Leaking Ovarian Cysts - Pcos Awareness

September is PCOS Awareness Month. Many of you may not know but I was diagnosed in 1998 with PCOS which stands for Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome which is a female endocrine disorder. It was the leading cause in my 10 year battle with Infertility. Whitney was a miracle child indeed I suffer from various symptoms with PCOS that of which includes unwanted facial or body hair, hair loss, cystic ovaries that affect hormones which always affect my ability to lose weight, maintain weight, sleep normally (as I often suffer from insomnia) heart palpitations, glucose intolerance (Hey I look at a muffin and I get fatter! true story) Acne and actually my facial complexion is worse after losing 150lbs, strange because I eat really healthy now, lol- Depression was certainly a past issue for me but now I still find once in a blue moon occasional "funks" but I'm guessing we all get that way from time to time! Elevated Blood pressure which I maintain now through fitness. This disorder increases my risks for heart disease from high blood pressure and high cholesterol which is very common with pcos. It's not a disorder that just affects 'big woman' as it also affects thin woman as well. If you would like to know if you have PCOS you can read more here. http://www.medicinenet.com/polycystic_ovary/article.htm

  I posted this to my personal Facebook wall one day before I was diagnosed with a leaking ovarian cyst. This past Sunday Night I began to experience an upper right abdominal pain that made me grab my right side and the ache worked around my back side to what felt like my right kidney. I looked at my ovulation calendar (which is irrelevant to fertility because my husband has had a vasectomy) but I track to know when I'll ovulate for pains and when I'll be expecting my periods. Well Sunday Day #18 in my cycle is my typical ovulation day. So I thought "maybe I'm ovulating" and maybe the cramping is radiating my belly causing me weird pains. After 3 days the pain never went away. I went to the walk in emergency clinic to see if I had a kidney infection- that was negative. I made an apt to get my yearly pap smear. There I told them about my pain and was sent for a sono. My left ovary is normal looking but the right ovary has a 3.5cm cyst. Which by that point on Friday after lots of rest, the pain was less but still nagging. Not sure whether I ovulated or not, if I'll get my normal next week or not but I now have answer to my aches/pains. The cyst is leaking into my abdomen and they say it's causing my abdominal section to be toxic causing pains. Yuck! I had NO idea they leak, lol- I certainly have had strong ovary pain and what often feels like a "pop" or sharp sudden pain that goes away during my cycle on my right side on few occasions but never one that caused me this much discomfort.

I took a moment to pity myself. Tears suddenly fell from my eyes. Failure once again from my body. I can't

escape the disorder. The Nurse Practitioner  was lovely but she made a comment that she noticed that I lost a lot of weight and that I should have lost my disorder through my weight loss. I didn't argue with her, all scientific evidence shows that once you have PCOS you'll always have it. It's not a disorder I can escape, no matter how big or small I am. I do know that symptoms become fewer and far between and for me this feels true, but I'll always have cystic ovaries and all the side effects. It sucks and it's a raw but real reality for me.

Moving On. Just be informed if you think you have PCOS please see your doctor and find the links on this blog that point to tips to lose weight while battling pcos!