Can You Hear Me Now? Aging Gracefully with Healthcare Conference Testing

I just returned from Jonesboro, Arkansas for the Annual Girl Talk Women’s Health Conference and was once again reminded that knowledge is power.  They had free screenings in the morning including cholesterol, mammograms, ekgs, hearing and eye testing, osteoporosis, and dental.  After some cajoling by Emily, the organizer of the event, I decided to be a good sport and participate, merely to role model what I was speaking about, self-care.

The findings were quite surprising to me:  I have great bones, mild cataracts, and significant hearing loss!  Yup, I could possibly need hearing aids, for the high pitched sounds I apparently could not hear.  WOW.  I just finally had to come to grips with the fact I cannot leave the house without my cheaters, and now my hearing!  How could all this have happened overnight?

After the initial shock, I remembered knowledge is power and I was (mostly) happy to know my shortcomings.   I was also reminded of my own mother who refuses to believe her hearing is going, even though her television is turned up so high neighbors on the next block can hear it and most things I say need to be repeated.

The other knowledge I got that day, giving my signature keynote, STOP Living Life Like an EMERGENCY! was that we as women are not only hungry for knowledge about how to take care of ourselves, but also hungry for connection, camaraderie, and just to know we are not the only ones out there dealing with our health issues.

So I would like to give you the highest encouragement possible to get to a health conference in your area (Denver has the wonderful 9 Health Fair coming up April 17 -25 http://www.9healthfair.org), or to your doctor and get some screening done.  It could save your life, but it will definitely support you in aging gracefully, even if it does mean wearing cheaters and a hearing aid!