Slavica’s Story

The survivorship clinic run by Dr. Lesa Dawson has been invaluable to me. I am 44 years old and have undergone an oophorectomy that immediately plunged into surgical menopause, which has been a life-changing experience. I seemed to have experienced almost all symptoms on the books and all at once (mood swings, irritability, depression, hot flushes and horrible sleep disturbance, acne and the back pain that made all of the other symptoms much worse). I had to take time off work. I have gone through the entire gamut of emotions, from regret about having undertaken the surgery to desperation to resignation that life will be horrible forever.

I am well educated, health-conscious, and have attended a medical school in my previous life, but nothing has prepared me for this experience. Not even my health providers, most of whom, to be fair, have been focused on preventing a horrible disease that has taken half of my family too soon. Prior to undertaking the surgery, I have been told a variation of the following: the HRT will address any menopausal symptoms I might experience after the surgery; I would be soon entering menopause and will have to deal with it anyway; getting ovarian cancer is worse than…c’est la vie. The information available online has been equally dismissive or incredibly confusing. This is not
surprising given how unique and individualized responses to hormonal changes are for each woman and, partially due to the lack of research and challenges associated with studying menopause transition.

Since working with Dr. Dawson, I have changed my HRT dosage twice. I have a better understanding of the risks of using HRT and the risks of not using it. I can make better decisions, and I have finally started feeling somewhat myself again. It’s been over eight months, but I am now hopeful that I will have a good quality of life again. I have a piece of mind that if my therapy is not working, I can quickly get reassessed and adjust the dose as needed. Dr. Dawson has helped me become more aware of issues to motor such as sleep patterns so that we can understand what is helping and what is not.

I can not even imagine the struggle and challenges that so many women experience trying to navigate this period of their lives. There is so much misinformation out there, and what works for one person may not work for someone else. We need evidence-based care, and we need support to get through this challenging period of our lives.

I am happy to participate in and be an advocate for further research. We need this. Women need this.

Slavica Stevanovic