Health screening helps ‘save a life’

Liane Novak was shocked last September when staff at Mills-Peninsula’s Wise and Well health screening told her that her blood pressure was dangerously high and urged her to call her doctor right away for further testing.

“I’d never been sick in my life, and I didn’t feel sick,” Novak recalled.

So she didn’t think much about it until a week later when she felt “like a monkey was sitting on my chest” during one of her daily walks.

“If I hadn’t gone to Wise and Well, I probably would have thought it was just part of aging and that I’d mention it to my doctor at my next check-up,” she said.

However, she might not have made it to the next check-up due to a heart attack or stroke.

Within three weeks of the screening, her doctors at Mills-Peninsula implanted stents in two blood vessels to improve her blood flow. She’s now taking medication to control her condition and may require additional surgery to improve blood flow in her legs.

But until that point, Novak, 67, was the picture of health.

The retired buyer and merchandiser who volunteers at Mills-Peninsula had few illnesses, exercises daily, watches her diet, is the proper weight for her height and gets annual medical examinations.

That’s why she didn’t expect to find anything wrong when she was among the 400 people screened at senior centers throughout the county in Wise and Well’s free annual comprehensive screening program.

About 15 Mills-Peninsula staff members measured cholesterol, blood glucose, blood pressure, body mass, height and weight, and provided one-on-one consultations with a nurse or dietitian.

“Our job is really harm-reduction,” Janel Moore, R.N., said. She also teaches people to take responsibility for learning about their health during Wise and Well’s monthly visits to local senior centers. There she screens up to 180 people for blood pressure and blood glucose, reviews medications and provides information about various health topics.

“That’s what brings me to work every day – people who wouldn’t normally ask for their test results bringing them in to show me how they’re doing,” she said.

“And in cases like Novak’s, a little bit of information can help save a life.”