my world. my word.

jake & i finally went to the doctor for a physical checkup.  it has been years for the both of us.  we both had a few concerns that we also wanted to check up on.

my suspicions were right.  a few months ago i was watching dr. phil one lazy day off and there was a girl talking about a condition called PCOS.  as she described some of the symptoms, in my head i was saying “check, check, got that too, check..”  as i researched it online it seemed very likely that i had PCOS.  it is mainly known for infertility.  since i’ve hit puberty i’ve always had an irregular menstrual cycle.  at most i would get my period 3 times a year but as i got older it became once a year, sometimes twice.  then there’s the weight gain, hormone imbalance (some of male hormones), risk for diabetes (*i just read from my test results that i have prediabetes…fcuk) and heart attacks (both are on my parents side), and more.  fortunately enough, the doctor confirmed that i have a very mild case of PCOS.  she wants to put me on some medication and also birth control pills – yasmin.

i’ve heard from the past and also did some research yesterday about yasmin and i am terrified!  there are so many bad reviews on it and the side effects are haunting.  on the up side, i have heard that it works for many others as well, mainly women with PCOS which is why i think she chose yasmin of all birth control pills.  when i see her this friday for a follow up i will tell her my great concerns for using yasmin and ask her why she chose it.  she is a professional so if she wants me to take it i will give it a trial period.  as soon as i feel wrong about it i will ask to switch to another brand.  does anybody have any actual experience with yasmin?

another suspicion i had that was confirmed is carpal tunnel syndrome.  damn.  i blame it on being a hairstylist.  i am just surprised i got it so early.  i would’ve thought that if it happened it’d be years from now.  i figured i had CTS while i was still working at the salon i first started at.  during a haircut my arm would get numb and i’d have to stop for a second and let blood rush back down my arm while i combed their hair with my other hand so that they wouldn’t notice.  over time, it became a frequent thing.  then i started to wake up 5-10 times a night because my whole arm would be numb.  sometimes my hand & fingers would be so swollen i could barely  close my hand.  it’s pretty scary.  so the doctor told me to wear a wrist brace to prevent my wrist from bending especially at night.  since my visit last week i have slept so much better.  however, when i wear the brace during the day it seems as if i notice my wrist hurting more than i did before i wore the brace?  i dunno, maybe it’s just cuz of the brace and knowing why i am wearing it that i actually notice the pain.  i just hope that it doesnt get so serious that i have to have surgery.  eeek!

another issue that i was dealing with was ingrown toenails.  again, nothing serious.  it’s something i’ve had since i was little.  probably when i first started getting pedicures.  they must’ve cut my nails wrong that it started growing into my skin which does hurts like a b****.  all these years i thought it was just something i had to deal with but i found out last year that it can be removed permanently.  when i mentioned this to my doctor she recommended me to a podiatrist who can remove them.  my appointment is in two weeks and i’m scared.  i don’t know if i am going in for a consultation, to get it removed, and if i have to do surgery that day.  i tried looking it up yesterday and all i saw was surgery but they were for extreme cases.  you wouldn’t even know i had ingrown toenails unless i told you.  i heard somewhere that you can get them “shaved down” permanently but i am not sure how that works.  i’ll have to do more research on that later.

so, those were the main concerns of mine that were confirmed.  i am glad i wrote down a list of all my concerns because it helped alleviate some of the stress i had, now that i can take medication to prevent it or actually get it fixed.  i urge you to go see your doctor asap and make sure you write down any/every single concern.  you never know it could help in their diagnosis or it could be something that could lead to something else.  i think it’s better to know now than to wait until it’s too late.  i pray all of you are healthy and stay healthy.

here are some sites to reference some of the things i was talking about in this post:

https://health.google.com/health/ref/Polycystic+ovary+disease

http://www.medications.com/se/yasmin/pcos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpal_tunnel_syndrome

http://www.grace-essential-haircare.com/cms/Hisaki_Hand_Health/p2_articleid/193

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/ingrown_toenails/or_overview.aspx