Are You Taking Care Of Yourself?

These days women try hard to be able to do it all.
We work, take care of our homes, families and a
whole list of other things. With all that we do
we usually do not listen to our bodies when it is
trying to tell us something. If we feel a little
pain here or there we just suck it up and keep
going because there are so many that depend on
us and there are so many things that as women
we feel we must take care of. But the bottom
line is that we have to take care of ourselves
because no one else will.
It is a frightening reality that many of us do
not take that preventative measure to keep our-
selves healthy and in the end we pay a high price.
I am writing this today because it has been just
a little over two months that I lost my best
friend to cancer and this morning like all
mornings I was thinking of her and how we did
so many things together and now we can't.
It is important to take the time to listen
to what our bodies tell us so that we may be
able to be with our loved ones longer.
Cancer claims many lives each year and the
sad part is that most, if caught early,
can be cured. For example, cervical cancer.

Cevical cancer is one of the most preventable
types of cancer. Because of the Pap test, the
number of cervical cancer cases has dropped over the
past twenty or so years. Unfortunately a lot of
women still develop cervical cancer. It is a
fact that over 9,000 women in the U.S. develop
this cancer every year.
Although some cervical cancers can't be prevented,
there are still things that we can do to help
lower the risk of getting this cancer.
I found a list of 6 ways to help reduce your risk
of cervical cancer.

Much of what I'm writting is a direct quote from
an article from about.com. This site has an area
of information just about cancer. This is the
list I found there.

"1. Get a regular Pap smear. The Pap smear can be
greatest defenses for cervical cancer. The
Pap smear can detect cervical changes early
before they turn into cancer. Check with your
doctor to find out how often you should have
this done.

2. Limit the amount of sexual partners you have.
Studies have shown women who have many sexual
partners increase their risk for cervical cancer.
they also are increasing their risk of developing
HPV, a known cause for cervical cancer.

3. Quit smoking or avoid secondhand smoke. Smoking
cigarettes increases your risk of developing many
cancers, including cervical cancer. Smoking combined
with an HPV infection can actually accelerate cervical
dysplasia.

4. If you are sexually active, use a condom. Having
unprotected sex puts you at risk for HIV and other
STD's which can increase your risk factor for
developing cervical cancer.

5. Follow up on abnormal Pap smears. If you have had an
abnormal Pap smear, it is important to follow up with
regular exams or colposcopies or whatever you doctor
has decided for you. If you have been treated for
cervical dysplasia, you still need to follow up with
some sort of exam as dysplasia can return and if it
goes undetected it can turn into cervical cancer.

6. Get the HPV vaccine. If you are under 27, you may be
eligible to receive the HPV vaccine, which prevents
high risk strains of HPV in women. The vaccine, Gardasil,
was approved by the FDA to give to young girls as young
as 9. The vaccine is most efective when given to young
women before they become sexually active."

I hope that those of you who read this will take the time to
take care of yourselves. It is not just one more thing to do,
it's one thing we all should do.

Check out the site about.com for any questions you may have
about this subject. It is a site I highly recommend.

Take care and I'll type at you soon.