Hormone Challenges: Breaking the Silence. Continuing the Conversation.

October is Menopause Awareness Month, so I have to share at least one story about this journey we’re all navigating together.

If you’ve been with me for any length of time or read my first book, Come Back Strong, you know that I was thrust into surgical menopause at age 43. At that time, I was in the best shape of my life: an elite athlete, competing bodybuilder, road cyclist, and alongside Jim, leading Cycle Club Kingston.

But beneath that strong exterior, I was suffering in silence.

The Struggle Before the Storm

For most of my life, I had been battling hormonal challenges: severe abdominal pain, heavy bleeding that lasted 10+ days each month (sometimes 2–3 weeks), emotional distress, and overwhelming anxiety. I thought this was just my reality, something I had to endure quietly.

Some routine tests revealed a uterine fibroid and ovarian cyst. I opted for surgery to remove both, thinking I’d finally get relief. Instead, I woke up from what became a full hysterectomy and oophorectomy due to undiagnosed endometriosis.

Overnight, I was dropped into surgical menopause.

If I thought I was struggling before, this was a whole new ball game.