A flow of blood and other material from the lining of the uterus occurs in non-pregnant women at intervals of about 28 days between puberty and menopause and typically lasts for a few days, called Mensuration.
How easily it can be defined in terms, but the real rain check cannot describe the continuous flow of change a girl can go through from puberty to menopause.
Puberty hit me when I was preparing for my board exam and December was the month. As a teenager, I felt overwhelmed at first because it was something that I had heard about in my growing days but experienced it for the first time. After December, I did not get my periods for the next two months and assumptions were made that she was just malnourished and everything would be in flow in upcoming months. Uninformed motion leads to months to years and my irregular cycle had been part of jokes in our casual conversation.
(EG:- you are lucky you do not have to go through any pain every month... Surely your pads provided by the school are used to store the room. You should start to resale)
In my early twenties, I was a capable independent, earning bread for my family suddenly collapsed in my office. A physical examination was held and, based on my symptoms, I was diagnosed with Tuberculosis. For the next two months, I have been on regular medicine and injections for the course, but fate has other plans and a test was held to find out whether my medicines were working on bacteria or not. The result shows that the medicine was not able to kill the bacteria. I have been admitted to AIIMS for further check-ups, and it turned out that I was in my critical stage of Tuberculosis and MDR is the treatment to be followed. I was much stronger than I appeared and accepted every strike that fell upon me. I happily accepted the treatment for 2 long years. Trust me, it was hell to go through the shit. You will have injections every day for at least 9–10 months regularly with medication of 10-14 pills for the next 20 months.
After the third day under observation, my Mensuration started which was unusual as no Tuberculosis patient had menses for months. But just because I am a special case, I bleed. The thing that never flowed uniformly had a uniform motion, and it continuously flowed out of my Uterus every day. Aunt Flo until my course of medication was completed, which took 2 years. Every day I compete in a battle I was not ready for. Not the humiliation of going through the dot's center on the same road every day makes me miserable, but the constant fear of blood drops shattered my longing to live a better life. I live a life of constant fear under these circumstances. My confidence was burned down and my body deteriorated. At the end of the course, I was not able to walk properly. People start looking at me with judgemental rays. Some with empathy and others with disgrace.
The silver lining under the storm was the constant support of my family and friends. They stand by me through the journey and encourage me not to give up.
Sometimes I feel nothing, my eyesight gets weaker and my bones are visible close to a skeleton. Yet I bleed till the last month of medication.
After medication, uniformity again takes its place.
In my 25th year, I regenerated my soil and gathered my courage to come out and live a normal life. My mother pushed me to socialize and encouraged me to take part in gatherings to Rejuvenate. To live a healthy life I was assigned regular check-ups and got to know that after my medication term ended, some cysts in my uterus had to be removed by cleaning it, but the process could not be done because I wasn’t married. (It's a phrase that doctors use to tell the patient that they cannot touch a Virgin girl although it is for their good).
They confirmed my symptoms were called polycystic ovary syndrome, a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges. There is no cure for PCOS, but treatments can improve symptoms. People who have irregular periods have trouble getting pregnant. Some symptoms of PCOS can be reduced through lifestyle changes. So, now I have changed my entire routine. Diet is my habit to follow, and sugar cravings become essential. My monthly hormonal changes are not only acceptable for me but for my surroundings also.
Although I had to deal with more physical and emotional pain than a normal woman, I tried to accept every possible way to live a happy life because stress banned my endurance. Ginger and cinnamon tea are becoming a life savior. It not only helps me not to bloat but keeps my hormones in check and helps my flow to have a regular cycle.
In conclusion, from all the endurance and my mistakes, I learned that a girl's parents need to educate themselves for healthy parenting to nurture their girl. The government needs to organize health campaigns for each reported issue. Tuberculosis is a multidimensional issue, but it is only surrounded by dos and don'ts or how it gets spread. Not just the government but also healthcare professionals or NGOs should participate in divisionalising this multiple-layer process. They should create awareness of communicable and non-communicable Tuberculosis. How it affects other parts of the body, including the targeted organ. Girls' Hygiene and their related products need to be supervised and have some subsides so they can be easily available. Gynecologists or obstetricians are different; married or unmarried females should be categorized, so their problems can be monitored under major supervision.
Currently, I’m working to start up an NGO for Educational development and promoting diseases. My conscience will allow me to pinch the targeted area. I know the cause and the mandatory precautions. Education campaigns will be my torchlight to highlight the affected wound.