During adolescence I had a very irregular menstrual cycle, and because of it, I was taken to various gynecologists by my mother. After several consultations I was told that time and maturity might resolve the problem, but these visits to doctors left me feeling uncertain and humiliated Years later, after I had become a student of Christian Science and during my second year of marriage, all menstrual action ceased. I mentioned this to my mother. My parents expressed much fearful concern. A close relative was a gynecologist and was familiar with my situation. He told my parents that this new development could lead to more serious complications and mentioned that I might not be able to have children because of it. Alarmed and frightened, and denouncing Christian Science, my parents urged me to seek medical attention.
At this point I was determined to find a solution to the problem. I had witnessed wonderful healings through Christian Science in my husband's life before our marriage; one, particularly, of an ankle injury that had occurred during football training when we were in college. This healing had so deeply impressed me at the time that I had acquired a copy of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, and had begun attending Sunday services at a branch Church of Christ, Scientist. I reasoned that if Christian Science treatment had healed my husband, as it most certainly had, then it could heal me now.
My husband introduced me to a Christian Science practitioner he knew. The first conversation I had with her was a turning point. Afterward, arrangements were made for weekly visits. During this time I read and studied Science and Health as well as the Bible Lessons outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly, earnestly searching for answers to my many questions. With help from the practitioner, my questions were answered, and I began to understand the practicality of Christian Science. I realized that I could be truly independent while still loving my parents and respecting their views. Mrs. Eddy advises her students (Science and Health, p. 571): "At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good. Know thyself, and God will supply the wisdom and the occasion for a victory over evil." My parents' suggestions that I see a doctor stopped.
