Period Anthology: The Real Period Story

Today we are delighted to introduce you to Sarah Wayne-Wright. She is a valued member of the SheHopes board, wife, mom, and owner of DSM Accounting LLC. Today she is sharing her story with us for our Period Anthology. In our travels around the world, we realized how much we keep these stories to ourselves, but how they actually unite us all. There is power when we as women and girls feel SEEN and know that WE ARE NOT ALONE!

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My period story is not an exciting one. Truly short and sweet to be exact. The main thing I remember was being in 7th grade and wondering why I was the only one that had not started my period yet. Knowing what I know now, I wonder how many girls were in the same boat as I was and had not started either. I will never understand why I was so excited to start but I just was. However, the morning I started was just a normal morning. In fact, I do not even remember telling my mom. I woke up, went to the bathroom, put a pad in my underwear and went back to bed. That was it. That was what I had been waiting for. Very boring really.

It’s what has happened since that is the real period story. I had my first child at 21. My pregnancy was rough to say the least. I hemorrhaged and bled and passed clots my entire pregnancy. At 21 and being newly married, this was a serious situation but also very embarrassing. I was told multiple times to be prepared because I may miscarry. I had never been so scared in my life. I finally made it to 37 weeks and delivered my beautiful healthy son. As soon as my son was born, I started to bleed out. I had no blood pressure at one point and was rushed to emergency surgery to stop the bleeding. They were able to stop the bleeding and my 21 year old self went on with life. I didn’t understand the gravity of the situation back then. It scares the crap out of me when I think about it now.

When my son was about 6 years old, I started to have extremely painful periods. As in, miss work, vomit from the pain periods. I didn’t go to the doctor because I thought this was normal. I though I was just getting older and this is what happens. A little over a year into these painful periods I found out I was pregnant with my daughter and the painful periods had stopped due to the pregnancy. It’s amazing what a woman’s mind can convince her to block out. I completely forgot about these life changing painful periods during this time. I delivered my baby girl at 38 weeks with another severe complication. This involved a birth injury to my daughter. I was closer than I think I even know to losing her. 

At this point I knew there was no way I could go through another pregnancy and birth. I was done whether I wanted to be or not. I decided to get a tubal ligation (tubes tied). I made the appointment for two months after my daughter’s birth. I went in that morning and had my surgery with no complications. My doctor came in to talk to me once I was awake and let me know that one of my ovaries was completely covered in cysts that he had removed. I very quietly asked what side, knowing where this was going. He said my left side. The very side my period pain was the most unbearable on. I then mentioned my insanely painful periods before my pregnancy. When asked why I never came in to get checked out, I had not a single answer other than I was busy.

For around three months after my surgery my periods returned to normal and then gradually got worse. I went in at one point and they did an ultrasound of my ovaries. There was nothing that they could see at that time, but they said my hormones during different times of the month can affect the size of the cysts. There was nothing they could do. I was disappointed and felt stupid for complaining.

I have learned to deal with this pain. I have learned to work around it. My husband has learned what to do to help me during that time of the month. I am blessed to have him. I don’t know what the pain will be like in the future, I just hope I can handle it.

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Thank you so much to Sarah for sharing her story with us today! Every heart holds a story - and if you would like to share your story with us, send an email to Ginger@SheHopes.org or CONTACT US HERE.

Remember - You are SEEN, you are LOVED, and you are WORTH FIGHTING FOR.