Sally Higginson is a Chicago Tribune columnist and former nationally syndicated radio show co-host (“Walking on Air with Betsy & Sal”) who is the Irma Bombeck of our generation.   A former Highland Park IL City Council Member, she now writes on everything from insomnia to incontinence, people to politics.  But today we’re talking about her experience navigating a divorce after being with her ex-husband for 25 years. . .which means dating and everything that goes along with new relationships.

Sally can be reached on twitter @HeyGalSal

We have a fun guest today, Real Housewife of New Jersey, Dolores Catania. Dolores is a mother, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.
Raised in Paterson, NJ, Dolores has been the master of reinvention: She started as a correction officer, then trained to be a surgical technician, but has fueled her passion for all things New Jersey as a licensed realtor for 15 years at Premier Realty. Most recently, she opened two Powerhouse Fitness Centers. She has prioritized her children and her family for the past 20 years, but Dolores also learned to put herself higher on her own To Do list this year with a diet and weight loss regimen. Check her out on Bravo this Wednesday at 9PM Eastern.

Today, I'll be talking to Donna Cryer, an Attorney, Entrepreneur, and Patient Advocate, and founder/CEO of The Global Liver Institute. People routinely ask of adult women, "How many children do you have?" and it’s a question Donna dreads. Most people are simply unaware of the emotions this question can trigger, for someone who has dealt with infertility or lost a child. Donna will open up about her struggle with infertility and the emotional toll it took on her, her husband, and other couples who are trying to conceive. As with the incredible work she has done for those
struggling with liver and other gastroenterologic diseases she has channeled her experience into patient advocacy and encouraging sensitivity to the fertility challenges millions of women experience. 

For more information about Donna Cryer and The Global Liver Institute, go to www.GlobalLiver.org.

Although hot flashes are news flashes for the more than 5,000 women in the US and Canada who enter menopause each day, relatively few women are openly discussing how they are dealing with it. Joining us today is Lesley Jane Seymour, former editor-in-chief of More
Magazine and founder of the newly launched CoveyClub.com, an online community for women over 40. We'll be talking about menopause, her symptoms, and she overcame peer pressure to “be natural” and decided to use Hormone Replacement Therapy to deal with her symptoms.

For Lesley Jane Seymour’s bio and more information on Covey Club, go to www.CoveyClub.com.

Today In The Ladies' Room we have Nancy Hogshead-Makar: 3-time Olympic Champion swimmer, civil rights lawyer, and founder of the organization Champion Women. I'm so excited to share with you this personal episode where we discuss the #MeToo Movement, our personal connections to it, and many of the medical and legal consequences of everything that has been lumped into the broad category of "sexual misconduct."

Today I'll be talking with Vicki Lawrence, best known for her iconic characters on the Carol Burnett Show, Mama's Family, and most recently, NBC's Great News. She will share her experience with Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria, informally known as chronic hives. We’ll talk about an educational program she is involved with for people with CIU. Despite the fact that more than 1.5 million people suffer from CIU, there is limited available information or resources for doctors. This inspired Vicki to take action and to help create resources to empower patients dealing with CIU.

For more information on Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria, visit http://www.CIUandYou.com

In this episode, I'll be talking to Sarah Gaines, entrepreneur and founder of Fit University - a college student's go-to source for all things health and fitness. She'll talk about her personal journey with fitness, and her shift from being focused on looks to being all about self-empowerment and community building. Sarah and I will discuss how she dealt with some very public body-shaming and how she has developed her self-confidence by finding the right version of fitness for her.

The Ladies' Room where we let our hair down, allow ourselves to be vulnerable, and talk about the things we are not comfortable talking about in public or in “mixed company”. This is where real women have real conversations about really intimate issues.  In this first episode of In The Ladies' Room, I'll be recalling some of the most unique and poignant conversations I've had with women in variousladies' room over the past 3 decades. These experiences have influenced the way I think about so many things  as a doctor, as a woman, and as a mom.  They have stuck with me over the years, and I'm  delighted to be able to share them with you.