Only to take then right the hell back off. Make any sense? No? Ok.
So I went in to my RE last Monday for an endometriosis consultation. Yup, my RE's clinic also specializes in endo. Here's the thing, though. As I have written before, I suck at standing up for myself. I was really nervous about getting talked into doing another IUI, continuing into IVF, sending money to the deposed prince of Nigeria, who knows what could happen. I psyched myself up and practiced what I would say if he brought up these options (no, no, and so I only have to send a check for $300 and I will get $2000?). I was ready.
After waiting the typical 30 minutes in the exam room (and rifling through what papers I could see...always entertaining), Dr. Awesome came in. He asked what was going on and I said, "I am here to address the endometriosis. I am in nearly constant pain, and my husband and I have decided to stop infertility treatment and get the endo under control. We feel good about our decision and want to know what you recommend." Yeah, apparently I grew a pair. He asked if I was aware that pregnancy and endo treatment are mutually exclusive. I said I was, and we are not interested in pursuing pregnancy at this time. At this point I was waiting for him to lecture me on how the longer you wait the less chances there are and blah, blah, blah. Shockingly, he nodded, said he understood and started talking about my options. Oh wait, there was one more thing to be done.
See, it had been several days since I had been romanced by a wand, so an ultrasound was in order. Thank goodness! As usual, my uterus was relaxing all tipped back style. Fortunately, he found no pooling of blood in my ovaries (only real treatment for that is surgery), so I was a good candidate for hormone therapy. He prescribed norethindrone, which shuts down the ovaries without affecting bone density. The side affects warned about are nausea, mood swings, hot flashes, headaches, and a couple more basic things. Ha!
Here is my list of side affects:
-NAUSEA
-heartburn
-Oh sweet mercy my head is being crushed in a vice!!!
-NAUSEA
-Stabby death pains brought some friends over for a party!
-NAUSEA
-How can my uterus get a charlie horse??
-Sweet mercy, stop breathing like that, you're moving the couch and I'm gonna puke!
What a fun sexy time for me!
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1013th Friday Blog Roundup
23 hours ago
heh heh heh. Speaking of panties...since this crowd often is...I have to find that British tabloid article about the resurgence of wearing large, comfortable underwear (in the UK known as "big pants" - here, "granny panties"). I HATE THONGS. Ahem.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations for standing up to your doc! I note - and yes, this is unsolicited advice - that some doctors DO treat IF without needing to treat endo if you have a super-thorough and totally successful surgery to remove it ALL. But that's a gamble, and darn pricey to boot. So, if that's not an option you're interested in - I think taking back your life from the hideous pain and the emotional beating of IF is inspiring. What is it they say - may you LIVE all the days of your life.
Thanks! Unsolicited advice is always welcome. In my case, I am not willing to undergo another surgery at this time. My last one kept the pain away for about 4 weeks, 3 of those spent recovering from surgery. That one week was magical, though! If I do surgery, it will likely be a hysterectomy. Fortunately, I have dealt with this enough that I have come to terms with it, even if my RE seems to think that my magical genes must be passed on.
ReplyDeleteYour RE is a trip. I'm coming to terms with a hysterectomy too - first, I want to get all the way through a round of testing and get a diagnosis and give one shot at treating whatever the cause is if it's treatable. If not, I want to arrest the endo permanently before it gets any worse.
ReplyDeleteBTW, thanks for your comment - I rarely find myself actually laughing out loud, but bringing a lace thong JUST to display during your exam? PRICELESS. It's this refusal to be beaten down by IF that I find so inspiring about the IF blogosphere. Love it.