Life Changes

It seems like one thing after the next lately.

I'm usually not good with opening up about stuff, especially things that are really personal. I have my family and very select friends for that.

I recently went to the DR because I wasn't having my period. I knew I wasn't pregnant, but not having a period can be a sign of more serious problems, especially if you have never really had any issues before. The DR ran a lot of blood work to test my insulin, my thyroid, my hormones, my blood sugar levels, etc. She felt, due to my family history, that I might have metabolic issues (diabetes, etc), which could cause me to not have a period and have some other more serious health issues. After two weeks of worrying about it, I finally got my results. She said my blood sugars/insulin was fine, my thyroid was fine. I had a very slight increase in cholesterol and I had more aldosterone than I should have. This is a sure sign of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. PCOS can be serious if left untreated or if it isn't caught early enough. There's ways to treat it, but no way of getting rid of it entirely. Overall, the scariest thing about PCOS, is having fertility issues. This is what hit me harder than anything else. No, we don't have plans for children RIGHT NOW, but we have plans for children in the long run. It doesn't matter if I wanted to have a baby now, or years from now, the thought of not being able to or having difficulties making it happen bothers me. I'm sure it would bother most women. I don't think anyone could understand unless they were told the same thing. My best friend back home is going through similar (but much scarier) situations, and it's nice to really have someone to relate to and who understands that horrible feeling you get. Aside from all of that, the DR put me on birth control to pump more female hormones in my body, and she also put me on a diuretic to help inhibit the aldosterone. I need to have my levels checked again in 2 months. She also advised eating better and getting exercise. She said with my family history (too many health problems to count) and now with my own health scare, it would be best to make some life style changes. I will be the first to admit I do not eat like I should. I have a hard time eating protein, and too easy of a time eating all the starchy crap. She recommended a book called Protein Power that shows scientific proof of how good protein and other high fat (good fat) things are for you. It's not about cutting out carbs entirely because you always need carbs, it just simply about having more protein and fat than carbs. I've been reading the book and it's really informative. Life style changes are always really hard to make, but they are much needed.

So aside from all that stress, we are leaving the island soon. Too soon it feels like. Alex hopes to close out housing by the end of this month, and we leave mid April. That's pretty much like tomorrow. I'm excited to leave and start the next part of our life together, but I feel like there's so much still to do and not enough time to take care of it all. Closing out housing, getting household goods shipped home, getting MY plane ticket to go home, arranging for a place to live once we leave, finding new jobs once we are there, having money to put food on the table, getting Cyrus over the summer (that's not so much stressful, as just exciting), and of course, adjusting back into a life that Alex hasn't been a part of for 4 years. That's scary...Going from otherwise being completely taken care of financially (and all other ways more or less) to not knowing what will happen. I'm glad he is taking terminal leave, so for two months he'll still receive a paycheck, but it's stressful, and nerve racking. I really wish I had help out here for all this, but I don't, and I guess that's a part of growing up. I'm just ready to be around a better support system then I have out here. I must have been kidding myself when I thought I would have life long friends from out here....People have done a really good job at showing their true colors lately. Oh well, no more Negative Nancy for today.

Alex's cousin Trey leaves tomorrow. Sad to see him go. I know it's meant a lot having him here, and it's been nice to see Alex around his family and having that support he really has needed. Having more than just me to watch his back :)