Monday, April 12, 2010

It Pays To Be Blissfully Ignorant

Went in for a date with the ol' doctor again on Tuesday. They wanted to check the status of all things girly-good since I've been hopped up on Lupron.

I guess they're looking to get a baseline on the ovary production before starting me on the REAL drugs - the hard stuff. You know, the ones that make you hulk out one minute and then cry over birds chirping the next.

Truth be told, even though we're probably a solid half way through our cycle, we still feel pretty clueless as to how and why this all works. Most of the time I find myself just nodding and smiling when it seems appropriate. The doctor says I'm going to be getting two drugs in 20 injections over 14 days shot into my abdomen and I smile. She tells me she's going to squirt ink into my cervix and I nod. She tells me I have to shove a pill into my hoo-hoo like some sort of reverse suppository and I giggle, reminded of some story regarding a coffee enema made from a home made douche kit and an empty 2 liter bottle of Coke.

Normally this sort of ignorance really troubles me. Generally when faced with the unknown I consult my magic 8-ball and if that turns up empty I turn to Google, spending hours and hours pouring through and over various case files, sweating and clamming up at the calamity I'm in. Honestly, some would say I'm a bit neurotic......personally, I prefer the term thorough, but to each his own.

The good news, though, is that all of our happy ignorance, our blissful naivety, good juju and positive kharma have payed off! My endometrial lining is at 4.7 - which is right where it needs to be (so sayeth the good Doctor), my right ovary has 19 follicles and the left one has 20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Remember they said before that anything above 10 is considered excellent? My ovaries are graded A plus-PLUS! EXTRA CREDIT!

So, another milestone passed and now we're on to Follistim. This is the REAL drug - the one that makes all the magic happen. If Lupron was a gateway drug, this stuff is heroin and it even comes in this weird little nifty pen thingy that's sort of like a reusable syringe...it's the little things in life...

I went to pick up the last round of meds from the pharmacy today and dropped almost $1,400.00. That IS a lot of money but thankfully (because of my stellar little ovaries) it was a LOT less than what we were anticipating. The lady in line behind me looked at me really funny when the sales clerk told me my total. I could just see the wheels in her head turning and wondering what the hell I was picking up. As the pharmacist handed me my gift bag overflowing with drugs and needles she said that she hoped to never see me again. I smiled too and said I hoped so as well. I wanted to tell the lady behind me that I was purchasing injections from the Fountain of Youth. I wanted to tell her that I was 62.

I brought my drugs home and put them up on the counter to start putting everything away and had to laugh. It looks like a junky lives here! Some sort of pharm head...
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This baby making stuff is SEXY!

That said, I am becoming a little concerned about John's well being and current mental state. My husband, who is notoriously phobic about needles - even going so far as to pass out when he gets his blood drawn - has been taking the injections quite well. Perhaps....TOO well. When he comes home from work, usually the first words out of his mouth, through the door, are something to the effect of, "FOUR MORE HOURS 'TIL SHOT TIME!!" When I told him this evening that he had to start giving me two shots a night his eyes lit up.

More on this as it develops.

On another note, I was at the grocery store picking up some last minute things the other night and had to grab a jug of milk. I was checking the expiration dates to find a good one when it occurred to me that, if all things go well, we could be pregnant before this milk curdles and expires.

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That is a very wonderful/weird realization.

3 comments:

Anna and Kate said...

Watching and wishing you every luck for this cycle! I will whisper very quietly and say, WOW! you have a damn fine pair of ovaries there!

Re the drugs - a fun little game: Read through all the leaflets and find out where these drugs originated...mine, I remember it well, were from Chinese hamster ovaries. Sort of put the cost into perspective.

And now I am hoping you are not a vegetarian.

Oh the things one does...

wishing you every luck and love

Kxxxx

Jody said...

I'm praying that this cycle goes perfectly for you. And pass along my congrats to your stellar ovaries for making so many follicles!

I hear you on all the drugs. We kept the room temperature ones in a basket so they were easy to hide when company came over. We didn't want anyone thinking we had a prescription drug problem.

Our cycle was a year and a half ago and I still have my dose of HCG in our fridge. We forgot it there when we drove to Seattle for our cycle, so we had to get another one. I think that sucker was $50, so if there is a chance I can use it for the next cycle I'm gonna keep it in my fridge until then.

On the plus side, I don't think the drugs made me any more emotional/irrational - or at least my hubby didn't point it out to me. Hope you have the same luck.

rebecca said...

OMG, your body is responding incredibly to the med's...way to go over achieving ovaries!!! That is hilarious about the lady at the pharmacy, it would have been every funnier if you actually said that!!! Glad to hear you're feeling good & things are going so smoothly! Also, I didn't really feel that emotional with the other drugs, so hopefully you also don't have much of a reaction to those...keeping you in thoughts & prayers:)

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