Sister went to the hospital today.
My parents and her boyfriend went with her for the 4 or so hours she was there. (And, of course, nobody told me until they were on their way back.) Apparently she had exceptionally bad cramps and her iron’s been fucked up lately so she may as well get it checked out, right?
They get home and I’m in the kitchen with our dad and her boyfriend. I asked what they were at the hospital for and my dad scoffs “cramps” like it was a completely unwarranted visit to a doctor. I ask my dad if it runs in the family, and remind him that cramping could be indicative of larger problems. He scoffs again, “Not my side of the family. Nothing like that runs on my side.” So I ask the next logical question, at least in my mind.
“Is she on birth control then?”
I start into explaining my logic but hesitate as I notice his forehead flush. her boyfriend smiles and giggles, embarrassed. I continue, “It’s just because the hormone levels can have drastic results like this.” At this point, my dad is looking at the counter and trying not to chuckle. Her boyfriend finally pipes up. “No, she isn’t on any of that stuff.” He lets himself chock out a laugh on either end of his statement. I change the topic, mentioning that hormones build up in the environment. Dad takes the bait and begins a story about how back in his day nobody worried about the environment and allergies and toxins. He starts talking about how frequently he would get parasites as a kid just as I begin to raid the pantry. No more appetite-I’ll just go back to my room.
In retrospect, I should have expected that menstruation would be an uncomfortable topic for them.
No wait. To hell with that. My sister could have been developing ovarian cysts, which may have had the potential to damage her ovaries. What if she wanted to donate eggs? What if she wanted to have kids? What if a cyst burst and she started bleeding internally? We’re not supposed to talk about it because some guys get embarrassed? Fuck. That.
