Celebrating Women

It's National Women's Health week... a reminder for all of us to get our regular check ups.  

Being a nurse I often notice that cultural and language barriers keep Latinas from being able to explain their symptoms or understand their doctor's advice. 

I think in our culture we are either taught not to trust our doctors or never question what they say. 

Yet... how can we trust them if we are scared and never question? How can we decide what's right for us whether it be childbirth, cancer or diabetes if we don't learn about the options we have?

So this week not only are we going to schedule our check ups, we are also going to remember to ask, ask, and ask questions and communicate freely with our doctors...ok?

Saint John's McAlister Health Center, a local hospital, sent me info on what they are doing to bring awareness and educate Latinas in Southern California... they are doing good things like wanting to open up the dialogue in English and Spanish between patients and their doctors. 

I'm loving this hospital's mind set and hope more follow soon ... "empowering Latinas to ask questions and to communicate freely about women-related health issues is the first step in educating them". 

Let's celebrate women this week, our health and well being and remember that we are in charge of making our health a priority...

So.. fess up... when was your last check up?

My favorite women(because it only seemed appropriate)... whom I hope will always be healthy( :