By the time I was 23, I had lost my maternal grandmother, my mother, and my maternal aunt to cancer. I was the next oldest in line. I lived, worked, and played hard. I knew that my time was limited as none of my direct maternal relatives had lived past 45.
Imagine my surprise when I awoke one morning and realized I was 47. Now what? I had to grow up quickly, settle down, start saving for retirement, and take better care of myself.
I had regular mammograms since I was 35, I was always a walker, I got a dog, I kept my stress levels as low as possible, and I focused on eating healthy foods. Every opportunity, I joined research groups; one for bone density, and one for cancer generations study.
At the back of my mind, I knew the clock was ticking but I always felt that if I had inherited cancer it would have appeared before I turned 60.
Several months before my 70th birthday, my body started talking to me. I declined offers for adventures, shopping trips, dinners out, and spent hours resting and napping with no apparent cause for my exhaustion. Thinking back, I might have already been struggling with low iron levels. I was never a huge red meat eater but my diet was otherwise very healthy. The past year I had been focused on reducing my cholesterol and making sure my calcium levels were strong. I will return to iron levels on a later post.
As a child I had a severe concussion, which, as you do, I put it out of my thoughts. Then two years ago I fell and hit my head and did a turtle crunch into my shoulders. It took me months to be able to multi task and function normally. Closer to my 70th birthday, I managed to hit the top of my head again on the protruding corner of a metal cabinet. I think the carelessness that caused this incident was related to my overall declining health.
Next up was a regularly scheduled mammogram on March 6, 2019.
Imagine my surprise when I awoke one morning and realized I was 47. Now what? I had to grow up quickly, settle down, start saving for retirement, and take better care of myself.
I had regular mammograms since I was 35, I was always a walker, I got a dog, I kept my stress levels as low as possible, and I focused on eating healthy foods. Every opportunity, I joined research groups; one for bone density, and one for cancer generations study.
At the back of my mind, I knew the clock was ticking but I always felt that if I had inherited cancer it would have appeared before I turned 60.
Several months before my 70th birthday, my body started talking to me. I declined offers for adventures, shopping trips, dinners out, and spent hours resting and napping with no apparent cause for my exhaustion. Thinking back, I might have already been struggling with low iron levels. I was never a huge red meat eater but my diet was otherwise very healthy. The past year I had been focused on reducing my cholesterol and making sure my calcium levels were strong. I will return to iron levels on a later post.
As a child I had a severe concussion, which, as you do, I put it out of my thoughts. Then two years ago I fell and hit my head and did a turtle crunch into my shoulders. It took me months to be able to multi task and function normally. Closer to my 70th birthday, I managed to hit the top of my head again on the protruding corner of a metal cabinet. I think the carelessness that caused this incident was related to my overall declining health.
Next up was a regularly scheduled mammogram on March 6, 2019.
Thanks for sharing l think it helps anyone who reads thus. Big hugs stay strong
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