Have a Happy Period =)

It's been six months since I had my last chemo on March 7, 2014.  It's hard to believe six months has already gone by as I've lived SO much in the past six months.  My life has changed so much over the past six months, and the sun is truly shining on every day again.  I wake up with a new zest for life, a smile on my face, and an eagerness to face my day--even if it's spent at work.  I'm alive and for that, I'm truly thankful. 

Cancer and chemo took many things away from me.  My hair, my smile, my marriage, my happiness, and my periods.  Yep, you read that right.  After my first chemo treatment, I stopped having my monthly cycle.  In its place, I got daily hot flashes that made me feel like a fire was consuming my body.  I would want nothing more than to stand outside in the snow in an attempt to put out the fire raging inside my body.  Chemo threw my body into premature menopause.  Gone were my periods, signs of estrogen, and feeling like a woman.  I felt like a dried up old lady in every way you can imagine.  I hated every second of it!  The hot flashes were absolutely miserable.  One minute I was sweating so bad I felt like I needed to shower multiple times per day and the next I was freezing to death.

My doctors warned me that some women's bodies do not recover from the early menopause that chemo causes.  So I've been preparing myself to likely never see periods again.  Not that I like having a period in particular, but it was just one more thing that was taken from me long before I was ready.   The past two months, I've experienced some MAJOR cramps.  All in my lower back and directly in my ovaries.  While sitting in meetings at work, there were a few times I truly felt like my ovaries were exploding.  It felt like everything was waking up at once.  Oh, and that "dried" up feeling?  Yeah, that's gone too.  Everything is back to normal--all you ladies will know exactly what I'm talking about.  ;)

Today, right in the middle of a very busy work day, my period decided to show up.  Normally, I would be annoyed and complaining; but it made my day.  Who knew?!  My body is truly one hell of a warrior to have survived all it's survived, and here it is trying to procreate and make a baby.  Apparently, my body is just as stubborn as I am.  So, for the ladies out there wondering if they will get their periods back, it took mine 6 months to show up. 

Now, pass me the Midol.....