You know, as women, we don't talk much about menopause. We talk about childbirth, we talk about breast cancer, we walk for breast cancer, we're aware of uterine and ovarian cancer, but we don't talk much about menopause.
I think we need to break that habit, and I'm going to start right here, right now.
I am in the beginnings of menopause right now, and let me tell you, it is a joy.
I have pimples! God yes, pimples like I had when I was in high school. I have rediscovered the wonders of the acne products section of the grocery store.
My cycle is unpredictable. It is currently varying anywhere between 21 and 36 days. (after decades of 28 day cycles, this has been a little difficult to get used to.) It sneaks up on me everywhere. I keep supplies in my purse, in the trunk of my car, in the trunk of my husbands car, and a stash behind the information desk at work.
The flow of my cycle is heavier than it's ever been before, too. Where before it was 3-5 days, now it's 1-2 very heavy days. I understand why so many women seek out their OB/GYNS for help with this.
Hair is growing in places it has never grown before, and it looks like man hair. My Mom tells me it's because my female hormones are cutting back, and the male hormones are finally getting their say. Who knows if this is true or not?
And the night sweats. Dear God, the night sweats. You wake up at 3 in the morning, and you're as sweaty as if you've just run a marathon.
There is tons of information out there on the Internet about how to control the symptoms of menopause, so I will not go into them here. What I am going to talk about is something that I am hearing more and more about recently - probably because most of my friends are either my age or older, and they are getting the word out about this.
We all know that at the end of menopause, our period stops. One day, whoosh! It's finished! After a period of time when our cycles vary wildly from weeks to months apart, it suddenly stops, and we are relieved.
The official diagnosis of menopause is when you haven't had a period in over a year.
What we don't hear is that if, after a year, your period comes back, you need to see a doctor IMMEDIATELY.
Can I highlight that again? If your period has been gone for a year and it starts up again, this is a BAD THING! Don't rationalize, don't self-diagnose, get thee to a doctor NOW.
So, a year ago, a friend of mine who's period had been gone for 5 years started her period again. She went to the doctor the same day. 3 weeks later, she had a full hysterectomy. She had ovarian cancer. The blood was the only clue she had that there was a cancer - and one of the most deadly cancers, because there is no early detection for it and it is so hard to find. She was fortunate - it was still a stage 1 cancer.
Earlier this week, I went to lunch with a friend of mine, and she told me this story. I'm going to write it down here as best as I can remember it:
She began menopause at age 49. It had been a year since her last period.
One year later, a little after her 50th birthday, she started bleeding again. She self-diagnosed and told herself that it was okay. She really wasn't done with her period, so she thought nothing of it. That was in October.
In February, she went back to her weight loss group. She began losing weight - everywhere but in her stomach. Her stomach seemed to harden up a little. She was a little concerned then, but not concerned enough to check in with her doctor.
One day in early May, the pain in her stomach was so bad, her co-workers had to call an ambulance and have her taken to the hospital. Her stomach was distended, and hard as a rock.
An MRI revealed a massive tumor inside of her stomach, centered around her ovaries.
2 weeks later, she underwent surgery to have the mass removed. It was a 22 pound tumor that had been growing on her ovaries. 22 pounds. Can you imagine? That's like carrying 3 babies around inside of your stomach. The doctor told her that the tumor looked like a bag of oranges.
The pathology from the lab came back, and she was very fortunate. There was no cancer in the tumor. If that had been a cancerous tumor, chances are that it would have metastasized, and we would have been crying at her funeral instead of enjoying lunch with her.
The doctor told her: make sure you tell everyone you know. If your period stops for a year and then comes back again, see a doctor immediately.
I'm now keeping track on my kitchen calendar. I want to make certain that I know when I've stopped, and not have some vague notion of "it's been a while". I will keep track of when my period finally stops, so that if this ever happens to me, I will know to do something about it.
When we were having lunch last week, my friend mentioned that this is something we need to be shouting from the roof tops to all women, the same way that we shout about Breast Self Exams and Mammograms. I am so glad I still have both of my friends here with me. We are our own advocates. Our doctors don't know what's going on inside of our bodies unless if we tell them. We need to get over our inherent discomfort and shyness and share this information with everyone.
IF YOUR PERIOD HAS STOPPED FOR MORE THAN A YEAR AND STARTS UP AGAIN, SEE A DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY.
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