Keep calm and check yo'self
- jenlew
- Jan 26, 2015
- 2 min read
My first marathon for Pacing in Pink is DONE! I ran the Marathon for Marilou last weekend and was surrounded by survivors, old (and new!) friends and lots of ice-covered trails. Thank you to those who ran, cheered and wore pink!
The plan was to go slow and recover quick. It worked! 48 hours later I can barely feel a thing. Unlike my very first marathon, but that was poor planning on my part. It was during a romantic trip to Scotland and, genius that I am, I thought it would be a great idea to wax EVERYTHING.
A lesson to the rookies: Don't wax before you run a marathon. Just... just don't. I've done the Ironman triathlon twice but I'll never get a Brazilian wax again. Perspective is everything.
Speaking of uncomfortable things, there is nothing enjoyable about a breast exam except for perhaps the peace of mind you get when it’s over. Generally, you lie back on that table under a paper blanket, naked from the waist up, with your arms up over your head.
It’s not as bad as it sounds. I was a bit nervous heading into my waxing appointment (mostly about the positions the esthetician would put me in) but my friend had great words of wisdom for me:
“It’s no big deal,” she said. “Pop a couple Advil before you go and try to relax as best you can. She sees dozens of those every day.”
Good point.
Doctors study the human body for a living and see all kinds of body parts everyday so once you wrap your brain around that, flashing your boobs ain’t so bad. I had always asked my doctor to perform a breast exam with my yearly PAP test. I asked because, even though I was perfectly capable of doing it on my own, like most young women I didn’t know what I was looking for and what was or wasn’t normal.
Something like 40% of diagnosed breast cancers are detected by women who feel a lump, so performing a regular breast self-exam is really important. There are a lot of different how-to videos and tutorials out there, but these are a couple of my favorites based on what my doctor told me:
Women over 40 are told to perform self-exams after each period but really, ALL women over 20 should do it. If for no other reason than to learn how to do it properly. That way, if you do feel something off or out of the ordinary, you can ask about it.
I did.
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