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Note: This piece will make more sense if you’ve already read these two articles:

Hoping Big And Still Holding On To My Dessert Plate: My Encounter with Cancer

The Faltering 40’s: A Commentary on Ageing
Last week, on the day that an estrogen test confirmed that I was officially in menopause, I promptly bought an embarrassing amount of Oreos, Cream-O?s, and Presto Peanut Butter Creams (my fave), and sat at my dining room table having a grand old time. My 14 year old daughter, Boo, surveyed my frenzied chewing and the heaps of wrappers surrounding me, and remarked, ?Gosh mom, you look like you?re on a PMS binge.? ?Nah,? I replied in between chomps. ?This is a menopause binge.?
Sarcastic me likes to say that menopause is a ?pause from men,? but it?s actually from the Greek words menos (month) and pausis (cease). A developmental milestone in the health of a woman occurring usually between the ages of 51-60, menstruation stops, and estrogen levels decline. In short, menopause is like puberty, but in reverse. It?s been over two years since I had my last period so I more than suspected that I was already in menopause, chemo-induced or medical menopause that is, due to the chemotherapy I underwent when I had cancer. I?m also on Tamoxifen, a medicine used primarily to prevent a reoccurrence of breast cancer. Earlier this year, I also had mood swings so monstrous that I could swear I was growing fangs and sprouting claws. As for those infamous hot f...