I just looked at my dashboard and noticed my last post was August of 2013. Almost a full year ago, crazy!
Its been a really steady yet unpredictable year. New job responsibilities, new school responsibilities, new challenges with my personal life. Job and school are no problem, I have a great team at work that I click well with both at and away from work, and school is going well. My health though, not so much.
A quick background. At 16, I was diagnosed with a condition called Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome, which in layman's terms means cysts on the ovaries. It comes with a host of hilarious (/sarcasm) side effects to ones health including missed or non existent periods, weight gain, hormone imbalances, fun growths of hair in awkward places, and a lot more. The worst side effect is the possibility of infertility. I was told, at age 16 when I was diagnosed, that my chances of having children were slim to none. I've lived my life ever since that diagnosis planning around that information, knowing my options were to be childless or adopt.
Fast forward to age 21 when I lost my health insurance. Once that stopped so did my management of symptoms; namely access to birth control which regulated cycles and kept everything pretty much in check. Since the age of 21, I havent seen a doctor other than a pre employment physical and a back specialist, both paid for by the company I was working for. No access to OBGYN care, no access to birth control, no management of symptoms. The perk was not dealing with a period for 12 years, the pitfall was the utter ravaging of my reproductive system as the condition went untreated and unchecked.
Now that I have insurance again, I've been to a specialist in PCOS, hormone imbalances, and high risk obstetrics for the first time in a long time. Some of my preliminary blood tests have returned some not so good results. On top of the clear cut case of PCOS, I possibly have a form of Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease where my own body is working against me. Until a clear diagnosis is made, I am on medications for the PCOS only, which is birth control and metformin. Metformin is a glucophage which regulates the insulin levels in the body. It does wonderful things, but also leaves me exhausted and nauseous. To the point that I sleep 9 hrs and then took a 3 hr nap mid day on Saturday.
So I have 2 options. I can sit here and throw a prolonged pity party. Or I can fight. And anyone that knows me knows I'm kind of a stubborn pain in the ass. So I think I'll choose fight. I might need a nap in the middle, but game on.
