Perimenopause is the beginning of the end of ovarian function in women. And it is a slow, gradual decline of the production of estrogen. It can last from two to ten years. It is on average about four years prior to menopause.

Menopause is actually defined by the date at which you've gone twelve months without a menstrual cycle. There are many remedies actually for perimenopause and menopause symptoms. One of the most effective would be hormone therapy. This can be in the form of estradiol or estrogen as well as progesterone, depending on whether they have a uterus or not.

There's also many non hormonal treatments. There are also lifestyle changes and nutrition changes that we can make to better alleviate symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. I encourage women to go to their healthcare professional and describe these symptoms. Most often, physicians can make diagnoses based on their clinical symptoms and talking to the patients and really listening to the patients.

One of my favorite parts of my jobs is actually educating women on what they're going through physiologically, emotionally, mentally as they go through perimenopause and menopause. And there are many things we can do as far as educating our patients and help them feel as good as they can while they go through this inevitable transition in life.

The primary goal of outpatient psychiatry is to provide a complete and thorough diagnosis. That's really important, particularly in this day and age, because with Google and social media and TikTok, there's a lot of stigma and incorrect information out there. So the primary goal is to really get a clear diagnosis. That way we can apply evidence based treatment like medication or therapy or other interventions to really help patients achieve their goals and feel better.

A lot of us go through things that are really difficult and are struggle and it's okay to ask for help and to have that extra support. So if you're feeling, you know, hopeless or that there is no options, there are lots of options and you're not alone. There are a lot of people who are struggling with things similar to you and here at Baptist Health we offer lots of different treatment options, therapy services. There's plenty of different ways to figure out how to best help you and help you reach your goals.

Having an outpatient psychiatry clinic in Richmond, Kentucky is so important because the community has a unique opportunity to really come together and provide support for patients who are really struggling with mental illness. A lot of times I see loneliness and not feeling part of the community and by encouraging people to be a support system for those who have diagnosed mental illness is just a really good way to get the whole community together.

My biggest regret in my cancer journey is not going in sooner.

I think I wouldn't have had to do chemo and radiation if I had gone in for my mammogram sooner.

So my message is, don't wait, make that appointment today because it could save your life.

A woman should not take any change in her breast lightly. If she feels that something is wrong, needs to make sure she advocates to get proper imaging.

Any new breast abnormality should be worked up with imaging.

Back in January of twenty twenty three, I noticed that the lump in my right breast had become bigger and harder. And it took about until October for me to actually make my appointment with my primary care. And from there, we did mammogram, ultrasound, and then I was referred to Baptist Health to come see Doctor. Williams. So Stacy was diagnosed at stage 3A.

It means that it had gone into her lymph nodes.

So that's why we actually had to do chemotherapy before surgery to try and get some of the cancer out of her lymph nodes before we did surgery. And then she had anti endocrine therapy, which is hormone blockers, and immunotherapy, and radiation after surgery. So she really got the full spectrum of breast cancer treatment, which made her journey longer, but it also made it the appropriate treatment for her.

My experience here at Baptist Health has been nothing but amazing. Every single person here knows me, knows my case. It's very much a team effort.

Oftentimes we see patients who are potentially looking for a shoulder surgery when they start having more pain that hasn't gotten better on its own and is inhibiting their daily life. A lot of times we start with x rays, try to find out the diagnosis. And then a lot of times we start with conservative treatment as far as physical therapy, sometimes medication, sometimes injections as well. And then depending on what their diagnosis is or what they're suffering from, at that point after all those things fail, that's when we look at surgical options for it.

Shoulder replacement consists of taking the joint itself, or the cartilage and some of the bone, and replacing it with metal and plastic. You actually cut out the humeral head, place a metal stem in the middle of the humerus, and put a plastic liner or a metal ball in there, depending on what type of shoulder replacement. You can go to the socket side and put either plastic liner or a metal ball on there to replace the actual joint. One of the advances we have in shoulder replacements nowadays is actually preoperative planning.

So we get a special CT scan ahead of surgery, upload it to a computer program, and are able to look at the patient's normal anatomy and pick the best size implants and the correct angulation to try to give them the best outcome and best range of motion afterwards. So some of the benefits of having shoulder replacement at Baptist Health is that we do a lot of these. The whole team, not just the surgeon, but all the staff in the OR room, do a lot of these every day. Everyone on the team knows how to do it the best as possible.

Prenatal care should start early in the first trimester, ideally by seven or eight weeks gestation. At the first prenatal visit, baseline labs will be obtained as well as a thorough review of medical history, current medications, making sure everything is safe for pregnancy. There are several resources available at Baptist Health Richmond to support a woman through her journey. We have maternity nurse navigator who you may meet at any time during your pregnancy.

She meets one on one with the mother. Together they address any issues and concerns, any barriers that need to be addressed to support a healthy pregnancy. We also offer a birthing class, which is taught by one of our labor hall nurses with over twenty years experience. We have a lactation counselor.

She will ensure that there's a proper latch and the baby is getting the nutrients that it needs for healthy growth. I was a labor and delivery nurse for thirteen years prior to coming to this role and what I really loved was just being with women in their most vulnerable times and being able to see patients out in public and they're like, Hey, here's my baby. And now I'm at the other end of it and I'm starting off their pregnancy with them. I may not be there at the end, but I'm there at the beginning.

And that's nice.

Seasonal depression is depression that has a seasonal pattern. So what that means is that you tend to experience depressive symptoms only during the fall and winter months, and then things get better in the spring and summer months. It also tends to differ a little because it is characterized by more overeating rather than undereating, sleeping too much instead of not enough, and a tendency towards weight gain rather than weight loss. It's different from other mood disorders because it tends to be more associated with the weather, the time of the year, and even location on the planet.

We believe that it is probably because of the less sunlight you get in the winter months on those other ends, and because maybe vitamin D deficiency, which is also related to the sunlight, it makes things more difficult. The best treatment that we have to our knowledge right now is light therapy. So basically you set yourself up with a broad spectrum light and you turn that on for about twenty to thirty minutes a day. And it helps simulate natural sunlight, which can improve depression.

As a matter of fact, there have been studies that show that if you're depressed and all you do that day is get up and open the windows, then you feel slightly better. So to get help for seasonal depression, if you feel like you might be experiencing that, I always encourage people to reach out for help whenever they need it, especially for things like seasonal depression. We love meeting new people here and we love taking care of you and helping you be your best self.

Stroke is a sudden loss of sensation weakness to one side of the body. And every minute counts.

Every minute of disruption of blood flow to the brain causes millions of neurons die. So it is very important for us to intervene in a timely manner to prevent disability and death.

Time is super important. So if we're able to get someone treated within four and half hours, we're able to offer medications like TNK, which is a clot busting medication that can potentially stop a stroke from happening.

Here at the Comprehensive Stroke Center, we take care of patients from the time they come in to the time they get discharged. They have access access to all the advanced stroke treatments, neurologists, stroke specialists, and neuro interventions, and neurosurgeon.

Stroke is a life changing event. Whether symptoms are mild or severe, it affects people physically, mentally, and emotionally. So we're here to help people on all of those levels. That's why it's important for us to not only get to the root cause of the stroke and treat the medical part, but also provide resources for therapies like physical, occupational, and speech therapy. So whether that journey is short and someone's back to work in three months or whether it is a twelve to fifteen month journey, we're here to help them through that to get them back to their best version of themselves.