Home Home < Human Resources and Benefits Briefing < February 2009
From Health Assessment to Cancer Survivor

UC Living WellWhen Carole Meyer-Rieth decided last winter to complete a health assessment and then get into shape, she didn't expect the rapid sequence of life-changing medical events that would follow.

Fortunately, the 34-year-old mother of two young children landed safely from a wild ride that included a diagnosis that would save her life. In just several months, she went from a mom trying to get back her pre-pregnancy physical verve to someone who is proud to call herself a cancer survivor.

Meyer-Rieth, an administrative assistant at the UC Riverside Library, went on the StayWell website last February to take a health assessment, admittedly to receive the gift certificate given to eligible UC employees who complete the evaluation. And afterwards, she decided to take advantage of another StayWell benefit — a wellness coach who could help her shed the extra pounds that come after having two kids and breaks from her pre-motherhood exercise routines.

carol and familyHer StayWell health coach, Tina, got her back on the right track. "Tina was terrific," said Meyer-Rieth. "In our phone conversations, she didn't tell me what to do. We worked together to set manageable next steps and goals. She was more like a friend than a coach."

The fact that her coach was also a mom helped them build an exercise schedule around child-rearing and her work at UC Riverside. Part of the schedule called for one-mile runs, three times a week. These runs could help Meyer-Rieth eventually make her goal of entering a 5K race, something she used to do before running after toddlers.

But during and after her runs, Meyer-Rieth didn't always feel quite right. "I didn't have a lot of energy," said. "It was more than being out of shape. I didn't remember feeling that tired and dizzy when I used to run."

Meyer-Rieth was wise enough to see a doctor, who in June discovered that she was severely anemic. Vitamins, iron supplements and dietary changes would help alleviate that, she thought, and coach Tina was handy with diet advice and iron-high recipes.

Even as she was getting into better shape, Meyer-Rieth still wasn't feeling as energetic as she should. Another medical test in July found possible indications of mild internal bleeding and prompted another test — a colonoscopy. That test, although a valuable screening procedure, is not routinely performed on someone as young as Meyer-Rieth, who didn't have a family history of cancer.

Meyer-Rieth soon received a shocking diagnosis — a five centimeter cancerous tumor had formed in her intestine. It was severe enough that on the same day of the colonoscopy result, doctors operated and removed a tumor, about the size of a small plum.

It all happened so fast — the excitement about running again, the anemia, the colonoscopy, the diagnosis of a life-threatening condition and the surgery.
SIDEBAR: A New Year, Time to Take a New Health Assessment

Get a healthy start to the year by completing a new health assessment. They are free, confidential and may pay off, literally.

In 2009, employees and their spouses or domestic partners who are enrolled in a non-Kaiser medical plan are eligible to complete the StayWell health assessment and participate in follow-up wellness coaching for which they qualify.

This year, the incentive for completing StayWell's health assessment is a $100 gift card for employees and $50 for spouses/domestic partners, but you must be enrolled in a UC medical plan on January 1, 2009 and complete the health assessments by April 15, 2009 to qualify for the gift card. Even if you completed a health assessment and received a gift card in 2008, you are encouraged to do it again by April 15. Children and other family members (other than spouse/domestic partner) are not eligible for the StayWell program in 2009. Employees represented by some UC unions may not be eligible for StayWell because participation was not agreed to on behalf of their members during the collective bargaining process.

UC Kaiser Permanente members and their family members aged 18 and older may also take a health assessment, via Kaiser's HealthWorks program. Those who take the health assessment by April 15 will be eligible for a drawing for prizes, including a $500 gift certificate and iPods.

For more information about health assessments, including articles about how UC employees have benefited from StayWell's health assessment and wellness coaching programs and which unions have agreed to participate in 2009, visit the UC Living Well website.

But soon after her surgery and the confirmation of blood tests, Meyer-Rieth's oncologist told her that she would not even require chemotherapy or radiation treatments. The tumor was detected just in time. She was cancer-free.

By November, Meyer-Rieth was running again, making her recovery even more remarkable.

Meyer-Rieth said the incredible chain of events would not have even started or ended the way it did if she did not take her health assessment. She credits StayWell coach Tina with keeping her on the exercise program, which eventually led to the detection of a disease that could have killed her.

Today, she is happy to be a poster person for health screening programs. "Paying attention to my body and health helped in the early discovery of anemia and then colon cancer, of which I am now a healthy survivor," said Meyer-Rieth.

She's back to her normal routine, including working at the Library and caring for her family. She also still hopes to run that 5K race.