Rarely does a day offer such clarity.  On a clear day in August 2005 the bright blue sky was acting as if it was shining down especially on me.   I can still recall the click of my sandals as I crossed the pavement to get to my car.  My eyes were damp but my hopes were high.  And though I was optimistic, I could never have known what a priceless and precious gift I carried in my little white paper bag.

I had just walked out of the compounding pharmacy with my first dose of bio-identical hormones.  Like a kid at Christmas I could hardly wait to get home and tear open the bag! Inside I found syringes full of natural progesterone cream, compounded from wild yams to be bio-identical so my body wouldn't know the difference.

My compounding pharmacist, Lillian Hall, of Pickering Village Pharmacy, has no idea how important she was in my life that day and in my future. She shared so much information with me and I was a sponge for information about balancing my hormones. She told me that day that some women experience immediate relief and others find their hormones balance over 3 months or so.  She applauded me for giving myself an amazing Christmas gift!  That's when the tears came, the realization struck me that my 10 year emotional journey through hormone hell was finally coming to an end!  My progesterone deficiency had affected me, and in turn, my family in so many profound ways, the idea that I was finally gaining control of my hormone health was overwhelming!

The precious and utterly unexpected gift in the little white paper bag would reveal itself 10 months later....