Health News

Features

  • Adapting to Change

    Adapting to Change

    Pandemic Doesn’t Hold Back ‘Making Strides’ Virtual Campaign  by TERESA SCHIFFER With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and 2020 being a year of social distancing and heightened health and safety measures, it’s no surprise that many annual fundraising events are being postponed, canceled, or held virtually. While this doesn’t have to stop people from…

  • The Journey and Beyond

    The Journey and Beyond

    How One Woman’s Breast Cancer Brought Her New Perspective by TIM CRAIG photos by APRIL SPAULDING For Toshika Chambers, it was a moment that put everything in perspective.   Sitting in the lobby of her doctor’s office, the Lakeland native and Haines City resident waited for the results of a biopsy. Her mind swirled. A…

  • Body, Mind & Spirit

    Body, Mind & Spirit

    Why We Avoid Routine Medical Examinations By MARY JOYE, LMHC   Most of us do it, or rather don’t do it when it comes to scheduling routine medical screenings or examinations. Who really wants a mammogram, colonoscopy or other unpleasant procedures? We procrastinate though we are told and scolded by the media and experts that…

Columns

  • Editor’s Dose: Tips for minimizing back-to-school stress

    IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, then come early July you were already thinking about preparations for the new school year. Parents and children in the community this year are getting ready extra early because Polk County public schools moved up their calendar by one week — day one of school is August 15.

  • Making the choice to breastfeed

    Making the choice to breastfeed

    THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH in Polk County (DOH-Polk) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) recognize August as Breastfeeding Awareness Month. This is a wonderful time of year to promote breastfeeding as a vital health activity and discuss the health benefits breastfeeding provides. Although every woman has their own…

  • Editor’s Dose: Keeping kids’ bodies and minds active this summer

    Editor’s Dose: Keeping kids’ bodies and minds active this summer

    WHEN I FIRST had the twins, my mom would say, “Have a schedule for them, or they’ll have a schedule for you.” Basically, she was cautioning that I’d better keep those little minds and bodies active, or chaos would inevitably ensue. Being a mother of eight children, I think she was speaking from personal experience.…

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