One crazy hot flash!

Last night I woke up at 1:00 in the morning overheated and covered in sweat. Not the cold, clammy uncomfortable kind, more sauna like except that rather than having hot air wick the sweat off me, the bed sheets are damp and my pjs are clinging to me.

The room was hot... so much so that I opened the window and checked the radiator to see if the bolier was going crazy. Nope, that wasn't the source. So I get a glass of water, go back to bed, and pull Pace close. Then it hits me. There's no problem with the boiler, I've got a furnace in my bed.

Oddly, while Pace was roasting she was barely sweating. I flipped the comforter off and eventually got back to sleep. I was told menopause was weird but I didn't think a hot flash could be that strong.

Wow! Talk about underestimating the power of a woman.

A excellent portal for cancer news

Here's a great site that I discovered recently.

It has an obviously Canadian bent but the articles are informative, the stories of defeat heartmoving, and victory inspiring.

The "hope and fear" section is the most thought provoking to me.

Check it out! www.globeandmail.com/cancer

Pace's oophorectomy and menopause

An oophorectomy or in plain English, removing the ovaries, has put Pace into the start of menopause.

It would be counterproductive to go the hormone therapy route. While hormone therapy would keep Pace like feeling herself, it would increase our chances of estrogen stimulated cancers. For most women menopause starts when a woman is about 51 and some doctors feel ovaries are a risk after that time.

Menopause causes a significant amount of changes for women. Pace is already exhibiting some of them and I've been warned that this is a 3 year process before the body stabilizes.

On the bright side, Pace will never have a period again so she won't have to deal with the irregular menstrual periods that accompany menopause. However, there is a grocery list of other physical manifestations of menopause specifically;

1. Hot flashes & night sweats
2. Fatigue, memory problems, irritability, and rapid changes in mood
3. Urinary symptoms Hot flashes & night sweats
4. Vaginal dryness, itching, or irritation causing painful sexual intercourse
5. Increased risk of urinary tract infection , more frequent urinate and possibly incontinence

The oncologists have mentioned that there are new drugs that target these symptoms. However, they are still not in clinical trials. Pace has volunteered to participate if they become available Me, I'm all for it.