Posts Tagged ‘cysts’
It’s too much to hope for something to be easy, right?
I finally, after several weeks, got around to calling the gyn-oncologist’s office back today. I think I put it off for so long because I knew I wasn’t going to be pleased with the news, so it was ostrich syndrome. The hope was that I would call and they’d say that yes, they’re just cysts, and it’s no problem to send a letter to the RE giving permission for them to be aspirated. But because I get very few things I hope for, that wasn’t the case.
The cysts grew between the two ultrasounds. There’s concern about the one with debris. He wants me to come in to discuss my options.
Meh.
So I go in on 10.13. I could have gone on 10.7, but I prefer Monday appointments. Yeah, it’s a long time to brood about it, but gyn-oncologists are in short supply even in NYC, and it’s tough to get an appointment sometimes. Since I’m in no danger of dying between now and 10.13, it’s fine.
Awww, aren’t they cute?
There they are, in all their glory: the 4 cysts.
See how nice and clear they look? That’s a GOOD thing. They’re pretty big, though, which is a not so good thing.
One still has what looks like some debris in it, but that’s very likely blood from being aspirated. You can see the debris in this image, actually. It’s in the top right cyst.
Oncologist should have the report on Monday or Tuesday, so I should get the verdict about whether or not I can keep cycling with my own eggs then.
How come the future has to take such a long time?
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait… sometimes it feels like that’s all I do.
I don’t think I mentioned it here, but I went for the oncologist-ordered sonogram on 5/14. The sonogram showed, of course, the cysts that have been there for some time. I just got the results from the oncologist and the results are: there are no results.
He wants me to wait 6-8 weeks and go for another sonogram so he can see what was cysts and what may have been follicles that resolved with ovulation. I was on day 8 of my cycle at the time I had the sonogram, so it’s a pretty good bet that there was a follicle there amongst the cysts.
The good thing, I guess, is that it took so long for him to get back to me with the results that, at this point, it’s 3-5 weeks until the next sonogram. Still, it’s annoying, all this waiting.
I’m moving ahead with the test’s with the new RE finally, though, so that’s something. I have the hysteroscopy scheduled for next Wednesday, along with one of two semen analyses Scott needs to have done. The blood work will be this Wednesday.
I’m really hoping that everything works out with the oncologist and he gives the go ahead for me to start another IVF cycle in late July. If things don’t work out with the oncologist, I suppose we’ll start thinking about donor eggs.
Hoping My Doctors See Me As a Challenge, Not a Hopeless Cause
Yesterday, I had a consultation with a new RE I’ll call Dr. Thorough.
His office shares a reception area with, and is associated with, a large acupuncture center. The center is decorated in a very zen way, with low wooden furniture, silk pillows, and Buddha heads. I loved it the minute I walked in.
Dr. Thorough is a very nice man and a, seemingly, very competent doctor. He went through my record carefully and even paid attention to my crackpot theory that my early puberty – first period at 9 or 10 years old – premature grey hair – beginning at the age of 19 – and infertility are somehow linked. He asked why I thought that, and I replied that it was just a weird feeling that maybe it all pointed to my body being older than my actual age. He didn’t think it was a crackpot theory at all, and agreed that it could be a possibility, and so I’m going to have a test called PlanAhead. It’s a blood test that checks levels of AMH, FSH, and Inhibin B and uses them to calculate ovarian reserve. It can’t tell what quality the eggs I have left are, but it can give us an idea if I’m starting to run low, which, since I only have the one ovary, is a pretty good thing to know.
The three cysts that showed on the ultrasound at Cornell are, of course, still there. I didn’t get the measurements, but I’m fairly certain I heard someone in the room at Cornell say “40mm” about one of them. That’s pretty large. Like the doctor at Cornell, Dr. Thorough thinks that, given my history, I really need to see my GYN-concologist and get his blessing before we go sticking more needles into the cysts, in case they end up being something more than cysts. So I have an appointment with the GYN-oncologist set up for next Friday. I suppose we’ll talk about a cystectomy and biopsy. While I’ll be happy to have the cysts or tumors or whatever they end up being removed surgically, I’ll tell you right now that I won’t consent to the possibility of another oophectomy or a hysterectomy until I’ve exhausted all my IVF resources. I simply won’t.
Unlike Dr. Italiano, who seemed to forget it was even an issue, Dr. Thorough takes the Grave’s Disease seriously. In the round of bloodwork to come, he’s going to be sure to check my thyroid function and he sent me information about auto-immune diseases and their impact on fertility.
That’s all the old stuff. I’m a complicated patient already, am I not?
The new thing is that he found what “appears to be a fibroid indenting on my uterine cavity.” No one has ever picked that up before, but I saw it very clearly on the scan when he pointed it out to me. What the hell? I think it may be a really new thing, because I’ve seen a lot of scans of my insides, and I’ve never noticed this thing before. As if I didn’t present enough challenges to an RE!
I really like Dr. Thorough, and he is now officially my new RE. The next step is to begin a series of tests, which include blood tests for:
- the PlanAhead test
- APA (antiphospholipid antibodies)
- ATA (antithyroid antibodies)
- NKa (Natural killer cell activation)
- RIP (Reproductive immunophenotype)
Also, Scott will have a thrombophilia panel – because of his Factor V Leiden mutation, I believe - and a Sperm DNA Integrity Assay (SDIA). I’m going to have a hysteroscopy to check out how my uterus is doing.
So many tests. I’m glad to be getting it done, though.
In Which the Dildocam Makes a Triumphant Return
It’s been too long since I talked about the dildocam, hasn’t it? Trust me, Gentle Reader, you haven’t missed it as much as I have. But rest assured, it makes an appearance in this post, albeit a brief one.
Today, Scott and I had our consultation at Cornell to talk about doing an IVF cycle there. Let me start by saying I loved this place. I loved the doctor and his secretary; I loved the nurses; I loved the IVF coordinator; I loved the office space.
I just loved everything about it.
Dr. G spent a lot of time with us and made me feel instantly comfortable. He was very thorough with my fairly complicated medical history. He even wielded the dildocam* himself! And he did a breast exam and a pap smear and an internal exam. So much attention, a girl could get spoiled.
Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to be able to cycle there. While Dr. G. himself takes our insurance, the center doesn’t take any insurance at all. Since all of the actual IVF procedures are billed by the center, it would be out of network. Our IVF coverage for out of network is only 70%, which would leave a pretty hefty chunk of change coming out of pocket. While I’m grateful to have coverage, whether in or out, we jusr can’t afford to spare that 30% out of pocket.
And so, I think Cornell and I aren’t meant to be.
*There are cysts, of course. You knew there would be, right?
