Surviving breast cancer doesn't negate the importance of ongoing cancer screenings.

In recognition of National Cancer Awareness Month, and inspired by a personal encounter with a recent diagnosis, this episode aims to debunk myths and present facts essential for your and your loved ones' well-being.

Are annual goals becoming elusive? You're not alone. Tune in for a game-changing strategy that could refine and amplify your path to achieving aspirations and reshaping your life.

Resources for Episode 35:

Websites:
One word action plan
National Cervical Cancer Coalition

Books:

Read the full transcript:

0:01
This is Laura Lummer, the breast cancer recovery coach. I'm a healthy lifestyle coach, a clinical Ayurveda specialist, a personal trainer, and I'm also a breast cancer survivor. In this podcast, we talk about healthy thinking and mindfulness practices, eating well, moving your body for health and longevity. And we'll also hear from other breast cancer survivors who have reengaged with life, and have incredible stories to share. This podcast is your go to resource for getting back to life after breast cancer.

0:38
Welcome to Episode 35 of the breast cancer recovery coach. I am Laura Lummer. And I want to thank you for listening into today's show, caring for yourself through screening and finding your word. I want to start off by acknowledging that February is National Cancer Awareness Month. And I feel like it's very important for us to elevate cancer awareness, especially with respect to screening. Now I know that I personally have experienced and I'm betting that you have two times where there's something that feels out of whack that you're so damn sick of doctor's appointments, that you just say, Fine, I'll deal with it later. Or it's a screening that you hate to do. So you avoid it like mammograms and pap smears. You know, those are never fun. But we know fully well how critical early detection is to our survival. And one of the reasons that I bring this up on this show is because last month, January, cancer struck my family. For the third time my youngest sister was diagnosed with cervical cancer, and now it looks like it's actually uterine cancer. It was diagnosed thankfully during a routine Pap smear, and pap smears are typically done to screen for cervical cancer. However, in my sister's case, in which was very, very fortunate, some cells sloughing off from the uterus into the cervix, and were detected there during the Pap smear and this can happen and sometimes that is how uterine cancer is discovered. Now there is a myth that I would like to dispel that women don't need to have pap smears if you're past childbearing years, and this is a pretty common belief. But according to the National Cervical Cancer Coalition, one in four cases of cervical cancer and 41% of deaths occur in women aged 65 and older. It's only if you're over 70 years old, and you've had three consecutive normal pap smears and no abnormal pap smears. In the last 10 years, that it's actually considered safe for you to stop this diagnostic that we all hate. Who doesn't hate pap smears, but Cervical cancer is very preventable. And if caught early, it's one of the most curable cancers for women. There are also a lot of myths and misunderstandings around cervical cancer, I'd like to clear up a couple of those really important ones, by sharing some more information from the National Cervical Cancer Coalition with you because even if we're past that time of needing to have a pap smear. There's a lot of other women in our lives, you know, daughters and sisters and nieces. And we want to make sure that we're taking care of all those people we love. So let's talk about prevention for a moment. One way to prevent cervical cancer is through getting an HPV vaccination. And according to the National Cervical Cancer Coalition, nearly 13,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, the CDC recommends that all boys and girls get the HPV vaccine at the age of 11, or 12. And the vaccine produces a stronger immune response when it's taken during these preteen years. So for this reason, up until age 14, only two doses of the vaccine are required. The vaccine is available for males and females through the age of 45. I had no idea. And for those 15 or older, you need to get three doses in that series. So another way of screening is by getting regular pap smears. So especially if you have HPV, it's important to have regular and sometimes frequent pap smears, so that the cellular changes can be caught as early as possible. Now a PAP can find cell changes to the cervix caused by HPV and PAP and HPV tests either alone or in combination are recommended for all women over the age of 30. So please ask your physician how often you should be screened. And be certain that the other women in your lives are aware of both the vaccine and the screening tests and that you take advantage of them. If you're a woman without insurance, contact the National Cervical Cancer Coalition and let them know that you need help finding resources and that you need to be To properly cared for, because we don't want to lose any more loved ones to this very preventable and curable disease, HPV, the virus that causes or can cause not doesn't always cause, but it can cause cervical cancer. It can be dormant in your body for years. In fact, the National Cervical Cancer Coalition says that the virus can remain in the body for weeks, years, or even a lifetime, giving no sign of its presence and get this current estimates because you may be saying the grand rounds have HPV I don't have to worry about that. Current estimates are that 75 to 80% Of all people, all people, not just women, all people will be infected with HPV at some point in their lives. So even if you've been in a monogamous relationship for a year for 15 years, or you're a homosexual, female, it's important that you continue to get the screening, and you speak to your gynecologist about what your screening schedule is important or necessary for you. Let's please work together to put an end to this type of cancer diagnosis. All right, changing gears. If you're a regular listener to this show, then you probably notice that this is the first show I've done in the last three months. And I want to just take a moment and say thank you so much to everyone who has reached out to me asking about the podcast checking on me, I received so much love and so many heartfelt compliments that I'm really more inspired than ever to continue with the show. But the reason for my absence was had nothing to do with not wanting to do the podcast, I really just needed to take a step back in order to be able to move forward with my health coaching business. So over the past three months, my husband and I have sold our home moved help two of our kids move, one of my sons graduated from college. And of course, we have the holidays all peppered in there too. But as far as for my goals, and as far as that was concerned, I've been working on a very big project to redesign my website, so that can be more effective at delivering coaching programs and reaching out to survivors. And because my plate was so full, and there were so many important things happening at the same time, I really had to evaluate and let go of what was not having a direct impact on getting this project complete. So I never had intention of giving up the podcast, please know that. And I just knew that I had to go on hiatus for a little while, or I would never have the time that I needed to be focused on what needs to be done for my business. So the reason that I'm sharing that also, is because it ties in really nicely with today's topic. And that is using one word to change your life. I believe that a very important part of healing from breast cancer is moving forward and creating the life that you truly desire. And I'm talking about more than just physical healing. I'm talking about that feeling good, happy, satisfied with life, which is very different than feeling complacent in life. If you don't know the difference, email me, we'll talk. So the reason that I believe this is important is that having cancer really pushes us in front of this mirror of Self Realization. Maybe we're ready for it. But too bad, we have to stand there. And we have to say, crap. I mean, I could have lost this life. And I haven't even finished living it yet. Maybe I haven't even started living it yet. Now just been putting everything aside, waiting for a certain day. And then I would start following my dream. So in my experience, I work with a lot of women. And when I see them come out of cancer treatment, I would say I see generally three types of mentalities and this can be newly out of cancer treatment it can be in and it can be sometimes out of treatment for many years. And so I'm going to talk about the stages that I see and know that I say them without judgment. It's not to be critical. It's an observation of stages that we go through. And sometimes we get stuck in. And I think we also move through these stages as we move through dealing with diagnosis, treatment and getting back to life. You know, it's a process. So one of the stages that I see are the wounded women. When you're in the stage, you feel like you've been done wrong by this disease. Maybe by life. You're sad, you're scared, you're oftentimes angry that cancer picked you. You feel victimized and bitter, because you think you did everything right. Not just with food and activity, but you were a good person. And this is unfair, and things like this shouldn't happen to good people. I hear that. And that's especially true if you don't have a strong support system. Or if you work outside the home and your employer didn't take good care of you. I see a lot of women who are very devastated by this by the dedication they give to an employee and then When an illness strikes and they need support, it's just not there. This often leaves them feeling victimized sad. And it's very, very easy to get stuck here in fear and depression and anger.

10:12
Another stage that I see another mentality, I call the deniers, this is when you do not want to deal with this crap, you feel like this should not have happened to you. You want it out, so you can put it behind you and move on. You don't want to talk about it or think about it significance work, consider what may have contributed to this occurrence. And it's like taking the walk of shame, right? You just want to get the hell out of there and never look back. And then a third stage that I see are the transformers. This is when you're looking at your life and you say whoa, like wtf is going on here? What is right in my life? What is wrong? What can I learn from this experience? What am I doing that I don't want to be doing? And what am I not doing that I really do want to be doing? This is a stage where you say to yourself, I'm going to spend more time with my spouse, my partner, my kids, my friends, I'm going to travel, I'm going to be more open, more intimate to those that I care about. I'm going to give back more to my family to community, develop my spirituality, give back to the world, whatever it is, that's your thing. It differs for everybody. And maybe you can relate to one of these stages. Or maybe you're somewhere in the middle of them. But don't get caught in thinking that one stage is better than another. They're just different. They're different states of being all of them are places that we can go through, that we can get stuck in. Because it's tough to do the internal work we need to do to move forward sometimes. So here we are at the start of a new year. It's a time when many people establish goals, or maybe rededicate themselves to a goal that's been pending for years. We know how that is. And now it's February, which is the month that statistics tell us 80% of people have given up on the goal they said at the beginning of the year. So I didn't plan the show for February by accident. I planned it in the hopes of reigniting your inspiration to create the life you want this year. No matter where you are, no matter where you're starting from. I hope the tip I'm going to give you will give you that support that you need little reinvigoration halfway into the second month of the year. So we're all familiar with short and long term goals, as well as goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant time bound SMART goals, right. And although these are great and proven techniques for achieving goals, if 8% of us have given up after six to eight weeks, maybe some of us need a bit of a new strategy. Well, a friend of mine sent me a blog post that talked about using just one word to focus on for the entire year. And I thought that was pretty intriguing. I'm a big fan of simplicity. And the older I get. And the more I have going on, the more simple I like to keep things. So I looked into this concept a little more. And I read this book called one word that will change your life by John Gordon, Dan Britton and Jimmy Page. And the concept made a lot of sense to me. So I went through the process or a version of the process. And I'm going to share that with you today. So first, I'm going to tell you a little story about how three words had a really big impact on my life at one point, and why that kind of set the stage for me to be open to this whole one word concept. So a few years ago, I was reading an article in the Yoga Journal by Claire Candela Holt, she's the founder of financial safety space. And I was so impressed with her approach to financial management and the way that she viewed money as an energetic force in life. And she thought that we need to get aligned with that force. And I loved the way that she approached that so much. I literally hunted her down from finding her Yoga Journal. And I ended up working with her for a few months to improve my own relationship with money. Now, Claire had a successful career on Wall Street. And when she discovered yoga, she thought that it was this perfect complement to financial management, which I would have never thought. But one of the concepts that she taught me and I think this had the most impact was how important it is to know your core values in life. And then make sure that you use your money to serve those values. So one of the exercises she had me do was to write three words at the top of my budget, I use Excel for my budgeting, the three most important values in my life. And as I managed my budget, those three words are always at the top of the page. So they're always at top of mind and my focus for where my money was going. So for example, one of my core values is family and the I would like money to serve that value is by creating more freedom for me to spend time with family, and more resources for me to support my family whenever it's needed. So what this helped me do is to keep my core value top of mind. So for instance, when the Starbucks app sent out a notification that it was doublestar, a, instead of me say, oh, yeah, latte sounds really great right now. I would think about it and ask myself, if I choose to put my money here into this latte? Is it serving my core value of having more time and resources for my family? And if not, which, of course it didn't, I decided to delete the app, so that the notifications and the convenience of it were no longer temptations for my money. So you see what I'm saying, choosing that one word doesn't negate the other work and planning you do, I still managed my budget, it just keeps your value top of mind. So you choose to do something or not to do something. It's a choice, not between deprivation or reward, but a decision of taking or not taking an action that aligns with your core value. It's conscious living. So let's look at this in terms of wellness and of creating your healthiest life, I do want to let you know that the authors of one word, have a free downloadable action plan available on their website. And I'll post a link to that in this episode's show notes. And know that this is a very kind of faith based book. And so I know some people love that and some people are turned off by that. But the concepts in it are really cool. So you know, put your own belief system plug in the words that you need in order for it to feel comfortable with for you, but look into it. It's really cool action plan. In this plan, there are three questions. This just part of the plan. It goes in deeper than this. But there's three questions. What do I need, what's in my way, and what has to go. So let's say that you feel like you identify with the wounded stage that I talked about in a minute ago. But you're tired of feeling angry, or fearful or resentful that you had to deal with cancer. And let's just back up for a minute and say that part of this process, obviously, is that you're ready or seeking change, right? So in this situation, let's ask those three questions. What do you need, maybe in that situation, you need more laughter, or more lightness, and what's in your way, this might be a lot of things. But a few that I see commonly are fearful thought patterns, or even obsessions with thinking about cancer, what has to go, maybe it's conversations with other people about cancer, maybe you're not emotionally ready for that at this point, where it just takes a lot out of you or puts a lot of fear into you. Or maybe it's researching cancer statistics on the internet. I see a lot of women struggle with this and becomes almost an obsession. So that kind of has to go. If you're going to move forward, you have to let go of that obsession, which brings around this negative and fearful thought pattern. Maybe you need to focus your attention on mindfulness practices, or books or podcasts about healing and positive thought processes. So perhaps you choose joy as your word. And then anyone you hang out with, or anything you do, and everything you plan, you ask yourself, will this help to bring more joy into my life? Now you can certainly plan goals around that word, such as reading two self improvement books a month, putting together an updated resume, finding a new job, if it's a job, that's not bringing you joy. But you just make sure that all of your goals tie into getting more of or closer to that word, closer to having more joy in your life. What about deniers? Well, obviously this is a bit of a challenge, because you're in denial, right? And I'm pretty sure that every one of us has experienced some situation in life where we were living in denial. I know I certainly have. But I will say, even when you are in denial, you know, there's the nagging something happening inside of you that's letting you know, hey, you're gonna have to look at this for what it is at some point in your life. We know something's not right when we're in denial. And part of the process of self improvement, goal setting healing, is that we're getting to that point where we're able to just see things as they are. And it's only from that point that we're going to grow. So if you're in denial, what do you need? You need to see things as they are. You need to come to terms with your feelings and with this experience, what might be in the way. It could be things like fear, distractions, relationships with other people who are also in denial and unable to process the experience you've had and that they've had to I mean, cancers and experience our loved ones also go through What do we have to let go of? Well, resistance, you have to let go of the denial that you're in, and maybe even anger. So it can be all sorts of things. These are just ideas. A good word to support you in growth from this stage might be acceptance, or even fearless.

20:18
So what if you're in the transformation stage? Sometimes I think that this can be even the most challenging stage, because you have a passion for something burning inside of you. And oftentimes, you have no idea of how to even take the first step towards that passion. I remember when I made the decision to focus my health coaching practice on breast cancer survivors, it felt so right. And I was an I still in very passionate about doing it and building my business. And I knew that I wanted it to be an online practice, because it's a part of serving my core value of having time for my family. I didn't want to be committed to a brick and mortar practice. But holy cow, is there a lot to learn about everything that goes into creating a virtual business. So each year, I would set my sights on one aspect of what I needed to learn to develop things in the way I wanted them to develop. And then I would seek it out. And at first, it was clarity. And then it was technology. And then it was marketing through technology. And I found a coach each step of the way. So I would say that I chose guidance as a word for that. And I think that when you're in that transformation stage, what you need is going to be different for everybody. What is that passion? What's in the way oftentimes can be lots of distractions, time constraints, social media can be a huge distraction. Because when you need to sit down and spend time writing content, recording videos, that type of thing. And someone calls and says, Hey, do you want to go out to lunch, or you get a notification that pops up on your phone, that someone just tagged you on Instagram, all of these distractions can get in the way and you know what they have to go notifications have to go, they have to be shut off. If you're going to focus on something else and move forward. Set aside time for checking social media set aside time for checking email, but turn off those distracting notifications. So maybe you picked the most common new year's goal, which is weight loss. I wanted to address this one because I know it's a big one for everybody, but especially for women. And I know that oftentimes weight gain is very common now in breast cancer treatment. So let's ask yourself, what do you need? Maybe it's time to prepare healthy food. Or maybe it's guidance on how to prepare healthy food. What's in your way, again, social media could be in your way, it could be a big distraction. disorganization, time management, or access to junk food could be anywhere access to just unhealthy food, what has to go bringing unhealthy food into the house, making plans during the time that you've set aside for your food prep, or even just starting your week without a nutrition plan in place. So a good word for a plan like this or a goal like this could be intention. So rather than asking yourself how many calories or in something you're about to eat, you could ask yourself, are you being intentional about the choice that you're making? And does this choice serve you in the best possible way? Using one word in this way also supports the practice of self compassion. Because once again, you're not focused on what you can't do. Instead, you're asking yourself, Is this serving me? Is this helping me to be the best person I can be living the healthiest life that I can live? It's so much easier to make good decisions for yourself when you're allowing the flow of positive things that are supporting your growth, rather than resisting the things that you think you shouldn't be doing or eating or thinking. I'd like to share an excerpt from the Mindful self compassion workbook by Kristin Neff. This excerpt was published in February's issue of mindful magazine. And it says self compassion motivates us to reach our goals, not because we're inadequate as we are, but because we care about ourselves and want to reach our full potential. Mindfulness and self compassion are resources that give us the safety needed to meet difficult experience with less resistance. Just imagine how you would feel if you were overwhelmed and a friend walked into the room, gave you a hug, sat down beside you listened to your distress and then helped you work out a plan of action. Thankfully, that mindful and compassionate trend can be you. It begins by opening to what is without resistance And a quote. I love this because it tells us that self improvement isn't because you're not good enough. But that because we want to reach a little higher. And secondly, you don't have to beat yourself up for anything ever. Because you can be your own, most compassionate best friend. Remember everything. Everything will have setbacks. It's not even realistic to think that you've set a goal and there won't be a setback. So the best approach is to have a plan for setbacks. No matter what it is you're trying to overcome, or trying to achieve. Have a Plan B, ask yourself, when this gets tough, or when I lose sight of what I really want, what will I do to get back on track? Will I forgive myself and chalk it up to learning? Will I call someone who I know who listen without judgment and be supportive of my end goal, like journaling about it and give it another shot? Whatever it is, just know that it's part of the process. And don't let it be a beat myself up, tell myself I'm a failure or throw in the towel. Okay? It's a process, keep moving forward towards those things that are most important to you. So if you are in the 80% of people who gave up on their 2019 aspirations, or you're just hanging on by your fingertip, don't be so hard on yourself. Just adjust the lens that you're looking at your goal with and allow it serves you to flow rather than resist what is in the hopes that that resistance will make a change. Okay. It's great to be back with you. And I want to thank all of you again, so much who reached out to me over the past several weeks. I love doing this podcast, and I'm so glad to be in the wrap up stage of my website project. I'm super excited to be releasing all the new content that's coming for you. So get out there, own this year, find your word and be good to yourself. And I'll talk to you again in two weeks. Until then, remember to let your lifestyle be your medicine. You've proved your courage

27:07
to the test laid all your doubts. Your mind is clearer than before your heart is wanting more your futures Give it all you know you've been waiting on

27:36
this