Sunday, November 21, 1999
Fish story ends happily for psychologist
BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — It almost sounds like a Frasier episode. The psychologist buys a fish tank to calm his patients, and it winds up forcing him to close up shop.
For Dr. Ozzie McDonald, this fish tale has been a series of headaches.
“I ended up needing a little therapy myself,” Dr. McDonald said, laughing.
The problems began in the wee hours one morning in late summer. The plastic hood and light on his 25-gallon office aquarium caught fire, falling into the tank filled with 60 guppies, sharks and other finned creatures. That set off a chain of events that left the doctor's office in shambles.
The heat from the light and the fire had caused the tank to burst, spilling its contents onto the floor of his office in the Sorg Opera House building on Main Street. A thick layer of soot and ashes blanketed all three rooms. It damaged carpet, walls, pictures, numerous framed diplomas and awards, records, computers and more than 500 books — some beyond repair.
Dr. Celeste Waller, who walked in the next day, Sept. 1, to begin her internship, found a surprise. She expected to be busy. She was. But not seeing patients. She wound up in jeans and sneakers helping clean up.
“It was such a mess,” she said. “We had no place to see patients, no computers working. It just shut us down.”
But two weeks later the office had temporary space in the building.
“I ended up seeing my first patient in the building manager's office,” Dr. Waller recalled.
The staff, which includes administrative assistants Edna Rogers and Marcella Taylor, recently moved back into the newly renovated office.
As for the aquarium — the first was almost the last. But Dr. McDonald, 58, a resident of North Avondale and a faculty member at the University of Cincinnati and Wright State University, soon noticed how much his patients missed it.
“One of my specialties is working with chronic pain patients, and one cause of that is stress and anxiety,” he said. “We do what we can to relieve that. The fish tank was one tool. ... I felt it was worthwhile to try it again.”
A new 45-gallon tank now offers relaxation to the patients and the doctor.
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