It was years after I had the stroke that I learned that I had also had blood clots in my leg (DVTs). After moving to a new city, I mentioned to my new hematologist that one of my calves was bigger than the other. He ordered an ultrasound of my legs and found that the […]
Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States according to the American Diabetes Association. Tens of millions of people have diabetes and are at increased risk for a whole host of other problems because of it. The estimated economic cost of diabetes is nearly $245 billion each year. BILLION! So shouldn’t […]
I was on the birth control pill for ten years. I knew that it could cause blood clots in women over 35 who smoked. I wasn’t over 35 and I didn’t smoke. That was all I thought I needed to know. Then I had a stroke. It was caused by the pill and a genetic […]
As I pulled out of my neighborhood onto the main road in my town, a truck whipped up beside me the man leaning his head out the window, shooting me the bird. We were at a stop light but apparently I hadn’t sped to the stoplight fast enough for him. My initial reaction was to […]
Over the last several months I have been reading and writing about the Nelson Pill Hearings. I was hired by the late Karen Langhart to dig through 1500+ pages of congressional hearing transcripts. Her daughter, Erika, died of blood clots caused by hormonal birth control and Karen wanted to know what the researchers, the FDA, […]
“I’m so glad to see you. I didn’t think you were going to make it.”If you’ve read my story, you may remember that is what the emergency room doctor said to me a few weeks after I had a stroke. I had only been out of the hospital for a week when I developed a […]
“If sexuality is one dimension of our ability to live passionately in the world then in cutting off our sexual feelings we diminish our overall power to feel, know, and value deeply.” –Judith PlaskowThis quote raises an interesting question. If owning our sexuality gives us power, then who benefits from limiting that power? And why […]
The following is a list of some the health factors that increase your risk of side effects from taking hormonal birth control. It is by no means a complete list of contraindications but you may find some of these surprising. I know I did. Five Reasons You May Want to Reconsider Hormonal Birth Control Reason 1: […]