Do you need to worry about having a heart attack?

We would like to thank our first contributor to our blog, Cherie Skager, Vice President of Education and Outreach at The Hope Heart Institute.  She will share vital information on heart health, especially as it relates to women.  We look forward to her future posts and the information she has to share with us! 

Knowing the signs and symptoms of a heart attack and responding quickly can save your life.

If you are like me (and 90% of all women), you have one or more risk factors for heart disease. I am thrilled to join this health blog to provide information about improving your heart health. For this first post, let’s focus on what to do if you or a loved one is experiencing a heart attack. Don’t think it can happen to you? Think again.

Every 90 seconds, a woman in the United States has a heart attack

More than 10,000 women younger than 45 have a heart attack every year

Heart disease is the single leading cause of death for American women

Common symptoms of a heart attack may include pain in the chest, arms, back, neck,or stomach; shortness of breath; cold sweat, nausea, or lightheadedness. Women can experience symptoms of heart attack differently, and often report flu-like symptoms with no chest pain. Many women who have had heart attacks reported that they felt 'unusual'.

Seeking immediate medical assistance can mean the difference between life and death. The sad reality is that women take 2-4 hours longer than men to respond to symptoms of heart attack. In a recent health survey, only 53% of women said they would call 9-1-1 if they were experiencing symptoms of a heart attack. The rest said that they would call a friend or drive themselves to the ER, thus delaying treatment. (Remember - treatment works best if given within 1 hour of when heart attack symptoms begin.)

If you experience heart attack symptoms or think you're having a heart attack, call 9-1-1 immediately. Don't drive yourself to the emergency room. You know your body better than anyone. Trust your instincts and don’t be afraid to call 9-1-1.

Cherie Skager, MA, MNPL

Vice President of Education and Outreach
The Hope Heart Institute
1380 112th Ave NE Suite 200
Bellevue, WA 98004
Office:  425.456.8741
Fax: 425.456.8701

www.hopeheart.org

   

Looking for a few good volunteers

Have you been to our fabulous LBTQ Rainbow Health Fair that takes place Pride weekend?  Have you thought...'I would love to volunteer and help put on this fun peer provider event?'  Or perhaps this would be your first time attending and you want to feel a 'part of".

If so, we want and need you for our Rainbow Health Fair Committee!

There are numerous tasks that we need help with and are sure to match them with your skill set.  If you are interested, contact Ingrid at LBThealth@ywcaworks.org or call Ingrid 206.436.8671.

 

Best of health to you!

Have you had a mammogram lately? Opportunity at May 3rd Mobile Mammography Screening

The YWCA LBTQ Health, part of the Women’s Health Outreach, together with the CSPC is organizing a mobile mammogram screening on Tuesday May 3rd, 2011 between 10.00 and 4.00 pm. The 65 foot coach from Swedish Comprehensive Breast center will be there with state of the art digital mammography.  You have complete privacy and excellent one-on-one services.

We screen people 40 and over, for early detection of breast cancer, which saves lives. NO Insurance NO problem, we have a great program via the WA Breast and Cervical Health Program, which provides a pap test, physical breast exam and a mammogram.


Please contact LBThealth@ywcaworks.org or call Ingrid 206.436.8671 for information and/or an appointment.


Ingrid Berkhout
program manager
women’s health outreach
{p} 206.436.8671
{f}  206.436.8620
2024 3rd Ave Seattle,  WA  98121
http://lbtqhealth-ywca.blogspot.com/
twitter.com/ingridWHO

Join the fight! Participate in a breast cancer research study!

The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and the Avon Foundation for Women, a global leader in breast cancer research, joined forces to launch the Love/Avon Army of Women. It is their goal to recruit one million healthy women of every age and ethnicity, including breast cancer survivors and women at high-risk for the disease, to partner with breast cancer researchers and directly participate in the research that will eradicate breast cancer once and for all.

The Army of Women is currently recruiting Black/African American women living in the United States who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time (stage I, II, or III) to participate in a study. This study will look at why there are differences in breast cancer treatment experiences between Black/African American women and White/European American women in the United States - this study is called "Protocol for Narrowing the Gap in Adjuvant Therapy," or the Gap Study.

African American women are more likely to die of breast cancer than Caucasian women, even though fewer African American women are getting breast cancer each year and screening use has improved. This difference has gotten worse over the past 20 years. This Gap Study was designed to gather the information needed to better understand the differences in breast cancer treatment experiences between Black/African American Women and White/European American Women. The researchers want to know more about how to improve the survival rates of women with breast cancer.

Participants in the Gap Study will be asked to complete a 30-40 minute telephone survey about your health related experiences and to allow your medical records to be reviewed by the doctor. If you are interested in participating in this study or know someone who might be, please visit the Army of Women website. Or, if you think you might be eligible for other studies, please take a look at other current projects.

The Army of Women is dedicated to representing all women in research so that the research results will apply to all women. They encourage all women to get involved. Breast cancer has been around for decades, but it does not have to be our future. We can be the generation that stops breast cancer once and for all by figuring out what causes this disease and how to prevent it! This is YOUR chance to be part of the research that will end breast cancer.

Excerpted from Health Access - YWCA with permission.

NW LGBT Senior Care Providers Network Meeting - Friday March 25th

Vincent Lachina from Seattle Multi-Faith Works will speak this Friday at the monthly meeting of the NW LGBT Senior Care Providers Network that has been meeting for over a year.  The meetings started strong and have continued to increase in size and passion for networking regarding LGBT elder issues.  All are invited to attend and benefit from these meetings that rotate locations and are on the LBTQ Health - YWCA calendar on the 4th Fridays. 

 

THE NW LGBT SENIOR CARE PROVIDERS NETWORK

Friday, March 25th, 2011

Fred Lind Manor

1802 17th Ave. Seattle, WA 98122

9:00- 10:30 A.M.

206-777-5387

Our Guest Speaker is Vincent Lachina – Seattle Multi-Faith
Works and outreach to the LGBT Community

The aging process is difficult for everyone, but for our Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual & Transgender (LGBT) seniors the perception of availability for resource and understanding amongst Senior Care providers can be very frustrating. In many cases resulting in forcing our LGBT Seniors to conceal who they are, often leading to a decrease in quality of life. It has become clear that there is a need for Healthcare providers who wish to outreach and care for LGBT Seniors to tighten their communication bridge, and work together to provide a better quality of care for the LGBT Seniors of Washington State.

We would like to thank Kristen Happe and the Team at Fred Lind Manor for hosting the March Meeting. We would also like to remind you that if you are interested in hosting a future meeting or have any questions about the March meeting, please let Tiffany Kopec know at (206)-714-6130 or on email at tkopec@chcservices.com.

Parking – There is available parking at The Polish Home parking lot located at 1714 18th Ave about ½ block away.

If you have already been attending the meetings, we encourage you to bring a guest or pass the information on to others!

This meeting is open to any and all that are interested!  Questions can be emailed to David Haack davidh@mercuryrx.com.

Old Lesbians Organizing for Change (OLOC) announces July conference

OLOC Presents: 

A Regional Gathering of Old Lesbians

July 28-31, 2011 in Tacoma, WA

The theme is Community • Visibility • Action.

Keynote Speaker: Lillian Faderman

Award-Winning Author and Lesbian Historian

Entertainer: Lucie Blue Tremblay

French-Canadian Singer Songwriter
for registration information and more details,

www.psoloc.org or email us at pnwgathering@psoloc.org

Welcoming Old Lesbians from all over, but especially designed for women from the 

Pacific Northwest.

253-777-3425 (messages)

www.psoloc.org

The 2011 Regional OLOC Gathering will take place at the LaQuinta Inn & Suites in Tacoma, WA, July 28 - 31. It is structured similarly to a national OLOC gathering.  The event will begin Thursday evening with a welcome and a special program.  Friday morning kicks off with a keynote speech by award-winning author and lesbian historian Lillian Faderman (www.lillianfaderman.net).

Friday and Saturday will be filled with panel discussions, group discussions, presentations and workshops. Friday evening there will be local entertainers and a dance. Saturday evening there will be a banquet and concert.  Lucie Blue Tremblay will be our entertainer for the evening www.luciebluetremblay.com. The event will continue with a program on Sunday morning and conclude by 1 pm. Come prepared to have a good time, learn, share, reconnect with old friends and make new ones.

Our headquarters will be the LaQuinta Inn & Suites in Tacoma. They have offered us a $99/night plus tax room rate for 1-4 in a room with 2 doubles or a king bed (king rooms also have a sleeper sofa). A continental breakfast is included. To get this rate you MUST CALL to make the reservation. The rates are available several days before and after the event as well.

Small refrigerators and microwaves are standard in king rooms and by special request for doubles. Call 253-383-0146 direct and press 6, front desk. (A word of advice: Don’t press #4 for reservations!) Tell them you are with the OLOC Regional Gathering. Or, call 866-527-1498 day-time (EST) only and reference this number: 0685GRLIFQ. If you ask for a handicap room and they say they’re all booked, clarify that all the handicap rooms are being held for our group.

A modest amount of funds has been raised for the purpose of assisting lesbians who could otherwise not attend the 2011 Regional Gathering. Priority will be given to women from within the region (which is defined as Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and British Columbia) but women from outside that area may be able to get funds to cover registration fees. If you would like to apply, please access the forms at www.psoloc.org.  OLOC will take assistance applications until May 1. Applicants will be notified of the outcome by May 20. These early deadlines will enable you to finalize your plans as early as possible.

Thanks to OLOC for this information.

Mammography Appointments Available for LBT community on Saturday, December 11th

Join Us

Mobile Mammography, Breast exams and Pap tests

Saturday, December 11th, 9-3pm

The Wild Rose

1115 East Pike St Seattle, WA 98122

December has arrived and we are pleased to offer our third LBT focused screening of the year at the Wildrose on Saturday, December 11th with the coach from Swedish Breast Center.  Call  or email for information or an appointment and please let your loved ones know of our services and encourage them to attend.

Think of this as the greatest gift you can give to yourself!

    * Community-based mobile screening.
    * No-cost mammograms, pap tests and breast exams for income eligible individuals 40 and over, who are un- or underinsured.
    * Individuals with insurance are welcome.

We thank Martha and Shelley from the Wildrose, for their generosity and for opening their doors for us.
We look forward to seeing you on December 11th.

Ingrid Berkhout

YWCA
lbthealth@ywcaworks.org

206.436.8671