 This is Think Tech Hawaii, Community Matters here. Aloha Hawaii. I'm Wendy Lo and I'm your best friend as we journey to take your health back. We are coming to you live from downtown Honolulu from the studios of Think Tech Hawaii. Today our topic of discussion will be on a walk in the park with a Doc O'ahu. That we want you to remember to take that first step towards better health. It is never too late and what I would like you to take away from today's discussion and to encourage all of you is to follow one physician's solution. Join Walk with a Doc O'ahu for education, exercise and fellowship. Today we are very honored to welcome Teresa Wee, MD, Pediatrician, President-Owner of the Wee Wellness Center LLC, Waipio Gentry Waipahu and your Walk with a Doc O'ahu, Dr. Teresa Wee. Hi. Hi, I'm so excited that you're here finally. I'm just so crazy about what you're doing and your commitment to the people of the west side but not only that but whoever can hear this message that they can come out and follow you every Saturday morning. That's right. Right, and give us the location. It's Central O'ahu Regional Park, Patsy T. Mink and I'm near the tennis courts and it's a free event. And you can't miss them. No. Guys, there's banners, there's a crowd of people and they're wearing these blue shirts and you can just feel their energy coming about because they just want to learn and live healthier and making healthier choices and it starts one step at a time but you've got to take that first step. So before we go further into this discussion, Dr. Wee, can you just share a little bit about who you are? Well, I want everyone to know that I am a local girl. I went to Merino School. I was a Merino Spartan. Graduated, went to UH Manoa and subsequently to the Jabson Medical School here and I was very fortunate to spend six years at Ohio State University Columbus Children's Hospital program where I trained and learned. My husband was with me. He did internal medicine up there as well. Well, on one of the next slides, they'll show you all the credentials and I do see the Merino Spartans logo because we are both Spartans, right? Yes. Go Spartans, right? Go Spartans. So when I saw you put the credentials up there, I'm like, yeah, go Amamada. So I'm excited about that as well but you've done so well for yourself and I'm so excited about that. So after spending six years in Columbus, Ohio, and doing your residency, graduate program training, what was it that made you and your husband want to come back to Hawaii after spending so much time up there? As the next slide shows, we spent six years in Columbus, Ohio and we were afforded great jobs, cost of living was great but being a student from Jabsum, Hawaii invested in us and I felt it was our responsibility to come back as well as having our first child there. The grandmas were flying out five or six times each and we said, you know what, let's investigate. There was this little place called Waipio Gentry coming up and we put our name in the lottery and we got a home there and as well as there was a medical building going up. So we were the first physicians in the medical building in 1984. Pineapple fields all around us. Wow. But okay, so you hear that all you young aspiring doctors, physicians that have traveled abroad to get further education. The key, what Dr. Wee just said is that she felt her heart back in Hawaii and that she wanted to take her heart or family back here so that they can continue to encourage wellness here in our state and not just go there because things are different there but we really need the brilliance and the hearts of young physicians like yourself and your husband. The dedication, primary care physicians, such a need. Yes, and that is so important. So after practicing for 27 years in Waipio Gentry. We had our home right up the road. They both, I mean all four kids went to Waipio Gentry, Honolani and Mililani and my husband was really a part of the Waipio Gentry community, president of the association Boy Scouts, Sabrina Stardance Studios. So we were very involved in the community and it was wonderful to raise them up there because both of us came from Makiki. So you were townies. We were townies so it was totally country. That's amazing. So you had a successful 27 year career in history in Waipio Gentry area and there was something that happened to you on June 11th, 2010. Would you share a little bit about that? So my husband and I, Stephen Wie, he's an internal medicine doctor and we had just celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary and he died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 55 within one hour they had pronounced him dead at St. Francis West and I was presented with the business. Within a week my lease was up for that month of June and they more than doubled my rent and told me that I needed to sign a 10 year lease and I said I can't do this. I need to find another place and it was a very difficult time. Grieving the loss, stop going to church. Really after three months I just one night went on my knees and said God if you really exist you have to show me a sign. Within five days a lady calls me. She was referred and she said I'm a practice manager and I will turn your practice around and I said I can't pay you right now. She said it's okay. I will go ahead and you can pay me later but before we go any further may I pray for you and that was the beginning of a partnership. Excellent and you know I would look at that as God was pruning you. He was. He gave you all the years of success of beautiful partnership and doing good for the state of Hawaii and for your family and then there it is it's gone. You know it was I was given a second chance. Yes. I had to rediscover who I was after his death and decided that I told God if you help me I will do what you want me to do. So I ended up buying this 3,000 square foot office and designed it and built it. We wellness center and it has been quite a journey. Wow. So what was the motivating force behind all this? I mean of course you prayed you got the vision but what made you wake up and say I'm going to just keep doing this? I just my practice manager looked at me and said what is your passion and I said my passion has always been to help families who are who have obese children. I really want to help them and so if I really need to help them I need an office and again I just said you know I went to the banks and I said if God doesn't want me to have this they'll reject me but things one miracle after another happened. And so what you see is we wellness center came out. What a cool name I mean right? We like little people we people you know but we is the last name it just makes so it's so appropriate. Everything that was meant to be and is and has been. And you know you nailed it when you chose pediatric obesity. Yes. Because that is a situation a problem not just in Hawaii and throughout our nation and obesity is the culprit and the beginning of many other issues and diseases. Most definitely. Pediatric is the number one health crisis facing us at this time because if we don't take care of our cakeies you know this generation of cakeies is going to be the first generation to be more unhealthy than their parents. Yes. Throughout the 34 years of practice you know you see all these potlucks and fast foods and it's just I'm fighting against this but I try to send the message out we can eat sensibly we need to take action. Yes we do and you know by looking at those slides photos of the food on the slides I mean that's typical local food and that's typically why we the Hawaiian people have such high rates of diabetes obesity with diabetes and so I wanted to say is that I sit on the board of directors for American Diabetes Association and when I first got on board eight years ago we registered about 154,000 diabetics with about 1.4 million people in Hawaii eight years later today we registered over 600,000 at one type two diabetes. Okay, diabetics. So the numbers are not going down. No. They're getting more and we need to be more proactive. Yes. So having somebody like you in the community that really cares and is very passionate about all this it's so dear to my heart and I just want more of you I want to clone you because everything you believe and say is what I just hope others can hear the message of what your heart is all about that we want to make a difference for not just us. Guys, we're 50s plus and it's not our generation that needs this help. It's our keiki and our moopuna that need this help and we can make a difference but we need to be a bigger voice. Yes, so that's why I really appreciate this and throughout my 34 year career I've seen younger children developing diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension. I just shake my head and I try to reach the young parents but again, I'm just one person working individually in my private practice office and I want to reach a more global audience. And by what we're going to talk about after the break I know we're going to touch more hearts and you're going to infect them with the right information and that is so key and that would give me such gratitude knowing that we've brought in more bodies to learn more about what they need to do. It's so critical. I want to just mention my disclaimer for not being 100% here today is that after 16 years I got sick. Not I finally got sick but I got sick last Friday. I went home, I was perfectly fine, I got a fever 104, I was in bed all I could do while I was in bed I was burning up, body ache and everything was going down with my body. I knew what I had to do. I acted on it. I laid in the bed, I drank as much water, I drank coconut water, I didn't eat and I just rested. My body just needed to rest and heal and if you know what you need to do and you allow your body to do what it's supposed to do then you got better results but many of us don't know what to do and so yes I should have gone to emergency, yes I would have had all the other medications into my body but here I am alright so knowing what to do, taking action and doing more of the right things plus for the last 16 years Teresa I have been eating and stewarding my body the best way that I can so that when the bug did infect me which it did I was ready and my body ended itself. You were armed. Yes and that's how our temple is made that we can take care of our own self if we give it the right tools and so some of the right tools will be given to us by Teresa after this break but I'm just excited for just having you here today and just being here so we're going to take a 60 second break and we'll return with more of the information that I really want you to know about and thank you very much. Hello I'm Dave Stevens host of the cyber underground this is where we discuss everything that relates to computers that's just going to scare you out of your mind so come join us every week here on thinktecawaii.com 1pm on Friday afternoons and then you can go see all our episodes on YouTube just look up the cyber underground on YouTube all our shows will show up and please follow us we're always giving you current relevant information to protect you keeping you safe follow up Hi I'm Lisa Kimura I'm the host of family affairs on thinktecawaii join us every Tuesday at 11am to talk about the issues that really matter everything from policies that need to be changed in Hawaii to the fact that we need better gender equality so that we can all have a better shot again join us every Tuesday at 11 on thinktecawaii for family affairs aloha aloha and welcome back to taking your health back with Wendy Law we're shooting live from thinktecawaii downtown Honolulu today we have as our honored guest Dr. Teresa Wee so we're so grateful that you're here and I know that we talked a lot about your past your history and then your goals and what motivated you to continue on with even a little bit of setback in your life and you said the higher power of Keokua propelled you to go forth and make sure that you delivered the message that you set out to yes yes and that passion in me said I must continue and again one of the things I started immediately were obesity family obesity sessions in my office but that was a lot of work on my own time and it took a lot of energy and even money out of me on my own so I decided I wanted to do a community program that would open up to any insurance any age and that was the solution to that was walk with a doc and that's what we want to talk about oh here we go guys so this is your baby so tell us all about walking the doc so again walk with a doc is a program that's a national program you know walking is man's best medicine walking has the least amount of dropout walking doesn't require any equipment Hawaii has beautiful weather so it just makes sense to have a walking program and so actually I went back to visit my alma mater Columbus Children's Hospital Ohio State University and walk with a doc international actually started with the cardiologist really yes Dr. David Subgear we're waiting for you to take this on girl and he said on that next slide he said hey you need to start a walk with a doc in Hawaii and so that and my mentor was also quite involved and so she Dr. Anna Marie Summer and she said hey Teresa start one and that was my motivation to just go ahead and start one because Hawaii did not have one so it is a nonprofit organization so just describe to us what it entails I mean does it cost money for me to walk with a doc or tell me more about the details yeah so so walk with a doc again all ages and all fitness are welcome you could have any insurance and you we start off with a new health tip every week I will deliver a new health tip and educate you we spent another five minutes just kind of stretching and warming up and then we walk for 45 minutes now Central Oahu regional park is perfect because we have a short route a medium route and a long route if you do the long route you will walk approximately 1.7 miles we regroup we regroup and then we you know we recap the health tip for the late comers and we cool down and stay fit physical therapy always has some issues for us and you know I've been very fortunate to have UHA health insurance support me these past three years so now the key is how much oh the walk is free no way free it's free okay wait a minute you got two pockets over here we and Lowe and you got a free walk in the park with a doc yes free it's free okay so guys how many people do you get coming out every week we get approximately 30 people coming out 30 smart people that take advantage of doctor we's yeah energy and time okay now where's the rest of you guys it's free you get to pick her brain about issues about your child you bring your child out and you walk with them encouraging that this is what they should be doing yes you get a health tip you get free water you get a free fruit yes free and you know I believe and I know this part doctor we that I know that you would rather see your patients and other doctors patients of course in the park walking versus sitting in your office yes waiting to be seen yes is that correct that is correct I mean we need to just take action how many times I've had people wow this is so much fun I've heard about this for two years you just need to put on your socks and just put on your shoes and get out and you'll see how much fun it is so much fun yes you know I am one of the slides I my Saturdays are kind of full so I did look when I had the first free Saturday I said to Teresa I said you know what I will come out and I didn't know what to expect okay I had my checkbook and I thought okay there must be a feed of this there's a catch nothing's free there you know even you do walks it's a donation right and so yes the people there in the park that walked along with me and they were they were very kind and forgiving and they stood by my side and they got me through it all and they showed me what I needed to do and I had a great time but the whole idea about coming out for all of us is putting it in on your calendar yeah slotting it on your calendar and you know like how you have a jar and you got to put the big nuggets in this is a big nugget yes because it's your health yes and it's free you know and and if the adults come out the cocoon as the parents that you're setting such a wonderful role model for your children and I I I don't know what else to say you just need to come out because it really motivates I've had fantastic testimonials from people right they said prior to this I would never go to UFC gym or 24 fitness but I decided I would come out and see what this is about I've had people who felt like that and are now every every Saturday they're there right because I look at your posts on Facebook and I see some of the regular yeah I see Kay Lee yes yes she's a regular armist Hawaii crystal crystal Lee mother okay as you're a number one I know she's always there and look at how fit and healthy and happy she looks yeah she's got to keep up with that beautiful daughter of hers right yes but that's what you get you're going to get better looking skin better circulation just a whole look of being better and healthier yeah I'm a doctor's point of view that's that's top of the that's number one and how many adults you know the the physician will say okay are you exercising and and you know you feel embarrassed but this is such a wonderful opportunity to just say you know what let me just see what this is about and and once you come you'll be hooked yeah that's good come in doctor hook them in so what do you perceive as the most valuable part of walk with a doc well as I mentioned I think it's it's the relationships and the friendships that we have developed over time and and it's just a wonderful opportunity to to meet others and not feel isolated we're all working together toward a common goal and I I just I just think it's such a wonderful opportunity very good and you know I just want to see more of us out there yeah you know and if you guys put a challenge out to any of your friends your high school you know your reunions coming up make some challenge that everybody joins together and just shows up the park is beautiful it's beautiful underutilized I think sometimes but you're one of the groups that regularly meet there and you take advantage of what beautiful lots of parking good air everything is and the pathways are paved yes so we've even had people with Walker strollers wheelchairs I mean it's it's an amazing park so come out if it's you've never been out there just come out just to experience the park and meet your friends on the west side and then after that you guys can go you can go shopping you can go beach on the west side you know there's plenty of things to do but just get out there and enjoy that good air you know doctor we I also remember meeting you a few times volunteering with a lot of different clinics or presentations we had with American diabetes and what what you know is your focus when you come out to help the ADA with some of our clinics or our players presentations yeah I'm a ADA speaker one of the things I when I speak with the children or even workplaces I talk about just starting with basics family meals try to incorporate more fruits and vegetables again it's not a crash course it's a lifestyle yes yeah and that's that's the whole idea we have to remember it's not a 10-day fast or a 10-day diet right you know we don't use those words lifestyle and it should be and not that we want to encourage everyone to go vegan or vegetarian but I do promote plant strong right okay so at least 50% of the plate plant strong meats and proteins if you need it but you can get that in plants but if we just go more towards plants and also we have to remember everyone's into techy stuff but we need to turn off the screens especially for the children the Academy of Pediatrics under 3 0 screen time 3 to 5 no more than 2 hours and and for others yeah we just need to turn off that screen the more you sit down and look at screen the more obese you are right and you know the the opening statement that you shared with us earlier was that I know that Dr. David Katz of Yale University made that statement about this is the first generation yes of children that their children will have a shorter life expectancy than theirs and knowing that because I use my children and my grandchildren as examples knowing that my grandchildren could have a shorter life expectancy than my children really scare the heck out of me and so that's why I'm on this mission and it's because I mean we're already here yeah but it's the next generations that we really have to hone in on and really protect and they don't know any better right and if we're going to mentor them and if we're gobbling down the donuts and the orange juice for breakfast that's what they're going to gobble down you know and so we need to just take one more step further and see what they're seeing in us right and then we can mentor them and guide them the right way so so that's why I think it's so important to for parents to understand and and really in our multi-generational house the Kapunas are watching the children so they also need to stay healthy yes and that's that's so key you know I always share with everyone I was sharing a talk with these 80 year old purple heart recipients and they're really little old Japanese men and I go in there and they give me the donuts and all the naughty food and I'm like okay I'm going to talk this down but I'll take it I put it down and I give them the whole help talk yeah right and then the old man looks at me he goes Wendy try look around the room we all 80 years plus how much longer you want us to live and I'm like oh grandpa you know what no no no of course you guys did a good job Mahalo from taking care of our country Mahalo for taking care of yourself that you live to be 80s plus I said but when you eat like this in your cakey your grandchildren your great-grandchildren are watching you that's what I don't like so if you change it up they're going to be because they respect you they're going to change it up because you have such influence and impact on their future and you don't even know it so let's change it a little bit yep and you can eat the donut and the oranges when they're not looking well everything in there so you know once a week but we just can't have it every day right right and so that's the whole idea just being aware of what we're doing because we don't even know it this is what we were raised on yeah we didn't know it was not as good yeah there's good and not as good or good or better yeah so we just have to realize what it is and make the better choice for our daily lifestyles is that correct yes yes yeah so let me see I want to get an announcement oh yes again exciting announcement I know it can hold you back all right I'm finally getting a walk started in town it's called walk with a future doc oh okay that's the future yes got it got it so the medical students are excited to get this started okay in 2019 okay and it's at the medical school in kakaako okay beautiful park yes so stay tuned lots of parking yes and release that information as soon as you know it because I will and coming up soon is your third anniversary yes for this third anniversary of walk with a doc at central oahu regional park so I'm so excited we're going to have a tent sound system we're going to have bouncy house cakey fun we're going to have health vendors area health vendors we're going to have you come out Wendy tower garden show the cakey how they can grow their food on towers we're going to do blood pressure some fat analysis just a whole bunch of excitement and it's April 6 Saturday 2019 so mark your calendars out mark your calendars I'll I'll be there and it's free that's the best price in town guys so yeah wow we're so excited you got some great announcements in today and I just encourage that I know the numbers will double up if not more great after this lovely talk but just please Hawaii just take heat and know that we have our health in our own hands and we can make a difference if we have the tools to do it and doctor we has given us many tools and as long as we practice them we shall be healthier just need to move into action move into action now get it I got it alright so we like to say mahalo doctor we for being here with us today and be here mahalo hello everyone