You inherit, adopt, copy behavior from your parents. I keep hoping that my child will only get the best of both of us - Jan's determination, my eyes and hopefully neither of our allergies. Something I seem to have inherited or adopted from a parent-who-will-remain-nameless is sometimes being closed off. This might surprise some of you, but those who know me well will tell you how difficult it is for me to open up in certain situations. I have debated about sharing my story, but I am determined not to be ashamed, but proud of what we accomplished. I was diagnosed with PCOS (PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome) a while back, although I was able to self diagnose after about 5 minutes in the internet. I was pretty much a textbook case. This syndrome is genetic and explained a lot of questions I had, as it can effect a great deal about your heath, including heart disease and diabetes. Something else it is directly related to is infertility. Infertility is a scary word, which for me always meant "no chance to get pregnant" - this seems not be the case, at least in the world of dealing with PCOS.
We were pretty relaxed considering we didn't know what to expect in the future. I tried a lot of different things to try and get my body healthy - acupuncture, herbs, changed diet, and I believe all those things made me healthier, but weren't bringing me close enough to our final goal. My doctor was extremely supportive (as was my acupuncturist who acted as a therapist as well) and finally suggested a non-invasive surgery to hopefully correct things. Almost immediately after the surgery I was having symptoms I had never had before - I was normal! Two months after surgery I was pregnant; after waiting and trying to decide the best path, I couldn't believe it happened "so fast".
The reason I am sharing my story is because this syndrome occurs in 1 out of 10 women! It is important to be your own advocate if you feel you might be suffering from this. Here is a great resource if you would like more information: http://www.soulcysters.com/ I had never heard of it before although it seems to be so widespread and I am trying to do my part to make others aware in the hopes to help other women who suffer from this as well.
Mine is a success story, pass it on.
3 comments:
I'm proud of you, Michelle. It's difficult to share something so "scary" for you. I'm so thankful that you took the steps to help yourself and get answers.
Michelle,
I was (and still am, to a certain extent) the same about my cancer diagnosis. Although I still haven't told most of the family, I became an advocate on Ft Lewis for early testing - since my personal experience was so positive due to early diagnosis, I want to ensure that every woman I come in touch with also has the chance to have the same positive outcome.
Michelle, I think this is totally awesome that you opened up to everyone like this. You absolutely are a success story and one that I would reference if I ever know of someone struggling with PCOS. It's always good to hear a positive story when sometimes you think the odds are stacked against you. I couldn't be more happier for you guys!
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