Hygiene -- and the Female Stuff

Hygiene. We take it for granted that those who are adults will automatically know that a shower each day (or at least every other day!) is essential. But that wasn't the case for Sharon. It appears that she was constantly told when to take a shower and when to even go to the bathroom. So if we weren't telling her to take a shower...suddenly 4 days later I realized she hadn't taken one. Not good.

And then there is the showering concept in relation to monthly female hygiene. Okay, first of all, is there a way to appeal to the gods (God) to say, hey...some people just don't need to be having a period. Seriously. This so wasn't a question I had given even a morsel of thought about. I figured this was a given as taken care of as well. I would just need to make sure there was product available and that was it, right? WRONG!

Oh my gosh, first I have to see more of her body than necessary because of female appointments and now I have to talk to her not only about her hygiene, but also her hygiene in relation to her period...AND now I have to talk to her about managing her period. Good God, I REALLY wasn't bargaining for this one!

First, I have mentioned before that Sharon does not like having her period. And in her world, she is the only one that has problems with it. Well, we have been working on that concept...it's not just all her world. But that is another topic. Anyway, so when she has had her period, I have noticed her tendency to not shower at all during her whole cycle. Icky, stinky, gross. She thinks it is to shower during the time...it definitely is to NOT shower during that time. So, I have had to talk to her about showering at least every other day other days of the month, but that it would also be best if she showered every day when she has her period. Okay, done. Behavior change is occurring.

Next, I had to address the period in general. I have mentioned before that we are on a budget and I can tell you that her handling her period related to product just about kills our budget! I had to talk to her about the fact that, while it is good to be changing her pad when it gets full or near full or at least a time or two per day, it isn't necessary to use the overnight pads every part of the day. It is more important to watch how things are going and to pay attention to where everything is landing and then make adjustments. Observe, make decisions...don't just let the period happen to you...manage it.

Next thing, at the OB/GYN appointment we talked about the management and the flow and all that and the three of us decided that it was worthwhile to try uterine eblation for Sharon in hopes that her period would go bye-bye. On January 26, I took her for her outpatient procedure and it went really, really well. Sharon was excited about the possibility of having no more period. The doctor reminded us that there was a 70% chance of 100% success and she was going to do a D&C (did I do that right?) prior to the eblation to increase the success rate to 80%.

In going in, it turned out that her uterus was full of polyps. They were harmless, but could have been causing some periodic bleeding issues. Six weeks for follow up and probably one good bleed in between and we should be, hopefully, done.

Well, we aren't so lucky. We are a little bit lucky though. The periods are lighter and only three days now with little to no cramping. This is definitely an improvement. And, with Sharon's better management practices prior to the procedure, she is now managing her periods much better AND without using a TON of product.

Sharon, our budget thanks you :)