Black Women and Health issues..... Ladies, are we paying attention?????

The recent death of a family member of a friend has me thinking.......

She was 39, a size 8 and pre-hypertensive.  Not fitness active, regular lifestyle of a mother of 4 with a hubby.  Worked full time.

Sounds like a lot of us, right?  And like a lot of us, she wasn't one to complain or fret - but wasn't one for the yearly physical either.  One day she got up and was doing her morning routine with the kids and dropped to the floor in the bathroom while doing her hair - she had a massive heart attack.
When they got her to the hospital, they discovered she had blood sugar levels over 600 - diabetic coma. 

When is the last physical you and your female relatives had?  Have you asked your female friends how they have been FEELING lately?  All these things have pre-warning symptoms - pre diabetics drink more water, are fatigued and other things that, if they would speak up and complain - might get noticed.  

As Black women, we are hustlers, thugs and even pimps sometimes when it comes to providing and keeping our families running - TOO much so to the point we ignore ourselves - you can't help your family unless you help yourself!!!! 

WLS is a GREAT decision to get you on the healthy track - back that up with REGULAR follow ups and keep your health on track!  And don't EVER think you are a burden to complain about not feeling right - get yourself checked out and KEEP getting checked out!  Being a soldier and pushing through is cool - but NOTHING is cool about being at the funeral of a 39 year old mother of 4.........

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF SISTERS!!!!!!

Excellent post Trina! 

This is the reason I have posted about my health issues (I'm usually a little more private about stuff like that).  We really do need to 'listen to our bodies' and stop ignoring the little aches and pains because they could turn out to be much worse than we think.

The sooner things are caught, the better the chance to prevent and get it taken care of.

Also, don't settle for just any old explanation, keep pushing for a REAL answer!

I agree excellent post and Kim your advice is great too!  Thanks ladies!

I couldn't agree more, I was just having this conversation with my mother. She is the queen of excuses about why she shouldn't go to the doctor when she feels like something is wrong. She will say that she can't afford the co-pay or she will call tomorrow, I end up fussing like I am the mother and she is the child. I have gotten to the point where I am offering to pay the co-pay myself as broke as I am just to get her to go. I on the other hand normally would go to the doctor the moment something doesn't feel right but I am without insurance now and praying everyday that I stay "healthy".

So true MM....My mom is a dibetic with high blood pressure and sometimes I have to remind her she cant be eating certain stuff and not expect to get sick behind it

BRAVO! Thanks for posting this.  It's interesting that there's not a lot of responses to this post.  That saddens me because I think that we as Black Women have a  tendency to focus more on our SIZE instead of our HEALTH.  A small dress size does not equate to being healthy.  There's a sistah here at work who talks all the time about how she doesn't eat vegetables, she constantly munching chips, she guzzles energy drinks and pops and has no problem admitting that she ate 3 candy bars throughout the day.  A typical lunch for her would be a big baked potato heaping with cheese, sour cream and bacon bits!  I just cringe when I see her eating like this every day.  She smokes Newports and told me the other day she lost 6 lbs.  she wasn't trying to lose.  And yes she is smaller than me.  She's probably a size 10/12.  But at a size 16 that I am now,my cholesterol is 153.  My blood pressure is 122/73.  I feel healthier than ever. I said all this to say we MUST stay vigilent over our health.  OUR SIZE IS NOT ALWAYS THE PICTURE OF OUR HEALTH! Thanks again for posting this......

i think i returned to the board on the right day.  i needed to read that, thank you.

Great post! I'm going to get busy on monitoring my health.

This is so true Mack's........

Ladies,  get your pap and yearly physicals.........

For us ladies over 40,  please do not forget the mammograms............

I am 51,  healthy and enjoying the best time in my life !