This morning E! News host Giuliana Rancic announced that she has just learned that she has early stage breast cancer. The discovery was made while she was in the process of undergoing in vitro fertilization for a third time in the hopes of having a baby.

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The Huffington Post reports:

the celebrity news show host previously suffered a miscarriage after eight weeks of pregnancy— Giuliana’s doctor suggested that she get a mammogram. While Giuliana initially rejected the idea, thinking, ‘I’m 36 years old, why do I need a mamogram?’ after her doctor’s insistence she went through with the screening — and that’s when her breast cancer was initially detected.

But Giuliana is staying positive, with the help of her husband Bill Rancic: “the best thing about Bill is he lets me cry when I want to cry,” she said. And although the diagnosis means that the couple will have to put their dreams of having a baby on hold, Giuliana isn’t giving up on adding a little one to her family, promising that the couple will try again once she overcomes her cancer.

“This baby will have saved my life,” she told Curry, speaking of her future child. Had Giuliana become pregnant before discovering her breast cancer, the baby coud have had a negative impact on the progression of the disease.

 

Where this is sad news it does put things in perspective. On a daily basis we judge our bodies, we get angry and frustrated with them for not being what we want them to be, either they are too much, or  not enough, we want more of this and less of that, curlier hair, straight hair more hair (and less hair in some places). We diet, over eat, squeeze them into clothes and sizes that don’t feel good, we demand so much and in a way our bodies ask so little. On a base level when we are in fair health most of our bodies do their jobs, we breathe, eat, digest, eliminate, we move through or lives, getting from one place to the next almost with out thought (sometimes in shoes that don’t make it easy or comfortable) some of manage to take a yoga or Zumba class or go to the gym. We may bitch and complain that it is hard, and doesn’t seem to even work, but our hearts and lungs keep up with us none the less. When you think about how hard we are on ourselves being our bodies really is a thankless job, it works a hard as it can and yet nothing it seems to so is good enough. If our bodies were our partners, it would probably break up with us! And yet day after day it hangs in and does the best that it can even when we are not helping it by eating well, sleeping enough and giving it the mental support that it needs and deserves. It is not until something goes wrong that we realize that our bodies, in what ever form they take on, are indeed there for us.

Then there comes a time when we are desirous of something from our bodies, and for what ever reason it us unable to comply, whether losing or gaining weight, or having a baby. Suddenly we become acutely aware of the state of our bodies, we are thrust into a higher level of awareness, we watch what we are eating, make a concerted effort to exercise, or sleep, we seek support in various ways to get what we want (a doctor, trainer, therapist). Suddenly we are in an active dialogue with our bodies- we are in conversation, we are active listeners to what they are saying and trying to tell us. We start asking it what it needs, and working with it instead of cursing, blaming or berating it. Illness has the same effect, it makes us acutely aware of what we have not been doing or need to do in order to be restored. Illness also has the ability to create compassion, and appreciation and respect for all that bodies do for us on a daily basis. Suddenly we see that we are indeed blessed to have whatever we have regardless of whether or not we see it as perfect or what we want. By the way there is no perfect– not physically, however there is the feeling of being perfect, or being enough, whole, and complete.

I would like for all of us to take a moment to put things in perspective, we can start during this period of Breast Cancer Awareness month to appreciate our bodies, for all the work and support they offer us. Hopefully the month of awareness can be extended into a daily, constant state of being. When you have your health the rest is mud!!!

In this moment as our thoughts and support goes out to Ms. Rancic  and all the other Women, people who are facing a health crisis take a moment to count our blessings and extend ourselves a bit of compassion….