Lily’s New Strange World Today

Male readers may wish to give this post a miss, as it contains references to issues with the female reproductive system.

I missed work yesterday (a rare thing) and school today. I laud stress and worry for making a situation that is unpleasant in the first place unbearable. I have endometriosis , which in and of itself causes an unpleasant thing (my period) to be nastier than ever.

With endometriosis, the types of cells that line the uterus (the endometrium) attach themselves to the outside of the uterus, to the fallopian tubes and ovaries, and sometimes to the intestines. The resulting tissue behaves the same way as the tissue inside the uterus. Thus, these growths of endometrial tissue bleed when the tissue inside the uterus does. In my case, the stuff on the outside tends to start its pattern a few days earlier. The resulting discharge is usually a darker, muddy color rather than bright red. It isn’t much of a problem for me other than being an aggravation. However, in extreme cases, endometriosis can cause a woman to hemorrhage.

This month, I have been enduring a lot of stress and worry, what with preparing for my son to leave home for five months. He’ll be gone in less than a week. I wonder if there are really people out there who are oh so flexible and casual about such things. I’m certainly not one of them. The menstrual cycle is affected by stress, and I found myself starting the joy a week early for the lighter bleeding of the external endometrial tissue and about four days early for the “real McCoy.”

At my stage of things, my periods are generally more uncomfortable than painful, but I experience significant fatigue. Usually this isn’t severe enough to stop me from doing what needs to be done. However, in this case, the pain and fatigue were so severe that I called into work last night. The fatigue was also quite significant today (it usually lets up after the first day) and all I have done is sleep. Plus, it brought on a severe headache. I have not wanted to eat at all, which is unusual for me. I was barely able to manage half a glass of soy milk.

Some people may ask why I don’t take birth control pills. If you’ve read the risks of these medications , you’ll know why. I’d rather endure the hassle of my period than to take something that might cause me to have a stroke or heart attack. Not to mention weight gain–something that I really don’t need more of–and mood swings, which I already have to deal with. As someone who is not sexually active, I don’t have to worry about unwanted pregnancy. So, I’ll suffer as nature intended rather than suffering in other ways due to pharmaceutical intervention.

I’m not sure if my headache was hormonal, stress-related, or both. I do know that I am upset with myself for allowing stress and an unavoidable physical problem to sideline me this way. I never miss work and I try not to miss school. I feel like a failure for doing either, but especially for doing both.

Right now, life is not the bee’s knees in Lily’s world. Though I have to wonder, what is so wonderful about bee’s knees in the first place?

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