from there I had to go to New York University to learn English NYU, the NYU and so what happened was that I didn't have any money, so my uncle and aunt had to come up with the money and eventually I paid them back. Thank you very much. My family helped me the best and gradually I started to see and I started to admire this country more and more, because when we moved to Argentina, we were immigrants, but immigrants in 1949, you're at the bottom of the scale, we were in the basement and you're talking about the other kids. For somebody in my condition excuse me, in my condition to study, I had to study when I was in university. I had to study without books. My parents couldn't afford the books.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:So what happened was, in Argentina, the person that at that time they used to study. They were from a family, because some of them care about their career, but some of them they were there just to get the piece of paper, because it was a prestige, Sure, something that my father had taught to me. He was a worker and he didn't have the possibility of study, so he encouraged me to study, to study. Of course, when I went eight years old, I didn't want to study.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:So now what happened was that I was going around with the other kids. We were in the outskirts of the city, there were no walls for us, it was just a dirty road and we were keeping the bowl improvised bowl, made it with the socks, Right, Okay? So happened not too far away from my parents' house there was a church and priest came to and I was there, and one of those occasions I was talking to one of the priests and he started to show me pictures of the college where the kids were trained, and they showed me horse, they were swimming in the pool, and so all that was all new to me.
Mike Roth:Wait a minute. Did you say a horse was swimming in the?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:pool no, there were horse. A horse yes, there was kids.
Mike Roth:I had a swimming pool.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Swimming pool on the river, a creek, whatever they would say so playing football, soccer, whatever. All that was news for me. So I asked my father, I would like to go there. Of course my father said God, finally, you listen to me, because he was there. He was all the time for me to study, because he couldn't study Anyhow. I went to this. I was 11 years old and I was there for seven years. Th ey were German priests - . They were very strict, very Spartan upbringing, was that?
Mike Roth:a live-in school.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Live-in yeah.
Mike Roth:In the school.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:In the school for seven years, yeah, and I suffered a lot Before going there. I was a kid, a wise guy. So when I went there and there were different type of punishment, sometimes even corporal punishment- Well, it was a different time.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:There were different time. So what happened after seven years? I was not the same person Psychologically. I was timid, introverted, shy, insecure. So when my father saw that, he didn't like that. So anyhow. So I left there. I went to public school for two years and what happened was that school was not recognized by the state. So now I had to take the exam secondary exam for first and second secondary grade. The third one I had to repeat because there was not enough time to, because the classes started already, had been my life, had been all the time an up and down.
Mike Roth:You retook the classes and went back in public schools.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yeah, public school, yes, and of course, the public school was a different thing for me, because the people were wild. In the private school, when you drop a pencil, you had to raise your hand to pick it up, and the public school was just. And so what happened? What I noticed in the public school? I have all the time something the desire to be somebody. I was nobody. I want to be somebody. And so what happened was I found out that the school has a library with all books and this, and that I asked to get some books. And so the elderly came and they opened this thing and I chose the book and from that day on, the books were there, beautiful books, but what happened was that no people was reading the book. So I was reading on a weekly basis. Those were Shakespeare and that's why Dante I get the classic.
Mike Roth:I bring. So did you. When did you decide that you wanted to be a doctor?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:When I finished, when I finished the college. So my father said what are you going to do now? I said I couldn't make any plan, because the plan for me, you are nothing, and so the plan is just a dream. It's like a cloud the formation of the cloud. It had one shape. Now the wind come and modify the shape And's like a cloud. The formation of the cloud. It had one shape. Now the wind come and modify the shape. And that was my life.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:So what happened was that all my friends they were son of the lawyer, the doctor, the people who have a lot of land, the cows. I was the son of the immigrant. We didn't have nothing. Okay, so I said I would like to my friend going to university want to study medicine. I would like to study medicine, I said. My father said, spoke with my mother. He said we have limitations, let's see what we can do. But my father used to tell my mother, even if he does accomplish one year, two years of the university, at least he can say you know what? I went to the university and I have one year medical school, two year medical school. That's the limitation, the ambition that we have at that time.
Mike Roth:Sure. So how many years of medical school did you spend in Argentina? Seven years, you spent seven years. Seven years. Did you have a specialty?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:I was a general doctor and eventually, when I came to this country, I specialized. Okay, and you specialized in Surgery yeah, I did general surgery, I did trauma and I did peripheral vascular bypasses. Okay, and the last 15, 18 years I specialized in laparoscopic. Another way, with a video, through a small hole, you do the surgery colon hernias, gallbladder, whatever, appendix, whatever.
Mike Roth:The da Vinci machine.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yeah, some sort of that yeah.
Mike Roth:And you retired as a doctor.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yes, right now I'm retired after almost 40 years.
Mike Roth:Okay, where did you practice? Mainly In New Jersey.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yea h, I ended up being a chief surgeon in two hospitals Holy Name Hospital and , just across from New York. Yeah, my brother lives in New, being a chief surgeon in two hospitals Holy Name Hospital and Va Middleland, Just like I was from New York.
Mike Roth:Yeah, Remember all of this Sure.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:I used to live in Ridgewood.
Mike Roth:Yeah, there were a lot of ex-New Jersey people, yeah, and now we're going to hear a couple of words about Alzheimer's disease from Dr Craig Curtis. Dr Curtis, when an individual decides to participate in an Alzheimer's study, are there any inpatient days required?
Dr. Craig Curtis:Not in any of the studies or research that I do. But there are research trials out there where patients can spend time in an inpatient setting while taking part in research, but here in the villages I am not aware of any.
Warren:With over 20 years of experience studying brain health, Dr Curtis's goal is to educate the villages community on how to live a longer, healthier life. To learn more, visit his website c or r craigcurtismd. com, or call 352-500-5252 to attend a free seminar. How long ago did you move to the villages?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Ten years. Ten years ago, ten years ago, yes.
Mike Roth:And here in T he Villages.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yes.
Mike Roth:How many clubs do you belong to? Now I play. What are your activities here at the village?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Well, you know, I used to play golf until now, but I haven't. I haven't because what happened? I'm an active person and so I bike, and I what happened? I'm an active person and so I bike, and I bike like 20 miles, three, four times a week and I walk in between. One year ago, April the 1st, I was biking and end up with discomfort, stomach epigastrium discomfort. I rest and I was sitting in Brownwood and I was sitting on the bench and this gentleman passed by, looked at me. He said are you all right? I said let me take you home. Let me take you home. So he convinced me. I took home. Thank God, at that time, my wife, my daughter, my granddaughter, they were here. I went to lie down. I didn't get better. I said let's go to the hospital. They rushed me to the hospital. They had to do cathetarization. I have one vessel occlusion and they had to put a stent.
Mike Roth:Okay, so it was probably a symptom of a heart attack.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:It was a heart attack. It was a heart attack and, the amazing thing really, I never smoked in my life, I don't drink and I don't have diabetes. I have been active all the time. My father died when he was almost 100 years old and my mother 95.
Mike Roth:So that's good genes.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yeah, but something went wrong there.
Mike Roth:People already could have been sick if there was smoke.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yeah, maybe Did your family smoke. My father used to smoke. Yeah, my father used to smoke when he was young.
Mike Roth:yeah, Do it three packs a day. That's a lot. Low cancer, bright cancer.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yeah, unfortunately we all make mistakes.
Mike Roth:Hey, and in those years maybe it wasn't looked at as a mistake. Yeah, it was looked at as just a habit.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yeah, it was cool. The lady with the cigarette in Hollywood, that's cool. Like today we say it's cool.
Mike Roth:Yeah, it makes a very big difference the way people perceive it.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mike Roth:Here in the villages now, okay, have you gone back to golf?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:No, I haven't. Everybody's telling me some morning they're still cold or whatever, and I say I'm going to do whatever I enjoy. I will be 83 years old 83. So I enjoy it. I'm a special. I enjoy the classics. I like operas. I used to play violin, the classic violin. Yeah, I still have the violin over there someplace in the house.
Mike Roth:Well, I didn't love you were in the religious.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:I know that, but I haven't played that in years, so anyhow. So here you have everything. You have more than 2,000 activities. You can do whatever you want, but I like to do things on my own. My mind has been like a sponge to sucks of the knowledge and now, at my age, knowing my limitations, I'm so curious about knowledge, inquire about the thing, the programs that I see, the books I read.
Mike Roth:What's the most recent book that you've read?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:I read the House of Gucci, the.
Mike Roth:House of.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Gucci. There is a movie too. House of Gucci. There is a movie too. As a matter of fact, I read the jazz finished a couple of days ago and I was amazed. The you know life, the glamour and the up and down and the you wonder. My wonder is all this? For what the success?
Mike Roth:Do you read any medical books these days?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Not really. No, not anymore, not anymore, I'm not. I am in touch with my friends. When I go back, I go to the hospital the nurses and so what happened is they say oh, Dr Forcina, you're so lucky that you left just on time because they had big changes, big changes to medical care. So now I'm a patient and the patient.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:What W happened is that I noticed the difference because when I was in private practice, if somebody was in the emergency room bleeding, I would spend 24 hours there until the problem was solved. Right, you call the doctor, you make an appointment, you have to wait three months maybe, and so all day you are going to ask a question and they're going to respond to you maybe the paramedics in 24, 48 hours. I remember at that time, when I was in practice, there was a beeper. We had the beepers and I remember more than a occasion we didn't have a cell phone at the time. So what happened was I remember more than a occasion we were in a restaurant with my wife and they beeped me right away. Anxious, I had to go and look for a phone because I couldn't enjoy the meal anymore, because I think all the time I was a very responsible person, and so that's a shock being in the way I practice, the way I see things today. It's a shock to me, for better or for worse?
Mike Roth:I don't know. I read the book by Dr Peter Atta Outlive. No, Okay, You're currently reading it on the web. He talks about the difference between medicine 2.0 and medicine 3.0. Medicine 2.0 being all about fixing the current problem. You got a broken arm, yes, you got a broken arm. Yeah, you got a cut sewing up the cut.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yes, okay, you have Improved the circulation bypass and improve yeah save the leg.
Mike Roth:Save the leg. They find cancer. They're going to put you on chemotherapy for yours.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yeah, yeah.
Mike Roth:Okay. And medicine 3.0, as Dr Attia is talking about it? It's about preventative. Yes, okay, yes, sure, it will keep you alive and at a high level of functionality until you're in your 80s, 90s or 100s. Mm-hmm. At a high level of functionality until you're in your 80s, 90s or 100s Okay, and you're functioning well, and then we die, we fall off the cliff Okay. Yeah, okay. And so he talks about things like exercise. Yes, okay, do you still ride the bike? Yes, I do that three, four times a week yeah.
Mike Roth:How far do you drive, how far do you ride the bike?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:20 miles 20 miles, 20 miles, yeah, I go all over. I pass here all the time.
Mike Roth:Okay, you're not one of the electric bike guys, are you?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:I do. I had the electric bike. I switched to electric bike because I realized that when I had to go over the cross, the 44, the bridge, with that incline or whatever, that's hard and so but I used it in a very low speed. Low speed there. I use that. I do my exercise and I walk also three miles every other day. So I try to do my part.
Mike Roth:Okay, yeah.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Now, do you follow something like the Mediterranean diet? I'm Italian, I'm Italian, so olive oil, yeah, we are used to that, you know, we are used to that, but, like I say, anything with moderation. So what happened? I realized my life had been a lot of stress, like anybody in life. But my life walking 3 o'clock they walk you out 3 o'clock in the morning the last few years of my practice I really I was 72 years old, I was still practicing and I remember the referral in that I was well-known and the people the emergency room, people in the nursing home, went to the emergency room and they were there.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:People very the nursing home, went to the emergency room and they were there. People were very sick, Acute adipoprotein. So when the doctor said, called the family doctor said we need a surgeon, I'll call Sal. So now what happened was they call you in the middle of the night and you had had to go there and you spent all night there. Eventually you had your prior practice and this was going on almost three, four times a week. And so what happened was that I told my wife, I said I used to go to sleep and I say Bobby, Roberta, my wife, I say I hope they don't call me tonight, because I couldn't sleep during the day, right, yeah, so anyhow there's a lot of stress.
Mike Roth:I worked in the IT industry for a lot of years, yeah, and the people with the IBM wanted seven day a week, 24 hour days. Yeah, sure. One of the reasons I got out of that part of the business is I got tired of being woken up two, three, four o'clock in the morning to go in to see an account because the service wasn't what it should have been. I said heck, I'm getting out of that part of the business.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yes, yeah, it was a lot of stress and plus for me, my personality, I was very responsible. Everything had to be taken care of now.
Mike Roth:Were you the firstborn child in your family? Yes, yes. What kind of child were you?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:I have another brother. He lives in Argentina.
Mike Roth:Okay, but he's younger than you. Yes, okay, like six years younger. You were the one that your parents trained with.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Unfortunately, during the war.
Mike Roth:Yeah.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:You know, not too much training there. You try to survive Right.
Mike Roth:Yeah, so why don't you tell our audience how you met your wife?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Well, that was a very interesting thing. What happened? I went to, I was doing my internship in.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Cooper Hospital in Camden In New Jersey, in New Jersey, yeah, and this, I chose that place because I want to have a good training and what happened, unfortunately, in Canada at that time I don't know today was a very dangerous place. A lot of sad wounds, shot wounds, whatever. So many injuries. So we were in the operating room every day, every night. I got good training. I was there for five years.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:So now I just came back from Argentina for my brother's wedding and we were working doing rotation with different group of surgeons and it happened that I went to this other doctor to work with him and he helped raise a gentleman, happy to be, became my father-in-law. He was the dean of Philadelphia Academy of Music. He was friend of Toscanini. Yes, he was very influential and he was, during the war, in charge of rebuilding La Scala Milan that had been bombarded, right, yeah, and he was in charge. When, after they rebuilt La Scala, he Toscaniniini was here in this country. United States flew to Switzerland. My father-in-law went to pick him up. He conducted the first concert or the opening of La Scala.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:So now what happened was I was in the operating room assisting whatever, and when I finished there was a note there to go to see this patient, the particular floor. So it happened that this gentleman had major surgery and that was complications. He was not able to eat, he needed intravenous fluid. He had tubes all over and they couldn't find a vein to start the intravenous. So they had the IV team there. They couldn't get it the first year.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:The surgeon eventually called me so I went there and I remember vividly this gentleman with big eyes, pale, scared, sitting to the chair, close the bed. I went and introduced myself and Petrillo and we started to speak Italian and when I found out he was a classical musician or whatever, Andre was his student, and so what happened was that they. So we started to talk and we talked when he was in Italy and this and that with the American Army, and so eventually he said okay, now are you going to start the IV. So we the first, the destiny Right? Okay, there was a destiny for me. I started, I was lucky, I started that IVM, my father-in-law, future father-in-law for him, without realizing that.
Mike Roth:You did it automatically.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:And from that day I was the second in command after God.
Mike Roth:When he got better, he must have got an invitation for dinner.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:So what happened was my father-in-law was very influential and they were giving a concert in a private place, a house, a mansion in Philadelphia. Philippe and Tramon was there and Nadia Sonnenberg, the violinist. She was friend of the family, she was a teenager. And so what happened? My future father-in-law told my daughter, Roberto. My wife said listen, why you don't go with this daughter to represent us and this and that. So, to make a long story short, we went there and we started to date or whatever. And from there we went to the Never Base in Philadelphia, the club there, and we were dancing. Philadelphia, the club there, and we were dancing. And so eventually I told my wife had you ever imagined that you were dancing with a guy in green? Because he had the scrub all the time in the house. And that was the beginning of our relationship.
Mike Roth:You wrote a book about your life, the American Doctor yes Sal. If someone is interested in getting a copy, how do they do that?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:First of all, you can go to Amazon or the American Data. It's a biography, so, as a matter of fact, you can download for free the first two chapters, and so you get the beginning of what this book is about. And people can follow me up on Instagram Salvatore Forcina MD. That's Salvatore Forncina MD. Why?
Mike Roth:don't you spell your last name for our people?
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:F-O-R-C-I-N-A, Salvatore, and that's Salvatore Fortuna MD, where they have all the pictures of my family, my background, and it's it.
Mike Roth:Great, I see you have a chapter on the villages in the book.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Yes, yes, I have a good conversation with Robert, because what happened was I bike all the time and there is a special place, a bench dedicated to Robert, and I stop there and sit there and in some way I start to meditate. I think Robert, this gentleman, was here, who knows where he is. I'm here. I don't know for how long I'm going to be the same, maybe I'm going to have another bench or whatever and I have a conversational rubber.
Mike Roth:Thanks for joining us today, Sal.
Dr. Salvatore Forcina:Thank you very much.
Emily:Thank you for having me here. Thank you, remember our next episode will be released next Friday at 9 am. Should you want to become a major supporter of the show or have questions, please contact us at m o c o t o Thi c<br. c<br].. com. This is a shout out for supporters. Tweet Coleman, Ed Williams and major supporter Dr Craig Curtis at K2 in the Villages. We will be hearing more from Dr Curtis with short Alzheimer's tips each week. If you know someone who should be on the show contact us at mike a rothvoice. com. We thank everyone for listening to the show.