Just when I was feeling good about this month, we had a little set-back. The doctor called (herself, not the nurse) and told me that the Radiologist suspects I might have a cyst on my right ovary. Hmm. Apparently he can't see it on the x-ray, but the way the dye is "spilling" out of my tubes, its pouring over something. She said it could be nothing, or it could be something. The only way to know for sure is to have an ultrasound.
Fine, I'm fine with the ultrasound part -- after what I went through on Monday, I'm not phased -- its more emotional then anything. And a little anxiety, of course, but mostly I'm just bummed because I could feel my chances for things going well this month quickly slipping out of my reach as the dr. was talking. If it is a cyst, the chances of the Clomid working, along with the HSG, are null. And I'll never know if that cyst was there before or whether it was brought on by the meds. Grrr. Either way, I'm sure we are going to have to take some time off which is what frustrates me the most.
If one more person tells me that "its only been a few months" I am going to scream. I'm really not sure people hear me when I say that its not that I expected to be pregnant by now, I'm just asking for my flippin' parts to work. And the other thing about that is when you are taking serious meds, you can't just "kind of" try. You have to put your heart and soul into it which is extremely draining.
I had my first (major) emotional breakdown about all of this this week. All the frustration and attempts to stay positive, not to mention the extra boost of hormones, just came to a head. I think it was good, though. It made me feel a little better and it kind of set me back on the right track. I am desperately trying to remind myself that I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but when you are in the midst of it -- heart and soul -- its so hard to keep that in sight.
Showing posts with label HSG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HSG. Show all posts
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Ouch!
Boy, did that suck. I had my HSG procedure done yesterday where they basically "flush" out your fallopian tubes. Wow. Apparently it hurt worse for me because the dye took longer to spill out of one side. She thinks that that side was slightly twisted as well as blocked, but the dye was able to get it back in the right place as well as clear the blockage. Sweet. One more thing to check off the list, I guess, so that's good. I'm really glad that part is behind me.
I finished this cycle of Clomid on Saturday so I'll be in the testing phase this week. Again, always a mixed blessing. I get excited for this part at the prospect of things actually working, but I also get anxious because even those times I've thought things were doing their job, they in fact were not. Although, the doctor did say something yesterday that made me wonder if this HSG thing will actually do the trick. She said that just because my progesterone has been low 7 days after my LH surge, that that doesn't necessarily mean I'm not ovulating, it could just mean the process just never finishes -- which could be caused by a blocked and twisted tube.
Keep all the positive vibes you've got to spare headed my way!
I finished this cycle of Clomid on Saturday so I'll be in the testing phase this week. Again, always a mixed blessing. I get excited for this part at the prospect of things actually working, but I also get anxious because even those times I've thought things were doing their job, they in fact were not. Although, the doctor did say something yesterday that made me wonder if this HSG thing will actually do the trick. She said that just because my progesterone has been low 7 days after my LH surge, that that doesn't necessarily mean I'm not ovulating, it could just mean the process just never finishes -- which could be caused by a blocked and twisted tube.
Keep all the positive vibes you've got to spare headed my way!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Trying new things
I'm home from a great week with my grandparents in North Carolina. They live in this adorable retirement community that closely resembles a resort. We ate in the "Club House" every night for dinner, took their yappy dog for walks during the day, and lounged around on their porch chatting and reading. It was relaxing and gave me some really good quality time with my mom and sister as well as my awesome grandparents.
While we were there I got my (medically induced) period! Whoo hoo. That's true excitement, really. For most that means the annoying unwanted visitor, but for me it means the start of the next cycle. This cycle we tested Kyle -- he got rave reviews --, I have my HSG procedure scheduled for the 20th and my Clomid dosage has been bumped up another 50mg to a whopping 150mg. In addition to the medical things, I'm really interested in some of the natural ways to get your body back on track. I'm not so certain about the really radical herbs and such, but I do believe in this new Fertility Diet book I found while I was in NC. It is essentially the way I eat now, it just has you cutting out refined carbs, certain types of fats, and creating a different nutritional balance. The book is based on a study with 18,000+ nurses from all over the country so it seems pretty legit.
Another thing I'm trying, and I'm slightly embarrassed to admit this, is the Lunaception method. Remember, at this point I would just be thrilled to actually OVULATE. Lunaception is essentially a method centered around the moon. The idea is that you would sleep in complete darkness for days 1-13, then you would sleep with artificial moonlight (a nightlight, or hall light) for nights 14,15 and 16, and then you would go back to complete darkness. The thought is that your body would menstruate with the new moon during the first phase and then ovulate with the full moon in the middle of your cycle. Again, there have been a few studies where many women, after a few cycles, were able to regulate their cycles to correspond with the moon. Who knows, with an extra cover on the windows, it seems like its worth a try.
Clearly, I am trying to up my odds with every cycle. Any other ideas? I'll take 'em!
While we were there I got my (medically induced) period! Whoo hoo. That's true excitement, really. For most that means the annoying unwanted visitor, but for me it means the start of the next cycle. This cycle we tested Kyle -- he got rave reviews --, I have my HSG procedure scheduled for the 20th and my Clomid dosage has been bumped up another 50mg to a whopping 150mg. In addition to the medical things, I'm really interested in some of the natural ways to get your body back on track. I'm not so certain about the really radical herbs and such, but I do believe in this new Fertility Diet book I found while I was in NC. It is essentially the way I eat now, it just has you cutting out refined carbs, certain types of fats, and creating a different nutritional balance. The book is based on a study with 18,000+ nurses from all over the country so it seems pretty legit.
Another thing I'm trying, and I'm slightly embarrassed to admit this, is the Lunaception method. Remember, at this point I would just be thrilled to actually OVULATE. Lunaception is essentially a method centered around the moon. The idea is that you would sleep in complete darkness for days 1-13, then you would sleep with artificial moonlight (a nightlight, or hall light) for nights 14,15 and 16, and then you would go back to complete darkness. The thought is that your body would menstruate with the new moon during the first phase and then ovulate with the full moon in the middle of your cycle. Again, there have been a few studies where many women, after a few cycles, were able to regulate their cycles to correspond with the moon. Who knows, with an extra cover on the windows, it seems like its worth a try.
Clearly, I am trying to up my odds with every cycle. Any other ideas? I'll take 'em!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Plans
Alright, so I feel pretty good about the plan that I've worked out with my Dr. Basically, we are just going to do my HSG (a dye test to clear out any potential blockages in the fallopian tubes) and Kyle's SA (semen analysis) a month early. She was totally fine with giving me an early referral to the specialist, but explained that I was going to need to have these tests done regardless so I could choose to do them with her or at the new practice. Since I adore by OB, yeah I know 'adore' is a strange word to be in the same sentence as 'OB' but for those of you who know my odd medical history it should make some sense, I chose to have her do my procedure.
So, then, the nurse explained that many women are "more fertile" during the cycle that they have the HSG done along with the following 2 or 3 cycles. The more we talked it seemed silly to 'waste' this opportunity to potentially be more fertile, so I'm going to go ahead with taking the 150 mg of Clomid for this next cycle. I'm slightly torn with the fact that I still won't be getting the additional monitoring for this next cycle, but at least I do feel like we are doing something more active then just taking the pills and waiting to see what happens.
So, then, the nurse explained that many women are "more fertile" during the cycle that they have the HSG done along with the following 2 or 3 cycles. The more we talked it seemed silly to 'waste' this opportunity to potentially be more fertile, so I'm going to go ahead with taking the 150 mg of Clomid for this next cycle. I'm slightly torn with the fact that I still won't be getting the additional monitoring for this next cycle, but at least I do feel like we are doing something more active then just taking the pills and waiting to see what happens.
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