We recently came across the video below created by BuzzFeed which explores the experience of three women with fibroids. We thought it was an excellent exploration of the impact of fibroids.

Our Thoughts

These stories give viewers an insightful look at the impact of fibroids and highlighted some of the same issues raised in a recent book of short stories that we read, Invisible Not Imaginary by the Barbados Association of Endometriosis and PCOS.

The women bravely discuss heavy menstrual bleeding, anaemia, painful periods and their concerns about fertility.

As we watched the video, what struck us was the way in which all three women continued with their daily life despite their symptoms and seemed to almost normalise them until they could no longer bare it. The reason why they did this, as articulated by one of the women, was the expectation that women should pretty much ignore their own health and wellbeing, press on and continue with all their many obligations.

Another issue that was raised was recurrence, which is very common and can be quite frustrating for women who, after their initial surgery, will have moved on with their life and have put their experience of fibroids behind them. Having to deal with fibroids once more can be devastating.

The video ends with some useful tips and advice from each of the women based on their experience.  Participants encouraged women to:

• Prioritise their health,
• Seek help as soon as they notice symptoms that don’t seem right
• Be informed about fibroids
• Reach out to family and friends and talk about what you’re going through

Final Thoughts

We thought this video was a really effective way of raising awareness of fibroids and its impact. It identified areas that need to be addressed. These include the need for:

• Greater awareness of the symptoms of fibroids
• Greater awareness of what normal/abnormal periods are
•  Less pressure to be placed on women to try to continue as normal when they feel unwell
•  Research on whether  lifestyle changes may reduce a woman’s risk of having a recurrence after treatment
• More research to understand the prevention of fibroids
• More research to confirm the incidence and prevalence of fibroids, particularly in black women

More Information

For more information on fibroids, you can:

• Visit our fibroids blog and fibroids news sections
• Read through our My Fibroid Story section
• Read through the highlights of our fibroids Twitter chats
• Send a question to our Fibroids Ask the Expert panel
• Listen to our fibroids podcast interviews
  • My Ten Year Journey With Fibroids 
  • Fibroids, Hormones, Diet and Lifestyle
  • The Emotional Impact of Fibroids

Lake Health and Wellbeing is delighted to invite women in St Kitts and Nevis who have been affected by fibroids to attend our upcoming event ‘Girl Talk: Fibroids.’

We have teamed up with Because We Care, a student group at the University of Medicine and Health Sciences, to organise a new series of women’s health events  entitled ‘Girl Talk: Informal and Empowering Discussions on Women’s Health’

This first event in our series will focus on fibroids, a common but overlooked women’s health issue that is estimated to affect 80% of black women.

Girl Talk aims to overcome the stigma associated with fibroids by creating a safe space to discuss fibroids, its impact on women and solutions.

We’ll have a panel of esteemed speakers covering various aspects of fibroids, a wellness market featuring St Kitts’ leading health, wellbeing and wellness brands, fantastic raffle prizes, free health checks, food and more!

Confirmed Speakers

Confirmed speakers include:

• Dr Hazel Laws, Chief Medical Officer, St Kitts – Fibroids and Women’s Health in St Kitts
• Dr Deborah Williams, Professor of Pathology – What Are Fibroids?
• Dr Lescott,  Medical Doctor – Fibroids and Nutrition
• Dr Pereira, Clinical Psychologist –  Living well with fibroids and chronic illness
• Dr Lawrence, Medical Doctor – The treatment of fibroids

Confirmed Vendors

We have some great organisations taking part in our Wellness Market. You can treat yourself to a range of products all aimed at improving your wellbeing.

Some of our confirmed vendors include:

Mother Becky Bush Tea – Mother Becky Bush Tea is named after owner Jermine Mike’s great grandmother who lived to be close to 100 years of age. Recognized as the matriarch of her community, Mother Becky hailed from a generation which drank bush tea daily. The Mother Becky Bush Tea brand aims to honor and revitalize the bush tea tradition of St. Kitts & Nevis and offer an authentic product to visitors and residents alike.

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Sugar Town Organics – Sugar Town Organics is a natural products manufacturer and distributor that offers high end botanical beauty (Yaphene) and wellness (Flauriel) products featuring the finest natural Caribbean materials. With a commitment to ethical manufacturing and promoting environmental sustainability, good health and wellness, the firm is family-owned and employs all-natural methods that celebrate the host of rich ingredients plentiful throughout the region.

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Pure Niceness by Winnielle – HANDCRAFTED on the island of St. Kitts amidst the natural wonders of the West Indian land, using all – natural, effective, aromatic, superior ingredients, sourced from the gifts of mother nature🍃and handmade with love and pure good vibes by island girl Winnielle. Her brand of hair and skin care promotes self-love, self-care, good vibes and a wellness lifestyle. SHOP Made in St. Kitts – Nevis, Shop Small… Experience Pure Niceness!

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Love the Skin You Wear – Love the Skin You Wear offers a range of services designed to help you relax and focus on your total wellness, these include massages and facials. They also sell natural handmade hair and body products.

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Prices

Join us this International Women’s Month on 30th March for this empowering and informative women’s health event.

Early bird tickets are just $30EC  for a regular ticket and $20EC for students.

You can book your place below and then pay at the event. Early bird tickets are available until 15th March 2019 so if you register before this date you’ll secure the early bird price, registrations after this date will be $35EC.

Registration Form

The information provided in the form below will enable us to contact you about the event regarding updates and important information.

No Fields Found.

We look forward to seeing you on 30th March and if you have any questions, please email  us or call 668 1518.

Lake Health and Wellbeing is  happy to support Dafina Malovska’s campaign calling on the UK’s Department of Health to introduce annual gynaecological check-ups for every woman in the UK. We believe a policy like this will save many lives by enabling the early diagnosis of gynaecological cancers that have no screening programmes – ovarian, womb, vulval and vaginal cancers.

Also, annual check-ups can assist in the early diagnosis of a range of conditions that significantly affect women’s quality of life, such as fibroids and endometriosis.

You can show your support by signing Dafina’s petition here and please read the article below to find out more about this issue.

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At the age of 35, Dafina Malovska was diagnosed with stage 2 womb cancer which had spread to her ovaries. Her only option, at the time, was to have a total hysterectomy (the removal of her womb and both ovaries) which sadly deprived her of having her own children and plunged her into an immediate surgical menopause.

Dafina was lucky that her cancer was diagnosed at a fairly early stage and she survived, but many women are not so lucky and are diagnosed at a late stage when it is too late for successful treatment.  The late diagnosis of these gynaecological cancers occur, in part, because there is no screening programme for most of these cancers.

Currently in the UK cervical cancer is the only gynaecological cancer with a screening programme and this has successfully reduced the incidence and mortality rates for cervical cancer.

Developing a cancer screening test is challenging and researchers across the world are working tirelessly to develop screening tests for those cancers that require one.  Until then, when it comes to womb, ovarian, vulval and vaginal cancers, women have to be aware of the signs and symptoms, but this can be problematic as it can be hard to identify symptoms as the symptoms of these types of cancers are similar to a range of other conditions which can lead to misdiagnosis.

For example, in February 2014, before Dafina was diagnosed with womb cancer she started experiencing extreme bloating and visited her doctor almost monthly. Eventually her symptoms were wrongly attributed to gluten-related bloating and by November of that year Dafina became very unwell while abroad and it was subsequently discovered that she had 14cm tumour weighing 500g .

If Dafina had access to an annual gynaecological check-up her tumour could have been discovered earlier before it had spread to her ovaries.

In many countries throughout the world, girls and women have annual gynaecological examinations and it’s important that the UK explores this approach as its survival rates for gynaecological cancers such as ovarian cancer are significantly lower than other countries’ rates.

Change is needed and you can make a difference by signing Dafina’s petition which appeals to the Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock MP, and the Minister for Women and Equality, Penny Mordaunt, to explore the introduction of annual gynaecological check-ups for women in the UK.

The first target for this petition is 10,000 signatures and her ultimate target is 100,000.  So far, Dafina has been able to secure 3,723 signatures. When her target is achieved, her petition will be presented to Matt Hancock and Penny Mordaunt.

Dafina would be very grateful if you could please sign, share and spread the word and for more information, you can follow her campaign on Instagram

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).

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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

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.

CARE About Fibroids is a Washington, DC-based non-profit whose mission is to elevate uterine fibroids as a women’s health issue and drive change. Bringing together many of US’s most respected women’s health advocacy and policy-focused organizations to advance solutions, CARE About Fibroids is a catalyst for increased awareness, research and education about uterine fibroids, leading to earlier diagnosis and improved treatment.

As part of their mission to raise awareness of fibroids, they recently published a white paper entitled: ‘Uterine Fibroids: A Report on the Condition and its Impact on Women in the U.S. Their white paper provides some good background information on what fibroids are, how they are diagnosed and treatment options. They also discuss the challenges that women encounter with respect to diagnosis and the health system. As part of their discussion on the diagnosis challenges it was useful that the authors included a section exploring what is normal with regards to menstrual cycle. The confusion around this question means that many women are unable to recognise the symptoms of fibroids because they see their symptoms as being a normal part of their menstrual cycle.

We were also happy to see that the mental health challenges were discussed in this report, as this is an area that is often overlooked, and were pleased to see that the importance of family awareness was highlighted.

This was an interesting report which can be downloaded below.

On 27th October 2018, we hosted the first webinar in our fibroids self-care webinar series, Fibroids, Diet and Hormones. If you missed this webinar, we’re happy to say that the recording is now available.

In this first webinar we were delighted to have guest speaker, Le’Nise Brothers who is a Registered Nutritional Therapist and the Founder of Eat Love Move.  Le’Nise delivered a comprehensive, in-depth, informative presentation which you can download here. This 1-hour presentation includes:

• An introduction to fibroids including the types of fibroids, symptoms, risk factors and how fibroids are diagnosed as well as advice on getting the most out of your doctor’s appointment
• The causes of the continual growth of fibroids
• Balancing your hormones as an effective way of managing fibroids
• How you can take control and balance your hormones through diet and nutrition, lifestyle changes, physical support, stress management and emotional support

This is an excellent, empowering webinar that provides practical information that you can easily apply to your day-to-day routine to alleviate your symptoms and  successfully manage fibroids.

How to Access the Recording

To purchase and download this webinar, please do the following:

1.  Visit the webinar product page here
2. Click ‘Add to cart’
3. Follow all the instructions
4. Once you click ‘Place order’ you will have unlimited download access to the webinar.
5. After you make payment ($15), you simply click the blue button under “Download” and you’ll be taken to DropBox where you can watch the recording directly or you can click ‘Download’ at the top right of the screen to save the file to your computer or your DropBox to watch later.

If you have any problems downloading the recording, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us by email events@lakehealthandwellbeing.com 

What  Attendees Had to Say About this Session

“I enjoyed the webinar today. Learned a lot. Thank you Le’nise for sharing your wisdom, it was very informative.”

“Great Webinar. Thanks very much Le’Nise and Abi.”

“This was a great webinar!”

“I didn’t want it to end!”

Upcoming Webinar

You may also be interested in the next webinar in our series which is on fibroids treatment. We’re delighted to have Consultant Gynaecologist, Apryll Chase, discussing all the treatment options for fibroids, their pros and cons and how to make the sometimes difficult decision of selecting the best treatment for you. You can find out more about this webinar here

Further Information

If you’d like more information or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send us an email, we’d love to hear from you.

We are so pleased to let you know that registration for the second seminar in our Fibroids Self-Care Webinar Series is now open!

This second webinar will focus on treatment with the topic being ‘Deciding on the best treatment for you’ and  will be held on Saturday 1st December from 11am -1pm AST (that’s 3pm-5pm GMT or  10am-12pm US Eastern Time).

In this second webinar we are delighted to have as a guest speaker award-winning Consultant Gynaecologist Apryll Chase who will take participants through the treatment options for fibroids, the pros and cons of each treatment and how to make the sometimes difficult decision of selecting the best treatment for you.

Discounted Early Bird Tickets Are Now Available

Early bird tickets for this webinar are now available and are just $10 (about £8) and you can book your tickets on our website here

We Have A Special Giveaway Just For You

We’re pleased to let you know that all those who register for this webinar will be entered into a giveaway and one lucky person will win a copy of the book ‘Flow Fighter – How I Kicked My Fibroids and Heavy Periods to the Curb’ by Holly Bridges.

There is more!  We’re happy to say that all registered attendees will be eligible for a 20% discount when they order hair or body products from  Almocado and will also receive a  free shipping code from  Afrocenchix on any orders of over £20.

Other Webinars in this Series

Other webinars in the series will include:

Session 3: The Importance of Exercise, Relaxation and Me-Time, Candice Bryan, Founder and CEO, Noire Wellness, 23rd February 2019

Session 4: Hair and Body Care for Women With Fibroids, Rachael and Jocelyn, Founders of Afrocenchix, April 2019 (To be confirmed)

Session 5: Dealing with the Emotional Impact of Fibroids, Olivia Haltman, Founder, OH Services, June 2019

Session 6: Our Fibroids Stories – A Time to Share, August 2019

More Information 

We hope that you’ll join us on 1st Decemeber 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

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