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Well Woman Exam
MARTI SPITTELL ZIEGELBAUER, Patient
I took a deep breath, just like that, and I asked him, I said 'Did you say tumor?'
WELL WOMEN EXAM - ON CAMERA INTRO
When was the last time you went to the doctor without being SICK? We're all so busy taking care of others and working (whether we work inside or outside the home) that we often neglect one of the most precious responsibility of our personal lives... our health. Preventive maintenance can make all the difference. For women, the annual "well-woman exam" can help make sure her body is running smoothly. And more important... it just might help save a life.
In our first story, we'll meet a woman from Green Bay, Wisconsin who allowed her own fast-paced career to keep her from having timely well-women exams. And the consequence is a lesson for us all.
HOST V/O
Ask the average woman on the street about her well woman exam and you may get mixed answers.
NAT BYTE
"No big deal and I'm glad when it's over and I've done it. Like the dentist." (laughs)
HOST V/O
But most women agree...
NAT BYTE
"I'd just rather know that everything's working correctly."
HOST V/O
Vivian Dickerson is the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She'd like to see every woman get regular exams, even if they're feeling well.
VIVIAN DICKERSON, MD, FACOG
"Primary prevention is clearly the key and this is a great opportunity, the well woman exam, not just to do the gynecologic things, but to really talk about her health and her health risks in general."
HOST V/O
The well woman exam is kind of like a tune-up. It's a chance for women to get a general check of their health, and make sure they get important screening tests such as the PAP test, DNA test, or the human papillomavirus test ... called HPV.
HOST V/O
Marti Spittell Ziegelbauer spent 20 years in radio and television broadcasting, mainly in Wisconsin and Minnesota. She had been relatively healthy all her life, so when her career called, Marti answered that call like many busy women today.
MARTI SPITTELL ZIEGELBAUER, Patient
"My life was all about my career and I made that a priority and my health came second."
HOST V/O
There came a day when Marti couldn't ignore her health any longer. She was about to sign off the air for the last time and move on to a television-consulting career. On that very day, she developed severe bleeding and had to see a doctor immediately.
MARTI SPITTELL ZIEGELBAUER, Patient
"Imagine your legs are up in stirrups, because they are, and there's a sheet over your legs and you hear a physician beneath you saying we need to stop this exam because the tumor in your cervix is too large. (pause) I took a deep breath, just like that, and I asked him, I said did you say tumor?"
HOST V/O
Marti later found out she had stage three, aggressive cervical cancer. This 38 year old, a daughter of a doctor had to have cancer surgery right away. The race for advancing her career had now turned into a race against time.
NAT SOUND BREAK - clock chiming
MARTI SPITTELL ZIEGELBAUER, Patient
"I cried the entire way home and it was at that moment that it hit me that all these things about my job that I thought were so important and developing this career really meant nothing at all."
HOST V/O
Had Marti made and kept her appointments for her well woman exam, her cancer might have been caught earlier. Depending on family history and a woman's own PAP test history, she can expect to be screened as often as every year. Joyce Schwartz is a pathologist with a national testing laboratory.
JOYCE SCHWARTZ, MD
"The PAP test has really decreased the amount of cervical cancer tremendously. It's probably decreased it 70 percent. So it is truly a wonderful screening test for cervical cancer."
HOST V/O
During a well woman exam, women can also take the opportunity to ask questions of the doctor and discuss important issues surrounding their physical and mental health. Dina Bredeau is an advanced registered nurse practitioner.
DINA BREDEAU, ARNP
"They're always going to have their breast exam and their pelvic exam, which is usually going to include their pap smear when they come for their well woman exam. But depending on how old they are, that usually would really gage what specific tests."
JOYCE SCHWARTZ, MD
If you have high lipid levels, there are no symptoms until you have a heart attack or a stroke. So it is so important to know at least your baseline levels and to get them monitored periodically to stay healthy for the rest of your life."
VIVIAN DICKERSON, MD, FACOG
"Take advantage of the fact that you can come in to see me every year. Take advantage of the fact that there are many things you can do every single day without me that will keep you healthy and keep you strong and make that a priority."
HOST V/O
Marti's life has been completely transformed since being diagnosed with, and treated for cancer. By day, she works to raise money and awareness about the importance of routine women's health screenings. By night, she's a motivational speaker. But instead of giving speeches about climbing the corporate ladder, she now shares her experiences with cancer and encourages women to have their annual exams.
NAT BYTE
"Five years ago"
MARTI SPITTELL ZIEGELBAUER
"I don't want another woman to be sitting in the chair I am right now, telling you this terrible story when we don't have to."
HOST V/O
Marti's medical wake up call not only put her on the road to better health, it also caused a rekindling of a relationship with an old friend who would become her biggest supporter in communicating the dangers of cervical cancer. He read about Marti's condition in a newspaper article and gave her a call.
GARY ZIEGELBAUER
"She said, you know, I have cervical cancer, I'm trying to survive. I'm fighting the battle day to day. If I can prevent by me going public, because of my public background, being a television anchor, and what happened because I forgot to get a pap smear test, that I'll put anything in the newspaper, on television or radio if it saves one woman to go through the same pain and agony that I went through."
HOST V/O
One year later, Marti Spittell and Gary Ziegelbauer were married. Now they spend time cooking up ways to raise money for various charities, including two specifically for women's health that bare Marti's name. These foundations provide pap tests and follow up testing for women who can't afford it.
GARY ZIEGELBAUER
"Very important to me. It's very important to my wife because the more money we can raise, the more cause and effect to save lives we have."
HOST V/O
Though Marti has been cancer free for five years, she still has a strong message for other women...
MARTI SPITTELL ZIEGELBAUER
"Use me as an example if you have not had a visit to your doctor in the last year.
ON CAMERA - TAG
All women should plan on having a well woman visit with an ob-gyn every year for a physical exam. Doctors say you should feel free to ask them about anything, large or small. And taking a list of questions, concerns, or changes in your health since your last visit, may help get the most out of a well woman exam.
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