medical mysteries of menses

Micaela (Aela) Camozzi

another case of amenorrhea

wheeled into a glaring room

skin punctured by iv to generate contrast   (i always thought i would faint at insertion)

mask off, headphones on to drown 

out the blaring hum of an mri

i mind my breathing in a funnel

you told me 

i was young

i was athletic

not to worry

as i counted

eighty four

ninety six

one hundred seven

all far more

than lunar cycles

regulating the tides

i counted for eleven years

your snapshots of my cranium depict

three unwelcome millimeters of tissue 

allegedly enough to cause 

high prolactin, missed expulsion

not a concern if the tumor doesn’t 

grow to invade my optic nerve

i take a pill to shrink it

next year, no change

next next year, gone

i start to count once again

thirty five

forty eight

sixty six

tell me why im 

still out of sync 

with the stars?

— medical mysteries of menses

m.a.camozzi

Micaela (Aela) Camozzi was born and blossomed in the Bay Area, California. Aela holds a degree in Public Health, B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and graduates this May with her Master of Public Health from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Aela uses poetry to dissect her experiences in the hopes of healing and personal growth. In this piece, she recounts her persistent irregular periods through the context of her first MRI to diagnose an alleged cause of a menstrual health issue. Menstrual health and hygiene is also one of Aela's public health research interests.