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A SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION BY MEDIAPLANET Read more at healthinsight.ca
A SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION BY MEDIAPLANET
Women's Health & Lifestyle Shania Twain:
How to Not Give Up on Yourself or Your Health Mediaplanet did an exclusive sit-down interview with the iconic Canadian artist Shania Twain. From Lyme disease to women’s safety, she shares her inequities and how Canadians can do better for women’s health.
What was the most challenging part about being diagnosed with Lyme disease?
PHOTO CREDIT: LOUIE BANKS
The word I would’ve used at the very beginning of the illness was confusion. At the time, I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Was it all in my head? And if it was all in my head, then I didn’t know where to seek treatment because I didn’t know what was wrong. So, I just started venturing into every option possible to determine what was wrong. Only then did I discover that my condition was caused by Lyme disease. The problem with my voice was due to Lyme disease and nerve damage to the larynx. I’d lived with not knowing what it was for so many years. That was the worst part. That was the biggest challenge, not knowing and understanding what was wrong. I would say persevere for anyone going through any health issues until you find out what's wrong. Never give up on that. You can’t start treating it until you know what it is.
How (if at all) have inequities in women’s health care affected your health journey? What advice can you give Canadian women battling injustice in health and safety services?
Pre-save Shania Twain's new album Queen of Me by scanning the QR code. For more information about Shania Kids Can and where to donate, please visit shaniakidscan.com.
When it comes to health and safety, women often have to look out for themselves —
especially if they’re single mothers. Your biggest strength is independence. All you have sometimes is yourself, it’s easy to get intimidated by the red tape. If we have too many roadblocks, we get discouraged, we get scared, and then we retreat into our dysfunction and not our own personal dysfunction. I’ve been there as a kid. I know my mother — as an adult — certainly was trapped in that. And so I learned to take matters into my own hands and find that strength in myself to get to the bottom of where I’m going to find help. You have to assert your needs. You have to assert your belief in the fact that you deserve and warrant support and help. It shouldn’t be that way. We shouldn’t have to work so hard, but it’s a reality. We have to work together to change that reality and narrative, but we have to work with what we have, not shy away from it, and not get discouraged.
What can we expect to see from you over the next few months? Oh, well, I’ve written a new album. I have so many projects on the go, but I plan to tour with this new music I had announced last month. I plan to release the new music, but I already have a new song out. So those are all things in the works. There's the musical underway, all kinds of exciting things and I look forward to sharing all of that with everyone.
Look Good Feel Better Workshops Help Restore a Sense of Self
Elizabeth Pham LGFB Workshop Participant
Complimentary workshops give women with cancer the simple tools to help them feel more like themselves again. Abigail Cukier
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cancer diagnosis comes with many challenges — and often overlooked is the loss of identity that comes with it. A woman may no longer be seen as herself, a mother, sister, partner, or colleague; she’s the cancer patient. And when cancer treatment affects a woman’s physical appearance, she often no longer recognizes herself. This is why Look Good Feel Better believes that cancer care needs to treat the whole person, not just the physical but the emotional and psychological aspects too. Look Good Feel Better offers complimentary workshops that give Canadian women tools and techniques to help manage the appearance-related impact of cancer. These simple steps allow for selfcare and restore a sense of self, all in a supportive
and welcoming community. In-person and online workshops include skin care and cosmetics; breast forms and garments; wigs and hair alternatives.
Look in the mirror with kinder eyes “The workshops gave me more information and helped me to own my new appearance and to see the beauty in it again,” Elizabeth Pham says. “Seeing a group of women come together also made me feel much more confident and supported. Because there’s already so much that we can’t control when we’re going through our cancer journeys, it’s uplifting and powerful to have something that we can control and that we can change for the better, which is our appearance. I learned to look at myself in the mirror with kinder eyes.”
Join a Look Good Feel Better workshop or share the workshop with a woman you love. Visit lgfb.ca to learn more.
Publishers: Maddie MacNeil, Meredith Burt Business Development Managers: Melanie Kosev, Chelsea Siemon Country Manager: Nina Theodorlis Content & Production Manager: Raymond Fan Production Lead: Michael Taylor Designer: Kylie Armishaw Lead Editor: Karthik Talwar All images are from Getty Images unless otherwise credited. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve The Toronto Star or its editorial departments. Send all inquiries to ca.editorial@mediaplanet.com.
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