I've met two women this past week who have had hysterectomies because of excessive bleeding. Their cycles were so long and heavy that for as much as a week at a time, they couldn't go out of the house. One was a salesman on the road, which made getting her job done incredibly tough.

Both women were in their late 30s when they lost their uterus and immediately went into menopause experiencing major hot flashes, depression, and mood swings (mostly anger). I've noticed that as a pattern in most of the women's stories that I hear. We all go through a period of being seriously pissed, and often times our lives are changed in drastic and new ways.

After hearing these two stories, I didn't feel so bad. Mine seems mild in comparison. All the more reason for people to know about other people's experiences, I think.