Longer Period
I'm having a weird cycle this month. Last month I barely bled during my period, yet this month my light bleeding has been going on for almost a week.
I can't really blame my doctor for this, I think there's just something weird about me.
I remember when I was 19 I had a couple of bad pap smears and had to have a colposcopy (a biopsy where they take a little core sample of the cervix). Well, what they found were not cancer cells or hyperplasia, it was just endometrial tissue. It turns out that my endometrium extended just slightly from entrance of the cervix. In most women the endometrium does not extend outside the uterus. In others it does, and can also be found other places outside the uterus, like within the abdomen. This condition is endometriosis.
It wasn't until this week that I remember that my doctor at that time was concerned that I had endometriosis. I had none of the other symptoms (though I went on birth control pills at that time, so perhaps that helped), so I was just told to keep up with the regular paps. I guess the pill helped the endometrium on my cervix to retreat because no other doctor has ever mentioned it again and I never developed any other symptoms and that pathology didn't have any indications.
The result of this is merely that I have a lot more bleeding than a woman without a uterus should. I have an appointment this week, so we'll see how that goes. I don't expect anything to come of it.
Frankly, I still find myself relieved each month when I bleed because it means one more month of my natural hormones. I will be elated should I maintain these cycles until I'm fifty.
Posted by Elizabeth M. on August 21, 2005 11:06 PM
