Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash
Maybe I should have titled this “The Continuation of My Health Journey,” because really, I’ve been at this on-and-off for awhile. I started a little over 10 years ago when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and we found out that we carry the BRCA2 gene mutation. Since I was positive for it as well, it sort of came as a wake-up call that I needed to start focusing on my health and planning for many different possibilities I may face. Both she and her sister (my aunt) were diagnosed before the age of 50. My aunt, Barbie, passed away at 34 young years of age, younger than I am now.
My mom beat cancer and is now a survivor of almost 10 years! GO MOM!
My mom(right) and I at a walk for breast cancer research
I took this as a sign that I needed to start exercising, eating healthier, and focusing more on my health. I had some other health issues and concerns I needed and wanted to deal with as well. Firstly, my digestion. I have had issues with my digestion from a very young age. You can read more about that journey here on my blog, and I’m sure I’ll continue to make updates about it. I also wanted to lose some weight, especially around my belly because I know that can be a sign of high cortisol levels, which can be pretty unhealthy. And lastly, I wanted to deal with my hormonal acne.
If you go through my past blog posts here (I’ve not been nearly as consistent as I should be, but I’m trying my hand at this again), you can see what I’ve tried, what has worked, and what hasn’t worked. I’m not going to go into all of the details about the past 10 years in this post. But what I AM going to do is talk about where I am now.
On April 1, 2019 I married the love of my life and almost exactly 7 months later, on November 2, I gave birth to our beautiful daughter, Luna Rose. Since I already had my son, Landon and we now had a girl, and giving consideration to my BRCA2 gene, I decided to have a full prophylactic bilateral oophorectomy….I had both of my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed. This put me into “surgical menopause” at 34 years old.
Luna Rose the day after her birth
There have been a lot of changes with my body since giving birth to two children – one of which by emergency caesarean – and going through a surgery removing my ovaries and causing me to go into early menopause. That along with the Covid-19 pandemic caused me to deal with some pretty major anxiety and depression. I had a tough pregnancy and struggled to be motivated to do anything for about a year and a half after Luna’s birth. I weigh more than I ever have – other than during pregnancy – and just feel different in general.
Finally, about two months ago, I started feeling better. It was probably more gradual than that, but that’s kind of how it seemed. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it was; probably a combination of factors including the right medications, seeing a therapist, and maybe just the passage of time. I am now feeling more like “myself” again, and able to start focusing on balance instead of just getting by.
So, my plan is to start documenting this again. I’m doing this as a way to continue motivating myself as well as a way to help others. Maybe you’re here reading this because you are in a rut. Or maybe you’re here because you just need to know things can get better. Or maybe you’re here for a little advice. Perhaps you’re just here because you love me and wanted to see what was up. No matter what, thank you for being here, and thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you stick around, continue reading my updates, and that maybe you’ll learn something or reap some benefit from it.
Photo by Prateek Katyal on Unsplash
This begins my journey to balance. There are going to be hurdles. It’s going to be tough. But it will also be so rewarding and fulfilling. I want to enjoy as much time with my family and friends as possible, and the best way for me to do that is to have balance, be healthy, and feel good about myself. I hope you’ll join me!
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