What a crazy summer. The lupron debacle is (hopefully) over for good. It was really ok until the end. Now for a very long story time, yes?
The hotflashes, fatigue, and headaches were consistent starting at the second injection and only got worse as time went on. Two days after my third injection, we met with Dr. B to discuss the plan. I assumed 4 weeks from them we would be ready to start trying again.
We went into that meeting with him happy and hopeful, but came out of it confused and disheartened. More than once during that meeting, Dr. B asked us if we could afford In Vitro or if we could get our insurance to cover it. We were confused because he had always told us that IVF wasn’t necessary for us, that I would be fine once the endometriosis was cleared up with the lupron. He claimed that our best bet would be IVF. While that’s probably true, IVF isn’t on the table. It is not an option for a number of reasons, mainly because if we’re going to pay for it out of pocket, we’d rather pay for an adoption. They’re similar enough in price, but at least with adoption you’ve got more of a guaranteed that you’ll actually get baby. No IVF.
That being covered, he also told us that it could take 6-8 weeks for my period to come back. WHAT?! And no, he wasn’t comfortable starting it again with medication. Ugh.
Next? The heart, the thyroid and the clotting. He wasn’t quite sure how actually sustaining a baby once I actually managed to get pregnant would go. He suggested we meet with an oncological hematologist to be sure. Yikes.
Then we left. And I went and drank a large amount of rum while I tried not to have a complete melt down. It helped.
A week later, we met with Dr. P, a oncological hematologist. LOVED HIM! He explained that my thyroid is fine. Right now. But, it might not be strong enough to sustain me AND a baby. Clotting? Also fine. Right now. But it might prove to be a problem when a baby pops into the equation. HOWEVER, he assured us that while neither of these things are curable, they are treatable. He said with all the information that he had in front of him, he would encourage us to keep trying and to just keep in mind that it would be wise to monitor my blood and thyroid frequently throughout any subsequent pregnancy. Whoosh.
The heart is another problem. I seem to have every dna marker that could come with a genetic predisposition to heart disease. I have sets from both parents which is interesting because my mom’s side of the family doesn’t seem to have the extensive heart problems my dad’s side does. That being said, he told us I *could* potentially develop heart problems in my 40’s. That’s just 15 years from now. BUT, he also said, I could be perfectly healthy then as well. It’s a guessing game.
The heart business threw me for a loop. He made it clear that everyone, if their bloodwork was analyzed to the extent that mine was, would come up with some kind of marker that suggested an early or painful death. I’m just unlucky enough to have had mine done at such a young age. I realize that. I realize it’s not a death sentence. I realize that I can take care of myself and be just fine. But it also, over the course of a couple weeks, threw my life and the life I want to lead into perspective. More on that in a bit.
One week after my last lupron injection, potentially 5 weeks before I should have had a period, I had my first post-lurpon period. Now, I spotted and bled my way through lupron, which is unusual, but does happen. This, however, was a full period. The nurses at Dr. B’s were shocked and had to ask me if I was sure… Still in the lurpon rage, I snapped that I knew what a period looked like. They told me to come into the office in 2 weeks for an ultrasound and bloodwork. Yippie.
On July 22, I walked into the ultrasound room only to find the tiniest little follicles you ever did see. Not enough to count. Estrogen? Still in the low 50’s. “Come back in 2 weeks,” they said. Great.
2 days later, I had my second post-lupron period. I called in again. They said they had no idea what was going on. Dr. B said this never happens. He thought my body was trying to fight the lurpon, but didn’t have enough estrogen to get anything done. Come in for an ultrasound and bloodwork in 2 more weeks, they said. =/
2 periods in 3 weeks, 3 months of lurpon, and general anxiety took its toll. I had to drop my summer class. I just couldn’t do it. Thankfully, my school understood and allowed a very late withdraw. I felt like a huge failure for a couple weeks.
On August 6, this past Tuesday, I went in for what promised to be another let down. The cramping was back, as was the spotting. Period #3 was on its way just 2 weeks after the second. No follicles. Nothing. I suck. Estrogen? Lower than low. At this point, we’re 5 weeks past the 3rd injection.
And then they called. “Your hormone levels are so flat,” they said, “that we don’t think you’ll get another period for quite some time. Dr. B thinks it would be best to start injectable medications again. Do you have any gonal-f?” I only have 2250 units in my fridge. That’s 5 boxes. YES!
And so, as of this past Tuesday, I’m finally back in the game with 112.5 units of gonal-f injected into my menopausal tummy every evening. Finally. And Dr. B didn’t want to intervene..
Today’s ultrasound? MANY 8mm follicles and estrogen that’s already up to 157. I can’t tell you which cycle day this counts as since things were so wonky. I can, however, tell you that when my estrogen is usually at 157, it usually indicates one 19mm follicle. So the mystery at this point is… how many follicles are going to end up surviving? My bet? 3. OMG.
We’ll find out on Monday. Have a nice weekend.
It’s good to be back. ❤
Tags: baby making, blood clot, gonal-f, infertile, infertility, iui, lupron, menopause, thyroid
It’s just a bummer because OHSS is usually something that is mostly attributed to IVF. I’m just one of the few lucky IUI OHSS cases.
Jessica
From My Bathtub 