Diary of a Middle-aged Woman

02/26/07 - The Results are In!

On Friday I received a call from my gynecologist's office. The message said the results of my blood test were in and I was to call the office. They would be there until 3 pm. Well, I didn't get the message until I got home from work at 6, so I had to wait all weekend.

While doing everything that I normally do on the weekend, the call from the doctor's office was in the back of my mind. What are the results? Am I menopausal or do I have some other affliction? To be honest with you, I was hoping for some other affliction. Isn't that strange of me? I guess I would almost rather have an illness as opposed to menopause.

I mentioned to my mother that I had the blood test and had to call the office for the results. She wasn't as sympathetic as I had hoped. "Well, Vick, all women go through it, so it's just your time." And that was all she had to say on the subject. She went on to tell me what she needed from the grocery store.

Monday morning my mind was consumed with calling the doctor. I knew the office didn't open until 10 o'clock, so, I pretty much stewed until then. Finally, right on the dot, I called at 10. The line was busy. In fact it was busy for half an hour. I kept thinking, "don't these people know that I am trying to get through?" At 10:30 the phone rang. The nurse pulled my file, checked my blood work, and gave me the news. In her most sympathetic voice, "Oh you are menopausal, dear." My mind raced. I immediately set-up an appointment to talk to my doctor. This morning, before I go to work, I have an appointment to see him so I can ask him some questions about this "new stage" in my life.

After I got the news, I was talking to one of my tellers who was sick. "I'm so sick right now, I can't even keep my eyes open," she said. I felt like saying, "Oh yeah? Well, I'm menopausal, so suck it up."

As I drove the hour commute home, I had a lot of time to think about it. I tried to look at the positives. On the positive side, I could now use my hormones as an excuse for just about anything. "Sorry, I can't babysit today, I'm having really bad hot flashes," or "I'm tired today, I was up all night with night sweats so I can't do the grocery shopping," or I could even say, "Look, don't get my hormones in an uproar - just clean your room." I mean there are ways of using it to my advantage. I just have to be creative with the whole thing.

I feel kind of 'blah' about it. I'm 43 years old and didn't expect to go through this for another 10 years. All my life I have tried to be "advanced" at everything I've done, and it just figures that this would be the one area that I achieved it.

Have a great day!