OrganizedWisdom Health Blog

Cervical Cancer Wisdom from Julia Sweeney: Get your Pap Smear

Julia Sweeney is best known as the funny, androgynous Pat on Saturday Night Live but she's also written a successful one-woman show called God Said, 'Ha! detailing her bout with Cervical Cancer.

As described in USATODAY, Julia Sweeney's not ambiguous about cervical cancer. 

Sweeney cancer odyssey began with a routine PAP smear. "When I had my Pap smear in NY, I bled. The doctor said 'That's nothing. Some people just have a sensitive cervix,'" recalls Sweeney. "Plus, the stuff came back from the lab okay. Nine months later in LA, I bled again during a Pap smear. I said, Oh yeah, I have a sensitive cervix.' And my doctor said, 'That's not right. We have to do a lot more tests.'"

"I had nothing," says Sweeney. "If I didn't have a Pap smear, I would never have known. I had nothing. It's so weird to have someone tell you you're sick when you feel really healthy and good."

In the end, Sweeney kept her sense of humor and turned her experiences into a successful one-woman show called God Said, 'Ha!

Sweeney recovered quickly from a hysterectomy, walking a 10K one month to the day after her surgery. To assist her recovery, Sweeney also changed her diet.

"I cut sugar out, took herbs and the stuff that makes you not bruise as easily. I tried to sleep, not drink, and eat well," says Sweeney. "With a hysterectomy, little things seem to make a big difference in recovery."

After surgery, Sweeney had nine weeks of radiation left to complete her treatment.

"Radiation was not so bad physically as it was psychologically upsetting," recalls Sweeney. "They said, 'Many women get very upset when they see the contraption.' I called it 'the dildo of radiation.' They offered me visualization or an IV of valium."

Sweeney opted to use both methods of coping.

Daily Health Wisdom from Kellie Martin: Don't give up until you get a diagnosis

Actress Kellie Martin, from television hits “ER,” “Christy,” and “Life Goes On,” is on a mission to make sure that the medical community gains greater understanding of autoimmunity and the sometimes vague, often seemingly unrelated symptoms associated with it.

Kellie's sister Heather was diagnosed with lupus, a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that can attack almost any organ or organ system of the body. But it was too late. Heather died at age 19.

At only 19, Heather began to suffer from fatigue, an odd skin rash, and a slew of unexplainable         health problems. Her symptoms stumped doctor after doctor after doctor.  Each physician diagnosed her with one illness after another, as her friends and family watched the recently healthy teen become gravely ill. By the time she was diagnosed, it was too late to take advantage of any treatments that can mitigate the effects of lupus. The disease had simply done too much damage to her body. Heather was repeatedly misdiagnosed.

Kellie is now working to see that other young women do not share Heather's experience and wants patients to be their own best advocate.

In an article entitled "Fighting a Mystery Disease", Kellie emphasizes "If a doctor dismisses symptoms or says they are stress-related, patients need to find another doctor, period. Often, the biggest obstacle patients with autoimmune disease face is just getting a diagnosis.''

Mitt Romney supports Massachusetts law to require health insurance for all

Do you have health insurance? If the new law approved today in Massachusetts is a trend for what's to come in your state, health benefits may become mandatory.

A new law approved today by lawmakers in Massachusetts today will make it the first state to require that all its citizens have some form of health insurance.

The plan would use a combination of financial incentives and penalties to dramatically expand access to health care over the next three years and extend coverage to the state's estimated 500,000 uninsured.

If all goes as planned, poor people will be offered free or heavily subsidized coverage; those who can afford insurance but refuse to get it will face increasing tax penalties until they obtain coverage; and those already insured will see a modest drop in their premiums.

Mitt Romney, a potential Republican candidate for president in 2008, has expressed support for the controversial new law but has not said publicly whether he will sign it.

House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi told the AP, "It's only fitting that Massachusetts would set forward and produce the most comprehensive, all-encompassing health care reform bill in the country.  Do we know whether this is perfect or not? No, because it's never been done before."

Romney pushed hard for the individual mandate and called the legislation "something historic, truly landmark, a once-in-a-generation opportunity."

To read more about this important news story click here.

Tom Green's Cancer Wisdom: Don't put off going to a doctor!

Tom Green, host of MTV's The Tom Green Show, is not a doctor.  That is the first thing he makes clear in his writings, speeches, and interviews about his battle with testicular cancer that almost took his life a few  years ago.

When he's not busy making movies and writing books, Tom Green has been actively educating young men everywhere with this simple health wisdom about testicular cancer: If you feel any sort of pain, numbness, or whatever in your er... private area... just go to a doctor.

"The first thing that I always say to people who suspect they may have the disease... Go to a doctor!"

"If you think that something is wrong, don't be embarrassed. Just go to the doctor right away. It could save your life. It saved mine." Tom writes in a Blog for Hope posting on Yahoo! Health.

"The number one way of dying from testicular cancer is 'putting off' going to the doctor. Many young men are often embarrassed about doing something quickly, but you HAVE TO! Or you could easily die."

Tom's simple important wisdom could help save the life of someone you know.  Help spread the message by emailing this wisdom to others it could help. For more information about Tom Green visit his web site at: www.tomgreen.com.