As motivational speaker and author Donna Tyson prepared to talk to the audience at The Medical Center’s “A Day Just for Women” conference Thursday, she urged attendants to “sit up straight, smile and nod” their heads from time to time – at least to make her think they were listening.
The audience laughed, but it wasn’t long before many were wiping away tears as Tyson talked about self-esteem with the help of her children’s book, “The Red Bow.”
“Most children’s books have beautiful messages on life if we just take time to read them,” she said.
About 405 women listened to Tyson and Dr. Kerri Remmel, neurologist and Stroke Center director for the University of Louisville Hospital, talk about issues related to women’s health. Attendees also took advantage of booth exhibits, free health screenings and health information at the 13th annual conference.
“It went really well. The speakers did such a good job,” said community wellness director Linda Rush. “We have women of all ages, professionals from the job force, stay-at-home moms and retired women.”
The conference focuses not only on physical health, but emotional health as well, Rush said.
“We want to make a difference in the quality of life people will have in the future,” she said. “The conference allows women to take time away to focus on laughing and learning things they can do to improve their emotional health.”
Referencing “The Red Bow,” Tyson told of a young girl who doesn’t feel good about herself and visits her grandmother, who gives her a red bow and tells her how pretty she looks to help boost her confidence. As the child walks home, she notices people are noticing her more, and she believes the bow is magic. When she gets home, she receives a call from her grandmother telling her that she dropped her bow right outside her house.
“It was the way she carried herself. She had walked as if she was the most beautiful girl in the world,” Tyson said. “Hold your head high and greet the world with a smile. One of the saddest things I’ve seen in this country is when I see so many women who have lost their joy. It’s your responsibility to remember you are special.”
Tyson told the women to realize that each of them is unique and has purpose, to surround themselves with positive energy, to decide to make a difference, to believe in their dreams, to help others and to walk with their heads held high and greet the world with a smile.
“You were given beautiful gifts so you could make a difference in this world,” she said.
At the same time, she cautioned them to remember that happiness is not connected to material things. She spoke of a time when she left her hectic world behind to move into a small, one-room condo on a beach.
“I realized I didn’t have to be in control. I was never happier in my life because I had everything I needed. I had filled my life with material things,” she said. “I had lost that sense of what life was. I had to go back to the basics. Sometimes getting your energy back means getting out of your own way.”
Remmel talked about strokes in women. Men tend to have typical symptoms – including sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body; sudden confusion; trouble speaking or understanding; difficulty seeing in one or both eyes; sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination; or sudden, severe headaches with no known cause. Women might experience those as well as other kinds symptoms, such as face and limb pain at the onset, odd sensations that might feel like water under the skin, lowered level of consciousness and confusion.
“We see this more in women than in men,” she said. “Forty percent of women don’t know the symptoms of a stroke.”
Women take longer to get to a hospital for help and are less likely to have evidence-based care, Remmel said.
“I think we’re the caregivers, and we put up with so much and ignore our own symptoms. We’ve heard women say, ‘I thought it would get better. I had so much to do. It got better the last six times it happened,’ ” she said. “We’ve got to get aggressive and take care of ourselves.”
Angela Sledge of Rockfield and Laura Williams of Bowling Green said they have attended all the conferences except the first two. They said this year’s event was great, and that they learned information that surprised and motivated them.
“I was shocked at (the stroke information),” Sledge said. “The motivational speaker was excellent.”
Williams said the conference speakers are always excellent.
“It’s a great day to be a woman,” she said. “We enjoy it.”
