Don't Do This to Yourself!

Women, women, women, don't do this to yourself, your bodies. Don't put off taking care of things that bother your bodies until finish the last chore in the house. Don't put everybody else's needs before your needs, at least the medical ones. That pain in the tummy that hurts you, that out of the cycle blood clots that surprised you, that lump in the breast which bothers you - don't ignore any of these. These are symptoms that your body gives to tell you that things are not fine. Your body deserves proper medical care at the right time and if you don't do it, nobody else will!

Juggling with the numerous roles of a career woman, wife, mother, care giver, women tend to ignore or at least procrastinate taking care of their own health issues until the last possible moment. This is more so if the affected parts are female body parts like breast, uterus, ovaries etc. Even educated women associate a certain sense of shame regarding these parts and avoid discussing these outside close female family members even for health issues. All kinds of home remedies are tried and going to a doctor is considered only in case of an emergency. In the case of cancer, delay means death. These kinds of attitudes and social systems cause a lot of delay before the patient gets medical attention and by then it would be too late.

In the case of women, today many simple, non-invasive screening tests like mammogram, pap smear test, etc for different types of cancer are available. These screening tests allow us to detect cancer in its very early stages and get appropriate treatment. In some western countries, doctors advise women to take these screen tests as a part of their routine medical checkups and that helps in detecting, treating and curing various cancers. These tests are available here and are relatively affordable too and it is time we also started making use of these. Early detection is a very important step towards success in the treatment of cancer and hence such tests become all the more important. 

Resolve today to take a better care of your bodies and not to delay seeking medical help in case need arises.