2017 was the “Year of Alessandra” — So how did it turn out?
I dubbed 2017 the “Year of Alessandra.” Then squarely in my early 30s, I determined it was about time to take care of the thing that had the biggest impact on my quality of life: my body. Ever since I was a child, I had been frequently stricken by terrible colds and coughs (not the Ferris Bueller play-hooky kind, but the woe-is-me-I’m-dying kind). By 2016, these cough/colds were recurring with alarming frequency and I was taking Z-packs and missing multiple work days every 2–3 months. In addition to my lung health, I also had several personal self-care goals that I wanted to knock out.
So, on January 1, 2017 I sat down with a piece of paper, wrote “Year of Alessandra” at the top, and made a To Do list to complete over the next twelve months:
- Get to the bottom of my bimonthly illnesses (i.e. get HEALTHY)
- Lasik
- Therapist to help sort out my rising anxiety levels & mental health
- Freezing my eggs
I didn’t know it then, but my “Year of Alessandra” would not only have a massive positive impact on my quality of life, but it would also be one of huge personal growth that would ultimately chart the direction of my career. But more on that below.
FULL DISCLAIMER: This post is my personal journey rather than a scientific breakdown of the women’s health market. You might say it’s a catharsis of sorts, and if it helps to open up the conversation — even just a little bit — for another woman, I’m thrilled. It’s also critical for me to state up front that there are women who suffer FAR more difficult health issues than what I post below. I make no claims of being a victim, and I am lucky to have manageable, largely treatable issues. For those women who are dealing with more difficult issues: I salute you.
January sleuthing
As previously stated, my recurring illnesses often end with such a hacking, lengthy, miserable cough that I’ve been tested multiple times for whooping cough, TB, pneumonia, and more. My wonderful fiancé’s affectionate nickname for me –“Petri” — is certainly apt given the sheer number of germs that take me down annually. By December 2016, I was so sick and miserable that doctors had prescribed two antibiotics along with a mono test (thankfully, negative). On my third (fourth?) round of Z-packs that year, I knew something had to give.
Determined to get to the bottom of my recurring illnesses, I hit the ground running in January on a whirlwind specialist tour:
- Week One: lung specialist at Weill Cornell who listened to my chest and took x-rays. His verdict: nothing wrong here, but perhaps your cough is a result of acid reflux. Here’s a prescription. (Spoiler alert: I don’t have acid reflux.)
- Week Two: An ear, nose and throat specialist — also at Weill Cornell — who snaked a camera up my nose and back down into my esophagus. (Side note: this was not comfortable at all. I wouldn’t recommend it.) His verdict: Your passageways look healthy. Maybe it’s allergies?
- Week Three: Third time’s a charm, right? My highly referred NYU allergy specialist tested me for everything under the sun, including a full blood test, comprehensive arm prick and 15 minute respiratory test in an E.T.-esque quarantined bubble room to measure lung capacity levels. His verdict: You are perfectly healthy, and have no allergies. It’s probably just exposure to germs at the office. Good luck.
By all accounts I was perfectly healthy, but something just wasn’t right. I was getting sick every two months, and Z-Paks were my only remedy. A couple weeks later, by chance, I happened to get together with a friend who raved about her experience with a holistic doctor who combines Western training with Eastern practices, Dr. Frank Lipman. Yes, he’s a Gwyneth-approved celebrity doctor , but then again, who was I to judge. I made an appointment.
In our first session, Dr. Lipman asked wide reaching questions about family, habits, dietary routines and more. I filled out a thorough 10 page intake survey outlining this further. For the first time, I was treated like a human in Dr. Lipman’s office and not just a patient. Within an hour, Dr. Lipman confidently informed me that my gut and diet were out of whack. He put me on a strict OTC supplement regimen and diet. I later went to get some blood work (16 vials worth!), which found my Vitamin D levels were quite low.
After one month of Dr. Lipman’s regimen, I felt like a million bucks. Admittedly I have been sick since then (I am human after all), but Dr. Lipman’s diagnosis and education gave me the supreme gift of health and self-awareness that has underpinned all of my health decisions since then:
Lesson #1: “Let food be thy medicine” –Hippocrates. Listen to your body, eat well and trust holistic solutions that bring the best of Eastern and Western medicine together.
February Visions
My next goal, Lasik, was an easy one. Asked friends I trust for recommendations, cross-referenced those recs with online research, visited two potential doctors in person, and made a decision. By February 9th, I walked out of Dr. Ken Moadel’s office Lasik-ed and with eagle eye vision.
Lesson #2: Lasik is truly a miracle.
Spring and Summer: Mental Health
For the sake of my reader’s time, I won’t spend too much time on this one in this post. Not to brush it under the rug. On the contrary, given the complexities and seriousness of mental health, I’m holding off on this topic to expand in more detail in a follow up post . TL;DR I found a great therapist who helped me through a difficult time. She also referred me to a psychiatrist, who prescribed Lexapro to help cope with anxiety.
Lesson #3: It’s okay to be scared, weak, and lost. Invest in your mental health with intention and treat yourself with kindness. This too shall pass.
(To my readers: admitting that I’ve taken prescription anxiety medicine makes me very, very nervous. But I’m a firm subscriber of one of our family mantras: “If you whisper it you shame it; If you shout it, you conquer it.” So I’ve decided to shout it. Let’s break some taboos, right?)
A Hormonal November
By November I was feeling great about my progress. My wallet was lighter, but I was healthy, had eagle eye vision, and felt more confident and anxiety-free as I had in as long as I could remember.
Then came #4: egg freezing. After deep research and back channel referencing, I settled on working with Dr. Brian Levine at CCRM. Before going further, it’s important that I state that Dr. Levine and the CCRM team was and is fantastic. I feel very, very lucky to have had the treatment that I did, and I’m pleased with the end results. But in all honesty, I wasn’t prepared for how significantly the procedure would impact me.
For starters, I wasn’t prepared for the deep psychological impact that would come as I learned my fertility options for the first time. No one warned me that in my initial check up session I would find out––in the blink of an eye–– whether or not I’d be able to have children…ever! I had visited a gynecologist every year since 2001, but not once had a doctor educated me that I was one simple blood test and uterine ultrasound away from understanding my fertility status. Knowledge is power, and with each progressing day with the incredible CCRM team, I learned how little I knew.
Secondly, remember that eagle eye vision I had secured just months earlier? By day three of my treatment, the hormones from the egg freezing interfered, and I woke up with blurry vision. Although neither the Lasik surgeon nor the nurses at CCRM had heard of egg freezing interfering with Lasik results, my vision continued to decline and fourteen months later, I still have poor(er) vision (-1.5) and am awaiting a Lasik touch up until my vision finally stabilizes.
Hormones: 1, Year of Alessandra: 0.
(Disclaimer: I don’t know what exactly happened here and I do NOT believe that this will happen to every woman who freezes eggs/does IVF after Lasik. I strongly support both procedures and it’s more than likely that I’m a unique case. There is some evidence to show a link between eyesight and hormones. However, I want to share my experience and how my body reacted to the procedure as an example of just how impactful hormones can be to other systems and organs of the body.)
Thirdly, my experience egg freezing wizened me to the incredible wealth of female health related terms and issues I had never been exposed to before: FSH levels, follicle counts, uterine shape, dyspareunia, vaginal atrophy (this is definitely one of the worst).
From pharma to your local GP, many female health issues are understudied, underfunded and generally misunderstood by practitioners and women alike. Thanks to the team at CCRM, I had an excellent egg freezing process, but that is not always the case. Too frequently women are not armed with the proper education nor the confidence to speak out about their health needs with their GPs or OBGYNs. Even worse, I have spoken with countless women who share stories about gynecologists ignoring, downplaying and mocking their symptoms. One need look no further than Serena William’s high profile case to understand this is a problem. From November 2017 onwards, I became ravenous to better understand women’s health, hormones and how little research, resources and access to information there truly is.
It’s 2019, so why am I telling this now?
After my own two year health self-education, it has become deeply apparent to me how few reliable and accessible consumer resources/products there are to help women navigate their hormonal health. As I outlined in my last post, I am also passionate about breaking taboos.
Armed with these two data points, I recently left my incredible job at Human Ventures to found a company to empower women to take control over their hormonal health. Specifically, I am looking at what I see is one of the last taboos of the female health journey: menopause. It is very early days into my company (17 days in fact), and I have a lot of work to do, but I am on a mission to educate women and to eliminate the stigma and misinformation around perimenopause and menopause through storytelling, community and a strong female-focused, female-first brand.
I consider myself incredibly lucky to have been able to invest in my health in such a big way in 2017. Not all women have access, financial resources or a support network to do so. Stay tuned for what I build over the coming months to address this critical problem area, but for now I leave you with this:
2019 is the “Year of Women’s Health”!
=====================
P.S. I’m a big subscriber to the concept of Gives & Asks, so here’s mine for now:
The Give: Happy to talk holistic doctors in New York, Lasik, egg freezing or developing a mental health plan. To be clear, I am not an expert on these four subject areas, but if you’re curious for more details and color commentary on my experience, I’m available.
My Ask: If you’re a woman who has experienced the menopausal journey OR a medical expert who is interested in connecting and/or attending upcoming in person events, please be in touch (ah@alessandrahenderson.com).
Alessandra is not a medical practitioner and all opinions or medical recommendations are entirely personal.
