9/27/2016 0 Comments Post OpWe had our post operation appointment yesterday. We, of course, had lots of questions. I definitely don’t have the bladder control I once had and this has been very concerning. In the last week, I have peed on myself twice. Luckily, I wasn’t at work when these events occurred. This was at the top of my list of questions. The doctor explained that sometimes surgery can unearth hidden bladder problems. If you are young and otherwise healthy, apparently your body learns to compensate. But, when it’s been shocked by something like surgery it takes a while to start the compensation again. So, now I’ll need to get a referral to an urologist. Great. Hopefully it will work itself out, but if not…I have a leaky bladder to look forward to forever. Our next burning question was, “How long do we have until the endometriosis comes back?” He gave us a good 9 to 12 months with the caveat that everyone is different so it could be less than that or could be more than that. This was actually a pleasant surprise after spending so many hours on Google and getting a 6 month (internet) estimate. Overall, the doctor seemed to be very optimistic about our chances. He told us that we could try naturally for a few months or we could do another IUI. We want to move as quickly as possible, because 9 to 12 months really isn’t that much time. So we are proceeding with another IUI.
This time he is switching us from Clomid to Letrozole since the Clomid did a number on my cycle and I had so many side effects. We are also going to add a trigger shot to the mix. This contains HCG and forces your follicles to release the eggs. They are incredibly expensive, but really increase your odds of success. They are also going to do mid cycle monitoring with ultrasound to monitor the growth of the follicles. If we go in for the ultrasound and my left ovary doesn’t seem to be producing good follicles then we will squash the IUI and try again the next month. The Letrozole was quoted to cost $75 at Walmart. When I went to Costco and asked the pharmacy how much it would cost, I thought she said $14 and was ecstatic! Yes! I’ll take it. When I went to pay what she had really said was, $4!!!!! Hello Costco! My new BFF. That’s even cheaper than the Clomid! We have to get the trigger shot from a mail order pharmacy. They called today and took my payment. This price was not so pleasantly surprising. This cost was $114.25 and that’s with some discounts they applied since my insurance doesn’t pay. They are sending it to our local Fed Ex office and I will pick it up next Tuesday. All in all our next IUI will cost about $1000. So crazy that this stuff adds up so fast. We also still have no idea how much the surgery is going to cost. Apparently, we won’t know for 30 days after the date of filing the claim which was September 16th. I don’t understand why no one can give us an estimate of what to expect. In the meantime, we are still trying this cycle. So far, I’ve had four days of flashy smiley faces on the ovulation predictor kits. I must say I’m ready for my solid smiley face. A solid smiley face means you are having a LH surge and should be ovulating. The flashy smiley faces mean you are getting close to getting a solid smiley face. According to the box, most people have 0-4 flashy smiley faces before getting their solid smiley face. But, there is a small group of people who will get 9 or more days of flashy smiley face and get no solid smiley face. Peeing on sticks makes me feel like I’m doing something to get closer to our goal and gives me purpose. It’s sad that I get so excited to do ovulation predictor kits. This morning, I woke up over an hour before my alarm was going to go off. I now know that I have to go to the bathroom immediately or it’s going to happen anyway. I begrudgingly got out of bed and peed on the stick. Sometimes the fancy ovulation kits take FOREVER to give you your results. I put the cap on the pee stick and took it back to bed with me. It felt sad, but comical. There I am trying to keep Maxwell from playing with it. It was pitch black dark so I couldn’t even see the screen anyway. I closed my eyes for a few minutes. I was realizing how nice it would be if the thing would beep or vibrate or something to let me know it was done. (Someone should invent this addition because I don’t have the initiative. But, I would love some royalties for the idea.) When it was finally ready, it was a measly flashy smiley face. While I know the odds are somewhat stacked against us this month, I am still somewhat hopeful but realistic. If we don’t get pregnant this month, I am really, really hopeful for next month. I think sometimes it’s scarier to share the hope than it is to share the despair. But, I am optimistic and feel good about our plan. So, for now I am going to keep peeing on my sticks and trudging through one day at a time through all the waiting. I’ll end this post with a lyric from one of my favorite songs from The Killers, “If you can hold on, hold on.”
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Heather Joyce
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