Post by Elliestraaeln Evans-Barros on Jul 7, 2010 19:51:48 GMT -5
Ellie continued her writing on the dry-erase board, filling out the chart for the notes that she had been guiding the class through. The class had been going for a while... but the lessons were to be spread out over several sessions, and Ellie had gladly volunteered to help Kane out when it came time to split the class for gender-dependent lessons.
The marker squeaked along the board. Ellie spoke as she wrote, clarifying the chart as it was filled.
Oh, and now they were on to the menstrual cycle and its fickle dependency on hormones.
Ellie started a new header on the chart: Hormonal Precision.
“Your menstrual cycle is governed by several hormones, all of which need to be functioning somewhere close to perfect in order to have a perfectly routine cycle. Stress, diet, and other factors affect these hormones and the production of them; when you encounter extreme stress of any kind, mental or physical, you can alter this production to the point of actually interrupting the process itself.” Squeak went the marker. “Think of it like a padlock—there are several sliding tumblers that need to be lined up in a precise fashion in order for the lock to be opened. If one of those tumblers is even slightly out of place, the lock will jam and not open. Your hormones really are that precise—if one of them is duffed, it will create a change in your menstrual cycle. If the duff is substantial enough, you may skip the cycle altogether.”
The chart was filled with key words-- Ellie heard the scratching of pencils and pens on paper as her students jotted down information.
Under the Hormonal Imbalance header:
“Now, most women are pretty capable of dealing with emotional crises.” She smirked. “Or what some of us consider to be crises. But there are times when some emotions are just too overwhelming and the body’s hormones get thrown all to hell. Think of depression, loss in the family…” She looked over her shoulder and arched an eyebrow at her the girls. “And no, finding out that your new haircut makes your face look fat does not count.” She heard a few giggles. Back to the board. “Psychosomatic situations can cause one to experience a number of changes in your cycle, like skipping a period, or even having two in one month. Estrogen is the main reason that the uterine lining builds up, and progesterone (or a lack of it) is what makes the lining shed.”
“Therefore, as tempting as it is, it is inaccurate to make blood-loss jokes.” She chuckled. “And now you all can correct my nephew when he pokes fun at anyone in this class,” she added brightly as she filled out the next header.
Faux Rebooting of the Menstrual Cycle
“When the menstrual cycle is interrupted by a hormonal imbalance, causing the shedding of the uterine lining to stop after a few days, the tissue you would have shed doesn’t just get absorbed back into the body. Experiencing a drop in your progesterone several days after the shedding process has been paused would have you bleeding again. Imagine that your cycle was interrupted during the fifth or sixth day of bleeding, and you normally go for seven or eight days. Hormonal imbalances have brought both your estrogen and progesterone levels up—encouraging the building of uterine lining whilst preventing shedding—for a week or so. When those progesterone levels start to come down, the cycle will continue; and, if that estrogen caused you lining to build up sufficiently in the meantime, you could have another full week of bleeding to do until the lining is fully shed. That’s two periods in one month, right there, with no real cause for alarm. But.”
She turned to face the class.
“So, is this healthy, or abnormal? It’s certainly not something most women will experience more than once or twice; but that doesn’t mean you’re unhealthy if you do. We’re all a bit different—especially in our teenage years, while our bodies are still sorting themselves out. Between the onset of puberty and the age of about sixteen or seventeen, this type of thing isn’t all that uncommon. However, even during those years, this is a once in a while occurrence. If this happens over two consecutive months, or several times in a year, see a doctor.” She waved to them. “Hi there, I am your doctor. And, of course, if you’re also experiencing abnormally bad cramps, abnormally heavy bleeding, pain of any sort or an unusual odor, you speak with a doctor asap, regardless of how often you’ve experienced this.”
Ellie capped her marker, put her hands in her pockets, and watched her class. “Questions?”
The marker squeaked along the board. Ellie spoke as she wrote, clarifying the chart as it was filled.
Oh, and now they were on to the menstrual cycle and its fickle dependency on hormones.
Ellie started a new header on the chart: Hormonal Precision.
“Your menstrual cycle is governed by several hormones, all of which need to be functioning somewhere close to perfect in order to have a perfectly routine cycle. Stress, diet, and other factors affect these hormones and the production of them; when you encounter extreme stress of any kind, mental or physical, you can alter this production to the point of actually interrupting the process itself.” Squeak went the marker. “Think of it like a padlock—there are several sliding tumblers that need to be lined up in a precise fashion in order for the lock to be opened. If one of those tumblers is even slightly out of place, the lock will jam and not open. Your hormones really are that precise—if one of them is duffed, it will create a change in your menstrual cycle. If the duff is substantial enough, you may skip the cycle altogether.”
The chart was filled with key words-- Ellie heard the scratching of pencils and pens on paper as her students jotted down information.
Under the Hormonal Imbalance header:
“Now, most women are pretty capable of dealing with emotional crises.” She smirked. “Or what some of us consider to be crises. But there are times when some emotions are just too overwhelming and the body’s hormones get thrown all to hell. Think of depression, loss in the family…” She looked over her shoulder and arched an eyebrow at her the girls. “And no, finding out that your new haircut makes your face look fat does not count.” She heard a few giggles. Back to the board. “Psychosomatic situations can cause one to experience a number of changes in your cycle, like skipping a period, or even having two in one month. Estrogen is the main reason that the uterine lining builds up, and progesterone (or a lack of it) is what makes the lining shed.”
“Therefore, as tempting as it is, it is inaccurate to make blood-loss jokes.” She chuckled. “And now you all can correct my nephew when he pokes fun at anyone in this class,” she added brightly as she filled out the next header.
Faux Rebooting of the Menstrual Cycle
“When the menstrual cycle is interrupted by a hormonal imbalance, causing the shedding of the uterine lining to stop after a few days, the tissue you would have shed doesn’t just get absorbed back into the body. Experiencing a drop in your progesterone several days after the shedding process has been paused would have you bleeding again. Imagine that your cycle was interrupted during the fifth or sixth day of bleeding, and you normally go for seven or eight days. Hormonal imbalances have brought both your estrogen and progesterone levels up—encouraging the building of uterine lining whilst preventing shedding—for a week or so. When those progesterone levels start to come down, the cycle will continue; and, if that estrogen caused you lining to build up sufficiently in the meantime, you could have another full week of bleeding to do until the lining is fully shed. That’s two periods in one month, right there, with no real cause for alarm. But.”
She turned to face the class.
“So, is this healthy, or abnormal? It’s certainly not something most women will experience more than once or twice; but that doesn’t mean you’re unhealthy if you do. We’re all a bit different—especially in our teenage years, while our bodies are still sorting themselves out. Between the onset of puberty and the age of about sixteen or seventeen, this type of thing isn’t all that uncommon. However, even during those years, this is a once in a while occurrence. If this happens over two consecutive months, or several times in a year, see a doctor.” She waved to them. “Hi there, I am your doctor. And, of course, if you’re also experiencing abnormally bad cramps, abnormally heavy bleeding, pain of any sort or an unusual odor, you speak with a doctor asap, regardless of how often you’ve experienced this.”
Ellie capped her marker, put her hands in her pockets, and watched her class. “Questions?”