Broken Ovaries

I called my doctor’s office to make an appointment.  I think at this point I was still slightly in denial, because when they asked me what the appointment was for, I responded with “Oh, just an annual check-up”, very nonchalantly.  Bad idea, Torrey, BAD IDEA!!! 

FYI (if you are ever faced with this scenario): When you say “Oh, just an annual check-up”, your doctor’s office suddenly doesn’t have time to see you for at least a month. Nice.

Later, once I finally got in to see the doctor, I was scolded for not telling the receptionist my REAL issue, I could have had an appointment for the next day.  Oh those doctors are very trixie, they are.

As every woman knows, there is nothing at all glamorous about going to the “Gyno”.  You are forced to talk about things that you would normally never tell even your nearest and dearest friends.  You then strip down to nothing and are asked to put on a hideous gown that’s been worn by hundreds of other women to cover your lady parts.  You then get to put your legs in the stirrups while people you don’t even know get all up in your biz-nez.  To top it all off, you are poked and prodded, inspected and then re-inspected… and you’re supposed to be “ok” with it all.  Yeah… right.

As you can imagine, I was thrilled to be at the doctor’s that day.  I gave the doc a run down of my “woman” history, I wore the ugly gown, I put my legs in those stirrups, and I allowed myself to be poked, prodded, inspected and re-inspected.  FINALLY (after several additional pokings, proddings and tests), I was given a diagnosis: PCOS.

PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) = Broken Ovaries

For those of you who aren’t familiar with PCOS (I’m pretty sure only women who actually have PCOS are familiar with it), here is a run down of what’s what from Web MD (this is as close as I can get to a real doctor’s explanation):

 “Polycystic ovary syndrome is a problem in which a woman’s hormones are out of balance.  It can cause problems with your periods and make it difficult to get pregnant.  PCOS may also cause unwanted changes in the way you look.  If it is not treated, over time it can lead to serious health problems, such a diabetes and heart disease.”

AND:

“When the hormones that trigger ovulation are not at the right levels, the ovary does not release an egg every month.  In some women, cysts form on the ovaries.  These cysts make androgen.  High androgen in a woman causes male-type hair and acne problems and can stop ovulation.  About half of women with PCOS have a problem with how the body uses insulin, called insulin resistance.  When the body doesn’t use the insulin well, blood sugar builds to high levels.  If not treated, this can lead to diabetes.”

Sounds fun, huh? 

Now, this is my favorite part.  Here is a list of the symptoms for PCOS.  As my doc was telling me each of these symptoms, I was giving a mental “check” to each one and I was thinking “If I had known about these symptoms, I could have diagnosed myself forever ago”. 

PCOS Symptoms:

* Acne (check, though not extreme, which I am grateful for)

* Extra hair on the face and body (check!)

* Weight gain and trouble losing weight (double check!)

* Thinning hair on the scalp (check!)

* Irregular periods (check!)

* Fertility problems (check!)

* Depression (check!)

Finding out I had PCOS (aka, broken ovaries) was actually quite a relief.  Its like when you’re a kid and you find out that Santa is not real (sorry to spill the beans everyone).  Although you feel like your world has fallen apart, it makes sense.  You had always wondered why Santa used the same wrapping paper as your parents, how on earth one man could get presents out to children all over the world in a single night, how anyone could ever fit down a chimney… the elves and the flying reindeer, the north pole.  But once you knew the truth, it all made sense (whether you were happy about it or not).

Ok, so I found out that I had broken ovaries.  My next question was, “where do we go from here?”