The Columbia Press
October 8, 2021
Senior Moments
Here’s to Your Health
with Emma Edwards
Columbus and that storm
Sometimes I forget about
Columbus Day. Those of
us who lived in the Pacific
Northwest in 1962 attach an-
other significant event to that
infamous date, the Columbus
Day Storm.
Our beautiful flowering
cherry tree was literally eaten
up by that savage storm. In
August of that year, my hus-
band had entered the Con-
servative Baptist Theological
Seminary in Portland to com-
plete his education.
On to Monday of this week,
which is Oct. 11 and the day
Columbus Day is observed.
Someone asked me what ac-
tually happened on that day,
so, naturally, I had to check
it out.
President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, who was presi-
dent when I was growing up,
proclaimed Columbus Day a
holiday in 1937. Years later,
President Richard Nixon de-
clared Columbus Day a na-
tional holiday to be observed
on the second Monday of Oc-
tober each year.
Would you believe I got
all that information from a
kid’s book? Looking further,
I learned (or was reminded)
that Christopher Columbus
was born in 1451 and died
in 1506. He was said to be
an Italian Spanish navigator
who sailed west across the
Atlantic Ocean in search of
a route to Asia “but achieved
fame by making landfall in
the Americas instead.”
There are so many sites on
the internet to go to in glean-
ing such information.
As a teenager in high school,
my late husband, Bill, and I
used to use homework as an
excuse to spend time with
each other. He was a history
buff, and I was content with
grammar and English. (We
both struggled in math to-
gether).
I was never into history
while growing up, but the
older I get, the more I seem
to enjoy researching histo-
ry. Maybe the most exciting
part is that I’m old enough to
have lived through so much
of what is now called history.
Recently, I was in a discus-
sion about Thanksgiving. I
simply could not believe I
was already talking about
Thanksgiving.
It’s a bit like feeling sad-
ness as we watch a little
baby growing out of the baby
stage so fast. We are thankful
they’re healthy, but there’s
a token wish that they could
stay a wee one just a little
longer. So goes the years.
My goodness time seems to
go so much faster as we get
on up in years. We’re happy
we’re here to watch it all hap-
pen, but just kind of wishing
we could slow it down a bit.
Maybe it’s us that are slow-
ing down a bit. It seems ev-
erything around us is moving
just a little too fast. I’ve never
thought of it like that before.
“Lord, so teach us to num-
ber our days that we may ap-
ply our hearts unto wisdom,”
Psalm 90:12.
11
by Emily Olson, nurse/midwife
Know the signs and symptoms of breast cancer
You’ve probably heard or
read the statistic by now:
About one in eight females
in the U.S. will be diagnosed
with breast cancer during
their lifetime. Whereas breast
cancer in males is rarer and
accounts for less than 1 per-
cent of all breast cancers.
Treatments work best when
breast cancer is caught early.
That’s why it’s important for
females to get screened reg-
ularly for the disease starting
at age 40.
Transgender women who
have received gender-affirm-
ing hormones for more than 5
years also should be screened
regularly after the age of 50.
Transgender men should be
screened at a regular interval
starting at age 40. Transgen-
der men should start regular
screenings at age 50 if they
have had chest reduction/re-
construction.
In addition to regular
screening, it’s equally im-
portant to know the signs and
symptoms of breast cancer at
any age, since even younger
people can — and do — get
the disease.
Be on the lookout — and
speak up.
Any changes to the look or
feel of your breasts shouldn’t
be ignored. Chances are,
something other than cancer
is the cause. But it’s always
Special columns in The Columbia Press
Every week: Senior Moments with Emma Edwards
Week 1: Financial Focus with Adam Miller
Week 2: Here’s to Your Health from CMH
Week 3: Spotlight on the City
Final week: Mayor’s Message by Henry Balensifer
best to let your primary or
women’s healthcare provider
know if you’re having any of
the following signs or symp-
toms:
• A lump or thickening in-
side the breast, chest or in the
underarm area.
• A change in the size or
shape of a breast.
• A dimple or puckering in
the skin of a breast.
• A nipple that has turned
inward or is sore near the
nipple.
• Fluid, other than breast
milk, leaking from a nip-
ple, especially if the fluid is
bloody or leaks from only one
breast.
• Skin irritation or color
changes — such as redness
or darkening, scaliness or
new creases — anywhere on
a breast, nipple or areola (the
dark area of skin around the
nipple).
• Small dimples in a breast
that look like the skin of an
orange.
• Pain in a breast, especially
if the pain doesn’t go away or
doesn’t seem to be related to
your menstrual cycle.
Your provider will ask you
how long and how often
you’ve been experiencing
these signs and symptoms.
They’ll also examine your
breasts. And, if necessary,
they may order tests such as a
mammogram or ultrasound.
You may need a biopsy if the
results of those tests suggest
something suspicious.
The thought of having breast
cancer can be scary. But try
to remember that other con-
ditions can cause changes to
your breasts. That’s why it’s
always best to see your pro-
vider and get a diagnosis.
Finally, things that are good
for your health can also re-
duce your risk for breast
cancer: maintain a healthy
weight, add physical activity
to your routine, limit alcohol
intake, avoid smoking, limit
menopausal hormone use,
and, if you have children,
breastfeed if you can and
want to.
Call your CMH clinic or vis-
it columbiamemorial.org to
request an appointment or
learn more information.
Here’s to Your Health is
sponsored by Columbia
Memorial Hospital. Emi-
ly Olson is a certified nurse
midwife at the CMH-OHSU
Health Women’s Center.
Pandemic benefits extended
The state of Oregon has
expand the Pandemic EBT
program and will provide an
additional $167 million in
food assistance to 430,000
children.
Oregon previously was ap-
proved for $424 million.
Combined with the summer
expansion of the program,
Oregon’s total will be $591
million in food assistance be-
tween July and October.
P-EBT provides food ben-
efits to families whose chil-
dren were eligible for free
or reduced-priced meals at
school or day care, but who
did not have access to the free
meals because of COVID-19.
Households currently re-
ceiving P-EBT will automat-
ically receive two additional
payments of $389 per child.