Something no teenage girl wants to face–uncontrollable weight gain, acne, hot flashes, and the ridicule of classmates. That was the life I was living.
I was simply being told by doctors that I was just “bigger” than the other girls. Baffled and distressed, my mother and I fought not to give up. Three years and over 4 different doctors was a failure, the symptoms even passed by a childrens endocrinologist who was trianed in these diseases.
I gained over 40 pounds in one year of middle school, at a stunning 200 pounds, playing hockey became more difficult by the minute, and I didn’t understand what was happening. Once again, a doctor did a thyroid test (that was normal) and sent me to a nutitionist, who told me to eat MORE CARBOHYDRATES!
As I did, I felt sick, nausated and even more sluggish. 😮 August before my freshman year turned my life around. I went to a doctors assistant for an EAR infection, and as my mom displayed my list of symptoms, she asked if I had ever heard of PolyCystic Ovarian Disease. Amazingly enough, I had, in a magazine I read in middle school, but the earlier doctors shrugged it off as being a hypochondriac of some sort.
I was diagnosed with bloodwork and a ultrasound within a week and began medicine. The mystery stops there…right? Wrong, my freshman year was a living hell. I was constantly depressed and my once all A’s fell to D’s and C’s. I tried to hide it for a while, but it became obvious. I was put on therapy and anti-depressants, which did a little good, but family involvment wasn’t the greatest.
I discovered I felt worse on the anti depressants because I felt that a pill had the control of my emotions, so I stopped taking them. Within time of starting a website, talking about it, and helping others, my grades steadily climbed, as did my awareness of others facing the same problem. I recieved emails from young girls everyday, a few of which I referred to my own personal doctor, because they lived close.
I just finished my Sophomore year, and have changed dramatically. I had an article published inside a local magazine called Great Lakes Family Living, which can be viewed here :
http://www.glfamily.com/html/jf-02/jf-02-takingnote.html
PCOS is not part of my everyday life, its merely a shadow of who I am inside. People can accept me for who I am, or can stay arrogent, either way, I am living how I want to. I have lost two dress sizes so far this summer, and I moved to the Detroit area recently, where I am working in a major hospital. As for what I want to be when I grow up? I am not sure, but am leaning towards a career in medicine.
Want to connect with me? My name is PCOTeen on the SoulCysters Message Board.