This is my disclaimer... only read this if you REALLY want to know where our TTC (trying to conceive) journey has taken us. If you don't want to know this much about me, stop right here!
I went to the local diagnostic center to have my renal and pelvic ultrasound done. Again, I was too freaked out about the possiblity of missing a kidney, that was my primary concern. I spent the whole previous night searching through all my medical textbooks and the internet looking at ultrasound images of kidneys. I know that they techs are not supposed to comment on anything they see because the final report results have to come from the doctor. I was hoping that if I saw something on the screen that resembled a kidney that I would at least stop panicking. Bill and I also decided that we were not going to call my parents and tell them what was going on unless we were positive that I was having a true medical emergency. Really, if it hadn't killed me in the last 30 years of my life, it wasn't going to kill me in the next day. If the results came back more serious, then we'd start talking.
The technician I had was very nice. I told her my situation because she had a hard time understanding what the prescription said. I begged her to just tell me if both kidneys appeared present. Size, shape, function wasn't at the top of my list at that point. She showed me on the screen my right kidney and then my left. They are both there! Thank God! She scanned the rest of my abdomen and finally let me go use the restroom because I had to have a full bladder to visualize all the reproductive organs. That was torture! I feel bad for pregnant women that have to go to the bathroom all the time anyway and have to go through all these ultrasounds! I went home a much happier person than I was 24 hours earlier.
Since all of our tests were officially completed, we were able to schedule another appointment with Dr. T to review all our results and come up with a plan of action. We were lucky to get one within the next 2 weeks and I spent my waiting time researching the UU (unicornuate uterus) condition. I found out pretty quickly that chances of a full-term, healthy baby was not exactly in my favor. Large miscarriage rates. No chance of carrying multiples, not enough room. Premature labor should be expected. The cervix could fail as there might be too much pressure from the growing fetus that would require a cerclage (cervical stitch) if caught in time. High occurance of cesarean section as many UU babies tend to stay breach because there is not enough room to turn head-down. Wow, this was far from my idea of what a pregnancy would be like. I was scared.
I really didn't learn anything new at our appointment probably because I had done so much research on my own. Bill's test came back within normal limits. I didn't have HIV or any other known STD. My additional blood work showed I have good ovarian reserve and egg quality. And then Dr. T looked at my HSG images and said "Wow - that's a funky uterus!". Honest, that is what was said. I think he was trying to make light of the situation, but it bothered me. Dr. T also mentioned to me that he was missing the results to my ultrasounds. No report was sent from the diagnostic center in over 2 weeks. I told him that the technician said I had 2 kidneys and that was good enough for him. He asked why I didn't have the ultrasound done here at the office. I said that Dr. G handed me a prescription, told me to call an imaging center and make and appointment. I was doing what I was told. That annoyed me as well. He had not decided if we should try any fertility drugs as producing multiples for me would be a bad situation and I would have to agree to selective reduction. He said we were going to try 3 IUI's (interuterine inseminations) and then we would visit again if those failed to determine the next course of action, but implied that IVF was the next step.
I was told to call the practice on day one of my cycle and tell them that I was doing an IUI. Dr. T told me to start taking OPK's (ovulation predictor kit tests) and to call the office when I got a positive result and I would be scheduled to have an IUI done the next morning. OK, that is pretty standard procedure.
I was determined to find the missing ultrasound report. I was given the run-around, of course. The diagnostic center promised me that the report had been faxed. The practice told me that they never got it. I confirmed the fax number, the office number, my name, my date of birth, everything. After several days of calling back and forth, I was fortunate to get someone in the imaging center that could see that the report had been faxed and gave me the date and time. Then she told me when they had tried to fax the report just 3 days after my ultrasound, the fax machine in the practice was busy and it automatically tried 2 more times that night and stopped. They never attempted to fax it again the next day. I couldn't believe it. Good thing no one was dying or anything! She agreed to fax it again while I was still on the phone with her and like magic, it worked. I called the practice and they had received it and it was waiting to be filed in my growing chart. One obstacle down!
One of our good friends is a chiropractor and encouraged me to come and see him. He said maybe my body just needs a boost to help everything work correctly. It certainly wasn't going to make anything worse. So I started going to him twice a week and getting adjustments. Nothing was terribly out of whack with me, but I consistantly have my L3 out of alignment. L3 controls the reproductive organs and it usually slips over to the right side. Imagine that! We had also had a health fair and I was fortunate enough to meet an acupuncturist who I had been hearing a lot about from other friends. We connected right away and in a few minutes, S knew my full story. She hoped she could help me and we started with treatments right away. I was was trying to do everything possible to get my body working right.
I started doing my OPK's and after a few days of this, I started thinking that if I ovulate on my right side, where I have no tube to deliver the egg to the uterus, all of this is for nothing. Statistically there is a very small chance that the good tube on the opposite side could catch the egg, but this is extremely rare. Probably wasn't going to happen to me. I was told that I could call the practice anytime I had a question and a nurse would call me back that day. So I did. I left a message asking how would I know that I was ovulating on my "good" side, although I already knew the answer to this question. They were going to have to switch me to a monitored cycle, which means watching follicles develop by ultrasounds. Why waste everyone's time with OPK's? It is clear to everyone that I am already ovulating consistently.
This is when everything started to go downhill. The nurse called me back that afternoon and asked why I cared which side I was ovulating from. Well, I assumed that it would be obvious in my chart why I cared. Yes, she had my chart in front of her but she saw no mention of my UU condition. As we chatted some more, she said IF I have only one tube, then she could change me to a monitored cycle with ultrasounds and I would be required to give myself a HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) trigger shot to ensure that ovulation occurs when the follicles are mature and ready to release an egg. This would lead to perfect timing of the IUI 36 hours later as the window of ovulation is known. She was still very skeptical why I was so concerned about which side I was developing follicles on but she agreed to discuss it with Dr. T and she would call me back the next day. I chalked the entire conversation up to her being a little slow.
The nurse called me back the next day. She said that she had talked to Dr. T and after looking at the ultrasound report, he said it would be a good idea for me to be put on a monitored cycle. Then she told me that we had a BIG problem. For a monitored cycle, I have to have the HCG trigger shot and the injectibles how-to class that is only taught once a month was held earlier that morning and I missed it. How was that my fault?? She started getting very snippy with me and said the class was required and that my monitored cycle was going to be cancelled. Then I started getting a little upset. I don't remember why I kept talking to this woman. It gets better... Somewhere in the conversation, she mentioned that my only ovary was on my right side and that if I was ovulating, it had to come from that side anyway, so why worry about being monitored. I stopped her and asked her to repeat what she said about my right ovary. She said the ultrasound report said the right ovary was present, the left ovary is missing and didn't I already know that? I said "No!" Ooops! She very quickly excused herself from the phone and put me on hold.
So I was already crying at this point at my desk in my office. Some nurse who just blurted out information that really should have come from my doctor just told me that my ovary on my good working side is not there. This is really not going well. There is no way for me to ever get pregnant.
Another nurse answered the phone. She heard the conversation with the other nurse and she told me to come in for an ultrasound anyway and we'd clear all this up. She'd get a prescription called over to my pharmacy in case I needed the HCG trigger. I asked about the stupid injectibles class and she told me if I had 3 extra minutes, she'd show me how to give myself the trigger because it's not a big deal. Wow, thank you! Why does everything need to be so difficult with some people?
I went in for my ultrasound on Friday of that week. The nurse that I had talked to last on the phone did the scan. She found both ovaries! My left one was really not missing at all! Even better news - the follicle that was mature and ready to expel the egg was on my left ovary! I felt like it was my special day!! I was so happy with this news, I could barely contain myself. She showed me how to give myself the Ovidrel trigger shot. No mixing was required, it is pre-loaded in the syringe and it's ready to go. I had made arrangements with the pharmacy to pick it up that afternoon. If the scan showed that I did not have a left ovary, we were stopping and I wasn't going to be giving myself any shots that would be completely pointless. I had Bill give me the shot that night as directed by the nurse, I didn't want to do it myself unless I really had to. The IUI was scheduled for Sunday morning.
Sunday morning came and we went to the practice. There was even an earth quake while we were sitting in the waiting room before we were called. I felt it, Bill did not. The couch was moving like someone else was sitting on the other end bouncing their leg up and down (which annoys the snot out of me, by the way). As soon as it started, it stopped and I really didn't know what it was. The IUI itself was not a walk in the park. It took several tries by the nurse to get the catheter positioned correctly and it was very painful. Probably because my uterus curves so drastically to the left, it is difficult to get the placement right. But I walked out full of hope and I was reminded that I needed to avoid stress. Yeah right... thanks!
The IUI didn't work. I was told to call back either when I got my period or after 14 days to have a blood test drawn. Well, I didn't make it to 14 days and I called at the beginning of my cycle. I left a message on the nurses line asking them to call me back with the protocol for this cycle. I wasn't sure if this was the time Dr. T wanted to me try Clomid to see how I respond on a low dose or not. If you take Clomid, you take it very early in your cycle, so there is a bit of urgency in deciding whether or not this is the next course of action. The one mean nurse called me back and said that she would have to talk to Dr. T the next day (he is only in the one branch a few days a week) and she would call me back tomorrow. She didn't see any mention of Clomid on my chart and why was I asking for another monitored cycle? Oh please people - it's your job to know my details. So I ended up explaining my UU condition all over again. She said again, none of this is in your chart. I left it at that. Who cares what she thinks?
The good nurse did call me back the next day, not the mean one. However, she started the conversation with "I'm sorry to tell you this but...". My monitored cycle was cancelled. Dr. T decided to review my ultrasound report again and decided that I was not to be treated at the practice any longer until my primary care physician determined that my kidneys were healthy. I was in shock again.... didn't he read the report the first time?? I was so confused. Then I was told the ultrasound report indicated that I had several cysts on my right kidney and an unknown mass in the left kidney. I had to get a CT scan and my doctor's approval to continue any fertility treatments. I was so upset and crying at my desk at work... again.
Guess I need to write a part three.... stay tuned!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment