I don't know about you but I'm guessing you are just like me, as midlife women we generally put everyone else first, our children, ageing parents, work commitments and endless to-do lists, and we brush off the nagging signs that all might not be well with our own health and we just carry on. Getting a GP appointment can be a mission, often needing to be booked weeks in advance, so we give up. NHS health screenings can feel a bit sporadic and disconnected, there’s rarely an opportunity to understand the full picture in one go.

I’ve known for a while that something hasn’t felt quite right with my health. I’m not sure I can pinpoint exactly when the exhaustion started, but I’ve definitely been guilty of ignoring it and hoping I’d feel better tomorrow. I've been dismissing the subtle signs like fatigue, poor sleep, a few more aches and pains, anxiety, and low mood as 'just getting older.'  But if it were our partner, a friend, or one of our children, we’d insist they saw a doctor. So why don’t we do the same for ourselves?

I knew it was time for a health reset when I was invited to book the EXTRA Health Screening at The Maxwell Practice in Henley-on-Thames and what an incredibly reassuring experience it was. My private health screen in Henley was gifted as part of this blog collaboration but I can honestly say it was worth every penny, and I would absolutely pay for it myself.

This is a gifted blog post.