Lilypie Trying to Conceive Event tickers

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Aunt Flo (Period) Finally Came

On CD 32. And boy oh boy did she come. I have never bled like this before but the one good thing is, Im not in as much pain as I used to be. Hopefully she'll be a little more regular now.

Im still a little tired and s-o-r-e. Mainly on the right side. Poor hubby is still dealing with my twisting and turning in bed to try and get comfy. He better not say anything with all the snoring he does.

I also keep forgetting to take my freaking iron pills. Im supposed to be taking them 3x's a day..Uuuugh!! My next appt is on the 2nd of July. I will be discussing with the doc about the bill and what the rep at Tricare stated. According to the rep, a (medical) code used, stated that something was punctured during surgery and thats why I was sent the claims form. This is why I ALWAYS get a Post-Op report after my surgeries.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

August Protocol

This time we will be leaving out the Menopur. Why? I follow someone's journal and although I have yet to be told I have PCOS. I have all the symptoms not to mention it seems that every time I go in for an ultrasound, I have cysts. This is taken from her journal in regards to PCOS and using the "wrong" protocol. My doc doesnt use Menopur but I explained to him that it was the protocol my doc here in the states had me on. Yes, the same one that didnt inform me about the Fibroid being an issue among other things.

"Eggs aren't born bad...they are made that way." He explained what he meant by this at length...

He said that the eggs generally start out fine...but, as they grow the environment can cause the chromosomes to get messed up which is called aneuploidy. Dr. Sher told me that I am the same age as his daughter (35) and that most women my age have 65-75% of their embryos be aneuploid (wrong number of chromosomes)...that's just nature and perfectly normal. But, with PCOS, I would have an even higher percentage of eggs/embryos that are aneuploid because they are subjected to wrong hormone levels which cause bad eggs. If my eggs are subjected to the wrong protocol while they are growing, then that will cause even more to be abnormal. I could easily be approaching 100% abnormal eggs/embies when I am stimming with the wrong injectables.

Dr. Sher explained that in women with PCOS they have higher testosterone levels. I said, "Well, all of my bloodwork has been normal. I don't have elevated testosterone." He told me something I hadn't ever heard before. He said that the ovaries contain a lot of connective tissue where testosterone is produced. He said that in women with PCOS, they produce WAY more testosterone in their ovaries than "normal" women. He said the testosterone at the ovary site may be 8 times higher than normal. But, even though the testosterone is higher in and around the ovary, it doesn't necessarily get into the bloodstream so that your b/w may be normal but you still have high testosterone at the ovary. Imagine how high the testosterone must be at the ovary site for women who have bloodwork that shows high testosterone!

Anyway, he said that the high testosterone is what causes the eggs to go "bad" and get the wrong number of chromosomes. That is one of the main reasons that women with PCOS suffer from infertility. They have a hard time ovulating in the first place, but even if they release an egg it has a very good chance of being aneuploid...which will result in either not conceiving, miscarriage or a baby with birth defects.

Dr. Sher said that the eggs are like a tree...it needs both sunlight and water to grow. You can't just keep a tree in the dark and give it water...it needs both to grow properly.

Dr. Sher said that he does not think my age is a big factor here. He said that the protocol I have been using has been wrong. He said that women with PCOS have too much LH...an inverted LH to FSH ratio...and the elevated LH levels (from the pituitary) causes the testosterone in the ovary to go up which leads to bad eggs.

You don't want to give a woman with too much LH MORE LH! That adds fuel to the fire. He said that "women with PCOS are very vulnerable" and they must be stimulated carefully. He said that they should not use stims that contain LH or HCG.


So we will be using only Follistim for the upcoming IVF #2 cycle.

Here's the pen which is sooo much more easier and comfortable to use



I cant say thank you enough to a dear friend who donated this to me. I still have some left over from our last cycle.



Protocol:

Cycle day 2: Ultrasound to make sure I have no cysts and to see how many antral follies I have. If all is ok, then I'll start the Follistim that night.

Cycle day 3-7: I'll use the last of the Follistim on cd7 and start the Antagon {to prevent me from ovulating early} that night as well.

Cycle day 7-9: Antagon. Last dose on cd9. Trigger with Hcg at 10pm.

Cycle day 11: Retrival day and start Progesterone

Cycle day 13: Embryo Transfer

2 weeks later, go for Beta and pray that its a positive

Friday, June 15, 2007

My Oh So Lovely Hospital Bill

Grand Total: $19,366 - Co Pay $13.90 = $19,352.84

Break down of costs:

Private Room - $1260.00
Called cause I didnt ask for a private room. Not at $103.00 per day. Was told "oh, thats how the machine kicks it out"..So ahh it seems like a load of crock to charge the insurance company for something that shouldntve happened. Lady said that if it comes back unpaid, then they just write it off. And if a private room is $103.00 a day and I was only there 2 1/2 days..ahhh..that doesnt come to over $1200.00 bucks

Pharmacy Supplies - $2165.41
Guess that Morphine, Antibiotics, and whatever they gave me for nausea and the stool softner is hella expensive


Medical/Surgical Supplies - $3425.50

Lab Test - $641.50

Operating Room Services - $8919.75

Anesthsia - $1551.90

Respiratory Services - $344.40

Recovery Room - $1058.28

Then I get a letter from Tricare (Military Insurance, that the claim that was submitted, stating that someone else possibly may have caused my injury/illness. So now I have to find out what the hades is going on...I cna see this being a pain in my butt

Ive Been Feeling..Blah!!

According to the calendar, aunt flo is due to show up on the 17th but I dunno cause of the surgery, if she'll come on time or not.

Im still a little sore and the site is still oozing...just not as much. On the left side, a bubble has formed, which seems to be filled with fluid, so I'll be calling the doc next week to see what needs to be done. Hopefully, it'll just "pop" on its on.

I also hate not being able to do much. Im also supposed to be taking Iron pills and keep forgetting, so Im sure thats part of the problem, especially since Im Anemic.

Now we are just waiting. Not only to get started with another cycle but for Les to also start his new job.

I forgot to update that as well.

Basically, he went thru Commencement and all that other good stuff, only to be told when he went in for the letter he needed for work, that a class he took..didnt count. So now he is taking a class and will be done on the 29th. Talk about a load of crock. Thank God, the people are holding his job for him. So he'll be starting before or after the 4th of July.

Recovery and Post Op Appt

This is where I slept from the time I got home up until 2 days ago. Man my walls so need some paint



Its still a lil difficult sleeping in bed but its easier cause I have a ton of pillows. Not to mention sleeping in the recliner was making the bedsores worse. Being a former nurse, it was something I did not want to become worse. The first few days, I was just really tired, hot and sick.

I was finally able to take a shower and had hubby to change my dressing. I hadnt realized I had gotten so many staples. 27 of em. I ahh, popped 2 of em out..so I think the pic shows 25. Yes, I was doing stuff I shouldntve been doing. I know..bad..bad..Syl



My pre op appt was on the 11th, so I was just going to address everything then. I was so praying that the staples would come out at that time cause I was sarting to get an infection

PRE-OP Appt

I went in. Doc examined the area and stated it looked like a minor infection. I was to watch it and if it didnt all drain out. Id have to come in for him to drain it.

he began taking the staples out and talk about hurting. He ahd the nurse and hubby to talk with me and poor hubbys hand. Im surprised he stills has blood in em from me squeezing so hard. The staples coming out hurt like a mutha*bleep*.

We then went back to his conference room. Again he explained that he "cleaned up" everything and that I shouldnt be in anymore pain. I was also told to basically sit my black a** down. I admit I have been doing too much. I explained that I was really tired and that I was also sick. The tireness was from me trying to do too much after such a major surgery. The sickness was probably due to something called Gastritis because of the work that had been done to my bowels. I was told to cut out beef for awhile and my first thought was..."Whaaaaaaat, no Mickey D double. Ive been eating a lot of chicken and I guess "one" good thing is...Ive lost 13lbs cheeseburger??"

I was told to wait until at least 3 months to give my uterus time to heal before doing another round of IVF, so it'll be in August sometime before we try again.

My next pre-op appt is the 2nd of July

Surgery Day - May 30th, 2007

We were running late because traffic was horrible, mostly due to it raining. Well after listening to my messages, I found out that surgery had been bumped from 9am to 6am..oh well.

The anesthesiologist came in and I explained to him that I always got sick coming out of it..so he said he'd administer something else. I was then given a sedative and that is all I remember until finally waking up in my room.

I was surprised that I wasnt as sore like I was from the surgery in 2005. For the first time ever, I had to do breathing treatments. That SUCKED big time. I did hurt some and only had to get Morphine a few times as compared to last time. My biggest issue was feeling sick. This time I also developed a minor case of bedsores on my buttucks. Weird!! Hubby explained to me that the surgery ended up lasting 4 1/2 hrs instead of 3. The first 1 1/2 hrs was just trying to get thru all the scar tissue/adhesions. When I was able to finally speak with the doc, he said on a scale of 1-10, I was a 15. He said he couldnt distinguish my bowels from my tubes and for that first 1 1/2 hrs, he couldnt see my ovaries or anything cause of the scar tissue. He said it was a good thing he had someone trained in bowel reconstruction and such cause my insides were a mess. He was able to free up my ovary, he did recontruction on them as well. He was able to free up my bowels and remove a small amount of endo I had. Removal of the Fibroid was a success as well.

I was due to go home on Friday but only IF I could go boo boo. I was passing plenty of gas but going boo boo, was just out of the question, despite being given stool softner. I didnt want to be there..I just wanted to go home, so the nurses were pretty persistant in getting the doc to release me and shortly after lunch, I was able to go home..Yaaaay

Meeting The New Doctor

He is awesome. He did both an abdominal and vaginal u/s. You could clearly see little cysts on my ovary. I think the right one. I'll have to look at the report. He did a Pap Smear, which came back normal.

We went to his conference room and discussed what needed to be done. He said he'd would start from the top and then go from there. He informed us that it looked like my right ovary was being held down by scar tissue but we really wouldnt know anything until he got in there and looked around. The goal was to remove the Fibroid and whatever else was in there. He also explained, more like gave and example on why Ive been in so much pain. He looked at hubby and said.."Imagine your balls being glued to your legs and they are starting to twist"...Well thats what was starting to happen to my organs.

We made an appt for the surgery and it would be scheduled for May 30th.

I Havent Posted In Awhile *Update*

Well I ended up getting this:



I went in for my beta and the number came back really low. Everyone seems to think that I ended up having a Chemical Pregnancy. Shortly thereafter, sure enough I started bleeding. Talk about devastating.

I contacted my previous doctor that performed the cauterization of my tubes to see about cycling with him or at the very least have the Fibroid removed because I had always had a sinking feeling, that was part of my problem. He emails me back stating he would refer me to someone.

I then emailed him asking why he wouldnt allow me to cycle with him based on my FSH level after finding out there are women cycling with him with an FSH level way higher than mine and his response was:

Your high FSH level combined with your age make it unlikely that you will be successful. Also, I would have a hard time getting access to the ovaries due to the large size of your uterus.

First, Im a little upset because the dr in Mexico was able to reach it. Im only 37 and there he has allowed women older than me to cycle and the reason why my uterus is enlarged is due to the Fibroid.

Secondily, Im REALLY pised because I asked "repeatdily" if the Fibroid was an issue and I was always told no. If I had known this prior to going to Mexico, I could have had surgery done to remove it.

So I email him back with this:

Thank you for your honesty as much as it hurts. I thought that the fact that my uterus was enlarged would be a problem. Since my uterus is an issue, would I have to use a surrogate? Even if I went with a donor, it seems like there may be implantation issues still using my own body.

He emails me back with:

That's correct. But if you have the fibroids removed, the uterus can be in a better shape, but there's no guarantee

Now he talking about having to use a surrogate on top of everything else???? Sure there are no guarantees to anything BUT I could have been told this before doing IVF #1.

I started calling around and doing research to find a doc skilled at removing Fibroids and found one.