Days 80-84: This sucks. That is all.

I am sitting here drenched in a river of my own sweat. My hair looks as damp as if I had just jumped out of a swimming pool. But I am on dry land, fully dressed. Yet I am sitting next to an open window with a nice cool breeze blowing on me. It's not even a hot day.

Welcome to my latest hell: hot flashes.

I have always been a lady who unfortunately schvitzes like a heavyweight prize fighter after a match. The menopause years are just bringing it (or perhaps I should say wringing it) out of me tenfold. And it comes from out of nowhere sometimes, from little or even no physical effort whatsoever. What did I just do to trigger the latest cascade? I covered my step-son's school book with plastic.

I know a lot of women go through this at this phase of life. I also think being overweight makes me sweat even more. All that extra body fat generates a lot of additional heat, especially when I'm eating or moving. Another reason I would like to be substantially leaner would be to hopefully reduce these episodes of very unfeminine perspiration.

Here's someone who looks exactly like I feel right now (except for the cancer part, fortunately). It's when Samantha's chemo threw her into early menopause, and it's one of my favorite menopause scenes ever, as well as being a bold statement for cancer survivors:

I've got my period this week (yeah, not totally in menopause yet, but the periods are getting more "hit or miss") so weigh-in tomorrow may be impacted. Although I put on a pair of jeans this week that I hadn't worn in a few months, and they zipped right up comfortably on the first try. So that's something to feel good about.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go stick my head in the freezer.