Today's RE Appointment

I had my post-op appointment with Dr. T this morning. I went in expecting to hear the worst and it was a good thing I had prepared myself. He said that I have pretty severe endometriosis. My uterus is actually pulled back and fused to my colon. There was endo on my appendix so that is why he removed my appendix. The opening of my left tube is blocked and my tube is very swollen with fluid. Dr T. suspects that I have hematosalpinx, which is blood collected in my tube. During my period some of the menstrual blood actually goes back into my tube and just collects there. The one bit of good news is that my left ovary is fine. There was no cyst on it, my tube is just so swollen that on the ultrasound it was too hard to distinguish between the tube and my ovary. What looked like an ovarian cyst on the ultrasound was actually the end of my tube. Dr T. said that with the severity of my endo it is very unlikely that I'll be able to have a spontaneous conception. My chances of getting pregnant the old fashioned way without more surgery aren't zero but they're pretty slim.

So what are my options now? Basically Dr T. I have two options. The endometriosis isn't a life threatening condition so I can choose to just let it be and if I want to get pregnant then I can try IVF. My other option is having another, more extensive surgery to remove all of the endo, try to unblock my left tube and remove the tube if it can't be unblocked. Dr. T said that my recovery time with the second surgery will be longer than with the first and in 95% of cases he is able to remove all of the endo with the scope so I wouldn't have any larger incisions.

I know that we can't afford IVF. One cycle of IVF costs about $15,000 and our insurance won't cover any of it. I'm not in a hurry to have another surgery with all that we have going on right now. The soccer season won't be over until mid-May and we also have who knows how many court dates and attorney appointments coming up for Jarrod. Dr. T said that I can basically have the surgery anytime so it's up to me to decide when is the best time. I'll take some time to let it all sink in and then discuss it with Danny before deciding but I'm pretty sure another surgery is in my near future.

Back Again

After going MIA for awhile I am back to blog! February was a busy month for us and I actually was trying to stay away from the computer. Ashton had his first ever eye appointment, mostly because his regular doctor noticed that his right eye turns in. The eye doctor said that he'll need to wear glasses to try to correct it. Hopefully if that works he won't need glasses because his vision is actually pretty good.

Danny's birthday was also last month. We took a trip south with some friends to visit some casinos. None of us won big but Danny broke even and I only lost $20 so I guess it was a successful trip. I made a cheesecake for Danny instead of a birthday cake and it was quite yummy!

We also found out that Danny's hours at work have been cut. He's now working 8.5 hours a day, four days a week so he'll have Friday's off. That will actually save us a little bit of money on daycare so maybe it will work out ok.

I got my laparoscopy scheduled for March 12. I'm going to the hospital tomorrow for some pre-admission things (not sure exactly what they're going to do but I'm going!). Then I have a pre-op appointment with Dr. T Tuesday. I'll be off work for awhile after the surgery and I'm trying to figure out exactly how much time to take off. I had originally thought a week would be fine but after reading some experiences from ladies on Ovusoft I'm wondering if I'll feel up to working after a week. At this point I think I'll put in for next Thursday and Friday and then the whole week after that. I'll talk to Dr. T on Tuesday and see if he thinks I'll need longer. Hopefully since I have a cushy sit down job I won't need much more than that. I do have plenty of sick leave available but I'd like to use as little as possible just in case I by some miracle manage to get pregnant.

Repeat U/S

I've been sick for the past 3 days so I haven't felt like sitting at the computer. I did see my RE yesterday for another u/s though and wanted to post an update. The cyst is still there and the RE said that it looks like my ovary might have even attached to my uterus because of the pressure from the cyst. So in the words of my RE "that buys me a ticket to the OR". I'll be having a lap next cycle. He said that we could try to squeeze it in this week but I need time to put in for time off work plus I feel crappy this week already, no need to add to it. He canceled my HSG since I'm having a lap done anyway. He said that if he thinks I really need the HSG he can just do it while I'm out for the lap. So I get to call on CD 1 and schedule surgery. I'm pretty nervous because I've never had any kind of surgery before and never had to be put under. I'm just glad it's an outpatient surgery.

More tests

I went in today for my CD 3 labs. Not sure when I should have the results. My RE's office has a voicemail box for each patient to call in to check labs. They never put Danny's SA information on mine though, I had to ask today. The nurse and the lab tech both said his numbers look fine. I didn't get copies and I don't remember the exact count but motility was 57% and morphology was 11%. The lab tech said that she hardly ever sees morphology much higher than that because their standards for "normal" are so high. I also finally got to see the numbers from his first SA. Count was normal, motility 43% and morph. 8%. So both motility and morph. went up! I'm going back in on Tuesday morning for another ultrasound and then my HSG is Friday morning.

Stupid AF

AF showed up this morning after spending all day yesterday teasing me. I called the RE's office this morning to get everything scheduled (blood work, HSG, ultrasound). The way they do things is you call them and leave a message for a nurse. The nurse gets your chart and calls you back. So now I'm waiting for them to call back. I'm really mad at AF, not for showing up but for waiting so long to show up. A 15 day LP? That's crazy! My LP is usually 13 days at the longest. Plus now I'll have to take Ashton with me when I go in for blood work. He's at grandma's today but he's coming home tomorrow. So now I get to be the jerk that brings a kid to the RE with me. Wonderful.

I tried to do the 30 Day Shred this morning. I say "tried" because I only made it through about 10 minutes before I was so out of breath I thought I was going to die. I guess I'm more out of shape than I thought. I'm going to give it another try tomorrow though. I am not quitting!

RE Apointment

The appointment went well. I really like our doctor. He seems to really know what he's talking about and didn't try to sugar coat anything. He told us not to worry about the Lyrica, that he really doesn't think it will cause us any problems. He wants me to have all of my CD 3 blood work done again and have an HSG done next cycle before he gives us a treatment plan. Danny had another SA done today so we'll see how his numbers are compared to the last one.

The doctor did an ultrasound today which kind of surprised me. It showed that I have a retroverted uterus, which I already knew from when I was pregnant with Ashton. My right ovary is "beautiful" but I have an endometriosis cyst (endometrioma) on my left ovary. He said that in most cases they are usually benign but if it doesn't go away on it's own then I'll have to have surgery to remove it. He did say that there is a chance that it is a corpus luteum cyst but probably not. I'll go back next month for another ultrasound to see if it has gone away or gotten smaller. If it hasn't then I'll have laproscopic surgery to remove it. He did mention that there is a chance that I could lose my left ovary but if it comes to surgery he would try to save it.

Not really what I was expecting to hear but if this is what has been causing all of our problems and it can be fixed then that's good. He also said no more Clomid for now. He'd like to see what my body does without any medication first, then see if I need to move on to Clomid or other drugs.

Some info I found:
What is an endometrioma?

An endometrioma is a mass of tissue (noncancerous cyst or tumor) that contains shreds of endometrial tissue. Endometriomas most frequently occur in the ovary, in a part of the peritoneum (sac around the internal organs) between the rectum and uterus, the wall (septum) between the rectum and vagina, and the outside of the uterus.

How are endometriomas treated?

Several surgical treatments are available for endometriomas:

Simple puncture - This procedure is completed by draining the fluid from the cyst. Endometriomas have been shown to recur in about 50 percent of the patients treated with simple puncture. However, a more aggressive surgical approach, such as cutting away the mass, can cause extensive adhesions (scar tissue) that may prevent the ovary from releasing an egg.
Ablation - Another approach is to drain the cyst and remove its base with laser or electrosurgery. However, heat can also damage the ovary.
Cutting away of the cyst wall - This is the procedure of choice to decrease recurrence of disease. This procedure can also damage the outer layer of the ovary that contains the eggs.
Draining, drug therapy, and surgery - Endometriomas can also be drained, treated with medication, and later removed by surgery. Endometriomas recur in 8 percent of the patients treated with this procedure. Results from several different prospective studies have reported pregnancy rates of 50 percent over 3 years. There are no randomized clinical trials comparing these different treatment methods.