I competed in a charity Crossfit competition this past week called "Barbells For Boobs", a non-profit organization who provides funding to breast centers globally through their Mammograms in Action ® Grant Program as a "last resort" resource for thousands of people who do not qualify for government funding or other charitable resources in the detection of breast cancer.
My workout a partner and I took home first place for the best costume, I was "Dr. WOD" and she was "Nurse No-Rep" (insert pic here) and we didn't do too badly on the work out either.
The "Barbell For Boobs" story, which was told at the beginning of the day along with our movement standards, got my head shaking in a confirmatory YES way and brought me to tears. Sara, the woman who started this charity explained that her best friend at the age of 26 presented to a breast clinic because she had little funds but had noticed a lump on her breast. The clinic sent her away and told her to come back when she was 40 years old because that is when you have your first mammogram.
Sure enough, this young lady was soon diagnosed with breast cancer within weeks. Sara wanted to help her friend raise money for her treatment so she turned to her Crossfit community and they threw a fund raising event at a local Crossfit affiliate gym. They raised over 4,000 dollars and Sara happily presented it to her friend. Her friend said, "thanks but I don't want it. What I want is for anyone at any age to have access to early detection and treatment of breast cancer"!
With that, the first "Barbells For Boobs" was born.
When it comes to medicine, our modern day insults of chronic stress and environmental toxins, NOTHING IS TEXTBOOK. Too many patients have presented to my clinic after being dismissed by another practitioner because they didn't fit the "textbook" presentation of the disease. They were too young, too old, too small, too healthy or the wrong gender.
The best textbook you have when it comes to detecting something that is wrong with your body is YOU AND YOUR BODY. Stay awake to the signs, pay attention and know your body is always communicating with you. That is what I believe symptoms are; little tugs and whispers that something needs attention.
Be gentle and trust~
Dr. Holly
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