Back in 2013 we conducted a survey to understand the needs of women affected by fibroids. As we conducted this survey, we kept hearing very strong words and phrases describing how living with fibroids was affecting the mental health of women.

“I have hated life at times because of fibroids. I feel like I am being punished for something.”

“Depression from feeling that my only options were drugs or surgery”

“Fear of not being able to have children”

“Just a constant fear of what they could become”

As a result of this we started to explore this issue further by speaking to women who attended our fibroids awareness events and soon realised that this was a much wider problem. To compound this issue there was little information available, at the time, about the emotional impact of fibroids and no services to support women with fibroids in addressing these issues.

So, we decided to reach out to counsellor, Olivia Haltman, the founder of OH Services to speak at our Fibroid Focus event, a conference we held in 2016 for women with fibroids.

Olivia gave an excellent presentation that explored the emotional impact of fibroids explaining how fibroids can affect not just women’s physical health but their mental health too. The reaction from women after her presentation was profound, a stunned recognition that:

• Other women feel the way I do
• What I have been feeling isn’t trivial
• Someone articulated exactly how I was feeling in a way that I never could
• There is a way to address this aspect of my experience with fibroids

Following this event OH Services began work on developing their first 4-week online course on the emotional impact of fibroids. Not only was it a first for them but, to our knowledge, it is the first ever course on this topic. This course was launched in November 2018 and we had the pleasure of attending.

Over the 4 weeks OH Services created a safe space for women to come together to discuss the emotional impact of fibroids. As we listened to the discussion, we realised this was the first time that attendees were exploring this side of fibroids, and it was challenging. They were given the opportunity to reflect and explore their emotions and how these have been impacted by their experience with fibroids.

Ms Haltman explained with some clarity what specific emotions many women feel categorising them into the emotions that women may experience before and after a diagnosis, as well as some general emotions.

We learnt of the fear, anxiety and uncertainty that can occur in the lead up to a diagnosis which is particularly significant as many women with fibroids have symptoms weeks, months and sometimes years before receiving a confirmed diagnosis.

We also learnt of the emotional toll that managing symptoms such as pain, heavy bleeding and anaemia can have on a woman’s quality of life, affecting her personality, relationships, effectiveness at work and restricting the activities she can participate in.

Ms Haltman also described the difficulty of having to deal with treatment decisions, the potential of  a loss of fertility and the possibility of a recurrence after treatment.

The discussions during this course were insightful and thought-provoking and to ensure that participants made the most of each session, participants were given activities after each session to consolidate their learning.

The course ended on a positive note, one of hope and sisterhood with Ms Haltman taking participants through methods and techniques to address these emotions and start a self-development journey.

We really liked that the way this course was delivered. It was interactive and practical with participants being split up into groups to share experiences and explore specific topics. Also, the homework ensured that what was learnt in each session was explored further and applied immediately.

This course fills a huge gap and we believe it is much-needed so that women with fibroids have the support they need. Therefore, we highly recommend this course to anyone who has been affected by fibroids or is supporting a friend, family member or client with fibroids.

The next course starts on 6^th March at 7pm UK time and you can register online here or for more information you can email ohservices@counsellor.com

More Resources and Information

• Fibroids and Your Mental Wellbeing – a fact sheet by Lake Health and Wellbeing and OH Services
• OH Services – Improving the Mental Wellbeing of Our Community
• Podcast: We Talk to Olivia Haltman About the Emotional Impact of Fibroids
• OH Services Starts an Online Forum for Women With Fibroids

Early-bird registration ends soon for our fibroids and exercise webinar, in just a few days!

This webinar will focus on ‘The Importance of Exercise, Relaxation and Me-Time. ‘ and will take place on Saturday 23rd February at 11am AST (that’s 3pm GMT or 10am US Eastern Time).

In this third webinar we are pleased to have as a guest speaker Candice Bryan, the Founder and CEO of Noire Wellness. Candice will discuss the impact that exercise, physical activity and stress have on fibroids and how you can take control, balance your hormones and alleviate your symptoms through exercise, relaxation and having a bit of me-time.

“If sport and physical activity were a drug, it would be regarded as a miracle.” ~ Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, UK

Discounted Early Bird Tickets Are Now Available

Early bird tickets for this webinar are available until 23rd Jan and are just $10 (about £8) and you can book your place and find out more here or make a quick payment below using your credit card.  After 23rd Jan tickets are $15 (about £11).

[asp_product id=”5820″]

Previous Webinar

Did you miss the first webinar in our series: Fibroids, Diet and Hormones with guest speaker Le’Nise Brothers,  Registered Nutritional Therapist and the Founder of Eat Love Move?

Have no fear, you can download and purchase the recording of this webinar for just $15 and you’ll have on-demand access to this in-depth session on fibroids, diet and hormones which guides you through the changes that you can make to improve your hormonal health and therefore alleviate the symptoms associated with fibroids. Find out more and download this webinar here

More Information 

We hope that you’ll join us on 23rd Feb  for this really interesting online event and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at events@lakehealthandwellbeing.com and you can book your place here

Cancer Research UK has reported that its scientists have developed a very comprehensive method of predicting a women’s risk of developing breast cancer.

This work was recently published in Genetics in Medicine where it was explained that by combining information on family history, genetics and other factors like weight, age at menopause, alcohol consumption and use of hormone replacement therapy, scientists are able to determine a woman’s breast cancer risk.

What makes their prediction more precise than previous methods is that researchers, for the first time, included 300 genetic indicators for breast cancer in their risk calculation.

This piece of work has led to the development of an online calculator that General Practitioners (GPs) in the UK can use in their surgeries. Currently this online  calculator is being tested by GPs, nurses and genetic counsellors before it is released nation-wide. The hope is that this tool will enable healthcare professionals to explore early detection and prevention strategies for women based on their risk and therefore improve survival rates for breast cancer.

Although this work is very exciting more work is needed, as expressed by lead author, Professor Antonis Antoniou, who said:

“It could be a game changer for breast cancer because now we can identify large numbers of women with different levels of risk – not just women who are at high risk.

This should help doctors to tailor the care they provide depending on their patients’ level of risk. For example, some women may need additional appointments with their doctor to discuss screening or prevention options and others may just need advice on their lifestyle and diet.

“We hope this means more people can be diagnosed early and survive their disease for longer, but more research and trials are needed before we will fully understand how this could be used.”

Additionally, Dr Richard Rope, Cancer Research UK’s GP expert warned that:

“Research like this is hugely exciting because in the future it will enable us to offer much more tailored care which will benefit patients and make best use of the services that we have available.

“Although having an increased risk of breast cancer means a woman is more likely to develop the disease – it’s by no means a certainty. A woman at high risk may never get breast cancer just as a woman at low risk still could. But any woman with concerns should speak to her GP to discuss the options.”

For more information on this work, you can read Cancer Research UK’s research paper here

Hon. Hazel Brandy-Williams, the Junior Minister for Health in Nevis, has joined FIT’s National Weight Loss Campaign (a project that we have been working on).

Hon Brandy-Williams will be leading by example and allowing the cameras to follow her journey as she endeavours to lose weight and get fit and healthy.

Find out more about day 1 of Hon Brandy-Williams’ journey and why she decided to take part in the video below.

The National Weight Loss Campaign starts on 26th Jan and you can join too by registering at to take part by emailing admin@fitwellnesscenter.com or calling (869)-662-8749

We’ve been working with the FIT Wellness Centre in Nevis and assisting with their National Weight Loss Campaign.  We’re delighted to let you know that this campaign gets started on 26th January at the FIT Park, Bath Plains, Nevis.

Director of the FIT Wellness Centre, Mr David Walwyn, was recently interviewed about the campaign and you can read a nice write-up of his interview by Nevis Pages below. 

To register for the National Weight Loss Campaign, please visit the sign-up page here 

---

Update: The start date for the National Weight Loss Campaign has been pushed back, a new date will be released shortly.

Article by Nevis Pages:

David Walwyn of the Fit Wellness Center on Nevis, in a recent interview, explained that the National Weight loss campaign will be officially launched at the Fit Park, on the 26th of January.

Welcome back to our Gardening and Health Blog Series!

So far, this blog series has mostly discussed the benefits that gardening can have on your physical health. However, getting green fingered can also have a hugely positive effect on your mental health and wellbeing. This month’s post is brought to you by the folks at Capitial Garden Services and focuses on the mental health benefits of gardening which they illustrate very effectively in their infographic here.

---

The famed biologist, E.O. Wilson, once quipped that “Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.” He coined the term Biophilia to describe human kind’s innate need to connect with the natural world, positing that this is why we tend to find it soothing to spend time in the great outdoors.

Numerous studies have highlighted various mental health and therapeutic benefits of gardening. For example, gardening has been found to energise the body and mind. The process of tending to plants has also been proven to help people develop nurturing skills. It has even been found to improve sleep quality. These outdoor activities can help to reduce stress by providing a much-needed refuge from the stresses of the fast-paced modern world.

In particular,  gardening is a perfect opportunity to practice mindfulness. By completing tasks that connect you with the natural world, you can engage all of your senses to appreciate the various sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures of your surroundings. There are a few things you can do to put a mindful spin on common gardening jobs. For example, before getting started take a few moments pause to breathe and meditate. It’s also a good idea to incorporate elements into your garden design that stimulate the various senses, for example wind chimes or scented flowers.

To learn more, take a look at the infographic below from the team at Capital Garden Services which offers some great insights on why gardening is good for your mental wellbeing and provides several tips on how to garden for good mental health.

Infographic

Check out Capital Garden Services infographic on gardening for good mental health below.

null

null

Previous Blogs

If you missed the previous blogs in this series you can read through them here:

1. Improving Our Health and Wellbeing Through Gardening: An Introduction
2. How I Got Started
3. Growing Tomatoes
4. Growing Okra
5. Growing Peppers
6. Sour Oranges and Mangoes
7. Soursop and Guava

The Caribbean Moves campaign is growing with a third Caribbean country launching their version of this initiative. On 7^th December 2018, Trinidad and Tobago joined the Caribbean Moves family with the launch of TT Moves at the Brian Lara Promenade, in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh explained that this campaign is just one of their approaches to reduce the incidence of non-communicable diseases in their Caribbean nation. He stated that this campaign is a continuation of their plan to move the public from an unhealthy to a healthier lifestyle, explaining that:

“When I say a healthier lifestyle, I mean how we eat, how we exercise, controlling our stress levels, moving away from this, as social-media electronic toys which shackle us to a device and we sit down.

“We have to start to exercise some more. Simple walking, simple jogging. We have to bring into our diets healthier options like fruits. Today we are giving out fruits and fruit trees. We want people “to gradually change their lifestyles, not change today for tomorrow.”

The launch of TT Moves follows the launch of Barbados Moves in October 2018 with more Caribbean nations expected to join the movement in 2019.

Caribbean Moves is an initiative launched in 2018 that is based on the successful Jamaica Moves  campaign and focuses on physical activity, healthy eating and age appropriate health checks. They’re in the process of establishing a secretariat and their remit is to develop an implementation schedule, coordinate activities and strengthen existing work in the Caribbean Region.

---

Picture Credit: Anil Rampersad, pictured is  Terrence Deyalsingh,  the Minister of Health for Trinidad and Tobago 

At the end of every year, we use the opportunity of one year coming to an end and being on the cusp of a new year to look back and reflect on our achievements. The reason why we do this is because, throughout the year, we can be quite critical about our progress and fail to recognise what has gone well – this can be very demotivating. So, every year we look at our achievements to bring in some balance, learn some important lessons and go into the new year with some positive energy.

This year has been an interesting one, as it was our first full year in St Kitts. For those of you who may not know, we were based in the UK and moved to St Kitts at the end of 2017. Our aim for 2018 was to explore the public health landscape in the Caribbean and to understand how we can make a useful contribution to improving the health and wellbeing of the citizens of St Kitts and Nevis, and the wider Caribbean community too.

It was a hard year, but it turned into one of the best learning experiences ever! We explored everything (from podcasting to webinars). It didn’t all work out, but our efforts helped us gain some clarity which has led to us developing a focused strategy for the next two years.

And so, with your support and encouragement we’re happy to say we had a good year and are proud to present you with our 2018 achievements:

1. We continued our work on fibroids and launched our fibroids self-care webinar series, published two fact sheets, one on fibroids and exercise and the other on the emotional impact of fibroids, we hosted 7 fibroids twitter chats with some amazing guests, joined forces with OH Services to begin to facilitate an online forum for women with fibroids and teamed up with Noire Wellness for a fibroids social media campaign for International Women’s Day.

2. We became a member of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition and supported their childhood obesity prevention call-to-action (petition) by recruiting volunteers to develop a four-part podcast series on childhood obesity and sought support from the public for the petition, gaining over 400 signatures from residents of St Kitts and Nevis.

3. We were invited to the Healthy Caribbean Coalition’s childhood obesity ‘Beyond the Call-to-Action’ event in Barbados where we took part in a panel discussion on the importance of alliances and collaborations in addressing critical public health issues.

4. We published a position paper on sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) taxation in St Kitts and Nevis

5. We formed a good working relationship with the Ministry of Health in St Kitts and assisted with their plans for World Cancer Day, Caribbean Wellness Day and Caribbean Wellness Week. Additionally, the Ministry of Health invited us to take part in their SSB consultation, the PAHO Health Promotion Consultation and their Chronic Disease Self-Management Programme.

6. We signed a new consultancy client, the FIT Wellness Centre, and assisted them in the development of their NCD Prevention Action Plan, preparing for their National Weight Loss Campaign and developing their new website.

7. We explored podcasting and interviewed some fantastic guests, but soon realised that we don’t have the time to host a weekly, nor bi-monthly podcast but will continue releasing episodes sporadically.

8. We obtained some media coverage and were featured on the NNC news, SKN Vibes, Times Caribbean and 31 Days of Business Ideas, and were interviewed on the Secret Birds podcast

9. We added a new area to our portfolio – Public Health Tech – to explore how we can bring technology and public health together by exploring tech based products and services to educate the public about their risk of developing disease,  to raise awareness of health issues and to provide engaging ways of communicating health messages.

10. We launched a Public Health Tech mini-project, the development of a Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool, and this tool went live in December 2018.

11. We launched our online shop, The Lake Shop For Good, which aims to promote a healthy lifestyle by selling products that remind us all to live healthily. Our shop also helps us to continue to do good in our community with all money raised going towards our public health projects.

We had a really productive year with some highs and lows, which helped us make significant progress through the many lessons we have learnt from them.

We’re very  much excited and looking forward to 2019, and we wish you all a happy New Year and a healthy, happy, peaceful and successful year ahead.

With Christmas being just around the corner, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

As we get ourselves prepared for this beautiful season over here in the Caribbean we’re taking  some time this week to remember the real meaning of Christmas. It can be easy to get caught up in the commercial side which, more often that not, leads to an unnecessarily stressful period instead of one filled with love, hope and charity.

A recent church service we attended really resonated with us, we were reminded that during this season we should take the focus off ourselves and give back – visit the elderly, donate gifts to those in need and spend some time with patients in hospital.

If we are to focus on ourselves, we were advised to make this a time of self reflection – how can we become a better person? Are there relationships in our life that need restoring? So over the next few days we’ll be exploring these questions and ensuring we have a healthy balanced holiday season.

Staying Healthy Over the Holiday Season

Every year we give the same advice on how to stay healthy over the Christmas and New Year period, and this year our advice remains the same – watch your portion sizes, include lots of vegetables with your Christmas dinner (try Brussel sprouts, parsnips, carrots, sweet potatoes and  baked/grilled plantain), and for dessert try some fruit salad or healthy alternatives to traditional desserts (maybe a cashew cheesecake instead of a traditional cheesecake).

Additionally select white meat and fish instead of red meat and keep active (try walking or cycling throughout the two week holiday period) and importantly don’t neglect your mental health, have a bit of me-time and relax.

We hope you have a lovely Christmas that is stress-free, peaceful, filled with love and enables you to spend some  quality time with your loved ones.

OH Services, an organisation that aims to support people through the difficult periods of their life by offering counselling services, has recently started an online forum for women who have been affected by fibroids.

The forum is a closed private group that will enable women to connect with each other, share experiences and gain access to the expertise of OH Services.

It’s hoped that by having a space to share the ups and downs of having fibroids, women will be given an outlet to express their feelings and receive support in order to address the emotional impact of fibroids.

If you’ve been affected by fibroids and would like to try out this forum, you can find it on OH Services’ website here.

We’re delighted to be working with OH Services to support them in facilitating the discussions in the forum and look forward to connecting with women online.