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Helen Makris was recovering from breast cancer when she suffered a ruptured colon, and diagnosed with fibroids and diverticulitis<\/p>\nHelen Makris, a senior marketing and partnerships manager, lives in Haywards Heath with her husband. She has a 29-year-old son and 18-year-old stepdaughter. She tells Victoria Young how a series of health battles prompted her to recalibrate her life \u2013 and work out how not to sweat the small stuff.<\/p>\n
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, aged 49, my friends all said, \u201cYou \u2013 of all people?\u201d because I\u2019d always considered myself very health-conscious: I exercised regularly, ate well and had a healthy BMI.<\/p>\n
It was a terrible shock. But as it turned out, it was also the start of a health journey that resulted in me living quite differently. I\u2019ve reflected since that maybe these things come along to make us stop and slow down.<\/p>\n
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I was diagnosed during an emotionally demanding period. Having gone through a divorce, I had remarried a few years earlier, and perimenopause was beginning, bringing with it disrupted sleep and some weight gain. I was made redundant in May 2019 and spent seven months searching for a job. Six months before my diagnosis, my mother had surgery for breast cancer followed by radiotherapy. And I had also been helping to look after my father, who was on dialysis. Covid hit and I was very concerned about my son, who had recently graduated. Looking back, there was a lot to juggle and I was most likely very stressed \u2013 but trying to take it all in my stride.<\/p>\n
I found the lump myself during a yoga session. Having had a cyst before, I actually assumed it would be another one, so I went on my own to the hospital appointment. I wasn\u2019t prepared when the doctor said they wanted to take a biopsy. I could tell from his reaction that he knew, and was really just confirming it in the lab.<\/p>\n
Of course there were tears on my side: everyone thinks cancer won\u2019t happen to them \u2013 until it does. But my husband pointed out the positives, reminding me that we found it relatively early and the lump was relatively small.<\/p>\n
Helen Makris was recovering from breast cancer when she suffered a ruptured colon, and diagnosed with fibroids and diverticulitis<\/p>\n
And it helped that my mother had been through it so recently because I knew what to expect when I had a lumpectomy, then radiotherapy. The staff were amazing but it was during the pandemic so I went through appointments, scans, blood tests, MRI and the surgery alone \u2013 my husband literally had to drop me at the hospital door \u2013 which was challenging. My husband was extremely positive, supportive, loving and very strong \u2013 my rock. And my sister, mother, son and stepdaughter were all there for me \u2013 visiting, bringing food and looking after me. That made it so much easier to recover.<\/p>\n
But there was more to come. One night, the following year, I woke up in the night with stomach pains so bad that I ended up passing out. The pain got steadily and increasingly worse and I ended up in A&E \u2013 it turned out that my colon had ruptured. I was given antibiotics, and diagnosed with diverticulitis; little pockets in the colon that can trap food. They also discovered a massive fibroid \u2013 which I didn\u2019t know I had and which was pressing on my bladder. That explained why I had been going to the loo a lot in the night \u2013 I had assumed it was just getting older. I was told I would need a hysterectomy, but had to recover first. <\/p>\n
I had 12 nights in hospital. I felt dreadful for months and lost about six kilos. Even walking a few steps was difficult at first. But rather than thinking, \u201cWhy me?\u201d I remember lying in bed thinking: I have to do what it takes to get my health under control.<\/p>\n
When I asked my doctors about nutrition I was told that diet makes no difference to diverticulitis. I refused to believe that. I became determined to do something to make me feel better in myself \u2013 to own my own health and know I was proactively doing something to take care of it all. I started to educate myself about diet and gut health. I started to tune in to how different foods made me feel. I cut out white rice, potatoes, pasta, sugars and dairy. I switched to sweet potatoes instead of potatoes, sourdough intead of white bread upped my fibre intake, aiming for 30 or more plants per week. <\/p>\n
Pre-cancer I was drinking a glass of wine a day on average. After my perforated colon I did not touch alcohol for months \u2013 even a sip tasted odd; my body was definitely saying no and now I aim to drink no more than three or four days a week. I took probiotics and added in natural kefir to increase my levels of good bacteria. I educated myself on anti-inflammatory nutrition and prioritised sleep.<\/p>\n
I made it my mission to prepare for the hysterectomy, which happened a year later, by getting as fit as I could so my heart was as strong as it could be and I\u2019d recover more quickly. As soon as I could, I started doing cardio a couple of times a week and lots of abdominal work, with Pilates every day and meditation apps.<\/p>\n
I used liposomal vitamin C, which is also anti-inflammatory, to help with physical healing. I feel it made a difference to my recovery: at the check-ups afterwards my consultant remarked on how quickly I had healed.<\/p>\n
It sounds strange to say but the recovery was almost an enjoyable process. It was a great excuse to take the rest that I needed, and spend time doing face masks and having slow starts to my day. I took naps and did a phased return to work. It is so easy to get swept into the speed of life but sometimes you need to just to stop. <\/p>\n
I feel like I have taken control of my own wellbeing and understand my body much more. I\u2019ve reintroduced some foods in small quantities and my body soon tells me if I have had enough. <\/p>\n
Last summer, I signed up to Healf, an at-home service where you send off a blood sample which is tested for 41 different biomarkers including kidney function, cholesterol and inflammation \u2013 which plays such a big part in so many health conditions. The markers show me if I am deficient in something which takes the guesswork away and means I am not taking unnecessary supplements.<\/p>\n
After breast cancer I couldn\u2019t take HRT so I had to find other ways to support energy and cognitive clarity. Creatine and electrolytes have become essentials in restoring my mental sharpness and stamina.<\/p>\n
I finished my course of tamoxifen last year and am officially in remission. Since my recovery, my focus has shifted. Quality time spent with people means far more to me than material things. I make sure I have restorative time just for me, doing yoga twice a week, sketching once a month or so, walking in the woods daily after lunch and after work and being outside in nature, walking with no phone and listening to the birds singing in the sunshine.<\/p>\n
Having cancer really put things into perspective: it taught me not to sweat the small stuff and live life to the fullest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Helen Makris, a senior marketing and partnerships manager, lives in Haywards Heath with her husband. She has a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[847,616,242,59,102,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-543856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-cancer","9":"tag-diet","10":"tag-features","11":"tag-gb","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}