Journey Along with Me by Beth

I have learned so much along my journey.  I wanted to share something that happened.

To give you some back story, I have reoccurring polyups on my endometrium.  I never knew why I kept getting them but I just did.  It was so frustrating to me because every time I didn't have a period for a couple months, I would get them.  I was told to stay on Provera every month for 10 days so I would have a period.

Back a few months ago, I wanted to go off the Provera because I was sick of the mood swings it gave me.  It's bad enough for my husband and family when it's THAT time of the month, then add in a bunch of mood swings a few days after starting my cycle of Provera and then a few days after stopping the cycle.  He was fighting a losing battle of hormones and so was I.  I researched what causes polyups and I found that it isn't clear what exactly causes then but some believe it is because of excess estergen.  Well, everyone has monitored my testosterone levels but no one said anything about estergen.

About this same time, my health coach, the PCOS Diva had recommended me to look into this product called MacaHarmoney from Natural Health International. She told me about how it can help balance hormones.  I was excited but went off to do my own research too.  I went on their site and they gave me a lot of information but I also researched Maca in general.  I was amazed that I had not heard of this before.  I can take a natural supplement that may help make my body work the way it is supposed to.

OK, getting off the point of this.  I am not trying to convince you to but Maca.  I am very excited about it and that's why I blab about it.  I tend to do that if there is something I really like.  I don't get money from any of these companies for sporting their product.  Boy, do I wish I did.  I would be rich by now for all the talking I do.

The point of this was that I was not being monitored for something that was pretty important for my personal PCOS and my recurring polyups.  I should have been monitored for my estergen levels as well so I could be controlling those and not end up with the same result of getting them again, going in for all those really fun tests then back in for a D&C.

What did I do?  I called my doctor a week ago and told them I wanted my estergen levels tested as well as my iron.  I have problems with my iron because of my heavy bleeding.  No one had monitored that either.  Today, when I went in for my blood work, they had not added it.  I was very polite and said, I am not going to pay to go through this twice so can we get these added.  She went to talk to a nurse that went to talk to the doctor and a little while later, they were added.  I pushed to get what I NEEDED.  I also set it up for me to get a paper copy of my blood work.  I know when I get it, I won't have a clue what most of it means and I will have to go look everything up online but that's what it takes.

I am not saying my doctor is a bad doctor because they didn't order these tests.  It may have sounded harsh above but that's not really what I mean.  PCOS is a VERY complex disease and it shows so differently in everyone.  They don't even have all the answers because this is something that is just now starting to get out there.  We have to give them a break and understand that when they went to school for this, it probably wasn't that prominently known.  If I only went on what doctors said then I would probably not be managing my PCOS well.  I do so much research online and figure out what works and what doesn't.  I do talk to those treating me before I start something to make sure I'm not doing something that will hurt me or interact with anything.  The point is, this is YOUR journey and sometimes you have to put in the work too by being informed and asking for what you need.

I am proud!

Thanks for letting me share this with you and I encourage you all to take the reins in your journey.  The more we work with our doctors to understand this disease the better our journey will be.  Print research out and bring it to appointments to discuss.  Some tend to not like to discuss supplements.  Most were not trained in supplements.  Even if they don't want to discuss your supplements with you, at least ask them to be supportive of you trying them anyways.

*Please note that I am not a medical professional. I am not qualified to give out any medical advice. I am a woman with PCOS who is sharing my personal experiences in this blog and I advise you to consult a professional.*

Journey Along with Me by Beth

This blog post is about my personal journey finding and living with my faith.  I do not push my beliefs on anyone.  This is a blog series I do for myself and those out there that wish to view it.  Please do not take offense from anything I say and please do not post negative comments on it.  If you wish to comment, please post only positive and encouraging words.  Please do not challenge my beliefs.  We all have our own and I am merely sharing my personal journey.  Thank you for understanding.

I feel that if I did not have PCOS then I would not have found my faith again.  I will tell you why.  I did not grow up learning about God.  When I was a teenager, I got invited to a Pizza party and they were talking about God there.  We ended up starting a teen fellowship.  I went for several years but it was a situation that whenever I found a new boyfriend that didn't believe, I stopped going.  This is how it was until this time.

So now we skip forward to this year.  I recently found my faith again after working with the PCOS Diva.  We were discussing the different aspects of life like relationships, work, spirituality.  I kept thinking that something was missing there.  So I really started to think about it and I suggested to my husband that I would like to go back to my old home fellowship.  He said he would go with me and try it.  So we started going as a family with my daughter.

One day I was telling my minister about my PCOS and he told me to pray for it.  I was shocked I never thought of doing that.  He said the bible is full of healings and promises that God will heal if you ask.

I had a chance to personally experience this when I got some bad news that I had pre-cancerous cells on my cervix and Endometrium.  I also was having signs of cervical polyups as well.  I was devastated.  As I was telling my husband what the Doctor said, he asked me, what should we do and I told him to just pray.

We did pray.  We prayed for my health and for everything to heal up.  I went in to the Doctors to have the tests done that would tell me if it was actually cancer or just abnormal cells.  They took 3 biopsies.  I had several abnormal spots.  They also checked for polyups because I had all the same signs I had the 2 previous times I had them.

I got my tests back and I had no polyups and all my biopsies came back great.  Some can say, I just didn't have them but I know I had some serious heath issues going on and I KNOW I had polyups.  I know for me personally, that God healed me and saved me.  As an added bonus, my PCOS symptoms are not as severe and I think they are going away more and more every day

I am glad for my gifts from God and I am glad I have found my faith again.

Here is my favorite verse right now: Matthew 21:22  And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Thank you for letting me share this with you.

Journey Along with Me by Beth

So I have some great news to share!  Today, I graduated the PCOS Diva's Discover Your Diva Health Program.  It is a 6 month program that completely changed my life.  I am proud of myself today for all that I have accomplished in the last 6 months.

When I started her program, I was in that desperate state where I didn't know what to do.  I didn't believe everyone when they said I had to change my lifestyle to a more natural and physically active way.  I never thought it would work.  I was very wrong.  Within the first 3 months of working with her I had lost over 15 inches off the various parts of my body.  I am still losing at would give you a total today but I can't find my tape measure.  I will update you on that later when I find it.  That was also a big change.

I started her program with the goal of losing weight which I know is what a goal for most of is.  I ended the program with a "I don't give a crap about my weight" attitude.  I FEEL healthy.  I am working on my activity still and will continue to lose as time passes but I finally figured out that it's not about the weight.  It's about getting in touch with your inner Diva.  I know what my body needs now and how to take care of it.

It has been an amazing 6 months and this was definitely the lifestyle change everyone was talking about.  She is an amazing coach and I will forever be thankful to her for saving my life.  Because of her, I have found my self and I am happy for the first time in a long time.  I am proud of who I am and I do things everyday for ME.  She has taught me so much that I really could go on forever with this.  Biggest thing of all is I now KNOW how to be healthy.  I am on supplements and only one medication.  The health benefits are great.  I get my blood work done next week and I am excited to see the results.

Because of the PCOS Diva, I LIVE!


Here is my gift for graduating her program.  You can just see on my face how proud and happy I am.  I am no longer that woman that sits on her couch day after day feeling sorry for herself because nothing can help her.

Of course I also look like I'm point at my boobs, but I am actually pointing at the I'm a Diva.

Please take this blog post for what it is and understand that I do not get anything for telling you about the PCOS Diva and her program.  I am writing this post for ME because I am sharing what I am proud of accomplishing.  I talk about the PCOS Diva a lot because I believe in her program from first hand experience and think it's worth sharing those experiences with others.  Thank you for understanding.


For more information on the PCOS Diva, you can visit her website at http://www.pcosdiva.com or check her out on facebook.

Blessed to have PCOS by Beth Wolf

How can I be blessed to have PCOS?  I took a death sentence and turned into a life journey to find myself and God.

Here is my personal PCOS story:
     As I was growing up, I always had issues with my monthly cycle.  It was never regular and they couldn't find out why.  I went on birth control and then went on the depo shot.  I coudn't get pregnant either.  I finally ended up getting pregnant by chance in 2003 and had my daughter in 2004.  After I had her, things got a lot worse.  I couldn't lose the pregnancy weight, my cycle's were all screwed up.  Either I had no period or I had a period all the time for months.  I had some other not so great symptoms that we women don't like to talk about much.  I had HAIR (OH NO!) in bad places.  I had other symptoms as well but the weight, periods and hair were the most depressing.  Oh, yeah, I forgot the depression and anxiety.  I was actually diagnosed bi-polar but it went away the next day.  Get that!  Turns out your hormones have a lot to do with how you act.  I would have never known.
     OK, so on to the serios stuff.  In 2008, after being un-diagnosed for years, I was told I had PCOS. I spent the next few years sitting on my behind feeling sorry for myself. I felt like I was the only one out there and I had no hope of a better life.  My symptoms got worse and I just felt like dying.  I also found out I had Polyups which made things even worse than they already were.  I went in for 2 D&C's to get rid of the polyups.  Nothing was changing, I was alone and there was not hope.
     I sat there day after day thinking what I could do to change this.  i saw women post about how they were getting healthy to get pregnant and I definitely wanted more children but it just wasn't enough motivation to make me do something about my PCOS.  Then all of a sudden, I figured out what could motivate me to get off the couch. I would start a walk-a-thon to raise money for PCOS research and awareness. I didn't care if I was the only one out there walking. I told all my friends and family as well as posted it everywhere before I could change my mind. Then I went in search of somewhere to give my money to. I could find nothing. I was turned down by several places including a hospital. The hospital had told me that pcos wasn't a sexy enough disease to raise money for.  They considered cancer their sexy disease because it has touched everyone.  1 in 5 women have pcos, how can that not be enough to raise money for?  I was frustrated and gave up.
     A few months later, I received an e-mail asking me if I was still doing the walk and if I could give them a pledge form because they wanted to walk with me. I felt re-newed knowing there is someone else out there that wanted this. During my crazy moment of trying to figure out how to tell them I couldn't do it, my dear husband went in search of places to donate for PCOS. He found an article about a research foundation that was started because of my contacting all these places when I had originally decided to walk. I was amazed, overwhelmed and a wreck (in a good way). I couldn't believe that just little old me could spark something like that to happen. The article was by Monika Woosley and she started the InCyst Institute for Hormone Health. She created it to helps fund research about hormone disorders with a focus on alternative/nutritional/complementary treatments that are difficult to find funding for. I contacted her right away and she put me in touch with other people in my area that could be of help for my walk. Before long, we even had a hospital telling us they would sponsor us. I was amazed at all this happening so quickly.
     I look back now to where I was not even a year ago and I think to myself, I am PROUD!  I feel like a new person and I feel like I can inspire others to make changes in their lives.  At this point in my journey, I cannot say I have managed my PCOS but I feel I am on the right path and will be there very shortly.  I am so in tune with my body now and I can feel it inside.  I understand that this does not make my PCOS go away.  There is no cure.  You can take those words and do what you wish with them.  I chose to make my PCOS into a positive thing for me.  Now I go to my PCOS support group and choose to tell everyone I meet that I have PCOS.  When they ask, I have no shame telling them all about the symptoms it causes and to make them aware of how many women have it.  They are always shocked but I always think to myself, what if someone they know has those symptoms and they end up telling them to ask their Dr. about PCOS.  Then i would have helped someone get diagnosed that might now have been.
     When I go to these events, I meet so many amazing women that I relate to with-in a second of meeting.  They inspire me everyday that there is a silver lining on this cloud.  Now I look to the future and what I can do to make this world easier on my daughter and future children that may or may not have PCOS.  I will fight the battle now so they can have peace later with PCOS.
     Along this journey, I also found God which has helped me through so much of this.  I thank him for guiding me to be open, honest and confident to take on this challenge of spreading the word and hope about PCOS.