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What happens when the body you’ve lived in your whole life suddenly doesn’t feel like yours anymore?

For Abby Nelson, it started with years of pain that had simply become normal. Then came a 22cm mass, the words “you’re at high risk of ovarian cancer, prepare for the worst,” more than a year of uncertainty, major surgery and surgical menopause at just 42.

And then came the bit nobody had really prepared her for.

The exhaustion. The brain fog. The loss of confidence. Fighting for the right HRT. And the overwhelming feeling that she simply wasn’t herself anymore.

In this episode of Finding Foundations, Abby tells me what happened next — and how something she’d once thought wasn’t really “for people like her” became an unexpected route back to herself: climbing.

We talk about endometriosis, surgical menopause and the enormous gaps that can exist in women’s healthcare, but also about identity, confidence, community and what happens when you discover you’re capable of far more than you thought.

Today, Abby is turning everything she went through into REACH, a climbing programme for women affected by endometriosis, PCOS, menopause, surgical menopause and other women’s health conditions.

Past Abby would never have imagined herself becoming a climbing instructor.

Turns out, she was only just getting started. the first REACH program has been a huge success for all the women involved. Abby has set up a CIC and has got more funding to run further programs starting in September! congratulations Abby! 

if you want to contact Abby about the REACH program find her here at 

[email protected]