Nadine Williams

Boomer Blokes – A Threatened Species

If you are a bloke of a certain age, say 60-something or older, you could well be a walking time-bomb with disease (breeding for years) about to present itself.

To reflect my point, right now I have three men-friends fighting serious life-threatening disease including stomach cancer, melanoma and prostate problems.

And in the last two weeks, two other menfolk in our broader circle of friends have died of cancers.

The trouble with blokes is they don’t visit doctors for regular annual health checks either in their adult working lives or as they age until disease kicks in, a fact brought to light by the Adelaide Northern Division of General Practice (ANDGP) during Men’s Health Week.

Yet if ever the adage “A stitch in time saves nine’’ it is with nipping disease in the bud.

To illustrate the point the AGPN rounded up all the coaches of all 16 AFL clubs for regular health checks to highlight Men’s Health Week.

“Us guys often overlook the important things like a simple check up that could save us from serious health issues in the future,’’ says Danny

Frawley, CEO of the AFL Coaches Association. “Our coaches want to lead by example and help get the message out.’’

The most effective thing any male can do is to be proactive – simply get to know a GP and have a checkup once a year, adds ANDGP CEO Barbara Magin.

“Men are less likely to visit the doctor, they don’t come in incidentally with the kids in the same way women do, but a good relationship with a GP can be a lifesaver, literally,’’ she says.

The message is timely because prostate cancer is now the most  diagnosed cancer in Australia each year.

Other insidious diseases which impact on men’s health include depression, type 2 diabetes and lung and bowel cancers.

Heart disease is another major killer of men – and death is preventable if men have their cardiovascular health risks tested annually.

A GP will be able to check for all age appropriate health risks, enquire about family history (genetic timebombs) answer any questions about health and outline what steps to  take to stay healthy for the future.

An annual checkup is the first step for men to protect themselves from disease and death. Others include:

Stop smoking – it’s the only health option – smoking causes 40 per cent of deaths in men who are aged under 65. See GP then call Quitline on 131 848.

Adopt 30 minutes of physical exercise daily.

Research shows that regular physical activity can reduce cardiovascular disease, helps fight depression, can help prevent Type 2 diabetes and improves sexual function.

Eat health foods and maintain balanced diet. See a dietitician if overweight. Eat plenty of vegies, fruit and cereals) and avoid fatty and sugary foods.

Maintain a healthy mind and a healthy body.

Take on board that excessive alcohol consumption and drug use impairs your brain function. Two alcoholic drinks a day is safe.  Recognise depression if you feel overwhelmed and persistently sad. It affects one in six people at any one time. Medication helps. Join Men’s Shed for male bonding. See www.menshed.org.

More men’s health info on www.nadinewilliams.com.au.

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I’m in love with Paris says Helen Orr

My husband and I seem to end up in Paris for a week or so each year.  We don’t waver from our decision to see a new country each year (Turkey last year, Egypt this year) but convince ourselves that it is convenient to stop off in Paris on the way there or back.  The beauty of the city never ceases to amaze and the store window decorations such as this lovely clothing shop at 229 rue ST. HONORÉ are an inspiration for my design work.   

 The Marais is our favourite area.  Even though some of the older more bizarre shops have now become trendy boutiques, it is still a wonderful area to wander, and to eat.  Rue de Rosiers and adjacent streets are still wonderful, and where else can  you can  get your morning croissant straight out of the oven with an espresso for E1.95?    A few streets away at 50, rue des Archives, is Les Perles de Tout a Loisirs – a must for those interesting in jewellery and beading.  It is the most gorgeous old shop featuring ancient wooden display cabinets and every type of bead imaginable, from semi-precious stones to Perspex and plastics.   Unlike many of the enticing specialist bead, bag, scarf and accessory shops along rue des Temple which only sell wholesale, Les Perles welcomes visitors.  Read more »

Lavende: A rare French connection

When Callington restauranteur Christine Wilkinson was a young English girl  growing up in London, she did not feel English at all.  She knew her grandmother, Colette, was French and when she went to France for the first time as a teenager, she felt at  home. “Then when I went to France, I sang in a night club and said “Hey, I feel French!’’,’’ says Christine.

Much was to happen to Christine before that same feeling manifested after she migrated to Australia in her early 20s.

Another 40 years slipped by until Christine created the lovely Lavende French restaurant, within a courtyard of a grand old stone building, which was once the Callington Police Station.

 “We fell in love with the building and bought it by what can only be described as “divine providence’,’’  explains Christine, her two-coloured spiky hairdo belying her certain age.

We knew nothing of Christine’s extraordinary story when our table of four wiled away a wonderful Sunday afternoon dining at Lavende… until Christine joined us for coffee to explain the French connection.

From the moment she migrated to Australia, life threw in roadblocks to her following  her sense of Frenchness. Read more »

A mothering milestone

Do we ever stop being mothers? Are we ever free of the “motherhood’’ tag to finally stop fretting about our adult children?

If there is such a moment, it must be now that my son, my youngest child, Tyson turned 30, a milestone we celebrated with a fabulous, noisy party for family and friends last Saturday.

Apart from a rough ride on a very bumpy road for  a few years in his late teens, Tyson has been a delightful child – thoughtful, caring, excellent at sport, a quick wit and a quirky sense of humour. His older sisters have adored him since the moment they saw him born by caesarean section on June 12, 1980, the same day Azaria Chamberlain was born.  His dad, Graham Williams and I posted a birth notice “Hello world! My name is Tyson Luke Williams….’’ During his “troublesome teens’’,  the girls would never believe any of the tales I told them of his misdemeanors.

When he was 10, I wrote a poem which began “If God gave angels human form, then Tyson Williams would be one…’’ Read more »

A sobering story

It is the tail end of a delightful birthday soiree for eight hosted by our friends/neighbours Chris and Peter and we have retired under the vine-clad pergola for fig-infused ginger pudding with maple syrup and cream.

Scuttlebutt about recent politics and earthquakes had moved on to winespeak – about the best wines we had consumed and on to the typical baby boomer conversation health, well-being and “disease prevention’’.

Among one number is an eastern suburbs GP with a focus on men’s health and another fellow, a singer in a local band,  has not drunk a drop of alcohol all night and he has watched us consume a fine array of Australian red and white wines. This has been an exciting informal wine appreciation course because our host is an associate professor of wine and viticulture, an author and a consultant to the industry. We had begun with a bubbly Bird In Hand sparkling wine (Adelaide Hills), and a crisp O’Leary and Walker Watervale Riesling 2008,  and continued with a Richmond Grove Shiraz 2001. Our own contribution had been a Yering Station Shiraz 2007.

Over dessert, a string of best drunken stories flows which triggers GP Steve to ask what we thought was “enough alcohol consumption at any one time’’.

“If we are talking about disease prevention then we must look at the impact of alcohol on the body,’’ says the quietly-spoken Steve.  

We are alert enough to simply listen.

“It’s not just the brain, it’s the liver and all organs of the body really,’’ he continues. “Most people think the standard consumption without doing harm is two drinks for women and four drinks for men.

“But it’s now two alcoholic drinks for everyone at any one time if we want to prevent disease.’’

The word “alcoholism’’ is not mentioned as such, but Steve adds what we all know in our hearts that it is now recognised that alcohol is the No. 1 drug problem in Australia. One of the saddest statistics is the unfortunate few who become addicted to alcohol.

I  quote from a cover story I had written using figures from the National Health and Medical Research Foundation, the body attempting to change attitudes downward to only a two drink limit.

What had surprised me when I wrote the article, which was geared to exposing the dangers of binge drinking on young people and the brain injury it could cause, was that the largest consumers of alcohol were actually men aged 60-plus.

“That kind of drinking causes any number of diseases,’’ says Steve. “Heart disease, kidney failure, liver disease and the big one, diabetes.’’

My research also shows that heavy drinking over a 10-15 year period damages the brain as surely as pregnant alcoholic mothers give birth to impaired babies.

It becomes a sobering moment.

Vale Adriana

Adriana Xenides, who died this week aged 54 of a ruptured intestine, was a breath-takingly beautiful dark haired Argentian-born 17-year-old when her big break into modelling happened by chance.

Organisers of the annual Royal Show Wool Parades were in a spin when a top-name invited Italian model, co-incidentally also named Adriana, disgraced herself through over-indulgence, and was sent back home.

A local replacement had to be found immediately and Adriana Xenides, a local fledgling model, took her place.

She sashayed down the catwalk wearing her wide, warm smile, her luscious dark locks swinging sensually, and her Greek/Spanish good looks easily won the hearts of the audience. It was her big break and she swept into a modelling career.

I met Adriana a few years later in 1978, when she joined the inaugural  Mrs South Australia Quest as an entrant raising funds for the then Crippled Children’s Association which I organised and she was, quite simply, unforgettable. An engaging brunette with a chatty, vivacious personality, the  22-year-old won the hearts of the judges and was named among the eight finalists, but was considered too young to carry the initial image of the married women’s quest.  

However, Adriana found real fame when Grundy Television made her the glamorous blonde co-host of Wheel of Fortune, where her role was then the simplistic task of  spinning a wheel to determine a letter – and she did it in spectacular style, winning the hearts of the nation for 18 long years. She became a TV star in 1981 when her long legs, stunning fashion sense  and engaging style made her household name.

But, long-time friend Joan Lady Hardy recalls how Adriana was devastated when she lost her job.

“Her job there was her life and she created something out of  what was really spinning letters, but she turned it into this amazing, theatrical experience…she gave a grand performance every single night and created her own little Hollywood.

“It was almost a fantasy world within that wheel of fortune,’’ says Lady Hardy.

In reward, her faithful audience adored her and voted her one of TV’s most loved icons, but when they switched the limelight off, Adriana’s own fortune took a body blow and she plunged into anonymity and clinical depression. She never quite got back on her feet.

“Adriana felt so secure in that show and had never looked beyond to where she might be in, say, five years time, because she thought it would never end,’’ says Lady Hardy.

Her personal life was a never-ending sad saga with three marriages and divorces, a high profile broken engagement with Tom Hardy, a relative of Lady Hardy’s, a controversial serious car accident, scrapes with the law, chronic ill-health and clinical depression.

After the breakup, Lady Hardy and Adriana continued their long friendship through letter-writing.

“She wrote such lovely letters and one of them was 17 pages long,’’ says Lady Hardy.

 “Another  letter explained why the breakup happened and I replied “there is no way I am taking sides here’ and she appreciated that and we had a friendship which lasted far beyond that period of her life.’’

Despite an extended term in hospital receiving treatment for clinical depression, she recovered to appear on some small screen guest appearances on Celebrity Big Brother and Beauty and the Beast, but Adriana never worked full time in television again.

The final, sad chapter in her life ended a decade of deteriorating poor health when she died from a ruptured intestine on Monday afternoon. Her faithful friend, Michael Shepherd, who had been publicity manager for Channel 7, recalls how she endured years of pain. She once described the pain in her abdomen as “so hard it takes you down to your knees’’. She was taken by ambulance on Sunday afternoon, her stomach swollen to twice its size and as hard as concrete. She died 20 minutes before Michael reached her on Monday afternoon.

“They opened her up and closed her up again saying there was nothing they could do. Burg (John Burgess former co-host of Wheel of Fortune) got there  before she died, but she was heavily sedated,’’ he says.

 “She was in regular pain management and despite it all, she was trying desperately to give her life meaning,’’

My vivid memory is of vivacious Adriana as an enthusiastic quest entrant, with a loving husband and it is sad to accept that her life for 30-odd years thereafter unfolded as one big emotional heartache.

“We are victims of our own decisions and she did make some bad decisions when it came to men and relationships,’’ says Michael. “Some took advantage of her generosity. She once said to me ‘Have I got a sign on my forehead which says “Idiots welcome’!’’.

One of the saddest moments of her life was when her beloved Spanish mother, Conseula, died in her arms in September 2003. Michael says she never recovered fully from her loss.

“We met in the1990, when I came to Adelaide with the Home and Away actors,’’ says Michael who is now publicity director for TV1 and thee Sci-Fi channel for Foxtel.

“We have always had a great brother sister-type relationship.

 “There were times when she was  Oh God  beside herself with monumental problems, but she had just graduated from a course in makeup for film and television and she was going to start working behind the scenes.’’

“Adrie’’, as Michael calls her, suffered not only excruciating pain, but also from an aching loneliness. It triggered her depression.

“She would text me at, say 2am in the morning and say “Do you feel like a chat?’’

As her relatives lay her to rest in peace at a private ceremony in Sydney on Friday, my own thoughts on our fallen star matches those of Lady Hardy.

“Once met, you don’t’ forget people like Adriana,’’ concludes Lady Hardy.

“Yet, hers was a very lonely life; I don’t think her depression ever left her.’’

The tragedy was that Adriana was living alone, without a partner, no children and surviving on a government pension when she died. Yet she was still trying so hard to find a meaningful role for herself in life.