My Mother and the Gym Saved My Life

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20


The last time I went to the gym was sometime in 2008. That's the year that I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. That's the year that my life was taken and shaken upside down.

It's now 2014 and today - yes this very day, I have returned from the gym after signing up again. It's been a long time since I pressed a few or spent any length of time on a tread mill. But I am once again bound and determined to get back into some kind of reasonable shape for my years. And the great thing is, I am not doing this alone. My happy hubby is daring to take the plunge, too, so with a measure of perseverance we might at best lose a couple of pounds, build up a little muscle or at least have a few laughs.

Seriously, though, I have missed going to the gym and the more I think about it, the more I need to stop making excuses. I mean going to the gym 5 years ago probably saved my life. I had lost 23 lbs all told and it was shortly after that that I felt something peculiar in my abdomen. At first I didn't think much of it but I was later to learn that that peculiar grapefruit-sized growth was a tumour and there was another one equally large in the other side in my abdomen. So putting it mildly, going to the gym probably had a lot to do with me being diagnosed in an earlier stage of ovarian cancer. Late stage ovarian cancer is over 72% fatal. But if found in an earlier stage there is a 90% chance that it can be eradicated.

So thank goodness I lost weight and at least that one tumour was palpable. My drop in pounds also had a lot to do with me running around like that proverbial headless chicken as I cared for my momduring her stroke and her multitude of other illnesses and health challenges before she went to be with Jesus. Opting to run up and down the stairs at the hospital instead of taking the elevator helped me to lose weight over a period of many months.

"You are going to make yourself sick," Mom would say.

She would concern herself that I was doing too much. Little did she know that by letting me care for her and as I ran around doing this, that and the other for her, she actually had a hand in saving my life. She would like that. I truly believe that if I hadn't lost those 23 pounds then I would not have felt that growth in my abdomen 9 months later that took me to the doctor's five and a half years ago.

I am actually looking forward to donning my [non-tight shorts and non-midriff-showing tank top] - having some together time with my dearly beloved, and seeing what transpires as I perspire.

As I do, though, I will think of Mom and remember how being dedicated and faithful about going to the gym years ago benefited me in so many ways. I can't use the steroids and chemo excuse any more. I packed the pounds on because of that, initially, after my cancer treatments, but they stayed on because I kept putting off the inevitable.

So we did it. We took the plunge. My grinning groom and I have our keys and our motivation. Can't wait for tomorrow morning. They say the first step is the hardest - or is that the first cut is the deepest or the first mile is the longest? Hmm...whatever it is, better start taking care of this 'temple' a little bit better.


 “We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.” ~ Helen Keller

   

How to Save a Woman's Life

"Looks like a ridge of tissue and perhaps an accumulation of more tissue around the duct, but I am no doctor."

The technician was gracious. Her reassuring words gave me some measure of sweet relief, although I didn't have any sense of impending doom before I went in for my ultrasound yesterday.

The mammogram a week and a half ago did not show anything untoward so there was no need to step up the battle stations, however the two palpable lumps were a bit of a concern that had to be investigated.

As I tucked the front of my non-glamorous gown in after the ultrasound, the technician said the doctor would read the report, make out his response and then they would get back to me. I am not worried.

When I think back to Miss Casey who did my ultrasound and found the tumours in my ovaries, she did know (she told me that later.) But of course she was not at liberty to say anything. She was the sweetest, kindest first person on my journey of 'discovery' and every time I went back to see her for more 'lump investigations,' we chatted and laughed. As I think back, Casey did not say anything about 'things looking okay' or 'nothing to worry about,' like this gal yesterday. Which was a good thing at the time.  Must be hard for technicians when they really do see something.

 I guess I am a little more attuned now - sometimes a little too much! I tend to be a bit of a lumpy person [benign lipomas here, there and everywhere] but I cannot help being concerned with every lump now, until it is investigated. I think it has something to do with me missing the 'big, real, nasty' ones before. I will be forever on guard.

The news wasn't so good for my friend, however. Her routine mammogram showed something untoward and she was also called back for an ultrasound (she had no palpable lumps or pain) and at 50 years of age, she just thought she would follow the doctor's advice and get things checked out following her physical.

I guess the moral to the story is to never assume. My friend experienced no signs or symptoms. No warning indicators that something may be amiss. No niggling feeling that something isn't quite right. Cancer is like the creeping lion looking for someone to devour  [Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 NIV]

This lovely gal who is now dealing with the diagnosis of breast cancer is also dealing with the good news that things look hopeful for her because she has been caught early. She has a bit of a road to travel, yet all seems manageable at this point. She has to go through the rigours of radiation and they are doing some further testing to see if she might have to undergo chemotherapy. I sure hope not. That is not an easy thing to endure. Been there. But she will endure...her faith will get her through.

Each day I light a candle for my friend. I love candles. I love what the light symbolizes. When I see that candle burning quietly on my counter, I think of my friend and I am reminded to pray for her. I am reminded of the Light of the World. [When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."John 8:12

I will keep this candle burning for my friend for as long as needed. Some may call it silly, but to me it is symbolic. Far too many women have died from breast or other gynaecological cancers. It's my reminder. We need to help make sure women are aware and alerted to the importance of an annual physical. No woman should have to die an early death because of this hideous, creeping, devouring disease - cancer. 

I rejoice that my friend was caught early. 

I pray that mothers, daughters, aunts, sisters, grandmothers, granddaughters, nieces...everywhere will be alerted to the importance of early detection.

This little light of mine; I'm gonna' let it shine...