100+ participate in Women's Health Night

Women’s Health Night, held last Wednesday evening in the social hall of Heritage Church, was a rousing success, with more than 100 area women taking advantage of the dinner and information that were provided. Grant money, donations of door prizes, guest speakers and the public-service efforts of the FBLA Chapter at Odessa High School made the evening possible at no cost to the women who attended.

The student members of the Odessa High School chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America, and their parents, prepared, cooked and served the Mexican-style dinner of chicken enchiladas, rice and taco salad to the assembled crowd.

Odessa Clinic manager Barb Schlimmer announced that the theme this year had returned to the original topic of breast-cancer awareness, after having addressed other women’s health issues the past few years. Schlimmer introduced Lincoln County health nurse Jolene Erickson, who took over the duties of moderator and emcee for the evening. Erickson announced that the evening was to be dedicated to the late Linda Ryan, former Odessa elementary school teacher, who died recently of breast cancer.

Odessa High School senior Charli Moffet was then introduced by Erickson. Having chosen as her senior project a public relations effort related to the evening’s theme, she came up with the evening’s motto: “Knowing is not enough. Get informed; pass it on.” Moffet was also one of the evening’s guest speakers, providing guests with a glimpse of health issues from a teen perspective.

Jennifer Lewis, currently employed at the Odessa Clinic as a records specialist, was the next speaker. She informed the crowd about the “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” organization of the Lincoln County Fair. Founded in 2004, the purpose of the organization is to bring the rodeo community into the battle to raise awareness. Together, the Davenport and Odessa rodeo communities have raised more than $800 to be used for raising breast-cancer awareness. The group’s website is also selling items to help it raise funds.

A panel of breast-cancer survivors comprising Carol Schott, Debbie Praetorius, Lois Harp and Kim King responded to questions posed by Erickson about how they dealt with their diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

Dr. Deanna Davidson (formerly Huntwork), a surgeon with a practice in Davenport, gave the crowd her ideas on some promising methodologies for perhaps preventing breast cancer. She said the use of MRIs, PET scans and thermography to find inflammation within the body before tumors even begin were options that might one day be commonplace. Progesterone creams were mentioned as something that could be used to decrease inflammation in breast tissue once it is detected.

The final speaker of the evening was Dr. Linda Powell of Odessa, who kept the crowd laughing with anecdotes about life as a small-town doctor. Stories about how and why she came to be a family practitioner in Odessa and why she has continued her career here were related with good comic effect, and the audience responded appropriately.