{On Life} Honoring Your Body

I have been going back and forth if I was even going to post this, but I feel like if I can spread awareness about prominent women's health issues through this platform than I will do so.  I never like to get too personal here, it can make you feel more raw and exposed.

This year was supposed to be an exciting one for me partially because I am getting married to the love of my life, but honestly my new year got off to a rocky start, health wise. I have been very lucky thus far to never have any health issues which I credit to eating right (lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and little meat) and a healthy dose of exercise.  However, when I went to my routine checkup at my doctor two things revealed themselves - she discovered a lump on my left breast and secondly I was one stage below cervical cancer. Hearing one of those things was bad but two issues at the same time, I was a nervous wreck because at 31 these are two things you do not want to hear, or rather these are things you never want to hear at any age.  I will be the first to admit that I can dramatize things when it comes to any sort of illness but for me, this was something that was worse than any other sinus or flu symptoms.  These were two things that can be fatal if not caught early through early detection.  Regarding the lump, I wasn't doing routine self-exams, I didn't think that I needed to (my grandmother had breast cancer but it was later on in life) so if I hadn't gone to my doctor routinely I never would have found it.  Also, in regards to the cervical cancer I was routinely going for six month checkups but somehow my symptoms went from mild to high in the span of a few months which called for immediate action.  I had to go into the office for two procedures and my nerves were at an all time high. I held it together for a few weeks and then one day I just burst.  Did I really have to begin fighting for my health? I ended up having an anxiety attack at work, in the middle of a presentation, it was mortifying.  Thankfully after a sonogram and biopsy, they found the lump to be benign, but it will be something that I have to monitor every six months.  And the other issue was cleared through an in-office procedure.  Why do I tell you this? Because it is incredibly important to honor your body and treat it as an irreplaceable vessel.  Go to the doctor, get your routine check-ups because in case something is wrong they can catch it early.  Life is too precious not too.

Image source FGR