Words of Wellness with Shelly

Shelly's Shares: Health Screenings: Why They Matter

• Shelly Jefferis • Season 2 • Episode 103

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Ever put off a medical screening because it just wasn't convenient? You're not alone. In this heartfelt episode, Shelly opens up about her recent colonoscopy experience that didn't go quite as planned. From the dreaded preparation solution to an unexpected severe reaction to anesthesia, she shares the uncomfortable reality of preventative screenings—and why they're absolutely worth it despite the discomfort.

This conversation takes on deeper meaning when she reveals her personal connection to colonoscopies: her father's tumor discovery during a routine screening just months before his passing. Though doctors successfully removed his tumor, other health complications ultimately took his life, leaving her with a powerful reminder of why staying proactive with these screenings matters so deeply. She also candidly discusses the anxiety that crept in while waiting for her results, especially knowing her family history, and how our minds can sometimes work against us during these waiting periods.

Prevention truly is the cornerstone of wellness. While we focus on nutrition, exercise, and mental wellbeing, routine medical screenings are equally vital components of a proactive health approach. Nobody else will take responsibility for our health maintenance—that's entirely up to us. Whether you're due for a colonoscopy, mammogram, or annual physical, consider this your gentle nudge to schedule that appointment you've been putting off. Your future self will thank you. And for the moms listening, don't miss details about our upcoming Moms who Flourish wellness event and one-on-one mentorship opportunities to support your wellness journey!

CONNECT WITH SHELLY:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellnesswithshellyj https://www.instagram.com/momswhoflourish
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShellyJefferis

LINK to upcoming MOMS WHO FLOURISH Wellness Event October 4th: https://buy.stripe.com/00weVc40n64nbsNblH0gw0p

A few of Shelly's favorite clean products:

High quality, clean nutrition and beauty products: https://shellyjefferis.isagenix

Clean-crafted wine, free from chemicals & pesticides:
https://scoutandcellar.com/?u=healthyhappyhours

Cayla Gray- Non-toxic cologne & perfume: https://caylagray.com/wellnesswithshellyj (10% discount)

JuJu Non-toxic candles & air fresheners:
https://goodjujucandles.com/?ref=mrtgnygh
Coupon code for 10% off: ShellyJefferis

Thank you for listening to the Words of Wellness podcast with Shelly Jefferis. I am honored and so grateful to have you here and it would mean the world to me if you could take a minute to follow, leave a 5-star review and share the podcast with anyone you love and anyone you feel could benefit from the message.

Thank you and God Bless! And remember to do something for yourself, for your wellness on this day!
In Health,

Shelly

Speaker 1:

But I am sharing my story as a reminder that, even though it might not be the best experience, it is important to have this done for our health. Do you get confused by all of the information that bombards us every day on ways to improve our overall health and our overall wellness? Do you often feel stuck, unmotivated or struggle to reach your wellness goals? That bombard us every day on ways to improve our overall health and our overall wellness? Do you often feel stuck, unmotivated or struggle to reach your wellness goals? Do you have questions as to what exercises you should be doing, what foods you should or should not be eating, how to improve your overall emotional and mental well-being? Hello everyone, I am so excited to welcome you to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries and I will be your host. My goal is to answer these questions and so much more to share tips, education and inspiration around all of the components of wellness through solo and guest episodes. With 35 plus years as a health and wellness professional, a retired college professor, a speaker and a multi-passionate entrepreneur, I certainly have lots to share. However, my biggest goal and inspiration in doing this podcast is to share the wellness stories of others with you, to bring in guests who can share their journeys so that we can all learn together while making an impact on the health, the wellness and lives of all of you, our listeners. The ultimate hope is that you leave today with even just one nugget that can enhance the quality of your life, and that you will we all will, now and into the future, live our best quality of lives, full of energy, happiness and joy. Now let's dive into our message for today. Hi, my friends, welcome back to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly and I am your host, and this is another episode of Shelly's Shares, and today I am going to be sharing with you a little bit of a personal journey that I just experienced, and I want to share it also as a reminder for us all.

Speaker 1:

Recently, I had my physical physical done, and with that I was due. Actually, I was overdue having a colonoscopy. Now, this might not apply to all of you if you're a little bit younger in age than I am, but I have had one colonoscopy so far. So this would have been number two, and I don't even know if I want to admit this, but yes, I was a bit behind almost a year overdue of having having it, and so I went ahead and scheduled it. And you know, like anything we have going on in our lives, our schedules get busy, and I was kind of waiting for a moment that we didn't really have much on the schedule. We weren't, of course, traveling, and so I scheduled it for the month of June and I just wanted to share my experience for a moment, because it, quite honestly, was not the best experience, but at the same time, I know that it's necessary.

Speaker 1:

And what happened was I started the process on a Thursday. You know, I was drinking fluids all that day the clear fluids, chicken broth and then that evening I had the solution that you drink and you mix it with water and within the hour, you're supposed to consume like 40 ounces of water within the hour in addition to this solution, and then you drink that same solution the next morning, three or four hours before your procedure. Now, I'm not telling you all of this to say this is exactly what you do. This is just what my protocol was. I think it's similar for everyone, but that's what I had to follow, and I'm just going to tell you that the solution that I had was awful. I'm really hoping that I can have something different next time. But that's beside the point, it's just you do what you got to do, right? So I had the procedure done on Friday and I had this feeling, you know, I'm going to come home and I'm just going to be a little bit sleepy, I'm just going to relax on the couch, which I did, and I had in my mind that I was going to be just feel like back to normal the next day, which I believe is what happened the last time.

Speaker 1:

I had this done Friday night, in the middle of the night which I guess would have been more like early, early, early Saturday morning, I started to have a really bad headache and the next morning I still had that headache and you know, I got out of bed thinking, you know, I just need to go downstairs and it's going to subside and I will feel better. And that's not what happened. My eyes felt really bad, I had actually the worst headache, probably one of the worst headaches I've ever had, and I did end up getting sick. I did end up vomiting and stayed in bed for half of the day, came downstairs and I still was not feeling right. I was feeling nauseous and just headachy. My eyes were feeling really tight and I couldn't really look at my phone. I definitely couldn't read anything. I would start to feel nauseous and that didn't subside until into the early evening hours and my husband got me some soup and some crackers and I started to feel better and what I realized happened was I had a reaction to the anesthesia.

Speaker 1:

And why am I sharing this? Well, I'm sharing this with all of you because that was my experience, my personal experience. However, I know that it's still important to have this procedure done and I'm not telling you all about this to discourage you, but I am sharing my story as a reminder that, even though it might not be the best experience, it is important to have this done for our health. It's part of those that routine physical that we need to have done once we reach a certain age. And I just wanted to share as a reminder. And in addition to that, I want to share something personal.

Speaker 1:

My dad, a few months well, gosh, it was maybe just a couple months before he died, he went in for his routine colonoscopy and they discovered a tumor. And the crazy thing is that he was really good. He was going in yearly for his colonoscopy, so he had had one a year prior, but this particular time there was a tumor and the doctors were trying to decide how they were going to treat it, because my dad had been in and out of the hospital with various other issues with his health and so he wasn't in the best condition. But the doctors decided to go in and surgically remove the tumor, and it was a successful surgery. And I'll never forget my dad saying I'm cancer free, I'm cancer free and you know, god love him. It was, it was other other of him, it was other challenges that he was having with his health that took his life just a couple, two, three months later. But I always have that now in the back of my mind, knowing that I have to stay on top of this because of the fact that dad had a tumor in his colon.

Speaker 1:

And so what ended up happening with my results, with my colonoscopy, is that the doctor did find some. I called a week later for the results. The person at the other end of the line, the office manager or the nurse, I'm not sure who she was. She said okay, let me take your number and I'll have the doctor return your phone call. Well, I can't remember what the procedure was when I had my last colonoscopy.

Speaker 1:

But two things happened. My mind started playing tricks on me because one, I knew in the back of my mind okay, so dad had a tumor. And then, two, I thought, well, why can't she just share with me if the results were clear? So what I want to just share with you, friends, is that we have to go through these procedures and just have faith that everything is going to work out as it's meant to. I'm not going to lie. I started to get a little bit concerned, but I was just praying about it and just praying that everything was fine. And, sure enough, the doctor called me that afternoon to share with me the results that everything was fine. Fair enough, the doctor called me that afternoon to share with me the results that everything was fine. And so very grateful. And I just want you to know that if you go through something like this and your mind starts to play tricks on you, you're not alone. I understand, and I just went through it myself and I just I believe that I'm healthy and I believe that I'm too young to have any kind of issues. But again, knowing that dad had a tumor and that I had polyps removed. I was like those things started playing with my mind, but luckily I didn't. I didn't get too stressed, I just it. Just. It did have me a little slightly concerned for a couple hours, but again I just said a few prayers, everything was fine and it turned out fine.

Speaker 1:

So I just wanted to share my personal story and journey with you all and just have it serve as a reminder to get your physicals done, get your colonoscopies done, whatever is needed medically as a regular routine checkup. Have those done. And it might not be fun. It might not be a fun procedure. It might not be a fun procedure, but again, I just encourage you all to stay on top of your physicals and your checkups and I just really believe that prevention is key. Being preventative is key and that's what this is about being proactive with our health, taking steps to be our healthiest on a day-to-day basis with our nutrition, with our exercise and our day-to-day routines and habits, and part of that is having our regular yearly checkups. So I just want to encourage you all to stay on top of those checkups. Make sure you're taking care of yourself, your body and your own personal health. No one else is going to do it for us.

Speaker 1:

So that is my message for today, and I want to end with reminding all of my moms out there that we have our Moms who Flourish in-person wellness event in Southern California happening October 4th. Early bird registration is now open. If you would like the link, please go into the show notes and the early bird link is there. And also I have one-on-one mentorship open right now for any moms who are looking for clarity, guidance and support along your wellness and motherhood journey. Reach out to me, message me on Instagram. Let's set up a time to connect and see if it would be a good fit for you. Right now is the time to jump on. I'm offering specials currently and the lowest prices they will be is now, so jump on, let's see how I can support you in your wellness and your motherhood journey. So until next time, everyone, have a great, blessed rest of your day and a blessed rest of your week, and I will see you next time on Words of Wellness.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. I hope you gained value and enjoyed our time together as much as I did, and if you know someone who could benefit from today's episode, I would love and appreciate it if you could share with a friend or rate and review Words of Wellness so that more can hear this message. I love and appreciate you all. Thank you for listening and if you have any questions or topics you would like me to share in future episodes, please don't hesitate to reach out to me through my contact information that is shared in the show notes below. Again, thank you for tuning in to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries and I encourage you to do something for you, for your wellness, on this day. Until next time, I hope you all have a healthy, happy and blessed week, thank you.