Today had one of those moments that you can only laugh about
because what else can you do? I was eating lunch out with some lovely
people. We had a wonderful meal, Hayden
was a little angel. Toward the end of the meal one of the men turned to me and
said, “Hey, you have hair right there.” I thought he meant I had a hair on my
shirt, since I wore my hair down for once, but nope. He was talking about the hair that grows on
my neck due to my PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). In a nutshell, PCOS is a complicated illness
that has many different and varying symptoms, but most commonly you have many
cysts on the ovaries with irregular periods and a higher risk for cancer. I was officially
diagnosed at 21 and told I would never have children (hence why Hayden is such
a miracle). I won’t go to in depth on
PCOS, if you want to know more, I would suggest checking out www.pcos.org, an amazing website that has helped
me in so many ways.
Back to my story, now the me at 21, would have been
mortified and ashamed that someone noticed and brought it up. I am usually very good at keeping it under
control (I shave my face every 2-3 days, especially when going out), but I don’t
even think about it anymore and forgot. Today,
at 35, I laughed it off, while the other female present couldn’t believe
someone brought it up.
PCOS can be terrifying and heartbreaking. For the first 5 years I was angry about having
it and the fact that nothing would be normal.
Some of my symptoms include high blood pressure, insulin resistance,
hormonal imbalances, depression and anxiety, sleep apnea, non-alcoholic fatty
liver disease, high cholesterol, obesity and a high risk for cancer (uterine,
cervical or ovarian). I take 4
medications on top of supplements to combat a lot of this. I’m one of the women
that must be on birth control not so I don’t get pregnant, but so I decrease my
risk of cancer. Before anyone says that
maybe losing weight would help, head over to the website and understand why
that is so difficult for PCOS women. I
am currently losing weight – down 13 lbs in 7 weeks, but it’s a challenge.
The moral of today’s post is that after all this time, I
have learned to embrace what makes me different and laugh about it, which is
all you can do. Life can through some
curve balls and it’s ok in the beginning to be upset, but don’t live there 😊
I use to be embarrassed to talk about PCOS, but now I share with anyone who
will listen because if I can help one young woman feel better, it’s well worth
any embarrassment I must go through.
Peace and love to you all!
Always,
Sheri
