Finding Joy in the Midst of a Personal Summer

Personal summer, tropical heat-wave, power surge, power bursts, or just, plain ‘flashing’. However you label the phenomenon, hot flashes can happen when least expected and tend to have particularly bad timing (in the middle of an interview) and end as quickly as they start. They leave in their wake anything from that moist glow so sought after by swim suit photographers, completely soaked pajamas and sheets, to a waterfall of sweaty makeup running down your face, soaking your clothing.

After my chemo treatments threw me into menopause, the hot-flashes were frequent and intense. I had to do something! Deciding that this too could be an excuse to have some fun, I purchases a beautiful, hand held fan. The kind of fan that women pop open with a flick of their wrist when acting coy in front of a gentleman. My fan is an expanding bouquet of tulip–shaped petals made from hand crafted paper. It’s turquoise, silver and yellow coloring coordinated with the sea of turquoise that was my wardrobe that summer. I dubbed it the Hot Flash Fan. It was great fun to whip out the HFF in the middle of the grocery store or doctor’s appointment to fan away the rising temperature that was my own to experience.

Night sweats were and still are altogether a different challenge. Covers on, covers off, covers on, and so on…luckily I experienced the drenching sweats only a few times at night. You know the kind of sweats where you have to change your night clothes from the skin out… sometimes even the sheets and pillowcase! I just played the on again, off again game with the covers. The biggest problem I encountered with night sweats was that it leads to insomnia. Many a night would find me sitting on the front porch watching the night sky change….yes; hours would go by so I did actually see the constellations move across the sky.

Here is a link to an enterprising sister BC Thriver who from her life experience of being an outdoorswoman, figured out a way to manage the on and off waterworks of night sweats:

http://www.haralee.com/pages.php?page=aboutus

Her story inspires me to think of ways that I can re-purpose or re-direct experiences or information to help create coping strategies for the challenges of rapid onset menopause…what tools do I have to help me manage rather than be depressed by all of these lovely things that have slammed into my life? Hmmmm….I can use my imagination and when the summer springs forth…go to the visualization of me lounging languidly by the pool, sparkling lemon seltzer in hand, reading the latest, and enjoying the cool breeze generated by large palm fronds waving movement into the stagnant air…that would be Aragorn at the other end of the palm fronds….til next time…