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Anonymous

I love what Angelina did by sharing her stories about both of her surgeries. I think it's important to take a look at individual circumstances, do your homework as one size does not fit all and be an Empowered patient. Knowledge is Power. Yes, Angelina could go anywhere in the world she wanted for medical care, but i have found with my own surgery, it didn't matter how much money I had, I still was given the wrong surgery. I also was not an informed patient. Hence, why I started EmpowHER for us women. We need to know what we don't and take care of ourselves and protect our bodies - keep our body parts when we can and don't be so quick to go under the knife because someone else has.

As for Angelina's onset of menopause. Using the word bio-identical when disucussing the clear patch she is now going to wear for a long time (estradiol) I have a probelm using the word bio-identical. It is a synthetic patch which is close as one can come to getting the E2 Estradiol which is one of the things a woman's body needs when she is thrown into surgical menopause. There is NO SUCH THING as bio-identical. The closest we can get is a synthetic estradiol. Do not mistake this with Premarin which is a pill and female pregnant horses urine. That is completely different.

The thing Angelina will be faced with is does that particular patch work for her and is the dosage right for her? Again, it's not one size fits all. Every woman is uniquely different and should be treated as such. I need a different patch than a lot of other women do. One adhesive worked and the other patch adhesive, my body didn't recognize.

I am not a doctor but have read every book on hormones, menopause and surgical menopause. I have had my own experience with my hormones over the past 13 years and have talked to a lot of the leading experts in the field over the course of starting EmpowHER. I hear the word bio-identical thrown around every where I go and women think it means it's identical to what the body produces and is totally natural. Patches are as close as we danger to the body's own estradiol (E2) but it is synthetically made. This is not meant to confuse you but to educate you as a consumer.

Be very careful when looking at HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) It can be tricky if you aren't in the hands of he or she who knows her hormone health. You can always go to menopause.org and find a doctor in your area who specializes in Hormone Replacement Therapy. We have lots of information on EmpowHER too. Knowledge is power as Angelina clearly states in her op-ed piece in the New York Times.

Best in health,
MKR

March 25, 2015 - 7:54am

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