How to check your breasts
Today we would ask that you all watch this video and be familiar with how to check your breasts for lumps and bumps.
How to check your breasts
If you have any concerns please contact your GP
My experience of Smears
Chelle is back to discuss why she goes for regular smears and how it’s now a yearly routine for her.
As I said yesterday my mum was 29 years old when she died. Being a teenager I became so aware of how I could prevent it. I had my first smear at age 18 and for me I would always book in each year like clockwork rather than the recommended 3 years apart. On occasion the nurse would quiz me why. It is not proven that cervical cancer is hereditary – call me over cautious but really I’m not taking any chances.
You go into the surgery, lay on the bed knickerless. I always wear a dress or long t-shirt so not to feel so exposed. The nurse takes longer with me as my cervix is slightly tilted and far back. It’s uncomfortable and cold but it takes less then 2 minutes in all.
So that’s it thats it over and done with for another year….that is until I get my first abnormal smear, then a second. This was well before the age of 29…I got a bit paranoid that I was proven right, it is hereditary, I’m on the same path as my mum.
I got referred to gynaecology at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, my consultant was named Dr Fish – I found this hilarious for a gynae dr….
Turns out my abnormal cells took up 5% of my cervix, the cells were stage 2 level. I was shown a hand drawn description of my cervix, where the cells were. At this point I was thinking I would have a hysterectomy in the same vein that people have breast removed when breast cancer runs through families.
I was so nervous being booked in for a loop – where they scrape the cells away. It’s painful kind of burning and a very odd sensation. I was told the chance of miscarriage may be higher due to where the cells were…….
Three days of uncomfortableness followed but the next smear was normal. Relief…..
Why am I telling you this? I am 32 years old and have a gorgeous husband and daughter. My mum hasn’t seen my happy family but I have. What would have happened if I left the tests, put the results to one side? I can’t really think about it but after watching someone I love die from something that can be so easily prevented maybe reading this will encourage you to book in, look after yourself and also spread the word….
loop excision
Helping Yourself
Over two days our regular contributor Chelle shares her experience of cancer, how it can really happen to anyone and her concerns for others.
Today she is asking for you to do something simple…
Are you using your parenting role as an excuse to stay within your comfort zone?
Erica Douglas is mum to Erin, 5, and lives outside Edinburgh. She runs the Littlemummy.com blog and is the author of The Complete Mum Blogger eBook and the Mum Blogger e-Course. Erica won the 2010 ‘Best Start Up’ award at the BusinessMums Awards. She runs Become a Mumpreneur and ACE Inspire with her Business partner Antonia Chitty.
We have our ‘purpose’, the media tells us we should be immediately and indefinitely fulfilled. I relish being a parent and the challenges it provides. But it’s not enough. Parenthood fulfils one aspect of my pshyche, but what about the other part, the part that yearns for recognition, measurable success and the rush that is created when you challenging yourself.
Throughout my life I have thrived on a challenge. Competing in acrobatics, leading a national first aid team (cadets), passing out of TA basic training, and most recently returning to education and completing maths and social science courses and now a business degree. I’ve tried my best not to let being a parent stop me challenging myself.
Do you challenge yourself regularly or is there something stopping you?
Indecision
This used to be the main culprit for me. I would have a lot of wacky and outside-of-the-comfort zone ideas but I lacked the focus to follow through on any one challenge, I rectified that by creating a 100 things list, now it’s easy to be focused. Do you have a list like this?
Time
It’s the age old complaint, there aren’t enough hours in the day. If you can truly examine and honestly assess that you have not one spare hour a week then to be honest you’re probably already outside of your comfort zone. If however, when you break it down that your day is taken up with many unnecessary time wasters that could be trimmed, then there is time, and no excuse to not step outside your comfort zone.
A few years back when I decided to focus on stepping outside my comfort zone I examined my schedule and found that I was spending several hours a week watching soaps. Nowadays I don’t watch any soaps at all and only watch a few hours a week tv in total and I’ve found plenty of time to take on new challenges
Don’t Want to Appear Selfish
What is it about parenthood that ignites the martyr in us? We have to be constantly busy, crafting, cooking, educating our children with Baby Einstein products and ALWAYS doing more than our spouse. Parenthood gives you the ticket to the best argument ever – Who does most? – why is it the best argument in the world? Because you can argue about it forever and never establish who does most. Why? Because everyone’s doing more than they’d like to be, and not really enough for themselves. It’s time to get a tiny bit selfish and recognise that it’s OK to nurture yourself as a separate being whilst still managing to nurture others. It might even benefit everyone if you are more contented.
Take small steps…
What small thing could you do today that will start you on a new road to bigger challenges? Perhaps you already have something in mind you want to do, or perhaps the challenge today is to find an hour to stop and think about what you want, how you can make time and how you can start stepping outside your comfort zone.
Erica has recently written a free ebook – Step out of your comfort zone and sign up for our free Mum to Mumpreneur in a month ecourse .
We’d love to see if you wrote a 100 list or any ways you have found to step out of your comfort zone!
Mums In Biz: Regaining Focus
Our Bra Lady Rosie tells us about why she wanted to be a working from home mummy and how she’s starting to regain her focus.
I have had a bit of a revelation this month. Quite a big one as it happens. I have been struggling along getting bogged down with business stuff and totally lost focus on why I wanted to be a WAHM.
When I found myself unable to walk or move with a really bad back I knew it was time to step back and take stock of what I was doing. My aim at being a WAHM was so that I could be there for our son during his early years and build a business that would work around him if we decided to home educate.
Now I found myself working myself into the ground and not getting much work, looking at an increasingly growing list of ‘things to do’ and trying to do crash courses in things like web design and copy writing. I tend to try and take on too much (as my other half tells me all the time)
I realised while I was lying in agony that I was not giving dear son enough of my time and rushing round waiting for him to go to sleep so I could get on with work. I was getting increasingly cranky and impatient
So for one week we just did fun stuff – we visited every playground in the local area and spent time walking and playing games in the garden. It was great. So next it was time to work out how I could make effective use of my time. It was after a network meeting that the penny finally dropped – delegate.
I had read about how important it was to delegate out work rather than try and do it all yourself but the bull-headed part of me ignored that and tried to do it all myself. I convinced myself that it was all too expensive and that it would be better if I did it all.
I have found that it is affordable and that having someone to redesign my website means that I can have it exactly how I envisage and not just a ‘that’ll have to do’ attempt. It is all still my ideas but done by someone who knows what they are doing.
My local networking meetings have proved really helpful – other professionals are prepared to work with you to help find the best way to help you – knowing that small businesses don’t always have a lot of funds to work with.
I feel more relaxed. Less cranky. Have a smaller ‘to do’ list. Can make time to do some yoga each day, and I am looking forward to the launch of my new look website.