Too Old For HRT # 6.

A lot has happened since I wrote the last blog post on my HRT journey, and since I may be making a change in doctors, I thought that it would be a good time to catch you up on the past three months.

Through all the ups and downs of life, I have continued to take my HRT check-in with my physician and have frequent blood work done to check dosages. Dosages went up, came down, leveled out, and have held steady for a while now. Some of the fluctuations in hormone levels in my blood work could have been due to stress.

I had my knee replacement on November 21st, stayed over in the hospital for one night, and came home the next day. Unfortunately, 24 hours later, my husband got sick. Two days later, I became ill, and then my daughter, who had come home to help care for me, too. We all had Covid. Evidently, my husband may have picked it up in the hospital or who knows where, and it spread.

Not only was I post-major surgery, but now I was very sick with Covid, too. Not Fun. My youngest daughter is a flight attendant. She took emergency family leave and flew home. She and her boyfriend cared for all three of us for a week. (They never got sick, thank God!)

They were amazing! This included Thanksgiving, and such as it was, it was certainly memorable. They took such good care of us. 🙏🏻

4 weeks later, It felt to me like my recovery was taking forever. I had no idea what to expect from the surgery. The only surgeries I have ever had are c-sections. I can assure you they are N O T. T H E. S A M E. LOL!

The worst part was being unable to get comfortable or sleep; the sleep deprivation was profound and truely mind-altering.

Today is February 1st, and I can finally say that the worst is behind me. Woo Hoo! Physical Therapy is finally going well. I am working on building up my endurance and strength. I know the knee is better because I am back to dealing with back pain more frequently than knee pain. I have further to go with the range of motion in my knee, but onward!

The annual anniversary date for my bone scan is May 31st. It will be a few months before I'll know if the HRT estrogens combined with supplements, collagen, and Fortibone have helped slow or stop the progression of my osteopenia. One thing I have noticed is that my hair is thinning. Eeek! I never had thick hair so it's a bit alarming. My Naturopathic doctor said it may be due to the testosterone, so she lowered that dose. Unfortunately, she has left the wellness center that I go to for weight loss and HRT. She was very attentive to details dosages, and blood work. They have not filled her position yet, so I may need to find a different practice for my continuing HRT.

I am grateful to be on the mend, back at the gym, and able to enjoy being out of doors. It will be a while until I am walking 2-5 miles aging, but one day at a time.

I'm happy to be regaining my strength at a time when the stress in our country is so high, and women amy find they need support and community. So much seems to be going sideways, and the muti-pronged assault on our government is dangerous. Just when we were about to get a 100 Million dollar investment into women's health research, The Women's Health Initiative launched by President Biden, Trump shut down all funding from the federal government.

Don't give in, don't give up; resist. It's still our time.

Namasté,

Dr. A.