In recent times I have had a few health issues, with the last being a Breast Cancer Diagnosis just a few days before Christmas 2022. A shock but very lucky that it has been caught early and with surgery and treatment I am on mend. It is a reminder for myself and others a few things

1 - Women should be going and getting a Mammogram from the age of 40 for free from Breast Screen Victoria ( Home » My BreastScreen) . There is alot of advertising suggesting from the age of 50 is when us Women should be going. From my experience being under 50 and diagnosed and many conversations with other people who have told me of other women they have known in their 40’s, I believe that the conversation should be moved.

2 - Listen to your body. Breast Cancer for me was a slap in the face after a couple of major health issues, to say that my body is trying to tell me something. Although being single and self employed, this has not been any easy decision to make, as although I require the earnings, my health has to be my priority and massage is a physical job and the last few years with the challenges of this industry since Covid with this added stress have also contributed. As a result of this clients will have noticed that I am now doing massage 3 days a week and these details are provided under my opening times. I will be looking for something less physical to work on the other days. From my research since I have been thrust into this new world it is becoming a more common for people to work in what they call a Portfolio Career.

3 - Being Unwell is costly. Due to NOT wanting to wait for 5 weeks to remove my cancer (If I went public), I had to go down the private surgery road, whereas has put me under a lot of financial pressure and continues to with the ongoing appointments and also other smaller but also important health issues that you have to deal with and go to see Doctors to be able to deal with them.

4. And one last one is to have empathy and understanding for those around you, as you don’t know what they are going through. I am sure now that I have been going through my Breast Cancer journey that I will have more to say around this and what, how