The Hormone Clinic

I have sat down at the computer 3 different times to try and write this entry. I am not sure why this particular entry is leaving me so frustrated. Maybe it is because it exhausts me to recount some of these experiences, especially the one I am about to tell. It is mentally taxing for me to think about the Hormone Clinic(s) (I went to a few) because of all of the doctors I met that year and of all of the places I searched for help that year, this is the one place that should have been able to help me.

Sadly, not only did they NOT help me, I believe they took advantage of me emotionally and financially. I also believe that this particular clinic in the Houston area (like many around the country) takes advantage of women every day and it pains me deeply to think about the women that have gone before me. It is experiences like this one that drive my need to tell my story. Women deserve better.

Ok, I will get off my soapbox! I think I just needed a little pep talk!!

Back to my story. As you know, each day was a struggle for me. Nothing about my emotional state was predictable except the fact that it was unpredictable (if that makes sense)!

On one of my better days, I was able to attend a baby shower for a friend. While I was there I started sharing my situation with one of the women that was sitting next to me. Can you imagine? Here I am, at a baby shower, pouring my heart out about my hellish life and doing it with a perfect stranger no less! Isn't God mysterious the way he works???

Luckily, my new friend was very compassionate and even shared with me about a hormone clinic that had really helped her and her daughters. I was very excited to hear of such a place. I knew my depression, anxiety and over-all feeling of craziness was due to hormones, but I had no idea where to go next for help. She did warn me that the clinic did not take insurance and that it was very pricey...to the tune of $4,000 just to walk through the door! I had already decided that money was not going to be a concern while searching for my cure. If we had to open up credit cards and charge everything, that is what we would do. And...that is what we did! Armed with my credit card and my hope of being healed, I set off for my appointment at the Hormone Clinic.

Little disclaimer: I want you to know that although I have very strong feelings toward the care that I received at this clinic, I am also well aware that there are many women who would only have positive things to say about their experiences. For my new friend, it had been a blessing in her life and the life of her daughters. For me, it was an experience of gross mis-management of my time, my money, my vulnerability and most of all my health. Is mis-management even the right word? You get my point.

But here is what I think...I know that I was suffering from a very severe medical condition and most of the women that step through those doors are needing help with simpler, over-all wellness. Having said that, I think it is an atrocity that the doctors at this clinic were not able to recognize my unique situation and send me to a competent doctor.. I think that my experience is just another blaring example of how egos and personal agendas are a systemic problem in our health care system.

Stay Tuned......