Power of Positive Thinking and Fatalism’s Health-Damaging Effects

When you discover that someone you know has cancer, what do you believe will be the outcome for them? Do you believe all cancers result in an early death? What you believe in can have a lot to do with how healthy you are. If you can be optimistic about a cancer diagnosis, you are more likely to seek treatment. People that believe all cancers are lethal are less likely to seek out cancer screening tests...who wants to LOOK for bad news? The truth is, cancer is NOT always deadly, especially when we diagnose it early. Pap smears, mammograms, ultrasounds and colon screening saves lives and women should be doing these periodic tests. I have learned a lot from my patients while caring for them. Lakeside Women’s Health Center has been established to be a haven where women can feel empowered as a full-partner in planning their paths to wellness. We always try to present a positive outlook for our patients with scary diagnoses. I recall a special patient early in my career here in Ludington. It is very difficult to share her possible cancer diagnosis and her testing was very suspicious. I was surprised by my lovely patient’s reaction; she clasped my hand and smiled at me after I gave her “the bad news”. I felt comforted by her calm smile and wanted to give her all of my support. She listened to my explanations as we reviewed her treatment choices. She asked me “Please tell me what I can pray for, as I am a Christian woman and will give this to God”. We prayed together for her tumor to be a low grade, easily-treated cancer that would not disable her. It felt funny, at first, to pray with my patient but it was helpful to both of us. I am glad to report she is doing wonderfully well 8 years later. I am a believer in prayer; faith and hope are powerful healing forces. Cancer fatalism is the belief that death is inevitable when cancer is present. Fatalism can be a mental barrier for patients needing cancer screening tests or for cancer patients needing to learn more about treatment options. (Powe 2003) It isn’t clear if physicians’ attitudes may also affect how patients access cancer screening and preventive health measures, but I bet it is also important. We, at Lakeside Women’s Health Center, will keep our faith in our patients natural ability to heal and to support their spiritual needs as well as their physical requirements. Powe, Barbara D, Finnie, Ramona. Cancer Fatalism. The State of the Science. Cancer Nurs 2003 Llippincott Williams & Wilkins 26(6):454-467

Cancer Screening Recommendations:

Pap smear annually at onset of sexual activity; more often for high risk women and every other year for low risk women Mammogram annually after 40 clinical breast exam annually after 20 years of age Colon screening after 50 for low risk and early testing for women at higher risk Ovary and Uterine screening with pelvic exam yearly, ultrasound and blood tests are available for high risk women

Hidden Chlamydia Destroys Fertility and Sexual Health

Lakeside Women’s Health Center believes in protecting our patients’ reproductive and sexual futures. Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease. Chlamydia has no symptoms and can not be diagnosed without a culture or DNA test. We want our sexually active patients to consider testing for Chlamydia and gonorrhea when they have their annual pelvic exam. It is especially important for our patients beginning a new relationship or planning a pregnancy. Sexually Transmitted Disease is not discussed or tested for enough. In a study of 541 physicians, only one third of these doctors said they would screen a 19 year-old sexually active woman. (Cook, 2001). Dr. Holladay and Karyn want to educate and screen our at risk patients. We want our patients to avoid the painful debilitation of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease that is caused by Chlamydia/ Gonorrhea spreading to the internal female organs. Safer sex, celibacy before marriage, and condoms help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections. Cook et al. Barriers to screening sexually active adolescent women for Chlamydia: a survey of primary care physicians. J Adolesc. Health. 2001 Mar;28(3):204-10.

DON’T PUT UP WITH HEAVY PERIODS!

Heavy, regular periods (MENORRHAGIA) affect 10—20 % of women under 50 years of age. Abnormal bleeding needs to be completely evaluated with a consultation by Dr. Holladay. We offer many treatment choices for our patients with heavy periods. The easiest treatment is a prescription to correct a hormone imbalance with safe effective natural progesterone. Sometimes higher doses of progesterone are needed. A neat way to deliver higher dose progesterone is the Mirena® intrauterine device. The Mirena® can reduce bleeding, provide birth control and peace of mind with a simple, office procedure. If women need to have surgical intervention and want to avoid a hysterectomy, a hysteroscopy can remove abnormal fibroid tumors and endometrial polyps to alleviate bleeding and diagnose abnormal cells. Women finished with childbearing with normal uteruses but heavy periods can also have an endometrial ablation and end their periods for good!

DON’T’ LET YOUR BLADDER CONTROL YOUR LIFE!

Most women have experienced the embarrassment of lost bladder control at some time in their life. After childbirth 60—75% of women have some incontinence of urine, stool or flatus (farts). Usually complete control returns by 8 weeks post-partum. It can lead to embarrassment and extra expense for pads, clothing and cleansers. Many women think it is “natural” to lose bladder control with the menopause. We want our patients to let us know when they have problems with continence. We can help our patients quickly gain control of bladder, bowel and flatus with some simple muscle “re-training”, medication and sometimes surgical correction. Most of our surgeries are minimally invasive and women can get back to their busy lives in 3 to 4 weeks. Women need to be in complete control of their health, there are too many other people depending on them. Lakeside Women’s Health Center has most of our patient education material available free on our web sites: www.DoctorHolladay.com and www.NurseKaryn.com. Patients simply have to ask about our programs to receive more information.

Teens’ Face a New Drug Abuse Risk

Teens are at risk for experimenting with drugs and substance abuse. We need to stay informed about new substances that may be introduced to our kids as recreational drugs. When kids are educated and prepared to deal with offers to experiment with chemicals and other drugs their risk to abuse them is less. HUFFING is the use of household chemicals/ aerosols to get “high”. Abuse of household chemicals and inhalants is not “new” but has become more common in our local school aged population. Kids may believe that it is safer to “huff” household chemicals and they may not realize that “huffing” can result in IMMEDIATE DEATH. The other current fad in our adolescent and older population involves over the counter cold remedies, easily accessible to our kids, resembling candy pieces and often placed in used candy bags and carried to school. CANDIES or REDS are the kids’ names for these abused over the counter cold remedies. As a mom, grandma, sister or aunt, we all need to pay attention to our preteen and teen population, watch for changes in behavior and mood, increased fatigue or irritability, skin irritations or oral ulcerations. Huffing has become more popular in the past few years; most people are unaware of the amount of toxins which kids prefer to huff or inhale. Unfortunately teens don’t always appreciate how lethal “huffing” can be—just one try could result in death. “Huffing”, “Candies and Reds” are real dangers are here and are used by teens in our community. As health care professionals in this community Dr Holladay and I encourage parents, teachers, coaches and community volunteers to be aware of and educate about these silent killers. The key to prevention of drug abuse is to talk to your teens!!! We recommend these resources for more information: http://family.samhsa.gov/ http://www.al-anon.alateen.org/alateen.htm Al-Anon and Alateen worldwide. 1600 Corporate Landing Parkway, Virginia Beach, VA 23454-5617

Lakeside Women’s Health Center Office Surgery Saves Money

When our patients need minor surgical procedures we try to accommodate their financial as well as their medical needs. Hospital procedures are often the best choice of treatment because more staff, pain control and medical options are available to our patients. It can be very expensive to have care in the hospital. We try to help our patients make informed choices about their surgical care by giving our best medical advice, offering second opinions and alternative treatments when available, and helping patients plan for their financial responsibilities as well as their pre- and post-operative care. Office colposcopy, removal of skin lesions, endometrial biopsy, IUI (intrauterine insemination), insertion of intrauterine devices, bladder function testing, and Loop Electrical Excisional Proceedure (LEEP) for removal of abnormal tissues on the cervix, vagina or vulva are available in our Ludington office. Office ultrasound is done frequently to follow our pregnancies as well as ovarian and uterine problems.

Pap Smear every year? Is it really needed?

Lakeside Women’s Health Center provides pap smears when indicated during our annual examinations. Sometimes our patients assume that a pap smear is obtained at every pelvic exam. Pelvic exams are done for examination of the female genital system and don’t always require a pap smear. A pap smear is the collection of loose, surface cells from the vagina and cervix for examination by a cytopathologist to screen for cancer and abnormal cells. There are many indications for the pap smear; it is done as a preventive test to help women avoid cervix/ vagina cancer. This test has been improved with new collection techniques and by adding DNA testing for the Human Papilloma Virus associated with cervix cancer. If some women have a high risk for cervix or genital cancer, they may need more frequent pelvic exams. Some women have 2 or 3 exams a year. Since young, smoking, sexually active women are at greatest risk for acquiring the Human Papilloma virus, they should be tested at least yearly. If women have had unprotected intercourse with a new, untested partner, they should request a pelvic exam for testing for sexually transmitted diseases such as: Human Papilloma Virus, Chlamydia (see article page 2), Gonorrhea, and Trichomonas. A pap smear may or may not be needed depending on her individual testing schedule. We may also recommend blood testing for HIV, Hepatitis and Syphilis. We can do all of these tests discreetly here at Lakeside Women’s Health Center. Pap smears should be done by age 19 or at the onset of sexual activity. Pap smears should be done annually for women under the age of 40 at risk for the Human Papilloma Virus. If a woman has had a monogamous relationship and normal pap smears for 3 years in a row, then every other year pap smears may be appropriate. Women over 40 with risk factors should consider more frequent testing. Medicare pays for pap smears every 24 months in low risk women. Medicare pays for more frequent pap smears in high risk patients. Women should have an annual physical exam including a complete dermatologic (including vulva), clinical breast exam, rectal exam and pelvic exam even if they don’t need a pap smear. Dr. Holladay and Karyn Abrahamson, FNP include a complete medication review and health history with each annual exam.