Awareness

Its been a secret I think. But it's something I need to let people know now.

On December 17th 2009 I was diagnosed with PCOS. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. It was a huge battle for 3 years with one doctor. I would explain symptoms and explain my pain and tell her I knew something was not right. This doctor always told me in was in my head and it was just a cry for attention. Finally I find a new doctor who didn't think I was crazy and actually cared for my concern. After a number of tests and getting stuck with needles countless times I was finally diagnosed with PCOS. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is not curable and it comes in several stages. By that time I was in a stage that had to be taken care of immediately. PCOS causes a number of problems that you wouldn't even think would be associated with the name of the syndrome.

1. Can cause women to gain a large amount of weight in a short amount of time.
2. Insulin becomes out of wack and can cause pre diabetes and diabetes.
3. Causes unbalanced hormones which causes Male patterned baldness, facial/back/chest/knuckle hair growth.
4. Can cause mental issues such as depression, manic depression, and bi polar disorder.
5.Can cause heart disease. Women with PCOS are 4 to 7 times more likely to have heart failure by the age of 40 then women without PCOS
6. Can cause a number of different types of cancers. I wont even go in to detail with that.
7. Can cause high blood pressure
8. Can cause endometriosis
9. Can cause twisted ovary
10.The number one cause infertility (which I don't have to worry bout now)

When I was first diagnosed I was put on medication. With this condition I have to go in the doctors every two months and usually get blood work. After about 4 months most of my blood work went back to normal. I wasn't in pain and felt better. I had lost 25 pounds. The hair loss and the hair growth never went away but I felt better. So, I stopped taking medications. When I stopped I began to notice the weight coming back but I still wasn't in pain. About a year after I was diagnosed I started to be in pain again. Unfortunately I lost my job and couldn't afford to be put back on meds. The pain has been getting worse and worse and so I decided that I wasn't sure if I knew enough about PCOS and I did a load of research. And at that point I did a load of learning.

Unfortunately it took me a really long time to find these things out because again, unfortunately, most doctors don't understand the whole concept of the disease. I have yet to figure out what causes it. Ive heard its a complication with the pituitary glad in your brain. Ive also heard that the disease can be carried in genes. Now that I've learned a lot about it I really need to step it up. I have to do that by making it my top priority to eat right and exercise. Us girls know how hard it is to lose weight. Someone who has PCOS has an even harder time losing the weight and keeping it off. If I lose the weight my symptoms will go down a great amount. PCOS causes me a lot of pain and that needs to go away.

Looking Back

"As for the person I want to be, I want to be the best person I can be. I want to reach my life goals with my head high. I know sometimes the hurdles get really hard to jump but I'm willing to take 'em on and beat 'em up. I want to learn how to make mistakes and learn from them instead of letting them push me down. I want to not let my fears get in the way of how I'd like to live my life. I want to not only make myself proud but I want to make you proud." - December 2009

I wish I had read that every day for the past year. I forgot all to easily about who I wanted to be. Im at a point in my very young adult life where the hurdle I have come across seems almost impossible. Until I read this post I thought I was at my deepest depression. I lost my job and had to walk into the bank to get an extension on my loan so my car wouldnt get repoed. I had to shut of my cell phone and most of you know that was my bestfriend. I was going 84 in a 65 and got a fine of $258.33 and had to deal with making myself feel extremely stupid. I had to start depending on people. When I read that post I knew I had to change something about what I was doing. So I'm turning over a new leaf.