As a mother it is natural to put our children’s needs above our own. While there is nothing wrong with this, it is important to remember to take care of your needs as well. Your kids need a healthy mommy to take care of them, which means like it or not, you can’t push your needs aside anymore. You have to take care of yourself, so you are still around to take care of them in the future. As a woman yearly exams are crucial. It doesn’t matter how old you are, how healthy you think you may be, there’s a reason they tell you to check in with the doctor every year.
I was 22 years old. I had a bouncing little boy running around. I was going to school and working hard. Other than being a little stressed every now and then I thought my health was pretty good, but I was wrong. There was something terribly wrong and I had no idea. It had been about two years since I had been in to my OB-GYN. I noticed something was a little off in my body, so I finally decided to make an appointment. Then there was an issue with my insurance and it got pushed back even further. I didn’t think anything of it. When I was finally able to get in and I discussed my concerns with my doctor, he started to show some concern. He decided to run a few tests after our annual exam. The results came back abnormal and he asked if I would come back in so that he could do a biopsy to do some further testing. It seemed like an eternity waiting for those results. When they finally did come the news wasn’t pleasant. They had found that two-thirds of my cervix was covered in pre-cancerous cells. My doctor discussed different options with me and we finally decided on an outpatient treatment, that wasn’t the most comfortable, but was usually very successful. He told me that we wouldn’t know for quite some time if the treatment had really worked because it would take time for my body to heal and grow healthy cells again. Yesterday, after over a year of waiting I found that the pre-cancerous cells were gone and the treatment had been 100% successful. I could not have been more relieved.
I was young. At 22, I never dreamed I would end up with cancer. I didn’t see the need to visit my doctor every year because I felt fine. Had I not seen my doctor when I did the progression and diagnosis could have been far worse. Your children need you in their lives and that means you are going to have to do everything in your power to be there for them. Don’t forget to take care of your needs. Your children need you.