What I Believe led to my Cancer Diagnosis

I’ll never know for sure what specifically led to my cancer diagnosis, I know that it’s never just one thing. What I do feel in my gut to be true is that my relationship with alcohol, my experimenting with every type of birth control for 15 years, the Bath and Body Works I slathered and sprayed all over my body, and the HIGH stress, were all factors. Some will say cancer has nothing to do with your lifestyle choices and that it’s just really bad luck, but I don’t believe that. And I’m not being hard on myself here, I didn’t know any better/chose to ignore the warnings, and that’s ok.

The Hormonal Hurricane Years

It’s safe to say I was, what I like to call, a hormonal hurricane all through my late teens, 20s, and the majority of my 30s. I was also completely unaware, until I went back to school, that our menstrual cycles are basically report cards for our overall health. The horribly painful and heavy periods (TMI, but I’m talking soaking through a super plus tampon and a pad on the regular), monthly migraines, mood swings, sore breasts, and the anxiety I assumed were all just a normal part of being a girl. But all of these symptoms were red flags that my body was inflamed. And let’s not forget the Tylenol or Advil I was popping regularly for the headaches, hangovers, and period pain…hello gut rot and more inflammation. Oh, and I was constipated for a good 15 years and only pooping maybe once every 7-10 days. All the shit adds up, pun intended. A cancer diagnosis isn’t as shocking to me anymore. Now, one thing to keep in mind is that we are all different. If your life sounds similar to mine, this does NOT mean you will also get cancer. This is just my story and what I believe led to my diagnosis.

Alcohol and Stress: My Biggest Triggers

Although I have made some pretty massive changes over the years, especially with my diet and cleaning up my environment, the alcohol and stress remained constant, especially the stress. And these, I believe, were my biggest triggers. The alcohol I decreased quite a bit in the last 2 years, but I still loved a good high school drunk here and there, and I was still having weekly wine. As of right now, I have completely cut alcohol out of my life, and I’m unsure if I’ll ever have it again. It is, after all, a type one carcinogen (like smoking and asbestos), so we know it’s bad. I’ve got a lot to say about what my relationship with alcohol was like over the years, but I am going to save it for another post so stay tuned.

As for the stress, it’s something I’m still figuring out. It’s not realistic to think we can get rid of it completely these days. What I’m trying to do is manage it better and find more happiness in life. From everything I’ve learned over the years, stress is one of the biggest factors that affects our health. Every course I’ve taken points to stress as a top cause of illness. I wish I had a simple answer for managing stress, but I don’t. We all experience it differently. What stresses you out might not bother me, and vice versa. I believe what’s most important is how we manage it, which is something I’ve always struggled with. My best advice is that, even when life gets busy with work, family, and kids, it’s important to take some time for yourself. Do what you love and what makes you happy. Because at the end of the day, health stress is far worse than worrying about a messy house or what others think of you.

The Bigger Picture

1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and the number of younger women being diagnosed is skyrocketing. We need to ask ourselves why? What happened? In my opinion, our toxic load happened. Whether that’s food and beverage toxins, environmental toxins, or stress toxins. They all add up. They all lead to inflammation and weakened immune systems. Did you know that since World War II, 80,000 new chemicals have been created and are floating around? Some environmental toxins we can’t avoid, I do realize this. But there are many things we can control. The best advice I can give you when it comes to preventing cancer is to be aware that what you put IN and ON your body MATTERS. What type of environment you surround yourself in MATTERS. Your emotional health and stress response MATTERS. And if you’ve already gone through a cancer diagnosis, it’s tough to heal and prevent in the same environment that contributed to it in the first place.

Paying attention to what you’re putting in and on your body isn’t about living in fear and never eating dessert again. It’s about honoring and caring for your body. You only get one, be kind to it.

I wish prevention were discussed more. We are so focused on treating disease that we forget about PREVENTION. I know there are illnesses out there that aren’t necessarily lifestyle-related, but that shouldn’t stop us from taking care of ourselves. A little tidbit for you, chronic disease, which floods our medical system, is preventable. Don’t believe me, see for yourself.

FYI – You’re allowed to make changes before something breaks.

Low Tox Living

Although I will not be working with people one-on-one for the foreseeable future (honestly, it brought me so much stress. I was constantly worrying about everyone), I will still be promoting a healthy lifestyle here on my little corner of the internet and sharing everything I’ve learned and will continue to learn about nutrition, hormones, and cancer. So, to start this off, I’ve created a FREE beginners’ guide to ditching and switching to a more low-tox lifestyle. I don’t say toxin-free, because that is really hard to do; toxins are everywhere. But swapping out the endocrine-disrupting and cancer-causing chemicals for cleaner options is a step in the right direction. It includes my favourite low-tox brands with links and locations where to purchase. There is also a list of items to watch out for. Check it out below, it’s FREE 🙂