Spotlight: Lady Parts: Let’s Talk With Dr. Sherry Ross
But we need to be doing our regular checkups and our regular mammograms and our regular pad smears. And are you concerned? Are you seeing a downswing in that? And I'm what are you seeing in that regard? But also, please let us know how you are these days. So that's a two part question. One is how are you? Second is what do you see in terms of trends of women taking care of themselves
And I want to post Dr. Sherry's amazing website that is full of incredible resources. And I'm telling you incredible resources. If you want to learn about your body, go here. If you want to read a book, go here. It's a great website. I enjoy it. So here's the post of that. Here's a link
Dr. Sheryl Ross
@DrSherry · 2:54
And truth is, it's higher than ever. But women are coming in for their PAP, smears and mammograms and STI checkups and all the important topics that are so necessary for women to pay attention to. I think that the most overriding symptom that I'm seeing is stress and depression and concerns for the future. And we know that stress really affects our health. It affects our sleep, our ability to exercise, to take care of ourselves in all the right ways
But first, I do want to ask you kind of pie in the sky now that you have a group of people that are supporting this open dialogue through lady parts, and maybe you can explain a little bit about the trajectory of lady parts and what it's going to be. And can you share a little bit about your expectations of what lady parts will do that hasn't been done before in terms of it being so out loud for this generation. So that's kind of a two part question
Dr. Sheryl Ross
@DrSherry · 4:59
She and kind of rotating panel celebrities would come on, and we'd have very open conversations about all things female related and sex and health and do it through the lens of humor and honesty. And I really wanted it to be very rich in medical content. But the overall idea was to educate and empower women to take control of their health and wellness
Dr. Sheryl Ross
@DrSherry · 2:01
I don't know if you saw, but Tiffany Haddish was on our first episode and we have people coming up like Hillary Duff and Ashley Benson. Sarah Foster is coming just a lot of fun people. So it's really cool. And season two, we're hoping we'll come around sometime in the winter or spring, but there's just so much to talk about and really excited about this conversation
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:59
And I know that that's probably what you guys are working up to. But one of my comments on the vibe so far was it had so much nervous energy and happiness and giddiness that there was so much I can't use the phrase the levity was important, but I was like, I've been around that I've been in girl clutches where we kind of giggling. But there you are, this voice of reason and knowledge and experience, and you have to keep pace with that
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Dr. Sheryl Ross
@DrSherry · 4:52
And a lot of times if they do have a small HPV lesion, it's very small and it looks kind of like a little cauliflower if in fact they have it, but many times it's invisible and they can't really tell. So practicing safe sex, even if your partner has been checked for STIs, is still really important. And unfortunately, this is about preventing HPV, which we know is directly associated with cervical precancer cells and cancer. And getting vaccinated, of course, is important
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:32
You know, as you talk, I think about how lady parts swell normalize some of this language around not just safe sex and HPV transmission, but what you talked about in reference to basic hygiene. And I think there's an intergenerational problem and a cultural problem. So we have cultures that really don't pass this information on to their kids, even if they know, because it's just too awkward
Dr. Sheryl Ross
@DrSherry · 3:41
But my hope is really to empower young women to have confidence about their body and take ownership and learn from a young age to be their best healthcare advocate. We want them to embrace and love their body and learn ways to take care of the v***** and all issues related to it so that they don't feel shame or embarrassed to do so
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:14
I have a lot of hope, and I want to Echo your appreciation for this, getting out into a network to really change the patterns that we're all in. And the patterns are just not just misconceptions, but to what we're talking about about the lack of comfort and just normalizing this, like, let's talk about this stuff. It's where babies come from. It's where pleasure comes from. Women are just the vehicles for everything
Dr. Sheryl Ross
@DrSherry · 0:52
And definitely here to answer questions which are so important to answer. I love what you're doing, Deborah, keep it up. I'm here for all of you. Bye
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:00
I mean, it shouldn't take a female vice President excuse me to make that happen, but there seems to be an opportunity here for a female vice President to put front and center some of the burning issues that people have been talking about for a long time, a little bit behind closed doors, around women's health and around public health when it comes to taking care of women's issues specifically. And I wanted to know if that is the case or if that comes to pass
Dr. Sheryl Ross
@DrSherry · 4:57
Many studies have already shown that paid maternity leave has health benefits for the baby, supporting longer time breastfeeding, increasing vaccination rates and overall improving infant. Wellbeing, so this is something that I think is also on women's minds. Child care is also a challenge for women. I mean, so many women are working now. It's just we need more equality in the workplace. So there are many issues that I think we have to continue to fight for
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:58
And I say ignorance with an open mind that once, given the chance to learn, things will shift. But I'm always a positive person in that regard. I hope we continue to have doctors on the front lines like yourself, who, in your intimate moments with your patients, can really help this conversation grow because I think that it's the one to one relationship that really changes minds and hearts and ignites people's motivation to be active in this fight