Making Doctors Listen
September 30, 2009 at 2:11 pm, by Julia Kagan
What really makes me crazy (angry, to be completely truthful) is reading yet another story of a woman who almost died because her doctor refused to check up when she complained something was wrong. I saw the latest one yesterday in a story proposal— she had a melanoma that wasn’t biopsied for a year because the professional decided it was nothing. The biopsy only happened because the patient demanded one.
It brought back some other stories that made my blood boil (unprofessional, I know). The University of Arkansas found many women with heart disease were misdiagnosed with stress. “One woman’s symptoms went unrecognized until she actually had a heart attack on the exam table in her doctor’s office,” Jean McSweeney, Ph.D., the study’s lead author told us. And the amazing but infuriating true story of how Barbara Goff, M.D., had to use volunteer statisticians and money raised from patients because no traditional funder would pay for the study that eventually documented that women do have early symptoms of ovarian cancer. That’s why we gave Dr. Goff one of our Ladies’ Home Journal Health Breakthrough Awards.
It’s been my pleasure to work with many terrific doctors, but what do you do if yours won’t listen? Try the following.
• Document your problem: When did it start, how often do you get it, is it related to something like what you ate or how much sleep you got the night before? Bring your notes with you.
• Tell your story clearly and calmly, with details. As Marianne J Legato, M.D. wrote in LHJ: “’I have a headache,’ doesn’t say as much as: ‘I have a dull throbbing pain in my forehead that began four days ago. Tylenol relieves it only briefly and I find it difficult to sleep because of the pain. I’ve never had this kind of headache before.’”
• If the first remedy doesn’t help, push for another. There could be a number of reasons for your headache or recurring stomach problem. Read up on your problem online and ask for more tests if you think you need them. Mayo.com is my favorite starting place.
• Go for a second opinion. If you should be feeling better, but still aren’t, use the web to find a doctor near you who specializes in your problem.
Categories: Health | Tags: Doctors, misdiagnosed, patients, second opinion, stress | 2 Comments
Be in LHJ: Share Your Act of Kindness Stories
September 30, 2009 at 12:04 pm, by Amanda Wolfe
We’re looking for stories of random (or not-so-random) acts of kindness for an upcoming article in the magazine! No act too big or small—could be the most heartwarming, extraordinary effort by a friend or a lovely little gesture by a kind stranger. If you have a story to share, we’d love to hear it in the comments. (We’ll get in touch with you directly if we’re going to run it.)
So tell us: Have you ever been on the recieiving end of an act of kindess that’s brightened up your day—or your life?
Categories: Do Good | Tags: acts of kindess, be in LHJ | 4 Comments
Ladies We Love: Nancy O’Dell
September 30, 2009 at 11:19 am, by Sonia Harmon
You might recognize her as co-anchor on Access Hollywood or from her near-stint on last season’s Dancing With the Stars (a knee injury kept her from competing), but Nancy O’Dell is also a mother of three, an author and a philanthropist. Some other fun facts: She plays the piano, is a seven-time Emmy nominee and won Miss South Carolina in 1987. But these days Nancy has a new mission: promoting the importance of healthy bones for children and adults. She recently teamed up with Yoplait and nutrition expert Katherine Brooking to spread the word, and given the statistics (76 percent of the population isn’t getting enough vitamin D in their daily diets, and 72 percent isn’t getting enough calcium), we happily applaud her efforts!
What makes me a lady: To me, being a lady means being classy, and I think the classiest people are those who treat others the way they would like to be treated themselves. I always try to think of others and their feelings when doing anything.
Favorite guilty pleasure: Watching WWE—World Wrestling Entertainment. My stepson, Carson, got me hooked on WWE because it’s always on in the house. It’s quite the entertainment—like one big soap opera! I know all of the wrestlers and their stories from watching Monday Night Raw. But now, I know them all personally as WWE is a great charitable organization and they helped me launch Betty’s Battle, a foundation to fight ALS in honor of my mom.
Three things on my life list: 1. To see a cure found for ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, in my lifetime. My mom and best friend passed away last year from ALS. It is one of the most horrific diseases and I pray that someday in the near future no other family will have to go through what mine did. 2. Raising my children in a way that they feel an overwhelming amount of love. I want them to know, without a doubt, that their parents will be there for them 100 percent of the time for everything! 3. To have a little country home on the hillside in Tuscany where we can go for several months of the year after retirement. I’d love to be sipping wine there, holding hands with my husband while exchanging stories and growing old together.
If I could have a superpower, it would be: To be invisible so that I could evaluate everyone’s true intentions without them knowing it. Plus, it would be nice not to have to get into hair and makeup every day!
Ladies I admire: My beautiful mom, who passed away last year—she couldn’t have hurt a fly if she had tried. The late Eunice Shriver; she was the founder of Special Olympics, an amazing organization that’s made such a difference in so many lives and has changed the way we, as a society, think of and treat those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It also spawned the organization Best Buddies, founded by Eunice’s son, Anthony Shriver. My aunt Ellen was a person with Down Syndrome and I know firsthand the difference organizations like Best Buddies and Special Olympics make.
I also admire Oprah Winfrey. She has somehow found the secret formula of being a powerful woman, but not being perceived as the “B” word, as so powerful women often are. What’s better is that she’s consistently positive, encouraging and empowering. And she is an amazing journalist.
Another woman is Linda Finnell, the Senior Vice President of Programming & Development at NBC Universal. I love that a woman is in such a powerful, high level position in Hollywood but even more so, I love that she is a classy woman as defined above. She is a great boss, but more importantly, a kind person.
Categories: Fun | Tags: Ladies We Love, Life List | 2 Comments
Go Ask Gab: How to Wear the Must-Have Piece For Fall
September 28, 2009 at 1:26 pm, by Gabrielle Porcaro
Gab, I really want to rock a boyfriend blazer this season, but the only way I know how to wear the look is with a pair of jeans. How do I make this trend work-appropriate? – Tricia
Tricia, how funny you should ask that question! We just did a 1 jacket, 4 ways story in our October issue! A blazer is a great way to dress up jeans but it’s certainly not the only way you can rock it—here are some options:
Over a dressy dress: Blazers are excellent over dresses. Just make sure the dress isn’t too long or it can look dowdy. As seen in look one of our story, it can play down a fancier frock.
Over a summer dress: Blazers can elevate a casual dress and make it last through summer and into fall. Throw one over a thin strapped sundress or a light weight cotton shift dress. I wore a blazer over a beach cover-up this summer and no one could tell the dress was strapless.
With trousers: Wearing a blazer with miss-matched trousers is a great way to break away from a boring suit and still look corporate—as seen in the image above from our fall fashion story.
With skirts: Pair it with a pencil or mini skirt. Add some tights and heels or boots for a cute preppy look.
A blazer is a must-have for your wardrobe, especially this season. Brands from Gap to Club Monaco to Kenneth Cole have great options for any budget. Get one and you will have endless possibilities!
Categories: Fashion | Tags: blazer, Fashion, go ask gab | 2 Comments
Power Up Your Plank
September 28, 2009 at 12:03 pm, by jbrown
The plank is one of the best exercises you can do for your core. Unfortunately, it gets deadly boring. Change it up—and add an extra challenge—by doing these plank variations:
Rocking plank. Begin in elbow plank pose (balancing on your elbows and toes, keeping your body in a straight line. Your elbows should be aligned directly under your shoulders). Keeping your abs tight, rock forward and backward on your toes; aim to do this for 30 seconds.
Plank with knee-in twist. Begin in traditional plank pose balancing on your hands and toes, hands aligned with your shoulders (see photo). Pull right knee in toward left elbow; return to start and pull left knee in toward right elbow. Continue alternating for 30 seconds.
Stability ball plank. Add a balance challenge by doing a plank with a stability ball placed under your upper thighs. Watch of video of this move here.
Categories: Health | Tags: ask the trainer, exercise, fitness | 1 Comment
Double Dates: The Husband Hook-Up
September 28, 2009 at 9:37 am, by Sue Erneta
“I think you’re really going to like him,” I said. “He’s into the same kind of music as you and even though I’ve never met him, I saw his picture on Facebook and he looked really cool.”
I was setting my husband up on a date. A double date, that is.
We were back in my hometown and I had made dinner plans with a high school friend who I’d reconnected with on Facebook. Neither of us had ever met the other one’s husband so we were asking a lot of them. It’s like saying, “Come and join me and Beth for dinner where we won’t give you the time of day because we’ll be so busy catching up, and you’ll be forced to talk to a guy that you’ve never met.”
It went exactly as I had expected. Beth and I didn’t come up for air – it had been 15 years since we’d seen each other and we had a lot of ground to cover. The guys made small talk about music and not much else. When we moved from the bar to the table for dinner, the chitchat continued until Beth’s husband, Tim, mentioned something about fantasy football. I saw Pablo’s face light up. Beth gave me the look of disdain that only a fantasy football wife could understand. But the boys? They were in heaven. Even though Beth and I had known each other since 6th grade, the guys suddenly had a bigger bond than we did. The rest of the evening they were gushing over “draft positions,” “player status reports,” and “potential rookie sleepers.” Were these two falling in love?
After we got back home, Tim and Pablo became Facebook friends. They email each other from time to time and trade fantasy football insights. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
So, tell me… Do you have an interesting double date story? Or did you ever have a friend that you grew closer to (or more distant from) because of who they married?
Photo illustration by Sue Erneta using photos from Flickr. Football players via Steve Owen. Football via axel.foley.
Categories: Relationships | Tags: double dating, football, husband, Relationships | 4 Comments
Do Good: Free Kibble for Hungry Pets
September 28, 2009 at 9:32 am, by Amanda Wolfe
FreeKibble is the easiest (and most fun!) way to Do Good since FreeRice. The concept is similar—play pet-themed trivia games at the site and you’ll earn food for hungry dogs and cats in shelters across the U.S. The charity was started by 12-year-old Mimi Ausland, who wanted to help feed hungry animals at her local shelter in Bend, Oregon. Since then, Free Kibble has expanded to shelters as far away as Florida and donated 162,643,560 pieces of kibble since April 1, 2008! Impressive, right? FreeKibble is pretty addictive for adults (perfect lunch-break game!), but it’s also a fun way to get kids involved in giving back.
