Don’t expect husbands or physicians to agree, but nagging can be healthy.
Ask Christine Rhoads.
She nagged her husband, Matt, for months to see a dermatologist. Matt has a family history of skin cancer. Add that to his having many moles and “spots” on his skin and never wearing sunscreen, and Christine felt it was important that he get a check-up.
He did, and he was fine. So how did Christine’s nagging help her husband’s health?
It didn’t.
But it helped Christine find out that she had melanoma.
“Since I forced him to go, I thought I should be very supportive and a good role model, so I scheduled [an appointment] after he had his,” says Christine, who was 34 when her cancer was treated a year ago.
The spot on Christine’s left shoulder blade that looked like a freckle was removed by Dr. Susan T. McGillis of Dermasurgery Center in Lancaster and was tested. McGillis performed more extensive surgery to remove the melanoma. Now, Christine has a 3-inch scar, but is free of cancer.
The key is having an ongoing continuous relationship with a physician that you trust
Women aren’t always on top of regular screenings or vaccinations for themselves, even as they are guiding their husbands and children to get the necessary tests or inoculations, as Christine’s story shows.
Two local family physicians talk about why yearly visits with your doctor are important and what screening tests or vaccines you should expect.
First Things First
“The key is having an ongoing, continuous relationship with a physician that you trust because screenings change all the time,” says Dr. Christine Stabler of Family and Maternity Medicine at Women and Babies Hospital. Stabler has been on staff at Lancaster General Health for 32 years.
Dr. Sandra Costa with Heritage Family Medicine in Lemoyne agrees.
“Your doctor should be someone you feel comfortable confiding in and sharing your concerns with, regardless of how embarrassing you think it is,” says Costa.
Recent changes in the recommendations of how often to get a Pap test, for example, might make it seem to a woman that she needn’t see her family physician yearly, but there are many reasons women should be seen annually, say both Costa and Stabler.
The Basic Numbers
Know your numbers: height, weight, body mass index, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar and fasting cholesterol, including HDL, LDL and triglycerides.
“Based on these numbers, your risk for other disorders is determined. Remember, the number-one killer of women in the US is heart disease. Each of these numbers factors into risks for heart disease. When abnormalities are detected early, these can be reversed,” says Costa.
Colonoscopy
Colon cancer screening begins at age 50, says Costa, or earlier if you have a family history (mother, father, sister or brother). There are a few options available to screen for colon cancer, says Costa, but the generally accepted method is colonoscopy.
Know your numbers: height, weight, body mass index, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar and fasting cholesterol, including HDL, LDL and triglycerides.
Mammogram
“Breast cancer screening has evolved over the past few years. We recommend [that] by the age of 40, women have had a mammogram. Some need their mammogram earlier, based on family history,” Costa says. Breast self-examination is important as well, she says.
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis has a number of risk factors, says Stabler, including lifestyle, activity levels, diet in the growing years or being thin as an adult.
There are good treatments now, she says, whereas 25 years ago, there were not, so early screening and detection are important, Stabler says.
“Prevention begins at childhood. American diet has become horrendous. Sodas aren’t just a bad replacement for milk; they help to deteriorate bone faster,” says Stabler. Exercise enhances bone remodeling, she says, and lack of exercise increases risk. A woman’s risk for osteoporosis increases dramatically at menopause, Stabler says. There are several screening tests for osteoporosis, including the DEXA scan, a type of X-ray of the spine or hip, which is the best, says Stabler. This test is given in the 50s or 60s.
Pap Test
“Cervical cancer screening has changed recently, as well,” says Costa. Pap smears begin at age 21, she says, and now another test is added for a virus, human papilloma virus or HPV. If the Pap test is normal and there is no HPV, Pap tests can be three years apart.
Don’t skip this test
Of all the screening tests, Stabler believes the one that is most important is for colon cancer.
“Regularly, we pick up precancerous lesions that they [the patient] didn’t know about. Now it is in a jar, not in [the patient’s] body,” says Stabler.
A friend of Stabler’s died of colon cancer. “She was a vital, energetic, brilliant, fun, lively person, whose life was so full she did not take the time to get the screening test done.” Stabler’s friend had no family history, and when she developed bleeding, she attributed it to hemorrhoids. She ignored the bleeding for months and then developed pain. By that time, it was too late.
“I know if she’d had her screening done, this would have been picked up,” says Stabler.
The Rhoads family has learned a lesson about the importance of health screening.
Christine has what she calls her “battle scar” to prove it. She made sure her children saw it when she returned from having the melanoma removed.
She also declined having anything done to make the scar less unsightly. She believes it is a good reminder for the whole family.
“I’m really lucky,” says Christine. “I would have been in trouble if I had waited.”
If a person can get past cancer, Stabler says, working with a family doctor who knows you and your history, you “can tailor what is best to live the longest, healthiest, vital life possible.”
Vaccines to talk to your doctor about:
Flu, HPV (human papilloma virus), tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (new), pneumonia (typically for older adults), shingles (over 60).
Screenings to talk to your doctor about:
Blood pressure, body mass index, cholesterol (HDL, LDL and triglycerides), colon cancer (begin at 50), dementia, depression, diabetes, mammogram, osteoporosis, Pap test for cervical cancer (begin at 21), sexually transmitted diseases.
