TOPS celebrates National Women's Health Week

A few weeks ago I was wondering if I had bitten off more than I could chew with this newest quest for fitness and my dream of inspiring the female population of Kilgore to run, not walk, to their doctors for health screenings. Just ask my husband and he will tell you "yes, she can get hysterically excited over something and then fizzles like a newly opened bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper." But then I decided that this could be done. I have been walking on a regular basis for some time now, so no problem there, and even if only one woman goes for a long overdue check-up and finds a health problem that can be nipped in the bud, then I have done what I started out to do. I am not trying to solve the world's problems, just improve my 5'8" corner of it and encourage a few others along the way.

This is where the Beginning begins. In my latest issue of SHAPE magazine I came across an article declaring May 14-20, 2006 as National Women's Health Week. The point of this campaign is to get women inside the doors of their health care professionals for those long overdue or first ever check-ups for health screenings. We women tend to take care of everyone else and forget the most important person that needs to be taken care of. I am not talking about a pampering session at the day spa here. Not to scare anyone away, but if you have ever had a mammogram, pelvic exam or prepared for a colonoscopy, then you know what I am taking about! But to me, having my breasts squashed flatter than one of my nonfamous pancakes, putting my feet up in cold stirrups (and that is the ONLY description of a pelvic exam you get from me) or staying in the bathroom for two days before a colonoscopy are far, far better then having a health problem arise that has more serious consequences.

Now I am jumping the gun a bit early on the W.O.M.A.N. (Women On the Move Across the Nation) Challenge, an 8-week physical activity challenge that actually doesn't begin until Sunday, May 14. As a child I was never one to want to wait for anything, such as Christmas morning, but now as an adult I can start early if I want to. I am working hard to lose weight and will just give myself extra credit for the early start on the Challenge. If you would like information about or to join the challenge, just log on to www.womenshealth.gov. or call 1-800-994-9662.

As of this writing on Wednesday I have completed the first 3 days in the campaign. I take different routes each day and couldn't tell you exactly where I have been except that it covers from Commerce Street down to Laird Hospital. So far, my size 8 shoes have recorded 27,268 steps and at 126 beats per minute, for a total of 3.6 hours. Tuesday was a short day since I took pity on my wonderful husband, Harold, and we only walked 6,180 steps that day. But he knows in the future that any time he asks to tag along it will be for the long haul, or he can wander around East Texas Hardware or Atwoods for the second half and come back for me later. He is my # 1 supporter. I have spread the word about National Women's Health Week and W.O.M.A.N. to great folks at St. Luke's UMC (Hello, MMQC!), Citizen's Bank, Texas Smoothies (thanks for cold water), Expressions (having a store-wide sale, by the way), the library and even to one of Kilgore's postmen. He and I had crossed paths about 4 times so I decided to let him sign my notebook, too.

So here is the second bit of news from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In a previous article I informed you that heart disease is the number one killer of American women. Cancer is the second. Lung cancer has claimed the lives of an estimated 65,000 women in 2002, followed by breast cancer and colorectal cancer. To put this a bit closer to home, those 65,000 women dying in one year equals the entire population of Kilgore and part of Longview. May 15, 2006, the day after Mother's Day, is designated as National Women's Check-up Day. So here is what I encourage you women, and girls, to do: contact a health care provider to schedule check-ups and certain screening on that day. Screening tests, such as mammograms and Pap smears, can find diseases early, when they are easier to treat. Some women need certain screening tests earlier, or more often, than others. During their check-ups, women should discuss with their health care professionals which of these tests are right for them, when they should have them, and how often. I am what is known in the medical profession as a DES daughter, which means my mother took a drug called DES back in the 1940's in order to be able to carry me full term. She had had numerous miscarriages and this is how the problem was corrected, but it ended up leaving me more susceptible to ovarian cancer. But had she not taken DES, I probably would not be here today urging you take action. As a result, I have always had regular exams, as often as every six months in my earlier years. So all the inconveniences I go through outweigh what could be.

I have the opportunity now to be a character in my own right by walking the streets of Kilgore for the next 9 1/2 weeks and send you tidbits of life-saving information in the process. I will continue to encourage you, as I do my TOPS members, in a hope that we all have longer, healthier lives to live.