The Roving Reporters

On February 17, Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan celebrated the opening of their new state-of-the-art Endoscopy Unit with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Cybill Shepherd.

phenomeNEWS was invited to witness the event and to interview Cybill about her role in the Amazing Women Campaign organized by the National Women’s Health Resource Center. The NWHRC is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women make informed decisions about their health and encouraging women to embrace healthy lifestyles to promote wellness.

We were excited to meet and talk with Cybill. The first thing she shared with us was that she was a long term cancer survivor. When asked what she credited that to she replied, “I did a great deal in terms of my health, my meditation, my cultivation of mindfulness, self compassion and loving kindness.”

Cybill is the spokesperson for the Amazing Women Campaign that is designed to empower women to seek proper diagnosis and treatment for recurring constipation accompanied by abdominal pain or discomfort and bloating, the hallmark symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). She became their spokesperson when she found relief from her symptoms that had occurred for more than 20 years.

We asked Cybill about her specific role in the Amazing Women Campaign. “I want every woman alive to be as amazing as she possibly can. And as women, we have a lot of things that work against us in that way. As we know, our silence will not protect us. That came about with the rape campaign, taking back the night…our silence will not protect us. And that goes for everything.

“My first phase on advocacy for women’s health was reproductive freedom and the second was bringing menopause out of the closet. I had two primetime episodes on menopause on the Cybill Show... We had never done it before. And an hour on Oprah about menopause. I wrote a song that I always finish my one woman show with called “Menopause Blues.” It brings down the house.

“So, when this opportunity came along, since I had suffered for so long with a misdiagnosis, and was finally diagnosed properly, I felt like this was my next stage in my advocacy for women’s health and also to be working with the National Women’s Health Resources Center... We need to get the word out to women.

“So often women are working so hard that they don’t get a chance to even find out what’s going on. I believe the mind, spirit, body… the whole thing is one and the same. I do practice a kind of yoga. It’s all about relaxation. It’s not a workout. The meditation I do is really just following my breath. If I have pain, I try to direct my mind to the pain, breathe into that place.

“I’ve been asked a lot of times to bring out a video on it, but it’s so simple. I dance. I love to dance, all kinds of dance. I’m dancing in my one woman show for the first time EVER. And I think it has to do with Zelnorm®. It has helped me. (Editor’s note: Zelnorm® is the first and only medication approved by the FDA for the treatment of women with the multiple symptoms of IBS).

“I used to feel like doing all these shows but they were telling me it was my mind and my emotion. What should I do? Lie down every second I’m not working? I missed so much activity, wonderful things with my children, my friends. And I don’t have to do that any more.

“I just want women to get out there and talk about it. We’re so embarrassed. We couldn’t say birth on television in the 50s. We couldn’t say menstruation. On the Cybill show, they wouldn’t let me say menstruation. You can say menopause but not menstruation. I said, “What can I call it?” They said, OK, you can say period.

“So, in TIME magazine, I was in there on the timeline for women’s health because I fought the network to say the word “period.” Can you believe that? We need to dignify our bodies, embracing ourselves as we age.”

We thoroughly enjoyed our little chat with Cybill. She is definitely an advocate for women’s health and for living a vibrant, healthy life. She summed it up wonderfully with her parting words to us, “I keep trying to tell women, have you looked into the mirror lately and just looked deep into your eyes? They’re the mirror of the soul. Love yourself, find that loving person. Enjoy yourself. And try and laugh as much as possible.”

Thanks, Cybill for being a beacon for women’s health. You are an inspiration!

The Amazing Women campaign will provide information and peer support to motivate women to speak openly with their doctors to obtain a proper diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Materials are available by visiting www.Zwomen.org where you can also obtain Cybill’s Tips for Talking with Your Doctor.

For information on the NWHRC, visit www.healthywomen.org