The end of March / early April is always a strange time of year for me. It was around this time in 2015 that I had the first symptoms of ovarian cancer. These symptoms were so subtle, that I almost didn’t mention them to my doctor but luckily, she suggested an ultrasound. That was when my world as I knew it changed. The next eight months was a blur of visits to oncologists, surgeons, hospitals for several operations, plus 18 weeks of chemotherapy. The ladies of IPT’s office kept the wheels rolling while I lost my hair, my energy and my ability to think clearly (based on the cocktail of drugs!). In November 2015, I turned 49 on the last day of my treatment and said to the chemo nurses “thank you for your amazing care but I hope I never see you again!” And touch wood, I have remained in remission and symptom free ever since. That experience was life-changing in so many ways and here are my lessons learned which I feel can be applied to whatever age and stage of life you’re in:
Be in the moment – as much as possible, come back to your breath, your senses, your body and the task at hand
Health is wealth – look after your body with regular checkups, exercise and diet. Look after your mind with positive media exposure, meditation and mindfulness
Nature is medicinal – get your feet on the ground, hands in the earth, legs on the trail, and eyes on the sky. It all helps to reconnect us to the subtle healing energies of Mother Earth
Challenge yourself – find something new to do every day, week or month that pushes you outside of your comfort zone. Speaking of which…
A few weeks ago, I signed up to a Can Too program to swim the 2km Coolangatta Classic on 28 April. It’s a big hairy goal considering I haven’t trained in a pool since my early 20s and this swim is in the Pacific Ocean! I love the coaching and comraderies of our squad and look forward to the big swim on the day. Besides the fitness training, the Can Too Foundation has raised $21million for cancer research (with a strong focus on funding young scientists).
Many thanks
Lisa