Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Funny thing happened at the OB GYN's office today..


I went to my first OB/GYN appointment when I was 17 years old. The conversation was about contraception, understanding your menstrual cycle and how to do a breast exam.  We talked about the beginning of womanhood.

As I got older and started having children, the conversation changed to making sure I ate properly while pregnant, what exercises I could and could not do, understanding the Lamaze method and pre natal vitamins. We talked about the beginning of childbearing.

Today I went to my OB/GYN and the conversation has changed once again.  Now we are talking about about pre-menopausal symptoms, regular mammograms, enduring aches and pains during your cycle and looking at possibilities of future estrogen replacement. We talked about the ending.

The good news is, for a woman to have as many children as I do, my doctor concurs that I look darn good-inside and out.  I could still bear a child safely, if I wanted to -my body could handle it. The bad news is the tenor of the conversation. The scope of the conversation now had to do with an ending…not a beginning. What to watch for when my cycle stops, hot flashes, mood swings... Funny what you can learn while laying flat on your back with your feet in stirrups..you're pretty vulnerable, so you talk and stare up in the ceiling to keep your mind off of what's really going on. 

An assistant noticed my demeanor and asked what was wrong.  I told her about the conversation change to discussing “ending”…she said girl…“every ending IS a beginning”.

She was right.  As a matter of fact, I’ve noticed that in my family as well.  His Highness and I both had to endure a pretty hard endings to previous relationships (death & divorce) in order to have the beginning we have with each other.  I had to end my previous role as the woman in my son’s lives in order to begin a new life that includes grandchildren and daughter in laws. I ended my role as employee of one company to begin a career in another position.  There are endings happening all around us everyday…ending roles, assignments, friendships, relationships, status, influences…but what is coming up the road?It could possibly be a new beginning.  A new way of viewing things, a new life without him or her, a new role in a person’s life, a new lifestyle, a new circle…So don’t mourn the ends in your life for long…turn the page and read the new beginning. I wonder what I'm gonna learn when I get my eyes checked!


No comments: