I have encountered some health issues, and I want to get those out of the way so you have some of my background. If you don't want all the details, just read the TLDR.
In 2012, I lost my cat to liver disease. I love her and I miss her every day. My bf and I did everything we could to save her, but ultimately lost her. I was devastated. A couple months later, as a 28 year old woman, I managed to get shingles. My job is somewhat high stress, but I believe my illness was caused more-so by the depression and stress from losing my cat. Some of you will say big deal, it was just a cat, and that's fine. But I treasured her and she was taken from me so suddenly that it was a very traumatic experience. She wasn't an old cat I'd had forever who slowly declined. She got sick and we took her to the vet multiple times while we watched her fade away in a matter of a couple weeks.
So after she died, I got shingles and then my menstrual period which had been otherwise regular became irregular. First the cycle got strange, it would be six weeks between, then I would bleed for a couple days and it would stop. The distance between the cycles got longer and longer until my period just stopped. I was sexually active and I did take pregnancy tests every month just to make sure.
The lack of a period wasn't particularly bothersome and I had no health insurance and not much money, so I just kept living life. I continued working 40-45 hours a week and continued taking pregnancy tests regularly.
After about six months of not bleeding, I started bleeding. And wouldn't stop.
After 30 days of bleeding non stop, I wasted the time and money to go to Planned Parenthood two hours away, where STD tests were done without my authorization. Despite the lack of authorization, I still got to pay for everything. Unsurprisingly, they found nothing wrong with me. I don't want to sound like I don't support Planned Parenthood, I do support them, however, they are only good for sex education, routine exams, and birth control. Beyond that, the expensive lesson I learned was to go to a real gynecologist if you have a problem.
After that appointment, I really struggled to find a doctor. I was uninsured, did not have thousands of dollars laying around to pay everything out of pocket, and none of the local gynecologists would agree to a payment arrangement. Neither the county, nor the state had any resources for me. After a long search, I ended up finding North Country Healthcare, an office that had a sliding scale, and would make payment arrangements. The only problem was that their closest office that offered gynecological services was three hours away. They were the only office remotely willing to see me, so I made the appointment. Upon arriving at my appointment, I discovered that I did not qualify for sliding scale because my boyfriend and I are not married. Without the piece of paper binding him to me (lol), he doesn't count toward my household size, despite the fact that I am supporting him through school. Without him included in my household, my income was "too high" for sliding scale, so I would have to pay everything out of pocket. They would at least make a payment arrangement with me, so I proceeded. I went through a number of appointments with them, including another pelvic exam, a pap smear, a trans-vaginal ultrasound, various blood tests, and eventually an endometrial biopsy. I did not have cysts, fibroids, or abnormal tissue growth. I did have an incredibly thick uterine lining, likely built up over the months that I was not menstruating. The doctor suspected a stress induced hormone imbalance. They also discovered my hypothyroidism and began treating me for it. We tried various hormones to stop the bleeding, and I encountered bad psychological side effects. I already have depression, but the hormones added feelings of hopelessness and suicidal thoughts. However, while I was taking the hormones, the bleeding stopped after 171 days of constant bleeding. My emergency fund was drained, and I had racked up a balance well over $1000, so I couldn't afford to keep going to the doctor, nor did I have the time to call their office during business hours to keep getting prescription refills, so when I ran out of meds, I stopped taking them. They would only prescribe 25 days at a time, and the courier service to bring the medicine where I lived took 3-5 days, so it was a process. If I had them just send the prescription to the local pharmacy, the meds cost 2-3 times as much. I was so afraid that I would start bleeding again, but so far, I've just had 5-8 day long periods with a 5-7 week cycle instead of 4-5 weeks.
I would like to get back on the thyroid medicine because without it, I am tired all the time. Once I get my health insurance set up, I am hoping to get established with a local doctor so that I don't have to drive so far and take so much time off from work.
TLDR: My cat died and I took it very hard. I managed to get shingles, then had a 171 day long period and a cancer scare, but after multiple tests, I'm okay, likely stress induced hormone imbalance and confirmed hypothyroidism. Due to health insurance/monetary issues, I still owe money for previous care and am not currently being treated for these conditions.
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