The Saga Continues

What I hadn't mentioned in earlier posts was this one teensy, tiny, almost so small that it was missed, blip on the radar (AS IF!). 

Actually, it's been a HUGE issue for me.  It has actually been an issue since the miscarriage, but has gotten so much worse in the last 12 months that I finally broke down and told my doctor that I couldn't deal with it anymore.

There is a story in the Bible about a woman with "an issue of blood" that she had dealt with for 12 years.  She approaches Jesus in a crowd and has the faith to believe that if she just touches the hem of his garment, she will be healed.  This was a BIG deal, because a woman with her problem, i.e. "bleeding", was considered unclean, and therefore, would avoid crowds where she could accidentally "contaminate" others.  Jesus, of course, immediately knew when she touched Him, and when she admitted she had touched His hem, He told her that her faith had healed her.  Then He said, "Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."  (Mark 5: 25-34)

Suffering.  That's the best way to describe it.  I believe that I've mentioned that monthly cycles are somewhat of a mystery for me, have been since I've had them.  It's a function of my PCOS that they can be between 4-8 weeks apart.  Usually.  Since my miscarriage, they have grown more erratic, and when I visited the specialist's office last year, I had some serious concerns about the fact that they were changing to 8-12 weeks with 2+ weeks of bleeding each time.  I was told by the nurse practitioner that (and I am totally not joking, exaggerating, or making this up), "Well, when you don't ovulate, that makes your cycles a little longer.  You get your period when an egg doesn't get fertilized (yes, she really said it!).  If your cycle lasts longer than 6 weeks, then you'll bleed more and more heavily."

  I mentioned the whole "clots" thing, and she just told me it was because I was too overweight.  I needed to lose 20 pounds, and that should restore my cycles, and then needed to lose 70 pounds before she'd let me begin using Clomid, but she was just *sure* that losing weight would make my problems disappear and my PCOS wouldn't interfere with my fertility.  "Well, you can't get pregnant if you don't ovulate, and your size is keeping you from ovulating." (yeah, she told me that, too)

Needless to say, I was. not. under. ANY. circumstances. going back to that office because they weren't going to let me see the actual OBGYN, but be stuck with THAT thing. 

However, since my kidney surgery, things had accelerated.  I started having shorter cycles, but I was bleeding for 3+ weeks.  I bled from December 15-January 5, then while I was working at losing that weight and walking/working out, I had about 4 weeks of feeling super.  Then, I started bleeding on February 10, and continued until April 22.  By bleeding, I mean BLEEEEEEEDDDDDDIIIIINNNNGGGG.  I was going through almost a regular-sized box of pads every two days.  Lots of clots, lots of gushes when I stood or got out of bed.  It was NOT pretty. 

 I was so relieved when it stopped.  I was planning on going back to my GP, Dr. Wonderful, for my annual exam as soon as school was out.  I went back to walking again, because I wasn't losing so much blood that I was turning anemic.  Then, on MOTHER'S DAY (of all days, right?), the flood came back.  It lasted until FATHER'S DAY (still ironic, huh?), then took a 3-day break before starting again.  I was about to start buying adult diapers to prevent embarrassing leaks in the car and in public.

Sooooooooooooooooooo, what's causing all of this?  Stay tuned for Part Two, tomorrow!