Women of all ages are invited to join KishHealth System for a morning dedicated to you this Friday and/or Saturday, February 21 and 22 2014, from 8 am – Noon at Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb. Enjoy snacks, giveaways, prizes, health screenings, education, laughs, pampering and even some shopping!
According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, women provide the majority of informal care to their families, including husbands, parents, friends and neighbors. They also play a variety of roles as caregiver: hands-on health provider, care manager, friend, companion, surrogate decision-maker, and advocate.
KishHealth System knows and understands that women are the primary caregivers for their family and friends. That’s why the health system created This One’s for the Girls, a morning dedicated to the women that take care of all of us, and help them take care of themselves.
This One’s for the Girls is a morning dedicated to women and their health. The morning features snacks, giveaways, prizes, health screenings, education, laughs, pampering and even some shopping. KishHealth System knows that regular health exams and tests can help find problems before they start. They also can help find problems early, when your chances for treatment and cure are better. By getting the right health services, screenings and treatments, you are taking steps that help your chances for living a longer, healthier life.
Your age, health, family history, lifestyle choices (i.e., what you eat, how active you are, whether you smoke) and other important factors impact what and how often you need services and screenings.
DeKalb resident Beth Hanson attends the KishHealth System This One’s For The Girls event at Kishwaukee Hospital every year. As a single mom who is self-insured with a high deductible, Beth takes the opportunity to participate in free screenings at the hospital’s annual event to help her stay healthy without always having to make an appointment with her doctor for routine screenings. In addition to participating in Know Your Numbers, glucose checks, and bone density screenings, Beth is always first in line at the skin spot checks.
Since she has a family history of skin cancer and likes to spend time outdoors gardening and riding her bike, Beth knows she is susceptible to the disease. She is proactive though, and has encouraged her farming family members to get checked too.
In February 2013, Beth was sure to sign up again for a skin spot check at the women’s event at Kishwaukee Hospital. She was especially concerned about a spot on her forehead that bled sometimes when she washed her face. The spot was not discolored and did not have any of the other signs she knew meant skin cancer. The healthcare provider at the skin spot checks recommended she follow up with her dermatologist. She had been told that other spots looked suspicious and had them removed in the past by her dermatologist.
Over the next few months, Beth put off following up with her doctor, until she received a follow-up call from Oncology Nurse Stephani Placek, from the KishHealth System Cancer Center in DeKalb. The call prompted Beth to make an appointment for a biopsy at her dermatologist’s office.
The results of the biopsy came back. It was skin cancer. Beth was sure to call Stephani back at the Cancer Center to let her know the results. Beth thanked Stephani for the important job she does, grateful that she had made that follow up call. Without that call, she may have put the biopsy off even longer. Beth said, “What really impressed me most was the fact the hospital followed up on the free skin screening that they performed!”
Basosquamous carcinoma, the type of cancer Beth had, typically does not spread to other organs, but does get bigger and must be removed. Since the spot was on her face, on forehead above left eye, she chose to have a special procedure called Mohs surgery, in which the affected skin is removed layer by layer then a biopsy is performed while the patient waits in order to take only what was necessary to remove the cancerous cells. After Beth had the spot removed, she saw a plastic surgeon who closed the wound. The plastic surgeon has suggested ways to minimize scarring and Beth is healing well. Beth hopes her story will help others be aware that unusual bleeding can be a sign of skin cancer.
“The hospital’s follow up demonstrated to me that it really does care about the health of our community,” Beth commented. “I want to thank Kishwaukee Hospital for offering so many wonderful free health screenings and educational programs to the public; we are lucky to have a hospital in the community that offers these programs.”
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