I think we had some bad news today but maybe I am just a skeptic. Today was my sister's 4th day of stimming and she only has one measurable follicle (1.1). I assume this is terrible news but I honestly can't be sure. These are the same results that I had when I stimmed and it always resulted in crappy retrievals or cancelled cycles but I hope this isn't the case. I am hoping someone else can tell me that they only had one measureable follicle at this point but went on to retrieve multiple eggs but I don't want to be overly optimistic. In total she is showing 12 follicles (6 on each ovary) but the rest are too small to measure. I hate false hope, I wish the clinic would give realistic predictions.
I feel terrible for my sister because she feels guilty and this is obviously not my intention. I didn't let her know that I was worried and reassured her that because her estrogen is high we have nothing to worry about. I just don't know if I believe it myself!!
Please keep your fingers crossed for us.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
A therapist, a bleeding cerix, and lots of drugs
Although things have started to move forward it feels like time is moving at a snails pace. Every day feels like a week and every week feels like a month. Anyways, we have made progress. Today we had our therapy session required by law to proceed with this process. We (Hubby, sister, and sister's husband) met with the Psychiatrist at the Fertility clinic today and all went well. Although I resent having to pay an addition $650 for a government required appointment I actually enjoyed talking to someone about the process, not about the medical stuff but focusing on the emotional end of it. I wish hubby spoke more but I knew that wouldn't happen so I am just pleased that I got to let go of some feelings. The Dr. couldn't have been more of a typical Shrink pony tail and all.
Another move forward is that my sister starts taking her Superfact on Monday. It actually took me by surprise that they changed her back to the long protocol but I guess it makes sense because she has 14 follicles and not the 6 we thought, she has low FSH, and we figured out her estrogen is high because she is overweight and has diabetes. I have also started to get my uterus ready for the transfer(it seems early to me but I am going with it). I have had one shot of Lupron (seems weird because on some other blogs I have follow the women doing donor egg cycles seem to be taking more injections). I have also started taking estrogen pills two pills two times a day. The only side effects I have experienced is migranes but that could be because we have been dealing with terrible weather and rain always causes me to have headaches. From what the clinic has explained to me I only have to have the lupron shots when my uterus gets really thick and they fear that it might shed. Does that mean I am not going to have my period before the transfer? The potential transfer day (if my uterus is thick and juicy and doesn't shed) is July 1. It is only a month away but it might as well be a decade because time just moves too slowly!
Luckily I have a whirlwind week ahead to occupy my thoughts. I am off to Quebec with my class for 4 days and I anticipate it being exhauting and all consuming like last year.
One major concern for me is that my cervix is bleeding and nobody cares. It just doesn't make sense that the clinic acts like a bleeding cervix is no big deal. I can barely get through a pap smear because of my cervix pain, it bleeds when anyone looks at it, and this cycle it has been bleeding for 2 weeks. It isn't a heavy bleed but it still disturbs me. I know I am being an alarmist but seriously do I have cervical cancer? I have had the swab and nothing abnormal has been found but it just doesn't make sense that it bleeds. Plus I am worried that it will not allow me to carry a baby.
Another move forward is that my sister starts taking her Superfact on Monday. It actually took me by surprise that they changed her back to the long protocol but I guess it makes sense because she has 14 follicles and not the 6 we thought, she has low FSH, and we figured out her estrogen is high because she is overweight and has diabetes. I have also started to get my uterus ready for the transfer(it seems early to me but I am going with it). I have had one shot of Lupron (seems weird because on some other blogs I have follow the women doing donor egg cycles seem to be taking more injections). I have also started taking estrogen pills two pills two times a day. The only side effects I have experienced is migranes but that could be because we have been dealing with terrible weather and rain always causes me to have headaches. From what the clinic has explained to me I only have to have the lupron shots when my uterus gets really thick and they fear that it might shed. Does that mean I am not going to have my period before the transfer? The potential transfer day (if my uterus is thick and juicy and doesn't shed) is July 1. It is only a month away but it might as well be a decade because time just moves too slowly!
Luckily I have a whirlwind week ahead to occupy my thoughts. I am off to Quebec with my class for 4 days and I anticipate it being exhauting and all consuming like last year.
One major concern for me is that my cervix is bleeding and nobody cares. It just doesn't make sense that the clinic acts like a bleeding cervix is no big deal. I can barely get through a pap smear because of my cervix pain, it bleeds when anyone looks at it, and this cycle it has been bleeding for 2 weeks. It isn't a heavy bleed but it still disturbs me. I know I am being an alarmist but seriously do I have cervical cancer? I have had the swab and nothing abnormal has been found but it just doesn't make sense that it bleeds. Plus I am worried that it will not allow me to carry a baby.
Monday, May 23, 2011
High Estrogen
I think we might have figured out why my sister's estrogen is so high. She has diabetes and although I never thought it would have an impact on estrogen it could be the answer. I have been doing some reading and it looks like they could be connected. Plus she is a bit overweight (I know that isn't the nicest thing to say) so this could help to explain her high estrogen.
DHEA anyone?????
I am not sure why I have never heard of DHEA but it had been brought to my attention. All of a sudden my parents know another fertility specialist who they happened to talk to over dinner and he wants to give me a second opinion (um....where have they been hiding this man). They were telling him about our ordeal over the past month and he was interested in giving me some options and opinions. I wish we could rewind 2 years have my parents suggest him instead of the doctor I go to now. He is closer and seems to give a shit about my situation. Anyways I am going to call him tomorrow to discuss my "case" but I checked out his fertility clinic today to get a feeling for the clinic. It turns out they do tons of research on a suppliment called DHEA. It is for older women and I don't know why I haven't heard about it. Has anyone used it??? I can't buy it in Canada without a prescription but I am going to read about it just in case he will write me one.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Hold on to your seats!!
So another huge twist in this story. I can't even believe I am surviving this freakin ride. Yesterday we had the antagonist cycle all planned out the nurse called to confirm all of the dates explained that the reason for the frozen transfer was because they weren't going to suppress my sister so our cycles couldn't be aligned and then my sister got her new day 3 results!!! She has 14 antral follicles. It turns out that last month when she had the scan (they had trouble seeing her left ovary because it is tucked behine) they had put a question mark next to her left ovary and there are now 8 follicles on there and 6 on the other side. This clinic drives me crazy! Why would they not explain that, that is why she had only 6 follicles!!!! Now things are changing once again. We still aren't going to suppress her and the good news is that I got my period today so we are only 3 days apart and we might be able to do a fresh transfer after all. I am going in today to start my estrogen priming, whatever that means!!!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Frustration and Gratitude
I am disliking my fertility clinic more and more by the day but I am trying to move past it. The fact is that I want to move forward sooner than later and I have jumped through too many hoops to move to another clinic now. So why am I frustrated, where do I start. I questioned the long protocol that they told me my sister would be using and they had no explanation for why they chose it, basically they said they chose it because it is the standard. They didn't take into consideration: her age, her extremely high E2 (estrogen) and her low antral follicle count. Um......what!!!! Freakin Ridiculous!!!!!
Anyways, what this means is that we could have started the antagonist cycle today and now we will have to wait another month because they didn't get back to me until today. Actually I wouldn't have done it this month anyways. Then mentioned when they called me back to change protocols that we will move ahead this month but because my uterus isn't primed they would freeze any embryos that were made. That seems ridiculous to me because fresh cycles have a higher success rates then FETs so why would I ever do that instead of waiting until next month. I am wondering if they suggested this because originally when we were planning to do the long protocol I mentioned that we wanted to do the long protocol ASAP because my sister is moving this summer. It seems like common sense to me that with faced with having to do an FET instead of a fresh cycyle anyone would chose the fresh cycle. Plus the timeline will be pretty much the same except for the fact that she won't be on the pill. Seriously do they have any common sense? Sometimes I think I am going crazy because they seem to make simple things so complex. Unless there is something I am missing??? Is there any reason someone would chose to do an FET instead of a fresh transfer? My uterus has been checked and there are no abnormalities to speak of.
Okay, moving on to the gratitude portion of this post. I want to say thanks to JN for the comment on my last post or I wouldn't have questioned the protocol and things might have ended in disaster. If we are going to do this once it it be as aggressive as possible. Plus I am obviously grateful to my sister for rolling with things and for not jumping ship at this point!!!
Anyways, what this means is that we could have started the antagonist cycle today and now we will have to wait another month because they didn't get back to me until today. Actually I wouldn't have done it this month anyways. Then mentioned when they called me back to change protocols that we will move ahead this month but because my uterus isn't primed they would freeze any embryos that were made. That seems ridiculous to me because fresh cycles have a higher success rates then FETs so why would I ever do that instead of waiting until next month. I am wondering if they suggested this because originally when we were planning to do the long protocol I mentioned that we wanted to do the long protocol ASAP because my sister is moving this summer. It seems like common sense to me that with faced with having to do an FET instead of a fresh cycyle anyone would chose the fresh cycle. Plus the timeline will be pretty much the same except for the fact that she won't be on the pill. Seriously do they have any common sense? Sometimes I think I am going crazy because they seem to make simple things so complex. Unless there is something I am missing??? Is there any reason someone would chose to do an FET instead of a fresh transfer? My uterus has been checked and there are no abnormalities to speak of.
Okay, moving on to the gratitude portion of this post. I want to say thanks to JN for the comment on my last post or I wouldn't have questioned the protocol and things might have ended in disaster. If we are going to do this once it it be as aggressive as possible. Plus I am obviously grateful to my sister for rolling with things and for not jumping ship at this point!!!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Egg Donor
My sister and I met with Dr. G on Thursday and it did not go well. He basically said she isn't a viable donor. We have scheduled another day 3 check up in hopes that her stats with be better but he was very negative about using her as a donor. This might sound crazy but we are still planning to go through with the process even if he thinks it is a waste of time. I know I sound thick headed but I just don't see the harm in trying. In my head although she isn't the best donor, she is my sister and she has had 3 kids. Plus she has drug coverage up to 5000 for fertility drugs so we won't be out of pocket at all. The plan is she will go through the stim process and if she has atleast 4 eggs then we will proceed to transfer. Otherwise we will call it a day and then figure out our next step. The next step is still to be determined but I have a feeling it will be moving on to an unknown egg donor. I know some of you have had experience with egg donors and I am curious about the cost and the process. Did you get the eggs through your clinic? If I live in Canada (where it is illegal to buy eggs) did you have to do FET or are there Canadian donors? I looked on a couple of websites and it looks as though you can get a local donor as long as the egg donor agency is run from the United States.
By the way I still don't really like Dr. G. He seems clueless and resents that I question him. Actually to be honest I am a bit overbearing in my appointments (according to my hubby and sister). What they don't understand is that he says a lot of shit that contradicts what he has said previously. Plus they don't even know what he is talking about in the appointments because they don't understand the process and the terms, they are like deer in headlights so they can't really judge. I honestly believe that Dr. G assumes that I haven't done any research and he says what he thinks I want to hear so he can make the appointment quick. For example he started our appointment off on Thursday saying everyhing looks great and we are good to go. When I inquired about my sisters extremely High E2 level he said he was more concerned about her low antral follicle count (well then how does everything "look great"). Then he said that he was happy with her FSH level. I said that I had read that a low FSH level didn't mean anything if E2 is high and follicle counts are low and he said "yes, that's what I was just telling you". Then he told my sister that her stats don't mean that she isn't fertile and that she can go on to have children (uh no kidding she has 3) they just mean that she isn't a good candidate to become an egg donor. I pointed out that she has kids and he said "yes, I know". Then he said (in an annoyed voice) that he was telling her so that she didn't go off the pill. This would make sense but she has her tubes tied. I couldn't resist pointing this out and he said "I know" again. Well if he knows already then what's the point in telling us this. He went on to tell us that we probably both have some genetic disorder that causes us to have premature ovarian failure early and that I would probably have a problem having kids even if I didn't have endometriosis. More Great News!!!! My sister was in a state of shock and started crying. She said she felt like a dud and she was so defeated by the appointment. At this point I took over and ignored the fact the Dr. G was determined for us to skip over my sister and move on to egg donation. Please don't get me wrong I know that our odds of getting preggo are better with an unknown donor but this is my sister and we have clearly stated that we want to explore this route first. I asked my sister if she was still interested in going through the stimming process even if she might only produce a few eggs and she said yes. I told Dr. G that we wanted to proceed regardless of her stats and he seemed to back down a little bit.
As it stands now my sister will start stimming June 21 and we will know if she is responding well by June 30 with a possible transfer date July 9. I know that I should be realistic but I am excited to move forward and get some answers.
Just wondering if anyone has had really high estrogen (E2) levels and if there is anything we can do to lower it? I also wondered if she should go on the birth control pill until she starts the long protocol?
By the way I still don't really like Dr. G. He seems clueless and resents that I question him. Actually to be honest I am a bit overbearing in my appointments (according to my hubby and sister). What they don't understand is that he says a lot of shit that contradicts what he has said previously. Plus they don't even know what he is talking about in the appointments because they don't understand the process and the terms, they are like deer in headlights so they can't really judge. I honestly believe that Dr. G assumes that I haven't done any research and he says what he thinks I want to hear so he can make the appointment quick. For example he started our appointment off on Thursday saying everyhing looks great and we are good to go. When I inquired about my sisters extremely High E2 level he said he was more concerned about her low antral follicle count (well then how does everything "look great"). Then he said that he was happy with her FSH level. I said that I had read that a low FSH level didn't mean anything if E2 is high and follicle counts are low and he said "yes, that's what I was just telling you". Then he told my sister that her stats don't mean that she isn't fertile and that she can go on to have children (uh no kidding she has 3) they just mean that she isn't a good candidate to become an egg donor. I pointed out that she has kids and he said "yes, I know". Then he said (in an annoyed voice) that he was telling her so that she didn't go off the pill. This would make sense but she has her tubes tied. I couldn't resist pointing this out and he said "I know" again. Well if he knows already then what's the point in telling us this. He went on to tell us that we probably both have some genetic disorder that causes us to have premature ovarian failure early and that I would probably have a problem having kids even if I didn't have endometriosis. More Great News!!!! My sister was in a state of shock and started crying. She said she felt like a dud and she was so defeated by the appointment. At this point I took over and ignored the fact the Dr. G was determined for us to skip over my sister and move on to egg donation. Please don't get me wrong I know that our odds of getting preggo are better with an unknown donor but this is my sister and we have clearly stated that we want to explore this route first. I asked my sister if she was still interested in going through the stimming process even if she might only produce a few eggs and she said yes. I told Dr. G that we wanted to proceed regardless of her stats and he seemed to back down a little bit.
As it stands now my sister will start stimming June 21 and we will know if she is responding well by June 30 with a possible transfer date July 9. I know that I should be realistic but I am excited to move forward and get some answers.
Just wondering if anyone has had really high estrogen (E2) levels and if there is anything we can do to lower it? I also wondered if she should go on the birth control pill until she starts the long protocol?
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