Hearing the words, “you have stage 3 cancer,” during the first trimester of my first pregnancy at 26 years old completely shifted my entire life. I thought I lived an extremely healthy life and I looked “healthy”. How did I have cancer? From the moment I heard the word “Cancer” I went into complete shock and disbelief. I had a few options: Surgery without anesthetic (due to the pregnancy), Chemotherapy and most likely lose the baby, or wait it out and hope it doesn’t spread to the baby and take over my body and get worse. These are very scary options no matter how old you are or who you are. I knew the right choice was surgery. My life would never be the same once I experienced the pain of surgery along with 50 stitches without anesthetic. However, I will always be thankful that the cancer was removed and the experience stirred a strong passion and desire within me to pursue what building health in my body really means. [Read more…]