BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Telegraph Staff Writer
STARKE— The Florida Department of Health’s Bradford County office and Bradford Community Partners hosted a Pink and Red Health Event at Starke’s downtown square on Saturday, Feb. 18.
The event offered free blood pressure screenings, pre-diabetes screenings, healthy lifestyle tips, health education and door prizes.
Representatives from Assurance Wireless, Elder Options, Healthy Start, and the Bradford Senior Center Rumba class also participated.
Breast cancer survivor Kimberly Stewart-Horan and heart attack survivor Cindy Hildebran told the crowd about their experiences.
Pamela Burnett told the crowd about her organization: Mammograms After Sunday Service, which educates women in underserved areas about breast cancer. MASS also brings in a mobile mammogram unit to events. Burnett said that for the Starke event, no one pre-registered for a mammogram, so the mobile unit was not at the Feb. 18 event.
When you help others, you help yourself
Burnett, herself a cancer survivor, said she started the nonprofit after learning about cancer patients catching busses to get to treatments.
“I saw men and women who would come to me who were taking a bus for chemo, and I said, no, that can’t be,” recalled Burnett. “So, it started with partnering with the special transportation services in the county and letting people know what it is that we do and trying to get those same people who come to us who say they take the bus to get treatment.”
Burnett said one of the biggest problems cancer patients face is that they are not aware of the many services available to them, like transportation. Her mission is to raise awareness of those services.
Burnett also said that her own health has improved since launching Mammograms After Sunday Service.
“I used to be on 16 pills a day for mental health, diabetes and high blood pressure,” she said. “After I started helping others, I was able to get off those pills. I’ve been doing this since 2006, and when you help others, you help yourself.”
A punch in the chest
Hildebran recounted her Sept. 10, 2018, heart attack while driving from Starke to Gainesville to her job at the Alachua County Health Department.
She recalled that after a semi cut in front of her, she got angry and clinched the steering wheel.
“Then I felt like someone punched me in the chest,” she said.
As the pain spread from her chest to her left arm and then to her right arm, Hildebran struggled to call 911 with her mobile phone, and even hesitated.
“I remember seeing my sister’s face and she was saying: ‘Just do it, Cindy. Make the call.’ Making that phone call saved my life.”
Hildebran’s sister, Tricia Clark was also at the event and introduced the heart attack survivor to the audience. Clark is a nurse practitioner at the health department.
Hildebran said that after her heart attack, she learned of an extensive family history of heart problems in her mother’s family.
“My grandmother had seven bypasses 36 years ago when that was unusual,” she said. “I have an uncle who died at 41 in his sleep, thinking he had indigestion. I have another uncle that died at 53 after physical training (at Camp Blanding). I have five first cousins who have either died or have heart-related issues.”
She added that all her family members had the same condition she experienced, a blockage of the left anterior descending artery. Heart attacks caused by a complete blockage of the left anterior descending artery are often fatal and are commonly known as the “widow maker.”
Hildebran also said that in the months leading up to her heart attack, she ignored warning signs her body gave her.
“I was always tired,” she said. “I would fall asleep in the middle of the day, which was unusual for me. I had abdominal pain and chest pains to the point where I couldn’t breathe. I passed it off as asthma or allergies.”
“As women and mothers, we usually take care of everyone else and are too busy to take care of ourselves,” she continued. “We dismiss it and may mention it to a doctor but usually shrug it off. We have to advocate for ourselves and trust our intuition about our bodies.”
Hildebran told women in the crowd to learn from her mistakes and pay attention to the signs their bodies give them.
“A physician’s assistant told me my body gave me small signs, and I didn’t listen, so it gave me a big sign,” she said. “Take control of your health, listen to your body, advocate for yourself and pay attention to family history.”
Anthony Bell from Assurance Wireless helps qualifying individuals receive a government-paid cell phone. Bell said that even though the free phones are commonly known as Obama phones, the Federal program that provides the devices was started by Ronald Reagan. He added that Barack Obama expanded Reagan’s program for free landline services to mobile phones. Individuals receiving Medicaid, food stamps, and social security benefits qualify for the phones, as well as military veterans and their families. “All you need to start is a valid ID or driver’s license,” he said.
