I knew that Komen was full of shit. Just read all of my posts about them.
Just a summary of entering menopause before 40:
Chemotherapy stopped my periods in January 2007, at the ripe old age of 34.
Menopause was permanently surgically induced by an prophylactic ovariohysterectomy in June 2007, at the ripe old age of 34. I had my ovaries, uterus, and cervix (and appendix) removed.
Pro: No menstruation for the rest of my life
Pro: Almost 0% chance of developing ovarian, uterine, or cervical cancer.
Con: Weight gain (pushing 50 pounds)
Con: No libido (at all, ever)
Con: Facial hair (as in, brown hair sprouting on my upper lip daily)
Con: Hot flashes
Con: Dried up skin which still manages to sprout acne
Con: Thinning head hair
If I had to summarize menopause in a single word, it would be DRY. Dry vagina, dry skin, dry libido, dry mood.
If I had it to do over again, would I? Probably. But I would have appreciated more information. I feel that I was pressured into the surgery by a young (female!) surgeon who was more interested in seizing my ovaries than having a serious conversation.
Law of the Individual: Nobody really cares or understands what anyone else is doing
I think academia is causing me to develop a full-blown, crippling anxiety disorder.
My current diagnosed mental illness, bipolar (ii), is seemingly not sufficient for the universe. Let's see what happens when we add PARANOIA to the mix.
Also, I'm not allowed to tell anyone that I had cancer treatment 4 years ago. Apparently, that is truly seen as "playing the cancer card" to try to garner sympathy from my colleagues so they will vote for my tenure.
Isn't that just awesomely awesome?
I want to go back to being a broke activist.
But without the cancer part, okay.
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