Alright, out with it

I felt the need to bring something up, and not because I'm expecting this to fix anything, but simply because it feels better to talk about it than to keep it all inside.

As I am now engaged and RB and I are looking to start a family in the next couple of years, fertility issues have weighed heavily on my mind. I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) which can be caused by any number of things but inevitably the outward symptoms include annovulation (no ovulation), irregular ovulation, weight gain, loss/thinning of hair and a whole host of other symptoms. I suffer from annovulation and have for the past, nearly 10 years, and no doctor has even remotely been able to figure it out. I finally was fed up and went to a doctor in my school's health centre and she has been wonderful at getting the ball rolling to figure this out.

It's frustrating to me because I see all of these young mothers who to me don't seem like they care much about their children. And then there is me, 9 years of schooling under my belt and I would drop everything in a heartbeat if I knew I could have the chance to have my own child.

So I have been in for blood work, ultrasounds today, and I have been told my doctor has issued further bloodwork because something with my liver functions isn't right. Some PCOS can be driven by Insulin Resistance Syndrome which is a fancy way of saying your body produces too much insulin than is actually used. The excessive insulin sends a morse code to your ovaries, stimulating them to produce excessive androgen hormone (male testosterone which is typically present in every female, but these are elevated levels). This excessive testosterone inhibits eggs being released which is probably the cause of my annovulation.

I'm unsure what the next steps will be. The reason is is caused polycystic ovarian syndrome is because the first signs were multiple cysts on women's ovaries. However, not all PCOS patients have cysts--so you can have PCOS without it which makes the syndrome all that more complex.

Untreated insulin resistance can lead to liver disease and I'm hoping, praying, that this isn't the case with me. Anyway, I had to get that off my chest. So if you read this, and you're bored at work today or at school....you know...think about me sitting in the office with 1 litre of water in my bladder while some attendant presses down on it making me super uncomfortable. And praise the Lord it's not you.

:)