St. Luke’s to name Heart Healthy Woman of Year

Tilly Lotspeich knows how to squeeze just one more thing into her schedule.

When Lotspeich’s husband died five years ago, she took over his used car business, worked 14 hours a day and stayed active in the Warrensburg, Mo., Chamber of Commerce.

But this busy Warrensburg woman said in her attempt to keep business intact, she neglected to take care of herself.

“I just basically worked all the time and had stress all the time,” Lotspeich said. “I tried to do everything for everybody else and I hadn’t done anything for myself in a long time.”

Lotspeich decided to change that habit two years ago when she joined St. Luke’s Women in Training Program.

Lotspeich traveled to St. Luke’s East in Lee’s Summit weekly to attend the six-week course with her friend Eve Bailey.

“Every week we would have a guest speaker for about 30 minutes and then we would walk for about an hour,” Lotspeich said. “You could see that everybody was excited about the program.”

After two years in the program Lotspeich’s high stress, high cholesterol and poor sleep habits had transformed into a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

Lotspeich will accept Saint Luke’s Heart Healthy Woman of the Year award during the health system’s heart health event, “Accessorizing Your Heart Health,” Dec. 3 at the InterContinental Hotel Kansas City at the Plaza.

“(Lotspeich) has just made such significant changes,” said Marcia McCoy, RN, MSN, director of the Saint Luke’s Muriel Kauffman Women’s Heart Center. “She’s somebody that inspires others to do the same.”

Actress Goldie Hawn will speak at the heart health event.

McCoy said the message will encourage women to take time for their health and maintain a positive outlook on life.

“Optimism and laughter are an important part of not only our mental health but our physical health,” McCoy said. “Looking at the glass half full is beneficial to our health as opposed to looking at the glass half empty.”

Lotspeich said her transformation did not come easy and she tried to stay positive throughout the process.

After her first year in the program, Lotspeich’s lab results actually came back worse than they had been at the beginning of the program.

“I was horrified,” Lotspeich said. “I of course couldn’t believe it, didn’t want to believe it.”

At that point, Lotspeich took some big steps to improve her health. Lotspeich saw a personal trainer, changed her diet and exercise routine and cut back on her hours at work. But Lotspeich said she knew it would take more than that to improve her blood levels.

Lotspeich said she had trouble with sleep her entire life, getting only two to three hours of sleep a night.

At the beginning of Lotspeich’s second year in the Women in Training program, she participated in a sleep study to get to the root of her sleeping issues.

“When I got this sleep study back it told me that I basically don’t go into deep sleep,” Lotspeich said.

Lotspeich began taking medication for her sleep condition and her high cholesterol. She also saw dietitian Joan O’Keefe and started an anti-inflammatory diet.

Lotspeich’s cholesterol level dropped from 268 to 183. She said her cardiologist, James O’Keefe, MD, wants to see the number drop even more and she’s prepared to meet that goal.

“At 61, I realized that I’m not going to put an age limit on my dreams. I’m going for it now,” Lotspeich said.

Lotspeich invited McCoy to speak to women at the Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce.

McCoy used the speaking engagement as an opportunity to announce that Lotspeich had received the 2009 Heart Healthy Woman of the Year Award. About 60 chamber members attended the event.

“(Lotspeich) then is inspiring those 60 community members in Warrensburg,” McCoy said.

Lotspeich attributes her successful lifestyle change to St. Luke’s Women in Training.

“Marcia McCoy and the Women in Training program saved my life,” Lotspeich said. “I’m so excited to be the recipient of something that’s really important to me.”

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