The Importance of Knowing your Body

This topic is very close to my heart.

Eleven years ago Mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time she had noticed a lump in her breast and consulted her GP who sent her to for a mammogram. The results came back negative and the GP said come back in 12 months. Mum wasn’t happy with the results so decided to seek a second opinion. The second Doctor sent her straight to a Breast Cancer Surgeon who had a special type of ultrasound performed, after which she discovered she had Breast Cancer. Mum was one of the lucky survivors after having a mastectomy and chemotherapy.  For cancer survivors they never really know if they are in the clear. There is always a suspicion that it may come back. Cancer is prevalent in our family; Mum’s Mum passed away at age 56 from bowel cancer and her auntie also from bowel cancer.  For Mum, having a regular colonsocopy every 5 years, Pap smear every 2 years and breast checks every year is always a number one priority. Each time her results come back “all clear”.

Over the last couple of months, Mum started to notice she had low-grade abdominal pain and her bowel movements were becoming slightly irregular and in Mum’s words,’ weren’t working perfectly’. Mum’s bowels are like clockwork, guaranteed once a day! In our family talking about bowel movements is an open conversation, especially as I am a Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner. In my clinic sits a book called “What’s your Poo telling you? This is a favorite. It talks about all the different kinds of wonderful and not so wonderful Poo.  You need to add humor to topics that are difficult to discuss. When Mum lost her breast after her mastectomy she jumped on the scales and said, “What, I haven’t even lost any weight, my boob weighed nothing”.   Mum has a funny sense of humor. We love her for it!  In our family there is never a dull moment. This photo was taken last year of Mum and I in LA - Hotel Roosevelt just after the completion of my yoga course.

Coming back to the present moment, Mum headed off to her GP due to her low-grade abdominal pain. The GP sent her for a pelvic ultrasound. Her results indicated the lining of her womb was 7mm and her ovaries were described as lumpy. She was informed to come back in 6 months again as there was an absence of bleeding. Once again Mum was not happy with the test results. The biggest warning sign for Mum, was knowing her body and knowing that something wasn’t feeling quite right. Over the next week, the abdominal pain moved higher and was beginning to become more intense. She went back to her Doctor and she sent her for a CT scan. The scan revealed she had a blockage in her bowel. Mum was admitted to the emergency ward. Three days later Mum was in the operating theatre having part of her bowel removed and her left ovary.  Her pathology results came back positive with a diagnosis of Signet Ring Cell Cancer. To be honest, the diagnosis completely shocked me. I never suspected it would happen again. You think after eleven years that everything will be ok.  Mum looks the picture of health to me.  Mum is an amazingly strong women, and I have no doubt she will get through this as she did with the Breast Cancer. 

Yesterday we had a big family lunch and I asked Mum how did you know? What were the signals?  She said  “it’s the importance of knowing your body, learn to know your body and it’s signals”.  The importance of this message is to listen to your body. Our bodies talks to us in so many ways. As human beings we get so caught up in living in the moment with our busy lives that sometimes our health isn’t a priority. Our health is free and we need to look after it as we do ourselves.  For every women it is extremely important that you have your regular pap smear tests every two years and your breast examinations yearly. When it comes to your fertility, firstly and foremost go and see your GP. I always recommend to my clients to have all tests performed before starting natural conception or IVF. Have your FSH levels tested, Progesterone levels, AMH, sperm analysis and have a pelvic ultrasound. Know your menstrual cycle and start to become in tune with your body.  Listen to your body because it will talk it you. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t leave it or ignore it. Do something about it, be proactive towards your health and your body.  Be responsible for your Health.