Month: September 2024

You Are Worth It: Celebrating Women’s Health and Fitness

This month we acknowledge and celebrate women’s health and well-being for Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month (GCAM). We’re utilizing today to remind women to take care of their physical and mental health.

 Did you know? Two-thirds of women in the United States provide regular support, are caregivers to others, and often forget about their own health and well-being. Unfortunately, this creates a greater risk for poor physical and mental health. We encourage women to make their health a priority.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the definition of health is as follows:

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” 

Regardless of what you think of this definition, the World Health Organization has not changed it since 1948. We know that sometimes, as women we tend to put ourselves to the side. However, we need to change our mindset and make ourselves a priority (just like our 2022 Cervical Cancer Awareness Month theme: Take Care of You).

Here are five tips to help you live a healthier life:

1. Checkups – Make sure you do not skip your regular checkups, screenings, and exams that you may need. We need to remember that prevention and early detection saves lives.

2. Nutrition – Eating and enjoying a balanced diet is essential for our overall health. Find a balance that works for your lifestyle. No matter what you think about diets, we ALL have one. A diet is simply a pattern of eating. Whatever health means to you, the right diet will support it. There is no one-size-fits-all model for dietary patterns and health.

3.  Get Active – We will not call it exercise but instead, we will say, “Move the body.” The body is never meant to be sedentary. Recent studies show us that sitting is the new smoking. Finding a movement that works for you is key. Starting small and working up to the recommended 150 minutes a week will give you so many benefits for your mind, your body, and your spirit.

4.  Sleep – We must try to sleep at least 7 to 9 hours at night. It is during this time that the body repairs, allowing healing and restoration to occur. Lack of sleep is associated with negative health effects. So in other words…get your snooze on, ladies!

5.  Hydration – Drinking water is crucial for our bodies. The majority of adults do not hydrate themselves close to the recommended level. Multiple studies report that 75% of adults in the U.S. suffer from chronic dehydration. As we age, your body’s thirst signal diminishes, so as a rule of thumb when you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. Please, please drink your water.

If all these steps are too overwhelming for you – believe me, you are NOT alone. 

New habits do not happen overnight. It takes repetition and we need to adapt them little by little into our lives and psyche until they become second nature. Some studies say that it takes an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic – you have time to start now!

Mel Robbins states: “Old habits can take years to form. Forgive yourself if it takes more than a day to break them.”

Thank you Mel Robbins for reminding us to forgive ourselves if our work is not perfect and linear. Remember – success does not come from what we do occasionally, but from what we do consistently. 

If you are looking for support, you can join our Survivor Slimdown community. Survivor Slimdown is an online Facebook group open to ALL cancer survivors. It is a safe place for our community to support one another, and to challenge our mind, body, and spirit to live our best lives.

Patti Murillo-Casa is a retired NYC Police Officer and a 15-year cervical cancer survivor. She is a Cervivor Ambassador and the 2021 Cervivor Champion. She leads Survivor Slimdown and co-leads Cervivor Español. Patti is a Health Coach Alliance Registered Health Coach. She holds multiple certifications in the wellness and fitness space. She is also a member of the community advocacy board at Columbia University Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center. She resides in NYC with her husband of 25 years where she is a Group Fitness Instructor, Cancer Exercise Specialist, and a Health Advocate and Educator.

Why the Patient Voice is Essential to the President’s New Global Commitment to End Cervical Cancer

By Tamika Felder, Founder and Chief Visionary, Cervivor, Inc.

In case you missed the big news, President Biden hosted leaders from Australia, Japan, and India at his Delaware home this past weekend for the latest Quad Summit. Why is this big news? The gathering of these four key countries, one of several since 2020, marks a milestone in the fight to end cervical cancer worldwide.

As reported, the Summit launched the Quad Cancer Moonshot Initiative, aiming to significantly reduce cervical cancer rates in the Indo-Pacific region, which includes South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Oceania, and accounts for one-quarter of global cervical cancer cases. Alongside the U.S., the other Quad countries are making huge commitments to medical equipment, HPV testing, and vaccines.

We can all learn a lot from Australia, which is setting the pace globally. The country is on track to become the first to eliminate cervical cancer, defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having fewer than four cases per 100,000 people. The WHO has also set a global deadline of 2030 to get rid of this disease for good. Other countries are closing in on the target including Sweden, Portugal, and Rwanda.

But here’s the thing: While these international efforts can be game-changers, they can’t achieve their goal without one crucial element – the voices of cervical cancer patients and survivors. That’s where Cervivor comes in.

Cervivor’s global community of cervical cancer patient advocates is growing and getting louder every day.

Why Patient Voices Matter

Cervivor has always focused on amplifying the voices of those directly affected by cervical cancer from way back when I founded the organization in 2005 after I survived cervical cancer in my twenties. Sure, I was grateful to be alive – minus my uterus and facing long-lasting health complications – but I was angry. There was an HPV test and there was about to be an FDA-approved vaccine, but no one was talking about how cervical cancer is almost entirely preventable. What happened to me shouldn’t have happened to anyone else, especially the nearly 350,000 women it continues to kill worldwide each year. 

When Dr. Linda Eckert, one of our 2024 Cervivor Champion Award winners and a global expert in cervical cancer prevention, released her book Enough: Because We Can Stop Cervical Cancer this January (during Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, of course), she made sure to include stories from our Cervivor community members. Why? Because our voices are crucial in every initiative aimed at ending this disease. By sharing our lived experiences, we can influence everything from drug trials to legislation to, yes, international collaborations. These authentic, often raw, stories remind the world that cervical cancer isn’t just a statistic – it impacts real women and families.

In this video, cervical cancer expert Dr. Linda Eckert shares why she wrote Enough and how inspired she was by the dozens of survivors whose stories it features, including members of our Cervivor community.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shared a similar sentiment with the announcement of the Quad initiative, calling attention to the women in the Pacific who die of the disease at up to 13 times the rate of women in Australia. “These people are not numbers,” he said. “They are our neighbors, members of our Pacific family, and we’re stepping forward to help.” 

Cervivor: Leading the Charge

From our annual Cervivor School, which empowers survivors to become advocates, to our upcoming Cervical Cancer Summit (sign up for updates!), Cervivor is at the forefront of the fight against cervical cancer. We partner with healthcare providers and organizations to improve access to care and lead awareness campaigns like #Screen4Me. We also advocate for critical legislation, such as the PREVENT HPV Cancers Act of 2021 and its expansion in 2023. Our efforts extend to high-level forums, where we drive discussions to ensure cervical cancer prevention and care remain a priority.

Like President Biden’s reported belief in a “latticework approach” to diplomacy, Cervivor fosters collaboration. By working with healthcare professionals, researchers, and other advocacy groups, we create a united front against cervical cancer. Our community members serve on guideline panels, advisory boards, and in research studies. This year, I was honored to be appointed to the National Cancer Advisory Board by President Biden, a role that allows me to continue championing the voice of survivors at the highest levels. Their perspectives are essential to shaping policies, informing research, and pushing for a future where cervical cancer is no longer a threat.

Cervivor Founder Tamika Felder moderates the 2024 Cervical Cancer Forum at the White House as part of the Biden Cancer Moonshot Initiative.
That’s me on the left moderating the 2024 Cervical Cancer Forum at the White House as part of the Biden Cancer Moonshot Initiative.

When I had the privilege of moderating the Cervical Cancer Forum at the White House earlier this year, I called it a historic moment – researchers, policymakers, community workers, healthcare providers, patients, and survivors came together with national leaders to elevate the patient voice. With the latest Quad Cancer Moonshot Initiative, it’s even more crucial that we raise awareness globally.

Now is the Time to Join Us

Never before has cervical cancer been so at the forefront of the world stage. Now is the time for all of us to unite in the fight to eliminate it. Together, we can do this – it is not just possible; it’s necessary. Too many lives are being lost to cervical cancer worldwide. This is a human issue that affects us all.

This graphic of people we have lost in our Cervivor community represents only a fraction of the women still dying from this preventable disease.

Cervivor serves as a megaphone for the patient and survivor voice, but we need your help to amplify the message that this cancer can be prevented if we use the medical knowledge and tools at our disposal. We have to reach that mom or sister who hasn’t gotten screened lately because she’s “too busy” but is noticing “weird” symptoms down there. We have to let parents know that their kids may never have to go through cervical cancer treatment (which isn’t pretty, I can tell you) if they get vaccinated now. For that matter, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) announced in May that the HPV vaccine has been linked to a decrease in HPV-related head and neck cancer in men, and that people who are vaccinated are less likely to require certain surgical cancer treatments. Truly, getting your kids vaccinated is giving them the gift of a healthier future. 

This screenshot of a Facebook post shows global cancer advocate Tamika Felder addressing a group at the White House for a Biden Cancer Moonshot event on October 24, 2024, where First Lady Dr. Jill Biden tagged and personally thanked her.
While I don’t do what I do for recognition, getting a thank-you on Facebook from First Lady Dr. Jill Biden a couple of years ago was pretty gratifying.

As distinguished professor Dr. Noel Brewer of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health – an HPV expert and trusted ally in our mission – has emphasized, “In reality, data and statistics may only hold sway on the pages of medical journals. What truly matters are the people and their lived experiences. Sharing powerful stories cuts through the noise and connects us to what is vital.” He likens explaining data without the patient experience to “walking into a firefight armed only with a calculator.”

At Cervivor, we are armed with hundreds of powerful stories – too many stories, to be honest. I implore you to join our fight to end this disease now, not later. Who’s with me?

Tamika Felder is a cervical cancer survivor and the Founder and Chief Visionary of Cervivor, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to cervical cancer awareness and prevention through its global community of patient advocates. Driven to eradicate cervical cancer within her lifetime, she is a leading voice in healthcare, HPV education, and cancer prevention.

Tamika has shared her story at Presidential Panels, trained thousands of patient advocates, and serves on the steering committees of the National Cervical Cancer Roundtable and the National HPV Vaccination Roundtable. Recently appointed by President Biden, she is now a member of the National Cancer Advisory Board. Tamika’s impactful storytelling has also been featured on Bravo’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and in the documentaries Someone You Love: The HPV Epidemic and Conquering Cervical Cancer.