Wednesday was a big day for us as it was our official start date for In Vitro Fertilization. Kyle couldn't get off work so my mother came with me to my appointment that morning.
During my appointment, the nurses drew blood to measure my estrogen level. This will be done every single visit. They do this to make sure that I take the correct dosage of medicine each day and so they know when to put me on the second set of medication.
Next, the physician did an ultrasound to look at the progress of my ovaries. He then decided that I should be on the max dosage of medicine instead of the average dosage. My left ovary is still enlarged and doesn't have many visible follicles so it will be my right ovary that will be doing all of the work. This is one of the reasons why they went with the max dosage. With that said, the medicine we've already ordered was supposed to be a 10 day supply. However, now that I am on the max dosage, the supply will only last 5 days. I need to be on the medicine for 10-12 days so we now have to order more medicine. As it stands, the medicine we already purchased cost us $3,100. The medicine that we now have to purchase to fill the gap will cost us $2,100 more.
Since the beginning of this, the price has jumped several times. Many people have asked us why and I'd like to clarify that. A perfectly healthy 28-year old woman should only require $6,500 for the procedure and $2,000 for the medicine, approximately. With my condition of endometriosis, and the fact that my left ovary is still enlarged and has only a small number of working follicles, I require more treatment and medicine. This is not the doctors' fault. They said in the beginning that it was an approximate price and everyone is different. With each visit, they are determining what course of action to do based on the condition of my ovaries. Please pray that my ovaries respond well to the medicine and that they will be able to drop the dosage after our next visit. Also, please pray that all goes well during this entire process! There's so much involved with it and the physicians are having to make hard decisions with each visit. Please pray for my doctors as well. I've seen three of the four doctors at FIRM and will likely see all 4 by the time it's over with. Keep them all in your prayers.
Wednesday night I started my injections. I'll be honest, I thought I'd be a pro giving myself a shot but I definitely wasn't that night. It takes about 10-15 minutes to mix the medicine before you can give yourself the shot. I mixed it like a pro but when it came down to giving myself the shot I just couldn't do it. My adrenaline went crazy, heart was racing and my temperature jumped like 10 degrees! Fortunately, my wonderful husband got over his fear of needles long enough to run into the room, administer the shot and then run out. Last night I was able to do it on my own. I'll have to do the shot myself when I get to the second set because they will be morning shots and Kyle leaves before I wake up.
Our next visit is scheduled for this Sunday morning. As I said before, please pray that my body responds well to the medicine.
Thank you all for your amazing support throughout this process! We could not have asked for better friends and family. It truly has been overwhelming having all of you to help us in our journey!
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