“When I hear the word ‘menopause,’ to me, it is a positive, very exciting time of my life. I think it can be that way for every woman,” Robin says. “I am today, at 55, the healthiest that I can be, and I really believe it’s because I’ve managed my hormones.

“I was about 44 or 45 years old. It was at the same time Jay, our oldest son, was about to go away to college. I found myself sitting around the house kind of sad. I really thought that my mood swings were because of Jay leaving for college, but it was when I had a hot flash that it really hit me,” she continues. “I decided to make an appointment with my doctor and found out that I was actually in menopause. My appointment with her was very, very negative. She handed me a stack of prescriptions and said, ‘Go fill these. Start taking them. They’re synthetic hormones.’ I had a really strong feeling that that was not the right thing for me. I didn’t know that much about it, but I made a decision right then and there that I was going to learn everything I could about what was happening to me.”

Robin says she decided to make her health challenges a family affair. "It was very important, when I learned so much about it, that I needed to fill Phillip and the boys in on it," she says. "I sat them down, and I said, ‘Phillip, boys, Mom is in menopause. I’m not dying. Life isn’t over.’”