Not many people can say that they discovered their disability halfway down the Colorado river in a port-o-potty...

Well, unfortunately, I can; because this is exactly how I found out.

In 7th grade, I had experienced about three periods in my life. Of course, my fourth came two weeks early on a three day kayaking trip down the Colorado river. I hadn't packed any products because just two weeks prior I had my period. Of course the morning of the second day on the kayaking trip, I woke up to a little red stain.

I shyly told my middle school teacher who was incredibly understanding (bless her) and dug to the bottom of her pack for a tampon. When she handed it to me, I turned a crimson red.

"Um, I've never used a tampon before" I said, my face burning hot.

"No problem, I'll teach you how, it's easy!" She said, hiking me up to the port-o-potty with a flashlight and tampon in hand.

She gave me a quick step-by-step guide on tampon use, and I stepped anxiously into the stall.

"Everything okay in there?" She called after a few minutes.

"Yeah!" I called back, "almost done!" But I wasn't. Truth was, I was standing there with hot tears rolling down my face, and a tampon pushing up against what felt like a wall but should have been my vagina. The pain was incredible and I couldn't get past it no matter what position I took.

Finally, I admitted that I was having trouble, and my teacher went back to the camp to get advice.

"Put your leg up on the toilet" one said, "to relax, make yourself laugh, it always works!" "Just take a deep breath and when you let it it's start pushing it in."

I tried all of the advice my classmates had to offer and yet, nothing was happening.

Finally I managed to muscle it in at what felt like a really awkward angle, and I wobbled out, feeling as though I had a giant pole between my legs. I couldn't walk to sit normally, and the pain was constant.

Regardless, I went on with my day, but about 2 hours later when I decided to check on everything down there, I found that the tampon had fallen out.

My muscles had worked on their own to push it out, and no matter how many times I used one again on that trip, they actively pushed them out again within an hour or two.

At twelve years old I had experienced my first taste of abnormality- and I had no idea what was coming.