Women's Health Month

Many people are aware of this being Breast Cancer awareness month, but I propose it being changed to women's health month. I propose this because there are more things than breast cancer that kill women. In fact, women are more likely to die from a heart related issue than men, and there are other diseases that affect women, while they may not be killers, they certainly are not very well heard of and can cause other problems in their lives. I have one such disease.
It is called PCOS. This stands for poly cystic ovarian syndrome. The disease is rare, and causes problems with reproduction, lactation, and can eventually cause infertility. This is in part how I got my twins. I was diagnosed with PCOS prior to getting pregnant when we found out that I was not producing eggs. They ran several tests to try to find out why I was not ovulating, and come to find out, I had this disease. Luckily, I was not too far along in this disease, because then I would not have had my daughters.
What happens is that as the disease progresses, it causes the walls of the ovaries to harden, eventually not allowing eggs to pass causing the ovaries to shut down completely. If caught early enough, children can still be a possibility, but it has to be caught. Many of the symptoms are similar to that of endometriosis or simple cysts. The difference is that for people with PCOS, the cysts do not form naturally, they start out as an egg that partially develops then mutates into a cyst that ruptures out onto the outside of the ovary. The cyst eventually ruptures, causing scar tissue to form on the ovary. This scar tissue hardens the walls of the ovaries, which makes it difficult for an egg to pass.
Like with most female organ problems, pregnancy can eliminate the problem, but not always. I still do not know if I have the disease, and it will not be found out until I have another cyst rupture. I hope that my pregnancy did correct it, but if not, then I have been given the gift of them.
I just wanted others to be aware of this disease. If I had been more aware of it, then I could have suggested I get tested for it when the problem started and I might not have had to have the fertility treatments to get pregnant. Thank god that they were able to work though. I love my daughters very much and am happy that I am able to have them in my husband's and my life.