[Road to Wellness] We've Arrived! Weeks 11 and 12
When we started this trip, the word "wellness" made me cringe. Now it's what I strive for on a daily basis. I'm still not exactly where I want to be, but I have a strong foundation for the journey now. In this last installment, I thought would I summarize all that we've talked about over the previous 10 weeks.
The Scarlet H
The sign,"!Stop! HYSTERECTOMY DAMAGES WOMEN," strapped to the side of a royal-blue Subaru parked in front of the University Medical Center, caught the attention of many Jacksonians the first week of April. Standing near the car on State Street was Nora Coffey of Philadelphia, Penn., the president of Hysterectomy Educational Resources and Services, which she refers to as HERS.
View from the Co-op
It's the grocery store for hippies, no doubt. Rainbow Co-op bumper stickers often find themselves on cars next to such declarations as "People Over Profit" and "Meat is Murder." But the Co-op is more than just a hippie grocery store, workers and Jacksonians say. It's a community outreach program, in place since May 1980, that offers good food—even meat!
‘I Usually Do Win'
Margaret Wodetzki figures she's run in close to 300 races. Winner of the Women's Senior Masters trophy in the 2004 Vicksburg Run Through History—that daunting 10K dash through the Hilly City's National Military Park—Wodetzki didn't even take up running until she was in her early 50s. Now 72, the retired Jackson State chemistry professor (who serves as the volunteer coordinator for Race for the Cure, which raises money to help fight breast cancer) recently finished fifth in the 5k at the National Senior Olympics.
Run for Your Life
Just what is it about runners? They will get up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday to race 3.2 miles at 8 a.m. and pay to do it. I'm thinking someone should pay me to get out of bed on a Saturday morning to go run. I did walk the Governor's Cup Race one year but stopped off at the Lamar to have breakfast, so I didn't finish. I did finish Port Gibson's Dilla Dash, tied for last with a gentleman on one crutch and his golden retriever.
Grilled Green Tomatoes
All across the state, grandmamas are rolling over in their graves at the gross perversion: Kinfolks are cooking heart-healthy Southern food. Traditionally loaded with salt, fat, sugar and pork products galore, Dixie victuals are gettin' lean and mean with some creative cooking. No movie has been made about grilled green tomatoes, but they do make for a happy belly.
Red Velvet Bingle, Anyone?
Occasionally we all have an urge to snack, no matter how health-conscious we may be. Recently, hit by a persistent sugar craving, I found myself nowhere near a health-food store, so I did what any other red-blooded American would do and stopped at a convenience store. The snack-food sections of stores these days are piled high with the grab-and-go, individually wrapped, calorie-packed, eat-it-at-the-steering-wheel foods that smell so yummy. Cruising past the chips, nuts and cookies, I found the stash of cakes, doughnuts and pastries that I knew were there. Yes! The end shelf was chock full of cellophane-wrapped yellow pound-cake slices, honey buns, bear claws and apple pastries, each with tiny beads of oil clinging to the inside of the wrapper indicating the contents would be moist and sweet like Mom's homemade cake. Just what I was looking for.
Yes, I Am a Smoker
For the last several months, I've been giving you facts, figures, ideas, and arguments about various ailments and health-improvement techniques. This time I want to get up-close and personal. I want to come out of the closet. I want to tell you this: I am a smoker. That's right, I'm a wellness writer who smokes.
In Search of Alternative Health Care
Jacksonians live in a stronghold of conventional medical practitioners, many of whom will not suggest alternative treatments unless you ask; and some won't, even if you do. If you're looking for complementary and alternative health care in Jackson, you will need serious detective skills, the patience of Job, lots of telephone time and possibly good walking shoes. The choices are not as broad in Mississippi as in other states. Many Mississippians think alternative treatments are weird and "New Age." (Never mind that many are thousands of years old). As a state we haven't exactly opened our arms to alternative practitioners and said, "Y'all, come on down."
First, Do No Harm
"Let's all just avoid being bitten by mosquitoes," warns Dr. Robert Hotchkiss of the Mississippi State Department of Health. At the Aug. 30 Jackson City Council meeting, Hotchkiss promoted the state's "Fight the Bite" campaign, which includes billboards and residential door hangers that advise: "Use mosquito repellent with DEET according to the label. Spray clothing with repellants containing permethrin or DEET." The door hanger, however, leaves out some pertinent information: possible dangers of DEET.
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