It has been 2 weeks since I began this blog and I have been pleasantly surprised with the feedback I have received. I was skeptical about doing this at first and few people asked me why I was even bothering, but I can honestly say that I am happy I did it! I miss writing. It isn’t creative writing as I used to do but it is just as much from the heart, if not more.
Now, to those of you who have been keeping up, we have reached the end of the prologue! Now, on to the story already! Every good story has three parts; a beginning, middle, and end. Next Wednesday will mark the beginning; new adventures, new hurdles to cross, and new challenges to face. I have a fantastic support system of friends and family, success stories to give me hope, fierce determination, wonderful doctors, and an amazing DH so I am not afraid of what’s to come!
I will be away from February 20-27 and will continue posting when I get back. The plan right now is to post once a week, on Thursday or Friday, but you can always subscribe if you want update notifications (bottom of the right hand column) instead of coming back to check.
One question that keeps popping up is why I decided to call this blog “Creating my Monster”. I have many answers to that question, but you will have to wait just a little longer to hear them… use your imaginations or wait for my explanation when I get back in March!
Republica Dominicana here we come!!!
P.S. AJ, since I know you are reading - Thank you (in advance) for house-sitting :)
Friday, February 19, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Process
“Life is not meant to be easy, my child; but take courage -- it can be delightful.”
Life itself, as well as to give life, has definitely not been an easy process and it certainly does take a lot of courage which, thankfully, I have; but delightful? That remains to be seen! My hope is that Madonna was right when she said “If it’s bitter at the start, then it’s sweeter in the end” (lyrics from “Get Together”).
Since a lot of you have asked I have decided to post a summary of what is to come so that I don’t have to keep explaining things. I am currently taking 7 pills a day just to keep things stable but that will be changing next week as we start the next level of treatment and TTC. I will continue to take Synthroid and Metformin now and possibly forever, so I am not including these in this process. Also, for those of you who don’t know, a woman’s cycle begins on the first day of AF. So, now that that’s understood, much of the following will be in CD (cycle days). Sorry if some parts are TMI!
Step 1: Since I do not have a regular cycle, I need to take Provera in order to begin AF. This is simply a progestin, a synthetic variant of the human hormone progesterone. I need to take 2 pills a day for 3 days and then I can expect AF shortly after, bringing me to CD1.
Step 2: Once AF and CD1 arrive, things become quite scheduled. From CD3-7 I have to take Clomid. This is for ovarian stimulation and will cause new follicles (eggs) to develop, typically one or more.
Step 3: On CD9, we have to BD (baby dance) because on CD10 I have to go for an ultrasound to check the follicle development. If the follicle(s) are good, I will be given Ovidrel, an injection of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG). This will clinically induce ovulation, release the eggs for fertilization, and then we continue to BD as per the doctor’s orders (romantic, huh?). So, why BD on CD9? Think back to high school sex-ed for a minute. Sperm can live for a few days, so this way when you release the eggs on CD10, the “boys” will be there to “greet” them. Oh, and if the follicle(s) are not ready they will tell me to come back for another ultrasound approximately 2 days later. (DH will be present for the first ultrasound, but if I have to go back I will go on my own.)
Step 4: The 2WW (2 week wait). Ovidrel can cause a false positive on a HPT (Home Pregnancy Test) so you have to wait about 2 weeks. At this point, I will use a HPT and get a blood test as well I believe.
I will also be taking pre-natal vitamins throughout this process (and future pregnancy). You take one in the morning and one at night. These are prescription, not over the counter.
So, that’s the process. It is pretty scientific, but does not guarantee a pregnancy. We will do this process three times and if we do not succeed we will move on to in-vitro, adoption, etc… Things are getting a little more complicated, somewhat scheduled, and possibly “hormonal” so I would like to apologize to DH in advance!
Start date: February 24, 2010 while we are in the Dominican Republic.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Diagnosis and Treatment
So, if you recall, this all began in the summer of 2005. By the time I had my first appointment at RVH more than a year had passed and it was now late October, 2006. By this time I had read all that I could about hypothyroidism as well as PCOS and was pretty sure that I had a combination of both. I admit that I have a bad habit of self-diagnosing; however I cannot remember when I have been wrong in my diagnosis. I told the doctor about all of my symptoms and what I felt was wrong. He seemed to agree because he proceeded to run a bunch of tests on me that all relate to PCOS. He also referred me to a new endocrinologist that he works with so that all of my information would be together in one file.
A lot of the initial tests were routine blood tests along with a glucose tolerance test (because PCOS begins with insulin resistance). I also had a Hysterosalpingograhpy (HSG) (which I would not wish on my worst enemy because it HURT a LOT) and what I thought would be a routine ultrasound.
When I had this same ultrasound a year prior, they were able to see one cyst on my ovary. This time, they saw 20 on one and 22 on the other. I had gone from 1 – 42 in one year! I hadn’t seen the results from my other tests yet, but this was confirmation enough that I had PCOS – the “string of pearls” as they are called.
I met with both doctors for a follow up and sure enough, I had PCOS and I have been in treatment ever since. Over the years I have had varying doses of Synthroid for my thyroid problems (currently at 0.150mg), Metformin to treat the insulin resistance (850mg 3 times daily) and I recently began taking iron supplements twice a day because my Anemia seems to have returned. I also have a glucose meter because at one point the endocrinologist had told me I had become a type 2 diabetic but he was being slightly melodramatic and after meeting with the metabolic clinic dietician and nurses they confirmed that I was NOT diabetic. I had used the meter religiously for a few months before meeting with them and not ONCE was my sugar even CLOSE to high. I still test now and then but it is very infrequent and nothing shocking yet!
I had another ultrasound done this past summer (2009) and I am now up to about 50 “pearls” which isn’t so bad considering I had gone from 1-42 in one year and 42-50 in the following three years. I also had a Hysteroscopy done (which they tried to do without painkillers the first time which caused me to vomit and nearly pass out from the pain so I had to go back a month later and do it under the happy effects of nitrous oxide – laughing gas) and the results of that were all clear.
So, what’s next? Stay tuned…
(Note: DH has also been tested, although not nearly as much, and he's fine.)
A lot of the initial tests were routine blood tests along with a glucose tolerance test (because PCOS begins with insulin resistance). I also had a Hysterosalpingograhpy (HSG) (which I would not wish on my worst enemy because it HURT a LOT) and what I thought would be a routine ultrasound.
When I had this same ultrasound a year prior, they were able to see one cyst on my ovary. This time, they saw 20 on one and 22 on the other. I had gone from 1 – 42 in one year! I hadn’t seen the results from my other tests yet, but this was confirmation enough that I had PCOS – the “string of pearls” as they are called.
I met with both doctors for a follow up and sure enough, I had PCOS and I have been in treatment ever since. Over the years I have had varying doses of Synthroid for my thyroid problems (currently at 0.150mg), Metformin to treat the insulin resistance (850mg 3 times daily) and I recently began taking iron supplements twice a day because my Anemia seems to have returned. I also have a glucose meter because at one point the endocrinologist had told me I had become a type 2 diabetic but he was being slightly melodramatic and after meeting with the metabolic clinic dietician and nurses they confirmed that I was NOT diabetic. I had used the meter religiously for a few months before meeting with them and not ONCE was my sugar even CLOSE to high. I still test now and then but it is very infrequent and nothing shocking yet!
I had another ultrasound done this past summer (2009) and I am now up to about 50 “pearls” which isn’t so bad considering I had gone from 1-42 in one year and 42-50 in the following three years. I also had a Hysteroscopy done (which they tried to do without painkillers the first time which caused me to vomit and nearly pass out from the pain so I had to go back a month later and do it under the happy effects of nitrous oxide – laughing gas) and the results of that were all clear.
So, what’s next? Stay tuned…
(Note: DH has also been tested, although not nearly as much, and he's fine.)
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Pre-Diagnosis: In a Nutshell
The problems probably started before I was even aware of them, but I first began to notice things in Summer ’05. It had been months since I had seen AF, but this was normal for me as I had never been regular. What wasn’t normal is that in June of ’05 AF arrived with a vengeance! After about 3 weeks I ended up going to emergency and they told me my iron levels were extremely low and put me on iron pills. Other than that “I was fine”. Well, my gyno wasn’t so sure of that and wanted to do some tests but I was leaving for vacation so she decided to hold off. Well, that was a mistake. Half way through vacation (in Toronto) I got the worst migraine I have ever had in my life. I am prone to them, but this one was not normal. I took my migraine medication, crossed my fingers, and slept through it. AF was still very much present and I was extremely weak and scared. I called my doctor as soon as we got back home and she said that enough was enough. I had an emergency D&C followed by multiple tests, x-rays, you name it! In the end, she said that all she saw was a tiny cyst on my ovary and other than that “I was fine” and “not to worry about it”.
I was NOT fine and I WAS worried so I went to see my GP around September ‘05. He sent me for a barrage of blood tests and noticed something interesting. Since the last tests I had done at the hospital in June, my thyroid levels had gone down. He said he would monitor them before panicking and asked me to do more blood tests around November for comparison. The levels had dropped again only this time significantly. So, he sent me to an endocrinologist and sure enough, hypothyroidism. At this point I had so many of the symptoms (abnormal menstrual cycles, fatigue, thinning eyebrows, low body temperature, etc...) that I just sort of attributed everything to hypothyroidism and went on about my life... taking one pill every morning for the rest of my life. (Note: At the time this sounded horrible, but now I am up to 7 pills a day so in retrospect this was pretty good)
Almost a year passed and things were going well. But then, it started to happen again; AF from hell! I decided not to go and see my gyno because I felt that she would just dismiss it so I went to see my GP. But, before seeing him I read websites, forums, books, you name it and I had discovered something; I had all the symptoms of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Unfortunately, as this is a fertility issue and he is not specialized in that area he couldn’t really help me but he did look at some information I had brought with me and said that it definitely looked plausible. He wrote me the referral I needed and within a couple of months I had my first appointment (of many to come) at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH).
To be continued...
I was NOT fine and I WAS worried so I went to see my GP around September ‘05. He sent me for a barrage of blood tests and noticed something interesting. Since the last tests I had done at the hospital in June, my thyroid levels had gone down. He said he would monitor them before panicking and asked me to do more blood tests around November for comparison. The levels had dropped again only this time significantly. So, he sent me to an endocrinologist and sure enough, hypothyroidism. At this point I had so many of the symptoms (abnormal menstrual cycles, fatigue, thinning eyebrows, low body temperature, etc...) that I just sort of attributed everything to hypothyroidism and went on about my life... taking one pill every morning for the rest of my life. (Note: At the time this sounded horrible, but now I am up to 7 pills a day so in retrospect this was pretty good)
Almost a year passed and things were going well. But then, it started to happen again; AF from hell! I decided not to go and see my gyno because I felt that she would just dismiss it so I went to see my GP. But, before seeing him I read websites, forums, books, you name it and I had discovered something; I had all the symptoms of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Unfortunately, as this is a fertility issue and he is not specialized in that area he couldn’t really help me but he did look at some information I had brought with me and said that it definitely looked plausible. He wrote me the referral I needed and within a couple of months I had my first appointment (of many to come) at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH).
To be continued...
Monday, February 8, 2010
1st entry...
Pretty lame title, but that's what this is... my 1st entry on this blog. However, I won't be writing much because I am mainly just setting up the look and feel of things at the moment.
My hope is to keep this one up better than my last blog (and many others before) and that. I will try not to write too much (or too little). The main goal of this blog is to keep in touch with a group of people without directly e-mailing everyone with updates. If you want an update, hopefully it will be here! If not... try to be patient OR e-mail me, I guess :)
As for the full subject of this blog... the next few entries will clarify what this is all about.
My hope is to keep this one up better than my last blog (and many others before) and that. I will try not to write too much (or too little). The main goal of this blog is to keep in touch with a group of people without directly e-mailing everyone with updates. If you want an update, hopefully it will be here! If not... try to be patient OR e-mail me, I guess :)
As for the full subject of this blog... the next few entries will clarify what this is all about.
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