Davidson resident Dr Michela Sorensen joins Seven’s health show
Seven’s feelgood lifestyle program, The House of Wellness, is back for a fourth season, with Davidson resident, Dr Michela Sorensen joining the panel.
Michela is part of the team with hosts Mel Doyle, Shane Crawford and fellow panelist, comedian Sam Taunton. The show, which is airing now, brings health conversations to your living room.
Being ‘in the right place at the right time’ prompted Michela’s television career.
She met Seven’s The Morning Show host Kylie Gillies at a health event and ended up joining The Morning Show as a health expert.
Sunrise followed, and The House of Wellness then asked her to join the team. “The rest is history,” Michela says.
“Mel, Shane and Sam are just incredible humans and everyone from the floormen to the cameramen to the scriptwriters are genuinely happy to be there. You feel like you’ve known everyone forever,” she says.
The show covers various health topics from cancer to hormone health and cognitive health, with the team aiming to cover topics that are relevant and current.
Michela has had her own health challenges and a trip to the dentist when she was 34 resulted in a diagnosis of oral cancer.
“(The dentist) found a big lump on the roof of my mouth,” Michela recalls. “It just looked like a simple cyst but it wasn’t a cyst. It was a very rare cancer, less than one in a million. The risk factors are lifelong smoking and male over the age of 75, and I am neither of those.”
With an eight-week-old and a toddler at home (now three and five years old) it was a difficult time, and she praises husband Sean for all his support and her father for coming to help as she was in hospital for a month.
“To some extent I had the easy job. My husband was looking after two children and working and trying to support me, and my incredible dad came to look after the kids,” Michela says. “You just have to get by and surrender to the fact that you’re human and accept help which doesn’t sit naturally with a lot of us,” she says.
Michela is passionate about preventative health and as well as her clinic at Walker Street Doctors in North Sydney, she has established online platform, Elme Health, which has a focus on preventative health testing and screening.
“It’s about doing that preventative health testing, not waiting to have symptoms or until things go wrong.”
Michela stresses the importance of being honest with your doctor and speaking up if you don’t think something is quite right. “Ultimately, you are the person that knows your body better than anyone, so if you are feeling something that doesn’t feel quite right or you’re concerned about something please don’t be afraid to ask.”
She says this is particularly important for women, with symptoms often being put down to stress or anxiety. “There’s no denying that we have a health system where a lot of our information and knowledge is built on research that was done on men. Women present very differently which can result in women falling through the gaps or not being heard,” Michela says.
“I would like to say times are changing and we’re seeing a lot more research into women’s health and a lot more awareness of that but there is still a bit of a lag,”
When she has some time off, Michela loves Mona Vale beach and likes to explore local walking trails.
“Davidson feels a little bit like a country town in the middle of Sydney. It’s got such a wonderful sense of community,” Michela says. “And the natural landscape, we’re at the foothills of the beautiful National Park and then ten minutes and you’re at the beach so there’s everything you could possibly want.”
See The House of Wellness on Seven and 7plus.