In today’s blog post we hear from Silvia who shares her experience with fibroids and explains why she started her blog, Life With Fibroids.

Well, let’s start off with a little bit about me. My name is Silvia and I am married to an amazing man who is so supportive and have an adorable dog who from time to time drives me nuts, but that is okay because I adore him.  I have fibroids and have been living with them for two years and have come to a place in my life where I want to share my story and my personal opinions and connect with others and learn about their stories as well.

I was diagnosed with Uterine Fibroids two years ago officially but have lived with them for just about 6 years now and since then I have done a lot of research but there is still so much more to do, so in no way am I saying I am an expert and I am not a doctor.  I decided to start my website, Life with Fibroids,  to create a space where women of all ages, creeds, backgrounds, religions, and parts of the world could come together and know that having fibroids does not mean that you are alone. Although fibroids is very common it is crazy to think that it is not a very talked about subject for most women and there is really no place to connect with others and ask how they are living with it and going through life with this. I was diagnosed with Uterine Fibroids two ago and they do affect my life they make me have the worst menstrual cycle of my life for example I have more bleeding and the first couple of days is so painful and the cramps sometimes can drop me to my knees. It hurts so much let me just say.

I guess, for me at least, that is the biggest inconvenience and it is so crazy to think that they can develop like they did for me because of the fact that your body can produce too much oestrogen and they can grow over time as well and can cause other problems like infertility if they block the Fallopian tubes and get in the way of implantation but to know that it is on a case by case situation and if you come to find out  that you have them and are worried about that then I would definitely set up an appointment with your doctor and get your situation checked. I did and thankfully they are not going to stop me from getting pregnant but I think for the best option since they have gotten bigger is to get them removed before we try for a baby again since I have experienced a miscarriage due to fibroids and want to avoid any further complications due to fibroids, so that is another reason for me to write this post and try to reach out to those who are in the same situation and be an outstretched hand and let others know you are not alone and I am here for you. I guess I just want to help people share and get connected and help support each other because there are lots of stories like mine but there are also lots of stories that end up with a happy mommy and a happy baby, so like I said it is case by case and if I can help even one person then I think that writing this post and creating my blog, Life with Fibroids, is worth it.

Now let’s get a few things clear about fibroids first:

1. Fibroids are not cancerous and from what I have come to learn not life threatening, so you can take that stress off your mind right now.
2. What my doctor has come to teach me is that for every woman’s fibroids are different and can affect them in different ways and with fibroids especially the kind that I have which is Uterine Fibroids is always a case by case situation so in no way am I saying that I know everything about you and your situation so please feel free to write about your story and connect with others.
3. Fibroids can happen anywhere in the body but the most common fibroid I have come to read about is Uterine Fibroids which is what I have.
4. Even though many women have fibroids they can go their entire lives without knowing it due to having no symptoms and doctors not having any indication to look for them.
5. Women who do have them and do have active symptoms can have a variety and cannot have their daily lives affected in any way and then there is the other side of the coin where women have their everyday life come to a standstill and cannot function and then of course there is the middle ground where you have good and bad days but nothing too drastic, which for the most part is where I fall, well for the most part anyway.
6. My final point on this never-ending list is that for every woman with this diagnosis there is a story and it is different and each and everyone is valuable and important.

So with all that I have said again I just want to say that I created my blog, Life with Fibroids, as a place to connect and share your individual stories and remember that you are not alone and you are one of a kind and that you and I and everyone else living and not living with this is beautiful and amazing. Please feel free to visit my blog, share your stories and help me to connect with others from all over. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and even though I am not the most talented writer I want to share my story and hope that it can help at least one person out there. Thank you again for visiting and taking the time to read my post. At Life with Fibroids I do my best to keep everyone up to date on what is happening with me and my fibroids and try my best to keep it active and hopefully on-going. Have an awesome day and you rock!

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Lake Health and Wellbeing  would like to say a big thank you to Silvia for sharing her experience with fibroids, we hope that through her experience you have gained some useful insight into this condition. You can find out more about Silvia at Life With Fibroids

If you have any questions or comments please do leave these in the comments section below. 

Disclosure: this post contains an affiliate link. Find out more here

Wednesday 2nd May, 2018

In this week’s episode we have a really interesting and insightful conversation with Le’Nise Brothers, the founder of Eat Love Move, about fibroids, hormones, diet and lifestyle.

We were delighted to e-attend the Healthy Caribbean Coalition’s Civil Society Action Team’s inaugural meeting on 20th April .  The main objective of the action team is to ensure that the Caribbean public becomes aware of the challenges of childhood obesity and supports the call for policy changes and other educational approaches that will create a supportive environment for the reduction of this growing problem which places children at risk of developing diabetes and hypertension as well as  cancer and heart disease in their adult life

During this inaugural meeting of the action team, the HCC shared its communication plan for their childhood obesity prevention petition and discussed ways in which organisations could play a part in their local area. This included liaising with the media and encouraging  members, corporate partners and other social and parenting groups to sign the petition at www.toomuchjunk.org.

This was a really interesting meeting and we were delighted to meet representatives from a number of Caribbean organisations and we look forward to implementing the ideas discussed in the meeting in our local area here in St Kitts.

We first heard about Eat Love Move on the Secret Birds Podcast a couple of months ago when founder Le’Nise Brothers was interviewed about health, hormones and barriers.  We were really impressed with all the great work that Le’Nise is doing and it also piqued our interest because of the work we’ve been doing on fibroids, an area that Le’Nise focuses on too. We felt the services offered by Eat Love Move would be of interest to you, our readers, so in today’s blog we introduce you to their services.

Who Is Eat Love Move?

Eat Love Move is a business that focuses on women’s health and offers personalised hormonal health programmes and workshops. At the helm of the company is Le’Nise Brothers, a registered naturopathic Nutritional Therapist who specialises in women’s health, anxiety, depression and weight loss.

As a nutrition and wellbeing coach for women, Le’Nise’s mission is to help women understand and embrace their hormones and menstrual cycle and thus much of her work focuses on women who struggle with low energy, sugar cravings and hormonal issues such as PMS, PCOS, endometriosis, heavy & painful periods, fibroids, perimenopause and menopause.

“I’ve had a life-long interest in food – eating it, cooking it and sharing it. I slowly started to make the connection between what I was eating and how I was feeling and used diet and lifestyle changes to improve my anxiety, depression and irritable bowel syndrome.”  – Le’Nise Brothers

Le’Nise firmly believes in the power of food and she takes the time to understand her clients, their lifestyle and goals, and then designs nutrition and lifestyle programmes that are tailored to the individual.

Their Services

Eat Love Move’s services fall into three categories:

• Personalised Health Programmes
• Hormone Health Programmes
• Workshops and Talks

Personalised Health Programmes – these are a minimum of 8 weeks long and are for women who have symptoms or health issues, are concerned about their family’s medical history or have been advised by their doctor to improve their diet.  A typical personalised health programme consists of the following:

• Initial personal consultation including an in-depth health and lifestyle assessment
• Personalised nutrition advice and supplement plan
• Current medication and nutrient interaction evaluation, if applicable
• Recommendations of clinical tests and interpretation, if applicable
• Follow up consultations – face to face, skype, telephone
• Mini progress review calls
• Email support
• Personalised menu planning and recipes

Hormone Health Programmes – Eat Love Move offers three programmes:

1. Period Helper – this is a personalised programme that helps women with their periods and menstrual cycle so they enjoy life with no PMS or pain (yay!)
2. Hormone Helper – this programme teaches women how to manage their hormones and stress, and how food can bring things back into balance.
3. Menopause Helper – teaches women how to support their hormones and get a sense of balance so they feel better as they go into perimenopause and menopause

Workshops and Talks

Le’Nise is passionate about helping women learn more about how they can improve their health and wellbeing and regularly facilitates workshops and delivers talks covering a range of topics including meal planning, wellbeing in the workplace, self-care and hormone health.

More Information

For more information and to book a free 20 minute health and wellbeing review you can email hello@eatlovemove.com or visit their website

Eat Love Move offers Skype and FaceTime consultations so you can access their services from anywhere in the world, or if you’re based in London you can find Le’Nise at the Onebody Clinic in Chiswick on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 9 – 11am

Alternatively, you can join Eat Love Move’s private Facebook group, Embrace Your Hormones. It’s a private and positive space for women to ask questions about their hormones and menstrual cycle and get evidence-based information and support.

Disclosure: this post contains an affiliate link. Find out more here

We’re delighted to announce that our May Fibroids Twitter Chat is with Olivia Haltman on 30th May 2018 at 7pm, GMT (that’s 11am PST, 2pm EST and 2pm AST).

Olivia Haltman is an accredited Integrative Humanistic Counsellor and an Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapist.  She is also a member of British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), EMDR UK & Ireland and BAATN (Black and Asian Therapist Network).

Olivia set up OH Services in 2010 to support people who want to develop their lives on a personal level and reach their best potential. She is passionate about self-development and helping others take positive steps on their life journey. ​

She has worked in the Mental Health Sector for over 10 years, supporting people from all backgrounds, genders and lifestyles.  She believes everyone is different, with unique needs and aspirations so she uses an integrative approach to apply and integrate the most suitable solutions for her clients.

​She also applies (where necessary) a holistic approach to help clients enjoy the essential benefits of wellbeing and healing processes.

We’ll be discussing the emotional impact of fibroids and how women with fibroids can improve their emotional wellbeing.

Join us for a very important and useful exploration of how fibroids impacts a women’s mental health. To take part in this conversation find us on Twitter on 30th May and use the hashtag #FibroidsChat

You can find out more about Olivia and the services she offers here: www.ohcounsellingservices.com

Wednesday 25th April 2018

Today we’ll be speaking to Sheila about the documentary Right Between Your Ears which explores how people believe, how we turn beliefs into certainties and mistake them for the truth.

Kantar Health is a market research agency that specialises in pharmaceutical research, they regularly speak to physicians, patients and carers and have a wealth of experience in conducting healthcare research.  They work on behalf of pharmaceutical companies to speak to and understand how various health issues impact people’s live. On this occasion, Kantar Health would like to talk to patients who have been diagnosed with ALK+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), and are undergoing treatment.

The research will be individual in-depth interviews that will take approximately 1 hour and will be conducted either via a secure video link (like Skype or FaceTime), or in your home if you feel comfortable doing so. As part of the research the company will also be asking participants to complete a diary or task for 10-15 minutes per day, for 5 days prior to the interview.

The aim of this research is to better understand patient journeys, when, where and with whom they interact before and after their diagnosis, and identify support they may have and / or need.

 All information that is shared as part of the interview will be kept strictly confidential and there will be no attempt to sell you anything. Your decision to participate, or not, will not influence any current or future treatment decisions.

Kantar Health’s interviews are carried out in accordance with current (European: MRS, EphMRA, ESOMAR, BHBIA) guidelines and Data Protection Laws as well as with local UK specific rules.

As an appreciation of your time participants will receive an amount of £200 in your choice of bank transfer or cheque.

If you are interested in taking part, please contact Megan Grendon from Gillian Kenny Associates on 01242 240 842 or MeganGrendon@gilliankenny.com

Gillian Kenny Associates is the medical market research agency that Kantar Health is using to recruit individuals  to see if you are eligible for the study.

I remember it like it was yesterday, I was 27 years old living in Washington, D.C. I kept feeling a sharp, somewhat dull ache in my pelvic area. I had never felt anything like it before. It would creep up on me suddenly and out of the blue. At times, it would trigger a sharp pain down my leg. At first I ignored it, as I thought it was just related to my monthly menstrual cycle. I always felt deeply connected to my body and prided myself on trusting my intuition. I decided, it was time for a visit to my doctor.

My doctor, always friendly, always efficient. She ran every test imaginable, we even repeated some twice. Some were painful, others were very routine. I had several smears done, in an attempt to make sure nothing suspicious was missed. After months of tests, exams and being prodded, I was told, “Nothing is wrong with you.” I was relieved but at the same time confused. Why didn’t the doctor know, why isn’t she fixing me, after all that is her job. Back then I obviously gave doctors a little too much power. I have come a long way, as this blog will soon describe.  It didn’t end there, I saw another doctor, this time recommended by one of my mentors. She said, “Jo-Ann, he is the best. When I had my breast cancer, he took care of me and he is the reason why I survived.” I visited him and the results were the same. I returned to my old doctor and once again, she told me there is nothing wrong with me. She suggested over the counter painkillers and at one point intimated that I may depressed. This is when it dawned on me that I have something that they don’t understand. She said, “Yes, you have fibroids, but they do not cause pain. “You are fine,” she continued, “Your blood flow is fine and all looks good!”

I went home and started researching.  I became obsessed, fascinated and even a little in love with my fibroids. I felt like I had to love them in order to understand them, otherwise I would have just been in a perpetual state of frustration. Weird but true, I really immersed myself into this world of uterine myomas, my uterus, my ovaries and widely speaking, my womb. You, see I did not fit the criteria for what doctors generally believe are problematic, therefore I was somewhat sidelined.

A year later at aged 28 I relocated to the UK. I was beginning a new era in my life. I was starting business school, transitioning and looking forward to a new chapter across the pond in Europe. The pain continued, life continued and nothing changed. I decided to visit my GP, perhaps she would tell me something different and she did! She told me I did indeed have fibroids, she mentioned there were many of them, some bigger than others and that based on their position, they were in fact causing pain and creating some discomfort. I felt relieved, she paid attention and asked me the right questions. She was very laid back, she spoke with ease and experience. At one point she suggested I relax and try to get to know more about my body. I heard what she said but I was not truly willing to pay attention. I wanted a quick fix, I needed relief. She explained that fibroids are normal but sometimes they can be a nuisance. She referred me to a gynaecological consultant, in short, in the summer of the year of my 29th birthday I had the fibroids removed via laparoscopic myomectomy. I initially felt the difference! I was lighter, the pain was gone and well, I was happy again.

I forgot about my fibroids until seven years later at aged 36, when I was participating in a duathlon and I felt it, that pain, the one that struck me almost ten years before. I knew exactly what it was and I was overwhelmed with grief and sadness. I visited my GP, this time a different lady, who was somewhat cold and unapologetic. She said, “Yes, you have fibroids but they are normal and you can live with them. I am sorry but we cannot do anything for you. I have women with bigger problems and I think you will be fine.” I went home and I cried, not only was she was lacking in empathy and slightly rude but she completely disregarded my experience. Other women had bigger problems than me, what does that even mean? Yes, of course, I do not have uterine cancer or endometriosis but does this make me less worthy of attention?

After wallowing in self pity for weeks, I decided to contact the lovely consultant who performed my laparoscopic surgery. Can you believe he died? Additionally, I read online that before he died he was involved in a malpractice lawsuit, after performing the same procedure on another woman, who unfortunately died. It is as if everything was against me. I sobbed some more. I was miserable for months.

Then one day, I was online and read about acupuncture. This is probably where I should state that I am a vegan, I have been so for 23 years now. I am very active, I exercise regularly-cycling, walking, hiking, I love being in nature, I tend to think I am positive, open minded and in touch with my body. This is what I thought, until I visited my acupuncturist for the first time. She was also a Chinese traditional doctor. With every visit I learned something new about traditional Chinese medicine, the teas, the pins she stuck in my body and the like. I was fascinated. I kept asking her, “Is this going to work?” She always smiled but never responded, until one day she said, “Everything will work, when you get to know your body.” Was that not what the really nice GP said too? She also said, “You work long hours, you don’t sleep well, despite being a vegan you drink too much coffee, you don’t breathe, you are like a machine, jumping from one thing to the next.” She added,  “You are like a jumping rabbit.” She was right!

This time around I was ready to listen and so I did. I started studying my body, paying attention and tuning in. She taught me how to meditate, how to breathe, she told me to start doing yoga again ( I did it for a year when I was 25 and stopped). She also encouraged me to keep a period diary. I began reading books about my body, my womb and explored how my hormones affect all of me. This then introduced me to the concept of what it means to be feminine. For a long time I thought to be feminine is to a be a woman. Every woman is feminine right? Well, not really, every book I read touched on the pillars of femininity such as collaboration, empathy, patience and vulnerability. Everything I was NOT! And why? Because I was too busy letting life run over me. A mental shift began and I started making connections between my mind, my body- specifically my fibroids and hormones- and connecting to my inner me. I literally tapped into my inner self in a way I had never done before.

I believe that my fibroids were my body’s way of saying you are off, you are out of sync and you need to fix it. In a strange way I believe it was my body screaming for me to connect with my womanhood and all those things that make me uniquely me. Somehow along the way between the career and incessantly doing I lost all of those feminine qualities and it took years of pain, one laparoscopy, a very wise acupuncturist, several doctors and my willingness to surrender to my intuition to arrive at where I am now.

I turn 40 in two months, I still have the fibroids but there is no pain, they have not grown or shrunk and I have learned how to manage them. I also switched careers, started a business, relocated to a new country and have an understanding of my body that I never knew existed. It is quite unbelievable what can happen when one pays attention to all the signs around them.

I honestly believe that this experience was meant to enhance my quality of life. I no longer see my fibroids as these awful tumours lingering inside of me but as reminders of how I should live and what I should focus on. Every woman has a different fibroid story and albeit mine does not include heavy periods and endless bleeding, the mental and emotional burden was heavy. I think my connection to my inner self is one that I never knew existed and has transformed my mindset and life in unconventional and unremarkable ways.

I realise now that the quality of my life is not dependent upon what I do, or how I do it but how deeply connected I am to my body. For a very long time, I thought I knew who I was because I ticked all the boxes. What a revelation, I actually didn’t. If you were like me, looking for relief the first step, does not begin with that doctor’s appointment and it does not end with a yoga class. Instead it begins with you. Like I was told more than once, “Get to know your body.”  And I will add, get to know you!  An exploration of self is the beginning to a curing of the mind, body and spirit!

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Lake Health and Wellbeing  would like to say a big thank you to Jo-Ann for sharing her experience with fibroids, we hope that through her experience you have gained some useful insight into this condition.

If you have any questions or comments please do leave these in the comments section below. 

Disclosure: this post contains an affiliate link. Find out more here

Wednesday 18th April 2018

Welcome to episode 10 of our podcast where we reflect on the effectiveness of fitness parties in getting people fit and active.

Wednesday 11th April, 2018

We share three interesting health news stories and pick out an interesting theme that connects them all which we can all learn from.