You may have seen me on TV shows like What Not To Wear, Today, Access Hollywood or Rachael Ray. I've been a fashion stylist for a long time. I like to think it has always been my job to help people deepen their sense of self: Self-esteem, self-worth, self-love, self- acceptance, to be able to see themselves in a new light. But while I was busy doing my job, something started to shift in me. I stopped being able to find my light.
Around the age of 47, my body started to ache. ALL the time. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t remember words like pencil or orange. I’d cry constantly. My skin (and nether regions) dried up like the Sahara. I was always itchy. I suddenly had cystic acne and gray chin hair. I was anxious and grumpy. My period stopped (which saved me a ton in tampons) but it came with the realization and grief that I could not (even if I wanted to) have children. My jaw line disappeared. My waistline disappeared. My hair and nails got brittle and weak. And then I started getting really hot. I looked like I’d taken a shower, fully clothed, talking to someone about something I’d forget mid-sentence! What in the deepest depths of Hell was happening to me? I didn't know. Because nothing and no one prepared me for menopause.