Everything in my being told me to say no to putting a tiny piece of metal into my breast during a biopsy but I couldn't find my voice to tell the doctor doing the biopsy to stop. When the nurse had reviewed the pre-procedure paperwork with me and mentioned this part of the procedure I had a red-flag about it but didn't ask any questions. She had said it was a way to 'find' the spot again if the biopsy came back positive so I went with that instead of asking more questions.
I was scared and felt totally untrusting of my instinct and my body in that moment. I had three kids under four years old at the time. My holistic MD had suggested I get a Therma-Scan, which is a breast health screening technology that often alerts you to cancer many years before a mammogram is able to. When the results came back they weren't so great. In fact, they showed that I had had metabolic changes that indicated there was a chance that cancer had already developed or that my body was heading in that direction.
Panic set in and I contacted my doctor right away. He said because of my results and my age he wanted me to have further screening and we set-up a mammogram. Those results were inconclusive because of dense breast tissue, I ended up having ultrasounds and ultimately an MRI. Results of all this testing showed that there were some suspicious spots and it was recommended that I have the breast biopsy.
My biopsy came back negative.
I made a few decisions after that experience and they've shaped my life and my decisions since then.
First, I decided that instead of being fearful about having a piece of metal in my breast because it seems intuitively not a great idea to me, I would hold this as a reminder to commit to taking better care of myself. To bumping myself up a little bit higher on my 'To Do' list.
I decided to first work with my holistic doctor to find out why my test results were not optimal and why I had the calcifications and other potential warning signs from my body.
I learned that my hormones were pretty out of whack. Not really a surprise to me now considering my history with intense PMS and depression among other signs of Hormonal Havoc in our bodies. I also learned that I was deficient in some important nutrients like vitamin D and iodine and that the conventional recommended amounts of these and others were way too low for optimal health.
My doctor wanted me to continue to clean-up my diet more. Eat higher quality animal foods and a lot more plant food, especially foods with lots of fiber. While I had been eating much healthier, I was still eating way too much sugar and refined carbs and this was spiking my blood sugar, insulin and creating inflammation in my body - all factors that set us up for cancer.
He also encouraged me to get rid of all my toxic personal care products since the toxins get into our bodies within seconds and often wreak havoc with our hormones and get stored in our tissue.
It was a bit overwhelming at first, especially with three littles that I was also responsible for nourishing and caring for, but I decided to re-commit to learning how to better take care of myself in the midst of the ‘craziness’.
The good news is that within 6 months my Therma-scan results had dramatically improved, showing me that what I was doing was making a difference and it was changing my body's terrain to be less friendly to breast cancer. My MD was actually shocked at how quickly my body responded. My husband probably wasn't since I pretty much drove us all a bit nutty with all the changes I implemented so quickly. I was all in.
What I also learned, that was ultimately as important as supporting my body with nutrient-dense foods and cleaning up my personal care products, is that breast health is very much connected to nurturing and nourishment. Breast problems are very much connected to our very accepted cultural norm that we as women should put everyone else's needs before our own. We are way too often at the bottom of our own 'To Do' lists -- if we even show up on the list at all. We don’t know how to nurture and nourish ourselves very well. There's a prevalent belief that a 'good' mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, etc. is a woman who puts everyone else's needs ahead of her own and takes care of others first.
I witnessed this firsthand when I attended the funeral of a woman who died much too soon of cancer. The theme of everyone's heartfelt words was how she cared for everyone around her and always put others first. My heart felt so sad because while I loved hearing about her giving spirit, I wondered how her health might have been different if she balanced her giving to others with giving to herself. How would all of our health be different if we learned this at a young age - or at the age we are right now?
Because you're on our mailing list, you know that we are in the midst of marketing our final 14-Day Reset of the year and let’s be honest…you might just be feeling tired of hearing about it. You might be curious but not willing to invest. You might feel afraid to do it and fail. You might want us to get back to mailing you about other things and stop trying to 'sell' you the Reset. We understand and yet here we are on this last day of registration and I'm telling you some of my story followed by another invitation to join us in our 14-Day Fall Reset.
This is the thing, Jill and I have so much to share about our own health journeys that we continue to navigate but one of the most important messages that we are passionate about sharing is that self-care is not selfish. Putting yourself first, learning how to best nourish your body and spirit, investing money, time and energy into yourself, is not selfish. It's a divine responsibility that we have as women because when we are well, everyone around us benefits. When we are healthier and happier we can show up more powerfully for the people we love. We have more patience and focus and resilience. We know this firsthand and we see it in the thousands of women we've coached over the years.
The truth is we'd love to have you join us for this final Reset of the year. Yes, it's a part of our business and like any business, to stay in business, you have to have revenue. AND what we love is that we get to generate revenue by doing what we are so passionate about - helping you and so many women like you, learn how to take beautiful care of yourself in the midst of your full life. We've designed an amazingly delicious and beautiful plan that will help you jump start your weight loss, boost your energy and calm your cravings and ultimately it will help you be the healthiest version of yourself.
If your wise voice is telling you, “say, yes to this”, even if she’s only whispering it, we hope you’ll listen and join us. We promise you’ll be glad you did.
Click HERE to join us today. We start on Sunday and we’d love to have you with us.
xo Angelle