All moms know the feeling that there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. There seems to be no end to the errands you need to run, work obligations to be met, or things that need fixing around the house.
This is something single mom Denise Laurel can surely relate to. As an actress, she is used to working long hours and all the sleepless nights, she shared in an interview with PEP, have taken a toll on her health.
Sleeplessness and stress eventually caused cysts to appear all over her body—in her breasts, ovaries, and lymph nodes.
“I couldn’t understand because I was so healthy, I was working out, I was doing a soap and Your Face Sounds Familiar at the same time, but I was gaining weight,” she recounts in the interview.
After a check-up, where doctors found the masses all over her body, she realized how her body “was stressed and acting up.”
“No one is really invincible,” stresses Denise, who believed her diet and regular exercise ensured that she would have no health problems.
Happily cancer free
In June 2016, she first opened up about her cancer scare, but a few months later happily shared that she just found out that she did not have cancer and that she has taken a break to “get healthy.”
photos: Denise Laurel instagram
Currently, she’s taking her time before having her ovarian cysts taken out. She already had some of the masses in her breast removed a few months ago.
There is no rush to undergo another surgery, she shares, and she chooses to stay free from medication in order to be a “good, energetic mom” for her son Angelo.
Advice for other moms
Denise urges fellow moms not to “take sleep for granted” and to catch naps whenever they can. Removing sugar and lessening sodium in their diet is also so important.
A constant lack of sleep can cause anxiety, mood swings, and even depression. Our body needs sleep to recharge and recover after a day’s hard work. It’s not easy to get a full night’s sleep, especially for single moms like Denise, but trying harder to become more well rested through taking time off and slowing down once in a while can make you an even more effective and caring mom.
sources: PEP, ABS-CBN News
READ: What you need to know about polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS