The health issues I'm most concerned about are:
1) colon cancer--I have colon problems and have lost loved ones to colon cancer. I want to be careful with this problem by eating well, being physically active, and getting screened.
2) cardiac health--1/3 women have heart attack. My mother is having cardiac health problems, and I've lost loved ones to heart attack. I want to be physically active and eat well.
3) stress management--As a full time student, working full time and studying a lot to make A's for OT grad school, I tend to get quite stressed. It's important for my health to have good time-management skills and stay focused, while still remembering to smell the roses once in a while.
4) fibromyalgia--This is a women's health issue that has run in my mom's side of family for a long time. We're seeing signs that I may have it. I would like to promote awareness of this "silent" disease.
The two women I interviewed are Noemi and Donna:
Noemi is a hispanic female, age 47. The health issues she is most concerned about are: 1) heart disease-- Her mother died at 59 of heart disease, and she wants to stay healthy to beat her genetic propensity of heart disease.
2) exercise-- She walks and runs 30 mins. 1-2 times every day for four reasons: her father has type 2 diabetes, to prevent herself from worrying too much about her 3 kids, to be a physically fit role model for her three overweight sisters, and she believes her whole exercise routine has made her bone density so high (against osteoporosis).
Donna is a caucasian female, age 49. The health issues she is most concerned about are:
1) cardiac health-- She just saw a doctor for angina (chest pain), she has high cholesterol, is categorized "obese," and has a difficult time exercising due to arthritis and being overweight.
2) breast cancer-- She just lost her mother to cancer in hospice in December, has had a tumor removed, and has had hyperplasia.
3) arthritis-- This makes it painful for her to be physically active and to get around in general. 4) fibromyalgia-- This has run in her mother's side of family for a long time and can be as debilitating as arthritis.
My health concerns were very similar to Donna's. Cancer, fibromyalgia, and arthritis are among my top concerns too. We need to stay physically fit and eat well to help prevent these diseases. We also need to get sufficient sleep and manage stress. Proper screening of breast cancer and colon cancer will help as well.
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About Me
- Brenda
- Grapevine, Texas, United States
- Hello, my name is Brenda Hankins. I currently reside in Grapevine, Texas, and I really like it there. I am a health studies major in the MOT fast-track program to become a certified occupational therapist. This summer I will finish my undergrad classes. This is my fifth year at university, and then I have two years left of grad school. I am not sure what area of OT I want to work with yet but it is a possibility that I may work with women's health someday. Also, a lot of us in this class are women who can relate to the subject. These are a couple reasons why this class is exciting for me, so I am looking forward to learning about women's health. I am taking a lot of interesting classes this semester, and some of the others include health aspects of aging, neurophysiology/neuroanatomy, internship preparation, and seminar in program planning/program evaluation. On top of being a full-time student, I clean houses for free-lance work. I try to enjoy spending time with my family and friends, but most of my time is spent studying. I look forward to learning a lot this semester!
7 comments:
Nice job on your Blogspot, Brenda. I look forward to having you in class this semester.
Brenda,
Stress management is a great health concern of mine. Stress can cause many health problems. I have a problem dealing with stress well. It use to be that I would eat excessively when I was stressed but now it's exactly the opposite. I usually don't eat now when I'm stressed about life. Time management usually helps me as well as finding other ways to relieve stress. Finding time for yourself has become a big goal of mine. Good job!
I was very impressed at how concerned you are of your genetic propensity to the health issues that run in your family. I must say that you are on the right track on reducing the risk of acquiring colon cancer, heart disease and fibromyalgia.
I cannot help but see a parallel between all this diseases; it seems as if dieting and exercise is the ultimate solution to preventing a lot of the health issues we are currently facing. I think just by doing these two things we can greatly improve the quality of life we live and immensely enhance our self esteem and confidence as we handle our daily challenges and tasks.
I am also in the OT fast track and I utterly agree with you that trying to acquire great grades can be stressful. I am trying to exercise, eat right and plan ahead to avoid being stressed. It works most times but there are some days I get stressed.
Fibromyalgia is a foreign disease to me; I will research to familiarize myself with the disease. Glad you brought it up.
Brenda~
I think it's interesting that you mentioned colon cancer. I think it's wonderful; it's something that women can easily overlook because we get caught up with so many other health issues (breast cancer, heart disease, obesity, ovarian cancer, etc). I think it's important for women to remember that we have other parts of our body that need attention too!
Brenda-
Great blogspot. Stress management is so important, especially to students. You are such a good student, but school is so much harder now then what it was when I first went to school. Keep up the hard work.
Jenn
Your interest and concern for health issues will broaden your practice and allow you to make a substantial impact on your patients. The issues that are the most important to us personally are the ones we study the hardest and attempt to understand and often change.
You are right about stress and its negative effects on our bodies. If you could figure out how to control those negatives you would win a Nobel prize.
Within your own family you are able to get a close up view of relevant and pertinent health issues that can and do effect large numbers of our society's populations. You will use the knowledge you are gaining from your family and your own health issues to improve not just your health but many others you will treat in your own practice in the near future. I know you are excited to soon have your own patients! Keep up the good work.
I think stress management is a huge thing for all of us as students. Many of us are not only students, but full and part-time workers, mothers, etc. With so many things to worry about and still try to fit in exercise and eating right when you don't have much time, stress usually results. That is why I exercise so much. I make sure I exercise for at least an hour a day because that is what relieves stress for me. That in turn helps with eating habits because if I exercise I don't want to ruin all that hard work by eating bad. I'm sorry to hear that you're beginning to have health problems as well. At least it sounds like they're catching it early which is always good. Good luck with getting into OT school, I'm sure you'll have no problem! See you in class!--Elise
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