Menopause Myth #2

MYTH #2

If you haven’t had a period in several months, you can go off the pill and assume you’re in menopause.

WRONG!

For many women, irregular periods may last several years. The best way to determine whether you have gone into full blown menopause is when you have gone one complete year (12 months) without having a menstrual cycle.

Going off the pill during your erratic periods is not a good idea because you may be vulnerable to getting pregnant.

I’m Taking my Hot Flashes on Tour!

This week I'm kicking off my summer book tour with "Whatever! A Baby Boomer's Journey Into Middle Age." Tagging along with me will be the seven dwarfs of menopause (along with some of their annoying cousins). I'd love to leave them at home with my husband but, just like me, he's had to endure them and, bless his heart, they've been harder on him sometimes than on me. So I'm packing them up and taking them with me. Oh what fun this should be...me, and hot flashes, having one HOT time!

On Wednesday, I'll be doing an interview on Fox 8 in High Point, NC and Thursday, I'll be in Charlotte on Fox 18 "Fox News Rising"...followed by a book signing ay Park Road Books. If you're in the area, please stop by and say hello...and drop off some of your own hot flashes!

And to top it all off I'll be turning the big 5-0 on June 21!

Myths about Menopause

Myth #1

When you go into menopause your sex life is over.

WRONG!

One of the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause is vaginal dryness and the hormonal imbalance can trigger a lack of desire but just like everything else, you can overcome it.

There are plenty of vaginal creams on the market to help soothe the dryness and a vitamin E pill inserted in the vagina can also do the trick.

As far as the lack of sexual desire, you may have to work a little harder on creating the mood mentally and physically but it can be done. Take yourself back to a time in your relationship when the lovin was incredible and meditate on that. Also, don't be afraid to let your mate know what you like and don't like. If he loves you and wants to please you, he shouldn't have any problem doing it your way.

My husband makes me hotter than a hot flash because we have learned how to communicate effectively in the bedroom.


I’m Packin’ up my Menopause and Headin’ South

This week I'm kicking off my summer book tour with "Whatever! A Baby Boomer's Journey Into Middle Age." Tagging along with me will be the seven dwarfs of menopause (along with some of their annoying cousins). I'd love to leave them at home with my husband but, just like me, he's had to endure them and, bless his heart, they've been harder on him sometimes than on me. So I'm packing them up and taking them with me. Oh what fun this should be...me, and hot flashes, having one HOT time!

On Wednesday, June 20th I'm making a guest appearance on the Fox8 Morning News Show in Greensboro/High Point. On Thursday, June 21, its on to Charlotte, NC where I will be a guest on Fox News Rising (Fox18). At noon, I will be doing a book signing at Park Roads Books, also in Charlotte.

Now it just so happens that Thursday, June 21---the first day of summer---is also my 50th birthday so I guess me and the dwarfs are all gonna be celebrating this new milestone together.

If you’d like to schedule me and my menopause crew for an interview, book signing or as a guest speaker, please contact me directly at 301-356-6280 or via email at bmahone@nc.rr.com

A Pill to Delay to Menopause? Whatever!

Apparently some doctors in London are in the process of developing a drug that would slow down the natural occurrence known as menopause. According to a report in the London Daily Mail...“The dramatic news came from fertility expert Professor Robert Winston. He told a conference that researchers had found a protein which they believe could be developed into a pill or an injection to extend the life of women’s eggs. This would give new hope for the thousands of women who find themselves left childless in later life.”

My question is, are older women really so desperate to have children? What were they doing in their 20s and 30s? Even if they discovered they couldn’t have children why would anyone want to wait until their 40s, 50s or even 60s to consider giving birth? Having and raising a child isn’t easy at ANY age!

I find it interesting that this new so-called breakthrough is being developed by male doctors. Is this a sick joke or another attempt by some to slow down the aging process for self-gratification?

You can read the complete article to the right of this blog.

Working Out Doesn't Guarantee a Long Life...

Earlier this month I wrote a post about baby boomers and death (May 8). I wrote it after observing a grave site service in which there were fewer than a dozen elderly people in attendance. I was reminded of that post today when I went to the gym.

I saw an employee I hadn’t seen in awhile and she was catching me up on the “gang.” I learned that my dear, sweet friend Marvin passed away. Marvin was an 84-year-old wonderful man who LIVED in the gym. He always had a smile on his face and was always giving you a hug upon entering and leaving the gym. We developed a bond. He even went to church with me a couple of times and I tagged along with him once to see how the Methodists worshipped. Marvin apparently died after having a stroke late last year.

Linda Ross was another gym buddy. I didn’t know her as well as Marvin. I just remember her rushing into our aerobics class after finishing her chemotherapy treatments. She died a few months ago of breast cancer.

And then there was the man I wrote about in my book, Whatever! A Baby Boomer’s Journey Into Middle Age. He was the one who worked out while carrying an oxygen tank strapped around his waist. I admired his tenacity so much. He inspired me to get off my fat butt. He, too, passed away.

I feel bad about having stayed away from the gym for so long. I never got to get my last hug from Marvin or to see Linda’s smiling face. I never got to let the man with the oxygen tank know I had written about him. All I can say now is if there’s a gym in Heaven, I know they’re all there and plenty of folks are being blessed by their presence.

College Reunion

My College Reunion is taking place this weekend. Hard to believe I've been out of college---not high school---for nearly 30 years!

I had planned to attend, however, Ohio University was unwilling to pay for my travel expenses to come speak as a representative of the school of Journalism. I guess if my name had been Matt Lauer, there wouldn't have been an issue. Oh, but wait a minute---Matt didn't even graduate and I DID. So what's wrong with that picture? I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Bragging Rights of a Baby Boomer Diva Grandma

When my daughter was younger, I used to love to show off her advanced learning skills. She was walking at eight months, speaking coherently at a year and a half and writing her first and last name at the age of three (and I have the picture to prove it).

Now I have a grandson and, just as I did with my daughter, I take great pride in showing off his advanced skills. At seven months, he started taking steps. As a matter of fact, he started trying to walk before he was crawling. Now, he’s trying to walk all over the place and is into EVERYTHING! No, he’s not speaking yet but I’m convinced he knows the five vowels and shortly he’ll be able to count to ten in Spanish thanks to the TV show Handy Mandy.

My “public” bragging moment came yesterday when I took my grandson with me to Harris Teeter. We were the checkout line when he apparently caught the attention of another little baby and her mom. June, I learned, was seven months old. She just seemed to be in awe of my little man. Maybe because he was dressed to kill in his Duke Blue Devils outfit complete with matching hat. Anyway, June’s mom brought her over to our line to interact with my grandson whose attention was elsewhere. Eventually, their eyes met and he let out a great big smile which revealed his two bottom teeth. He also waved at her and she tried to wave back. June’s mom could not get over the fact that my grandson knew how to wave correctly.

Now let me explain this. When you see babies wave, they tend to wave backwards. What I mean by that is the palm of their hand faces them instead of the other way around. Why? Because when parents are trying to teach them to wave “bye-bye”, their palm of their hand is facing the baby’s eye and that’s what they see. So what I did was turn my hand around so that the back of my hand faced him as I repeatedly said “bye-bye.” He processed what I was doing and got it right!

OK…this may seem like a small deal to you but if my grandson is going to be a future president, he might as well get that wave thing down early! Next week I'll be teaching him about the Law of Attraction.

A Baby Boomer Diva's Guide to Shopping for Mother's Day

As long as I can remember, Mother's Day has always been the second Sunday in May. It's one of those holidays where the DATE might change but the time of the month NEVER does. Since this is a well known fact, why is it that people choose to wait until "D" day to go out and buy Mother's Day gifts and cards?

I was one of those people. I went to Wal-Mart today to try to find a nice little gift for my mother-in-law. I didn't want to get her anything too fancy because she would just end up hiding it---never to be found again (she has Alzheimer's). I thought flowers would be a nice touch. It would brighten up her bedroom and maybe trigger some memories back to the time when she used to care for the flowers in her own garden. Well, that was a bad idea. Everybody in the world was obviously thinking the SAME thing. The flower buckets were nearly wiped out. I had to be creative and try to mix and match flowers---without getting caught.

Then I went over to the card section. You would think Wal-Mart was having some kind of special on cards. The racks were empty. The only few cards I saw were some that had June Clever on the front and that just wasn't going to work for my mother-in-law. She may have had a June Clever like image back in the day---but the card company could've at least had the decency to make another June Clever image look more "soulful."

I figured I might have better luck at the dollar store down the street from my house so I went there. It was also JAM PACKED with people purchasing Mother's Day items. It was CRAZY! While I was in the store I had to play mom to someone else's children because they were getting out of line.

So what did I learn today?

1) If you have to wait until the last minute, don't shop. Give the gift after the fact. It'll mean more.

2) Buy silk flowers instead---even if the price is jacked up. They last forever.

3) Shop around for cards that fit the "image" you're looking for. June Clever ain't it and neither is "Florida" from Good Times.

4) A mother is a 24/7 job--no matter whose children they are!