While I appreciate the sentiment that I’ve been told, “it’s not your fault you got cancer, it just happens”, looking back there are certainly some changes I have made and will recommend to others who want to do all they can to prevent a cancer diagnosis. If I can’t look back and learn a few lessons of what I can do to better care for myself and share with others, then I feel pretty helpless, and no one likes to feel helpless.
SLEEP
If you know me well then you know that for years I would always say that one area of my health that needed improvement was sleep: getting more sleep, prioritizing sleep, creating and sticking to a bedtime routine, etc. I knew I needed better sleep and more of it, but for years I allowed myself to deprioritize it and my body suffered. When you become a parent it’s given that for a season you will not get a lot of sleep, but eventually, the baby learns to sleep through the night. Even before I became a mom though, I would stay up late and power through on 4-6 hours of sleep because I was cramming for a test, or out late watching a game, or staying up late binge watching a show, and eventually what became common was scrolling on my phone, reading blogs and articles, or just scrolling through a feed on social media. My body would ache in the mornings, but I would just pound caffeine and function on 4-5 hours of sleep, 6 at best. This went on for years, even when I was getting up at 4:30 AM for bootcamp workouts I was going to bed much later than I should have.
Our bodies need sleep to repair itself and restore certain functions, sleep is our body’s time reboot and it’s essential for optimal health. Once I received my cancer diagnosis I started to prioritize sleep and was in bed usually by 9:00-9:30; I was mentally and physically exhausted and I knew I needed sleep, suddenly I had no trouble shutting down distractions.
PLASTICS
More than 80% of breast cancers are estrogen receptor positive, meaning the cancer is fed by estrogen hormones. Did you know that microplastics are endocrine disruptors and our bodies process microplastics as a faux estrogen? Since my cancer battle, we have gotten rid of plastic food containers, cups, water bottles, and most of our cookware is stainless steel, cast iron, wooden, etc. Get rid of plastics or minimize them as much as possible.
EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL HEALTH
This is still a work in progress, but I have learned that grief, pain, and trauma effect our physical health as much as our mental and emotional health. There’s a book called “The Body Keeps the Score”, and when we carry our pain without fully processing and taking steps to heal it can have negative health impacts. Thankfully, Siteman Cancer Center offers their patients free mental health counseling for a period of time, and now I am in a survivorship support group. I’m also continuing to pursue counseling and therapy to address past traumas from my childhood and adulthood that had devastating impacts on my emotional health. I believe this is a very important piece of holistic health and healing.
EXERCISE AND NUTRITION
NINE servings of fruits and vegetables daily! Most of us hear 5 – 6, but through my cancer journey I have consulted with a holistic health practitioner and for optimal health we should aim for NINE servings of those nutrient dense plants! In addition, exercise/movement is critical. Thanks to a good neighbor/friend, I had accountability and encouragement to walk at least 4-5 days a week throughout my entire cancer journey, including chemo and after I recovered from surgery. I believe this was key to maintaining some energy, strength, and having a good response to treatment, not to mention the mental health benefits experienced when we get those “feel good endorphins” from exercise, fresh air, and nature. Sure it’s OK to order pizza every once in a while, but trying to do at least 80% of our meals at home with healthier ingredients and cooking methods keeps us on a good path. Check those food labels or use a free food scanning app, we like to use YUKA, and avoid highly processed, unnecessary ingredients.
STRESS
We can’t completely avoid it, but making decisions to mitigate unnecessary stress is very helpful. I do not need to try and do “all the things”: letting go of striving for a perfectly organized/clean house – I just strive for a level where we can function and be comfortable, not perfect. Work – I can’t control everything, I do my best and try to keep some healthy boundaries where needed. Parenting – letting go of trying to always be in control, trusting that they will be OK if we do our best and continue to encourage them to walk with Jesus, praying God will always be with them and they will know that He is with them…it’s not all up to Eddie and I, and thank God for that.
I am sure there is so much more I will continue to learn, but these are just a few of the things I would recommend we all incorporate to our best ability, not allowing it to create a stressful, legalistic mindset, but being thankful we CAN / get to do make these changes that will reap positive health benefits.
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