Boob Health is Whole Health.
- Ruby Laemmel
- Oct 31
- 8 min read
Boobs. What a taboo topic! But why? Aren't they just a part of our beautiful anatomy? Just like us, each one is different (even from left to right!) and unique in many ways. Heck, some are even "fake", some are removed or "flat", but energetically folks - those removed, flat, or fake boobs - still boobs! And don't even get us started on man boobs ;)
October is the month of Breast Cancer Awareness, but we want to shift that topic to Breast Health, which, let's be honest, is important year-round. Opening up the conversation to go beyond treatment plans and results, to include the intimate truth of healing, is important. When we speak of breast health, we must talk about boobs, and not just the physicality of them, but the emotion, trauma, strength, and beauty they hold.
This week, we are excited to feature this powerful piece from our dear friend, Tara Elmore, at Complex Creatures, “You’re Not Done: Bridging the Gap After Cancer Treatment.”. It’s an intimate look at what happens after diagnosis and treatment, when your body is healing, your spirit is rebuilding, and your boobs are just trying to remember how to feel like part of you again.
This emotional story is about finding agency, embracing wholeness, and realizing that healing isn’t just physical, it’s emotional, spiritual, and deeply personal. It’s about giving your boobs and the rest of your body the love and attention they’ve always deserved.
You’re Not Done.
Bridging the Gap After Cancer Treatment.
Navigating life after cancer is one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. Of course getting a diagnosis and going through treatment is surreal and hellish, but no one and nothing prepares you for what comes after cancer.
By the time I completed the five hardest months of chemo I’d fully committed to learning everything I could in order to be the strongest, healthiest version of myself—better than before. Knowing I still had almost another year of treatment ahead (including surgery, radiation and more chemo), I set out to learn everything I could about what life after cancer would look like.
Because here’s what I was terrified of: going through all of that—the surgeries, the treatments, the side effects—only to live in fear and uncertainty, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Just hoping I’d stay cancer-free without any real sense of what I could actually do to support my body’s healing.
The Gap Western Medicine Doesn’t Fill
Western Medicine is great at treating dis-ease. And in order to become whole again I’d need to assemble an aligned group of practitioners and healers to guide my re-integration and long term health. I intuitively knew the spiritual and whole-body connection was critical to true wholeness—not just treating the cancer, but addressing what allowed it to take root in the first place. So that’s what I did.
During my recovery I read The Metabolic Approach to Cancer by Dr. Nasha Winters, ND, L.Ac., FABNO and Jess Higgins Kelley, MNT. Mind blown. The book is a science-based approach that backed up and validated everything I was thinking and feeling—there HAD to be some tangible things I could do in the 364 days between screenings that could move the needle in my favor. Some things that were in my control. Not just bad luck. This is why both Dr. Nasha and Dr. Zach Bush felt so aligned—they understood that healing requires addressing the whole terrain: physical, emotional, and spiritual.
The framework they offered was The Terrain Ten—ten interconnected aspects of health that, when addressed systematically, create an environment in your body where health can flourish and disease struggles to take root:
Genetics & Epigenetics
Blood Sugar Balance
Toxin Exposure & Detoxification
Microbiome & Digestive Health
Immune Function & Inflammation
Hormonal Balance
Circulation & Angiogenesis
Mental-Emotional Health & Stress Resilience
Sleep & Circadian Rhythm
Movement & Structural Alignment
Becoming Obsessed
I didn’t wait. I immediately started implementing the Terrain Ten principles. I began addressing blood sugar balance, reducing toxin exposure, supporting my mitochondria, and working on my microbiome. I was on a mission to find the leading doctors in integrative and functional medicine. I received weekly acupuncture to support detox and hormone balance. I started seed cycling. Exercising regularly. I studied reiki. I even traveled to Dr. Zach Bush’s M Clinic in Virginia to work with his team on my first set of functional labs and detox protocols. It was there that I experienced the power of coaching to integrate these new habits I was cultivating—so impactful that I decided to become a coach myself. Eventually, I also became a Terrain Advocate, trained specifically in this metabolic approach to support others on their healing journeys. The process was transformative. Learning to reconnect and remember my nature through nature, nutrition, fasting, connection and presence changed me.
Seeking More Guidance
I kept listening to intuition, following the next right thing. And at this moment, what I needed was support integrating my new normal for the long haul. I didn’t want cancer to define my life, but there was no denying it had changed me. I wanted to remain connected to all the beautiful ways cancer changed me, woke me up, reminded me of who I want to be. And at the same time I needed to move toward a new reality—one where I could live fully while managing the ever-present fear of recurrence.
The scared patient in me wanted more guidance, more hand-holding. But the truth is I was already two or three years into my journey, post-treatment and surgery, discharged to an annual screening regimen. I was actively doing the work—but I was also doing it somewhat on my own, piecing together information from the book, my practitioners, and my own research. As much information as I gathered, it all came back to the Terrain approach–it encompasses everything. I had to go to the source.
The Next Right Thing
While I was mentally prepared to hop on the next plane to work with Dr. Nasha, her team let me know she had just transitioned out of 1:1 practice—whomp whomp. They suggested Remission Nutrition, and it was exactly what I needed.
It’s so much more than oncology nutrition—I wish I had these tools during treatment. Rooted in the metabolic approach, they helped me personalize all the terrain work I’d been implementing using functional testing based on my specific labs and unique needs.
Why Testing Matters
There is so much information out there about what kind of diet is good for which kind of condition or person. Without labs, you’re guessing. You might think you’re doing the right thing while completely missing the mark.
Like most women I’ve heard from, the void of direction and support after treatment often leaves us confused, full of doubt and crippled with fear. We can end up paralyzed—afraid to make the wrong choice, overwhelmed by conflicting advice, or worse, passively waiting and hoping nothing comes back on the next scan.
This is why I love the framework of The Terrain Ten and The Metabolic Approach to Cancer so much—it gives us agency. A roadmap. Something tangible we can actually do in those 364 days between screenings. The plan is simple: test your terrain, assess what your body actually needs, then address it systematically. No guessing. No hoping. Just informed action.
Supporting Your Whole Terrain
As I worked through my own terrain with Remission Nutrition, I became increasingly aware of how interconnected everything is. The labs confirmed what I’d suspected but didn’t want to admit—gluten, sugar, dairy. Basically, inflammation was running the show. I had a pretty good sense of my underlying issues, I just didn’t want them to be true. But seeing it in black and white on lab results? That changed everything. It moved me from suspicion to action.
“I had a pretty good sense of my underlying issues, I just didn’t want them to be true.”
The nutrition protocols made sense for my body, not just “cancer patients” in general. And the quality of everything we put into and around our bodies matters tremendously when we’re working to optimize our terrain—not just food and supplements, but also the water we drink, the products we put on our skin, the toxins we’re exposed to, even the relationships we keep.
Reconnecting With My Body
After surgery and radiation, I think so many of us struggle reconnecting to our bodies. There’s trauma, physical pain, self-consciousness. And the reality that so many of us are dealing with breast cancer younger and younger—our breasts are still very much a part of our identity, our sexuality, our sense of self.
Through all the terrain work, I knew I couldn’t ignore my chest. Nor did I want to. In fact, I had this awareness that I’d gone through life before breast cancer hating my boobs. Now I was grateful I still had them. They’d fed two babies (and later a third!). They’d survived what felt unsurvivable. They weren’t just a source of disease—they were part of my story. Part of my strength.
Giving Breasts the Attention They Deserve
We created Complex Creatures born out of this dual need: products to support our healing from the physical trauma, but just as much the emotional disconnect and the need for reverence for our bodies. And while my journey led me here through cancer, these products are for all women—you shouldn’t need a diagnosis to prioritize your terrain and reconnect with your body.
Because healing isn’t just about one thing. It’s about creating the right environment—the right terrain—in your body for health to flourish. It’s about the synergy between personalized nutrition, quality supplementation, reducing toxic load, mind-body practices, and addressing all ten aspects of your terrain. Including the mind-body connection that gets severed when cancer takes up residence in your chest.
I’m not the same person I was before cancer, and I don’t want to be. But I also refuse to let fear run the show. The combination of understanding my terrain through testing, addressing it through personalized nutrition, supporting it with quality supplementation, and tending to the mind-body connection has given me something I desperately needed after treatment ended: a sense of agency and hope grounded in science, not wishful thinking.
If you’re navigating breast cancer or life after breast cancer, know that you don’t have to figure this out alone. Whether you need personalized nutrition guidance through Remission Nutrition or are looking to support your terrain through Complex Creatures, you deserve practitioners and tools that see you as the whole, complex person you are.
What has been the hardest part of life after treatment for you? I’d love to hear your experience in the comments.
-Tara Elmore
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Beyond Boobs
Thank you so much, Tara, for this deeply personal story and for writing about the importance of whole body wellness. Health is an ongoing relationship with your body, energy, and spirit. It isn't just about awareness; it is about nourishment, attention, and a respect for your body.
We love what Complex Creatures is doing to help women reconnect with their boobs and their bodies. Boobs deserve more than one pink month a year; they deserve care, curiosity, and appreciation all the time.
So here’s to shifting from breast cancer awareness to breast health always, to loving our boobs, trusting our bodies, and honoring the beautiful, messy, ever-evolving process of health.
Check out Complex Creatures by clicking below and use code RN20 for 20% off your next order!
Written by Ruby Laemmel, Marketing and Client Relations Manager, Certified in Mindful Eating.