“Just lose weight.”
“You don’t look like you’re sick.”
“She’s probably just lazy.”
“It can’t be that serious. I’ve never even heard of it.”
“PCO…What?”
“Maybe you can just adopt.”
These are all things women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are tired of hearing.
Then there are common things women with PCOS think:
“I feel alone.”
“My doctor doesn’t even know what to do. How do I?”
“I wish people knew more about PCOS.”
“This isn’t fair.”
“Why won’t they treat my condition, and not just my symptoms?”
“Will I ever have kids?”
“Why can’t I lose weight?”
“Why is no one doing anything about this?!”
Do you know 10 females? One of them probably has PCOS. They have heard or thought some of the above.
PCOS affects one in 10 women.
It can cause weight gain, infertility, hair loss, excess hair growth, anxiety and depression, and if left untreated can lead to life-threatening conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
But 50 percent go undiagnosed.
Just walking around, feeling like they have this broken body, and not knowing what the hell to do to feel better.
Then they go to the doctor and are told, “Just lose weight.”
Every doctor treats the symptoms, and no one is treating the actual PCOS.
Maybe this is because PCOS receives less than .1 percent of funding for research compared to other major health conditions.
I’m tired of being told to “just lose weight.”
I’m tired of feeling alone.
I’m tired of having to educate my own health care providers because they don’t understand.
I’m tired of meeting yet another woman who had the same, heartbreaking, draining experience of walking around feeling alone because no one talks about it.
We deserve better.
Are you mad enough yet? You should be.
Advocates like myself and organizations like PCOS Challenge: The National Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Association think maybe it’s time we stood up. Maybe it’s time we stop letting them ignore us.
Over the last three years, I have met thousands of women with PCOS.
Amazing, brilliant, strong, resilient women.
They are my family.
And this magical thing happens when tired, mad, angry women get together.
They get shit done.
They make change.
They empower others to do the same.
So I am proof that one voice can become two, and then it grows and gets louder and gets stronger.
And we will be heard.
And each new woman I meet, it ignites me a little bit more.
Because its not just for me.
It’s for her.
And you.
And my daughter.
And your daughter.
All that to say, never think one small deed doesn’t make a difference.
September is PCOS Awareness Month. To find out more on all this months events, click here.
Shelby is a mother of two living in the burbs of Atlanta, who spends her free time trying to get over her break up with carbs. ( I miss you, Pizza joe. Call me.) She does this while making it through the hours between coffee and wine, working within the PCOS community, advocating for self-love and acceptance despite her anxiety, depression and history of disordered eating, and fighting the good fight in her head between “ I wanna look good naked” and “ I eat cake in bed.” She blogs at www.survivingshelby.com and covers topics such as positive body image, PCOS, eating disorder recovery and humor. Really, just a woman trying to get her sh*t together.
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