Yes this step has been taken, or I have taken another ✅ (as we say at home,-).
It's been a while since my last message to you. I have so much to tell again.
I'll just make a little table of contents:
- And I always said no.
- Yes, I gave a presentation
- The great advantage of thermography
- Conclusions from the feedback form.
- A whole new concept, and I need your help!!!
And I always said no.
You have "no idea" how many times I have said NO to the newspaper, magazines....., journalists calling me to give an opinion on the news and or "can't you come give a presentation".
After Jessica from Hilversum (who was really too far ahead of her time) I was the first to take over the baton and offer medical thermography in the Netherlands.
This was only after a thick year of monitoring my own breast health with this technique.
In the first instance it was not my intention to offer it. I wanted to simply monitor myself and family as I told in the lecture (more about this later!)
I was also recovering from (a second) severe burnout in which I just avoided contact with people 😉 .
Yet I got talking on facebook about thermography where I shared my enthusiasm.
Very soon the question came
"Can I come and take pictures too?"
Then the ball started rolling and I got very busy very quickly.
I remember my reaction to the first phone call.
I called out:
"FUCK a customer... a customer fuck!!!"
Soon you came from all over the Netherlands and even abroad such as Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany. Even Dutch people who have moved elsewhere in the world came/are coming to Amsterdam to have their thermogram done.
Time began to mature.
I was over the moon, who would have expected this. A few years earlier my predecessor Jessica had not succeeded.
At that time there were simply too few ladies who knew about this technique, let alone were open to this different view of breast examination.
I kept saying no to the media anyway.
- I had not yet recovered strongly enough from my burn-out and needed to use my energy wisely.
- It was very simple and scary to show myself on pictures alone!
- Besides, I was terrified I wouldn't be able to handle the reactions
The general public was clearly not ready for it then.
The horror stories from Jessica who also clearly conveyed the message that if I ever wanted to offer it;
"Do NOT offer it to monitor breast health.
It is nice to visualize pain and to monitor it during treatment.
My partner also had to get used to and grow into my new role and ideas.
But the single most important reason I didn't want to put thermography on the air was that I didn't want it to be banned!!!
In short, I did not want any hassle, I just wanted to do my thing and receive as many women as possible.
Fortunately, after almost 9 years, all this has changed and we are all a lot wiser when it comes to our health and prevention!
Also, I am no longer the only one offering thermography.
Which unfortunately causes some noise again 😉
It is time for me to show myself more and I followed a presentation training with Eva Brouwer.
"Take your stage"
in my case "back" 😉 😉
Yes, I gave a presentation
We practiced for months. Does it bother you too much to hear yourself and look back?
The training concluded with 5 ladies giving a presentation in a theatre in Utrecht.
I would like to share this presentation with you here.
I have to be honest and say that I haven't had the courage to check it out myself yet but the responses I've received so far have been so sweet!!!
I was so nervous and I forgot to tell you a lot of things.... Luckily the audience doesn't know this, Eva Brouwer said during the training 😉 .
The great advantage of thermography
A nice demonstration of the added value of doing thermography at a young age.
One of the photos from the presentation is this one:
- In the first picture you can see a difference in the symmetry.
- At 3 months it has increased and the advice clinical correlation (further regular examination to do).
- At 6 months we see an even greater increase in heat.
- A mammogram was then performed but nothing was observed.
- Advice from doctors in the hospital after 12 months a follow-up mammogram.
UNFORTUNATELY, A LOT OF WOMEN HERE STOP MONITORING THROUGH THERMOGRAPHY AND THINK:
"THERE'S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT"
THIS WOMAN, FORTUNATELY, DOES NOT
So we see the warm area continuing to develop at 9 months....
At the 12-month thermography, the changes were so great that the advice was not to wait (another 6 months) for the follow-up mammography but to do it here urgent behind it!
And unfortunately here they found a thickening.
Fortunately, thanks to thermography, I did get it 6 months earlier.
Mrs. was fortunately treated and cured and has had a nice stable thermographic pattern for years.
The big message is:
Thermography provides the "earliest" warning possible to observe physiological changes in your breast tissue.
"Abnormality in function almost always precedes abnormality in structure."
John Bartone, MD, Radiologist (one of the doctors who interprets the photos for Thermography Amsterdam).
And don't wait until you're 50! If you start monitoring your breast health between the ages of 25 and 30 then by the time you get a call for the population screening you will already have so much knowledge about your own breast health 😉 .
Conclusions from the feedback form on the website
This form is very valuable to me and honestly if I have a dip day I read them once in a while. Unbelievable such kind words.
THANKS everyone.
Without you I wouldn't have got this far!
But there was always a comment.
Which is:
"WHY DON'T YOU COME NEAR ME?"
And that just after I closed a couple of locations two years ago because of too much success for me alone.
What are we going to do about this? 😉 😉
A whole new concept, and I need your help!
Now a new chapter has begun and I need your help!!!
What's the plan?
I have big plans to have a location in every province in the near future where I can affordable way to continue monitoring your baseline.
This could be at your practice. This way you get a lot of traffic where you can also offer yourself for follow-up appointments.
I need your help!
What do I need from you? "LOCATIONS"
In Friesland I work in a health food store. Here most ladies do their shopping at the same time.
And so it can be other surprising places.
I also need help at the venue to keep everything running smoothly and want to get some ladies trained to take certified photos. After all, learned a hard lesson that I can't do everything on my own 😉 .
And last but not least, I'm looking for someone for the administrative work and people to spar with 😉 .
I am open to ideas. Who oh who shares my energy!!!
