Raising Boys

Ovarian cysts and manly traits August 28, 2005

If illnesses behaved the way doctors and medical books said they would, I’d be bald, obese, have acne, and maybe even a beard. It’s a good thing they don’t always do, my gynecologist said when she told me I have polycystic ovaries or simply that I have cysts in my ovaries.

As it is, I’m still all of 100 lbs., my long wavy mane (which I straighten out with a hair iron) is as thick as ever, my eyebrows on the other hand are still as sparse, no growth on my upper lip that could be mistaken for a beard (and I look in the mirror every hour just to be on the safe side), and there is not a single pimple on my face.

My obsessive research on this subject has led me to a forum of near hysterical women seeking a cure to this or that symptom. I guess I’d be hysterical if I were balding, 45 kilograms overweight, and have hair on my upper lip.

I was tempted to join and ask if there was room there for a skinny, beardless female still grappling with the realization that her hormones had gone haywire but stopped myself just in time. I obviously do not fit the stereotypical patient so why add to the confusion.

The doctor who did the pelvic ultrasound pointed out to me the few large and small cysts that filled my ovaries. The cysts in the ultrasound picture looked like the monster that used to terrorize my dreams when I was a child, with two black holes for eyes and a gaping mouth.

He said the cysts were ova (eggs) that failed to develop fully and remained in my ovaries instead of coming out to the uteros as they would in a normal monthly reproductive cycle. This inability of the follicles (underdeveloped ova) to develop contributes to higher-than-normal levels of androgens (male hormones) in the ovary.

The increase in male hormones in women with polycystic ovaries or polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is the cause of the manifestation of manly characteristics in women with the disease, including unwanted and excessive body hair growth, acne, and baldness.

I shared everything that I’ve learned about this disease with my husband who, knowing only too well how I tend to obsess real or imagined ills, jokingly asked if I was attracted to men or women now. I responded that If I grew a beard, he’d have to share his razor with me.

I may look all right outside, too, but the manifestations of the illness could be happening beneath the surface where there may already be insulin resistance, a precursur to type 2 diabetes and a condition associated with PCOS.

I would also never get pregnant again unless I specifically ask for treatment to the infertility brought about by the scarring of my ovaries. A simple cure to the imbalanced hormone production was to take birth control pills, so I guess I’d opt for this and not insist on having children anymore.

The monthly reproductive cycle in women needs to have the correct amount of hormones for it to proceed smoothly. Any little imbalance and bang, there’s something wrong with us. Why is it that men have it easy?