Re: My Little Sister (Long - Sorry)
From: Sonnet (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Wed, 13 Mar 2002 23:43:39 -0600 (CST)
Oh my goodness, how heartbbreaking, and how wonderful that you were able
to provide your sister with information! I sure hope she starts feeling
better and better - soon!
I have been after my acne-covered, eating-disordered, high insulin
brother for years now, but he won't listen to me. Thank Goodness my
sister is adopted and lucked out with some good genes!
It's a good message to share - thank you.
At Wed, 13 Mar 2002, anonymous@obgyn.net wrote:
>
>Hi Guys,
>
>I guess this is a story to say that we need to do our advocacy close at
>home as well as with any women who may have PCOS symptoms - and many
>women with PCOS may not realise how serious it is.
>
>I only see my little sister once a year or less. She was diagnosed with
>PCOS about 7 years ago and never went back after the first time....
>though the doc did ask her to see an endocrinologist, she never did. I
>tried to encourage her to do something (ie see a doc)through our
>internet communications... but she didn't seem interested - probably
>just thought I was up to the big sister nag thing.....
>
>I saw her two days ago (and now I am very aware of PCOS after research,
>etc, after self and then medical diagnosis about 6 mo. ago). What a
>shock! She used to be 'chubby' when we were at uni, last time I saw her
>she was slim, but now is rail thin. She says now she can eat anything
>and not gain an ounce (that is not normal for women in our family).
>Suffers from 'vaguing out', polyuria and excessive thirst (man oh man
>how scary - like this is almost diabetic), very irregular periods and
>does not ovulate regularly, not excessive hair like me, but male patern
>hair loss (worse and more noticeable than mine). She is also totally
>scatterbrained, vague, forgetful, suffers anxiety.... etc. She has
>seen a GP who was concerned with her diabetic like symptoms but,
>apparently (my sis is not sure) only tested for glucose in urine and
>fasting insulin which were normal. So my sis figured this was just
>something she had to live with and didn't consider doing anything
>further.
>
>Anyway, I discussed all this with her and about PCOS and she is like '
>Wow -I didn't realise all this could be explained and it may not be a
>'personality fault'. She didn't realise how serious this is and how it
>may be able to be treated -probably quite easily. My poor little sis. I
>am now so worried for her. But I directed her to this and the
>australian support site and discussed with her what her treatment should
>be and how to find a good doctor (my doc is overseas). Her PCOS is so
>much worse than mine - and I was feeling so bad - how much worse must
>she be feeling. She also has thyroid symptoms (I have hypothryoid) so
>told her all about that as well. Then she told me she has another
>friend, also rail thin with similar sytoms, also diagnosed with PCOS but
>untreated and unmonitored..... Makes me wonder how many women are in
>such a bad condition. She will now get on her friend's case.
>
>Anyway, moral is, there may be women even in our own families who don't
>realise and may not be treated. We need to be proactive to help others.
>As someone who has just gotten her life back (after thinking I was
>absolutely nuts) I cannot say how strongly I feel about this. And our
>reaching out to one woman may have a ripple effect to others.
>
>So I will be following and monitoring my little sis progress very
>closely and encouraging her every step of the way. Sorry this is long,
>but I really wanted to get this out.
>
>Sally
--
Email always welcome: sonnet@pcosupport.org
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