Everything! 

Our makeup game is on point. Our clothes are second to none. Our selfies? Perfect. By all indications on social media, all is well. Or, maybe not? In reality, I meet with tons of women daily whose concerns go waaaaaayyyy beyond the pap smear visit. There’s family drama, relationship drama, financial drama, and personal drama that creates a quiet invisible storm raging on the inside. This certainly impacts a woman’s state of health. As a physician, my heart aches because I humbly recognize that the real issue is brokenness and that comes from within. The bigger pain she failed to mention requires more than whatever I write on my little prescription pad. It is impossible to achieve “wellness” in the midst of all this. Some experts recommend self-help, yoga, and healthy eating but women need more. We need power. We need strength. We need wisdom. There is more to our health than just our bodies. It is our mindset and decisions for our bodies that often lead us to where we are and what we are going through. Antibiotics may cure a sexually transmitted disease but won’t heal how we got it. Silicone will fill the breast but won’t touch self esteem and feelings of rejection. Surgery will remove the mass but leave behind the depression it brought along with it. And pain killers? They will never take away the headache caused by burdensome children or a bad marriage. The list goes on.

As a physician and surgeon, I have expertise in treating the woman’s body.  Yet, I am confronted with situations that really require healing her broken spirit. Without healing, the brokenness continues to fester and create even more health problems and the cycle continues.  I know this because I have lived it! In my life, I have experienced pains that medicine could not touch. I have had to reassess, reposition, and re-awaken myself to changes and challenges. Many of those battles that you are fighting, I have fought them too! They were enough to knock me down, yet I’m still standing. Let me introduce you to the one who healed me: His name is Jesus Christ. It is my pleasure to discuss women’s health from an overcomer’s standpoint. Even if you don’t believe in Christ, I am excited to encourage you in the ways that he has encouraged me through (rough) stages of womanhood.  I know that good things happen when women awaken spiritually and make better decisions. I use my faith as a wellness tool. If it worked for me, it will surely work for you. I’ve heard your stories. Here’s my response: You are well, in the name of Jesus Christ.