This highly personal memoir of Menopause contains belly laughs interspersed with poignant self-revealing moments. As every woman’s Menopause is unique to her, you likely will relate to some of the author’s travails and scratch your head at others.
Sandra Tsing Loh’s edgy, acerbic humor permeates this book. And its rawness may make you uncomfortable in spots. Menopause is uncomfortable, that’s a fact. And it is humorous. And it sucks quite a bit before it gets better.
Halfway through the book, I became alarmed at how self-involved the author presented herself. And then I realized that she was possibly the creative doppelganger of a friend we goddesses midwifed through the Change. High achieving, energetic, actress, writer. And exhausting to her friends and family.
I realized that this book describes Part I – the sucky part of Menopause where we can’t help but be self-involved. We are just discovering our Self, likely for the first time in years. Menopause forces you to focus on you. With the shitstorm of changes coming at you, you literally have no choice. In Part I of the Menopause journey, it becomes “all about me.” And that is a very important and necessary process.
Part II of the journey heralds a rebirth. A woman having become newly acquainted with her self finds herself in this next phase where it is no longer “all about me”. Part II is the hopeful sequel to Part I of the Menopause journey. Keep that in mind as you read this book. Menopause is hard as Sandra Tsing Loh shows us unflinchingly. I can promise you (and Sandra) that is does get better. Much better.
After the hard part, comes a whole new life. Oh yes, ladies, there is life after Menopause. And it is worth every bit of struggle.
You can purchase Sandra’s book at your local bookstore or on Amazon.
I just got through reading this one! My favorite thing about it is that she isn’t afraid to tell stories about her life, warts and all. Reading about Loh’s experiences with hormones helped me take that first step to do the same.
Here is a blog I found about the type of hormones that I personally used. I hope this can help some woman find help the way I did:
http://www.biotemedicalblog.com/2014/06/27/hormone-pellet-therapy-after-hysterectomy-oophorectomy-aka-total-hysterectomy/#more-178
Oh yes! I read this and thought, this is me… and today I just need someone who understands that I can rave on at….and it’s you! Today, after years of body melting, sleep depriving, no sweaters even in winter hot flushes; and twelve months exactly since my last period, I dared to think, “well, maybe it’s over, maybe I can start my new life”, less flushes, a bit more libido, OK I like this me. Today….wow I have stomach cramps. Bad cramps. Real bad ones. What the…!!! Oh yeah thanks heaps body. I really wanted a period. Now. This had just better mark the really truly end cause I….am…over it….
I so understand, Ginny! Here’s hoping that the end of symptoms is truly near. I promise that you will like the new you even more.