It Never Goes Away

So by now we all know that infertility is one of the most having Turner's Syndrome. It's not easy for any woman to handle. There are several components that will literally tear a woman down emotionally. I'm not even going to pretend that this post is strictly about Turner's Woman dealing with infertility. This post is about how ALL woman typically deal with the infertility. Now, I have written a previous post about how infertility doesn't always mean you won't be a parent, and I hope you all read it and that it was helpful. This post believe it or not is going to delve a little deeper.

I'm a member of a few Turner's support groups on facebook and there is a repeat question that is constantly asked..."Does the pain of infertility ever go away?". Sadly everyone I have to report that at least for the woman I know who have fertility issues it doesn't ever one hundred percent ever go away. There are reminders everywhere you look too. 

Here is what I personally have gone through. When I first got test results back on my FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) levels I was immediately in denial. I thought that just because a hormone level was off it didn't matter. My mind told me that I could change those levels with diet or taking a pill or something. It didn't really hit me that hard.  A little over a year later I had a pelvic ultrasound done to find out exactly what was going on with my "equipment" so to speak. It didn't REALLY hit me until after I got the results of that ultrasound. That day I will never forget. That day made my heart break into a thousand pieces. My doctor had personally called me with the results instead of having the nurse tell me. She told me I have what is called a bilatteral uterus. This basically means that my uterus is divided in two. The ultrasound also revealed that my ovaries were either non-existent or at the most what they call "streaks". Between knowing what my FSH levels were, the bilatteral uterus, and basically being told I have no ovaries I broke down majorly. I spent a good half an hour straight balling my eyes out. I had to compose myself though, because I had to be to work two hours after the phone call was recieved from my doctor.

Of course you would think that you might have at maximum a couple weeks of devestation and then be back to normal, and that's true to a certain extent. The truth of the matter is that deep down I truly have accepted the fact that I won't be a birth mother. Here are ways that it will catch up with you though. At least for me, it's really tough to hear every time a family member or freind is pregnant. I am always genuinely happy for them, but at the same time it's always a reminder that I won't have the joy of posting an ultrasound pic on facebook of a baby that is growing inside of ME. It's a reminder that I will never get to look at my someday Husband and tell him that the baby is moving and reach for his hand to let him feel it. Something at least that also makes it hard for me is working in a grocery store. You may be thinking to yourself " How on earth does that have anything to do with infertility?". The truth is that it's very difficult to see all these young couples come in, I'm talking that they are my regular customers from soon after they meet, and slowly see them get married and get the whole happy ending when I know that there will be one key piece for me always missing.

There will always be those people too who tell you" It's not the end of the world. You can always adopt.". I know they mean well, but the people who say that don't understand the half of how difficult an adoption really is.First off, the cost alone is substantial. Then you have at least a hundred different hoops to jump through. IVF is just as frustrating. Sometimes the embryos aren't viable, after transfer there is the high risk of miscarriage, and many more things that could still go wrong.

For me, on the day to day I don't struggle with it too bad. I handle it pretty well. It's when I see the pregnant customers at work though, or see on facebook about family getting pregnant. These things and a few others are my triggers for getting reminded about and not really feeling too great about it. For many women who suffer from infetility it makes us feel useless too. Makes us feel like we can't fulfill one of the major things that nature made us for. We worry if we have a man in our life that not being able to bear him children will make him run in the opposite direction.

For you guys reading that have a woman in your life with infertility I have only one piece of advise for you gents to help you out because I know this situation isn't a good one for you guys just as much as it is difficult for us women to go through. You guys sometimes feel useless in trying to make us feel better about the situation. The only thing you can really do is just be there for the woman in your life and assure her that you will always be there no matter what happens. Most of the time that's all we need to hear. We might need to hear it more than a few times though.

There you have it folks. A litte insight as to what you women can expect to go through as you wait for the test results to come back, when you do get the results back, and more. What helps me get through those days when I have a lot of reminders is journaling and reminding myself that my situation doesn't make me any less of a woman or person. I hope this post is very helpful to everyone who reads it and as always.......may us butterflies always soar!

The Heart

As many of you know, there are many health issues associated with Turner's Syndrome. There is everything from kidney issues, being diabetic, heart issues, and of course the reproductive issues. Today I would like to talk to everyone about the heart issues and possibly how to strenghthen your heart and prevent worsening the issues.

One of the major heart issues that can happen with Turner's its whats known as coarctation of the heart. Coarctation of the Aorta is when there is a narrowing of a section of the Aorta to an abnormal width. This can cause a dangerous flow of blood in the heart which will more than likely kill you. This is only one of the many reasons us butterflies need to take extreme care of our hearts.

To take care of our hearts takes a few steps. The first step is to keep a diet low in fat. If you eat a diet that is too high in fat, this could worsen the narrowing of the arteries already happening by the coarctation. Fat could easily build up and make the path through the artery virtually non-existant. I'm even going to begin to tell you to completely stay away from fat. Truth be told, I don't even follow that. What I can advise you to do is to eat lean meats when you feel like eating meat. Also, the milk you drink should be at two percent fat or lower. don't go through the drive through of fast food too much. That right there is an evil trap.

A second step in taking care of your heart is.......as you might have guessed excercise. The right excercise to be precise. Doing cardio is always good for your heart. What some people might not know is that there are two types of cardio. Those two types are aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic is when your body is getting a lot of oxygen. This is good for your body to a certain extant, however you need to also balance it with a small amount of anaerobic cardio every once in a while. Anaerobic cardio is when you work your heart with little oygen. This may sound like a bad idea at first because you are seeing the words "little oxygen". The truth is that if you do SHORT bursts of anaerobic activity it's good for your body because it makes your body huff and puff and work for the oxygen making all the muscles in your body stronger, this includes your heart. Always consult a doctor with this information first, but I have been doing 30 second sprints 4 times and day only 3 days a week and I have been feeling a major difference!

If you want to learn more about what coarctation is and how you can prevent it if you have it, you can take a look at the wikipedia article I have linked to the blog. You can also always speak with your cardiologist who should be able to explain it fairly well. As always, I hope this was helpful and may your health stay strong. May us butterflies always soar!

Taking Off Those Extra Pounds

For some of us Turner's Butterflies, our weight can be a little issue. If you are like me and have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism ( underactive thyroid), losing weight can be extremely difficult. Trust me, ive tried just about every trick in the book.

You might be asking what the link is between hypothyroidism is and having issues losing weight. The link is very simple. The thyroid is a gland in your body that secrets the hormones needed to encourage your body to burn fat and make muscle. Therefore, if the gland isn't producing enough of the hormones you won't be able to lose the weight. I would like to share with a few things I have come across lately that have helped me finally lose weight.

The first thing you need to do if you have Hypothyroidism is be very good about taking your thyroid medication. If taken wrong the meds won't really do you any good. One of the things I hope your doctor or pharmacist instructed you on, was that you need to take your thyroid meds on an empty stomach and give it about an hour before you eat anything. For me this started out being difficult because I am also on medication that I usually take at the same time, but the other medication makes me extremely hungry. I had to learn to make myself wait just a little bit so my thyroid meds would have a chance to do their thing.

One thing I started doing recently that really helps is actually making smoothies with breakfast! My boyfreind makes these awesome smoothies that we share almost every morning. We usually put banana in, frozen strawberries, peaches, spinach, blackberries, and even apples. This one smoothie even split between the two of us has all the vitamins we need to kickstart our day, and believe it or not they taste amazing too!

Another thing I just kinda decided to try recently and worked, was cutting back on how much soda I drink. I actually try to stay away from a lot of sugar period. This isn't making the pounds totally melt off but it is helping.

Well, folks,  I hope these tips help you, and I encourage anyone to write me about how much these and other tips I have given have helped. I love to hear from you guys. It fills my heart with happiness to hear these amazing stories. May we butterflies always soar!!