I totally missed it and for that I feel shame. But I have to spam to mention it.
1 year ago on December 6th, my uterus, fallopian tubes, and one remaining ovary were cut from my body!! I have been in menopause a year. I’m 31 years old and on a menopause patch. Not as tragic as if I’d been 18, of course…or if I’d only had one child, not the 3 ring circus I do have…but still. It feels odd.
My consolation is that if I weren’t uterus free I’d still be dealing with spending money on pads/tampons…I’d have that gross sick mess that made me feel disgusting and dirty every month…and I’d still be in pain. The relief from the pain is the best part…even if it has been replaced with the hassle of patch-work on my ass.
Of course, my metabolism became shot in this. I now weigh what I did when I was 9 months pregnant with my girls and have that sick gross loose skin that two years of being pregnant twice in a row can put on you.
But I am free of the pain of chronic cysts. When I was 20 I developed a cyst. I was told it would burst. I got pregnant, the cyst was still there…I was told it would shrink. It didn’t. A year later my 5 pound cyst was removed. We say “along with the ovary”…but there was no ovary left…just a mass. From that time on I had regular pain…painful periods…random pain when I would stand, lift, bend over…it didn’t matter.
At 28 I knew I had another one. I was blessed with a doctor that immediately did an u/s instead of arguing with me…and offered to remove it, or try to make it shrink first. I took blood thinners for a month and thankfully it dissipated. From there I was blessed with two pregnancies.
After K was born I knew it was happening again. I went to my OB, he did an u/s because of my history. A cyst was there but they believed it to be functioning…so I was told to just relax it would go away. Two months later I went back and demanded another u/s. The cyst was now 2 inches (not huge, but big). He offered to just remove the cyst, I said no. I didn’t want it to ever happen again. I’d had 3 kids and wasn’t interested in ever having anymore (If I do “have” more kids I’d adopt)…and could he please take it all out?
He informed me it would send me into menopause.
I told him my mother went into menopause at 33. I have always followed my mother in the reproductive aspects of my life (she had cysts too, but PCOS, not my issue)…so I knew I would. I also informed him I was relatively sure I was in pre-menopause already.
He agreed and a week later I was without my womanly parts. I felt better than I had in years…well, except the extreme surgery pain *lol*
So just a quick memorial for the things I lost…and a happy joy that I’ve made it a year, and still feel better than I ever did in my fertile years!!
Happy Anniversary, doll:) I’m sorry you had to go through such pain and misery, but thankful you got the family you wanted in time before your body no longer could wait. Take care!