WHY

WHY • It started in 2005. I was in my junior year of college, not living my healthiest life by a long shot, but enjoying the moments the best I knew how to at the time. And then I went to the OBGYN for a routine visit and received my 2nd positive pap. It was time for what they call a LEEP procedure (a treatment which prevents cervical cancer and removes abnormal cells from your cervix). All cells came back benign (!) and I went about my early 20s, with the direction from my OBGYN to keep exercising, quit smoking and start using unscented body wash. What? Why did my body wash matter? No clue at the time, so I let it slide.

Every 6 months, I went back to the Dr. Some tests were negative and some were positive, but we kept monitoring without much action. In that time, I kept exercising, stopped smoking, but never changed my body wash. During that time, I also experienced an enlarged lymph node in my neck that needed to be removed. Lymph nodes act as filters to remove germs from the body and they help fight infection. Though the nodes removed were also benign (!), I started getting curious about WHY this stuff kept happening.

Fast forward to 2012 and two more positive pap tests in a row created the need for a 2nd LEEP procedure. How could this happen again?! We had just moved to Denver, so I entrusted in a brand new Dr to perform the procedure. All the cells came back benign (!) but I was now on a trek to put this to an end. I was about to be married to the love of my life, after all! I kept remembering my OBGYN's comment about switching to unscented body wash, so I got back on the train. I began learning about the ingredients I put in and on my body and stood to make a change for myself.

I'm happy to say, two natural, healthy childbirths and ZERO positive tests have come back since making this choice. I'm not sure WHAT exactly changed to stop the trend, but SOMETHING did. And research now shows us the relation to some of those harmful body wash ingredients (ie: FRAGRANCE). And for that, I will continue to advocate for everyone in this world to know what they put into and onto their bodies and to have access to safer options 💗