To talk about my journey I need to first talk about my mom, the beautiful, talented and wonderful
Joyce A. Sweet
My mom was born February 9, 1957 and passed away on August 2, 2010. When my mom was growing up she was always on the heavier side and when she hit puberty she was bombarded by hair-EVERYWHERE- back then ladies shouldn’t shave passed the knee-my grandparents always gave her lip about it- but the fact was she NEEDED to shave. She felt ashamed to shave her face- she felt alone. Her mother, her sister, her friends didn’t need to do that-why did she?
My mom started running and swimming to lose the weight and tanning to hide the evidence of shaving, she weighed 115lbs from 17years old to 25years old and after four children she got back down to that weight-but then along came little old me-her fifth child-second daughter and she never got lower than 130lbs. My Parents met when my mom was 19-she told my dad “you don’t want to marry me because I shave my face” and he told her “so what-we’ll shave our faces together.” She never thought a man would still love her after he knew this horrible truth-but he did and even though they divorced and she passed away-my dad still loves her and they were still friends.
Now to me: Janae (Sweet) Havro
I am 21 and have been effected by PCOS since I was 11 years old. Middle School and High School were HORRIBLE- I was told I look like a man because I didn’t lie about having PCOS or needing to shave my face. Being ridiculed for something I was born with and something the medical community hardly knows anything about really effects you. You can not change the fact you have PCOS, you just deal with it. It makes me insecure to this day. I can not change the fact I have PCOS- there is no cure. I can treat my symptoms and live an active, healthy lifestyle.
My mom still felt ashamed to shave her face and felt my siblings were embarrassed by her for it,that wore off on me.My sister doesn’t have PCOS- she’s fit-tanned-no hair on her face-she’s normal and in that fact I envy her. Having PCOS made my mom and I very close…she was the only person I knew had this-it didn’t matter what the statistics said my mom was my only living proof I wasn’t alone.
I met my husband when I was 18- he’s the first person besides my mom I shared everything with and he loved me PCOS and all. Right before we married my mom had what we think was a massive stroke which left her in a comatose state until her passing-16 months….within those 16 months my symptoms of PCOS got more severe…more hair, horrible moods swings, my period just stopped, acne,gained 40lbs which is a struggle but I’m losing it, liver disease,pre diabetic my cortisol levels are through the roof… the list just goes on…
I’ve never been what my doctors say to be textbook PCOS- I had a normal period, I was fit…all I really had a problem with was the hair and the cysts on the ovaries. They didn’t even want to diagnose me even though the the blood test and ultra sound came back showing I do have PCOS. Soccer was my secret in not having all these problems-doesn’t mean I don’t have them being active with soccer made them dormant. We all may think we don’t have theses problems but we do they just haven’t became a problem yet.
PCOS sucks-end of story. I want to support other cysters out there and promote awareness. PCOS is scary. It took me a long time to realize I am not alone or to tell people yes I shave my face. I know it makes us feel less of a woman for it but I rather look good for myself than feel bad for it. My future daughters could have this-I know I need to eat a low gi diet-stick to a diabetic guidelines-lose the weight and keep it off- treat my symptoms- I know its hard to do it by yourself and feel the world staring at you and thinking they know I shave my face.I no longer want to live like that.
So please see how beautiful you really are and love yourself. Shame on anyone who gives you crud about your symptoms- You have a medical condition- you should not be ashamed about it- become your own advocate-spread awareness-you will help other women by doing so- they don’t call PCOS the
Silent Killer for nothing you know
xoxoxoxoxo & baby dust to those in need of it <3
Janae
