Monday, June 15, 2009

The New Plan

No news is good news...right? Not this time... Sorry for the late notice but we haven't had a computer working for the last week so I haven't had time to update. Thursday afternoon clinic called and told me to stop all medication and that Dr. Kopher was canceling the rest of the cycle. Besides the fact that I was devastated, I was thinking now what. Now what do we do? What is the next step? If this isn't working do we have to do Invitro? The nurse who called told me that Dr. Kopher wanted to talk to me in clinic the following day. She left me at that and didn't tell me what he wanted to talk about. Was it good or bad? I immediately called the clinic back to talk to someone but none of them could really answer my questions. The nurse I usually talked to wasn't there that day. Since I was so upset, Eli didn't go to work Friday and went to clinic with me.
Dr. Kopher talked to us about why he cancelled the cycle. Apparently when I missed that dose my estradiol levels kept decreasing. They wanted the levels to come down one day but the next it was supposed to come back up and it didn't. He said they weren't good follicles anyways because if they were my levels would keep increasing. He also cancelled because I had over 13 active follicles and we would have had a worse case of Hyperstimulation this time. He said my ovaries are very sensitive and have become sensitive to this medication. So now where do we go from here?
We went over our options with him. We could try the injections again but adding a new medication called Lupron. Lupron would be an additional injection each day with the Follistim. Lupron is a man-made form of a hormone that regulates many processes in the body. Lupron overstimulates the body's own production of certain hormones, which causes that production to shut down temporarily. It reduces the amount of testosterone in men or estrogen in women. He is hoping that this will help with the overstimulation.
Another option is try a surgery called ovarian drilling. Its a laproscopic surgery with a laser that drills holes in the ovaries to drain some of the multiple follicles that I have. However, it is still an experimental surgery and can cause scar tissue on the ovaries causing more problems with infertility. I told Dr. Kopher this wasn't an option for me. I do not want anything else hindering our chances.
Another option would be to go on a drug called Metformin and see if I get me cycles back on my own. We could also try Clomid again with this medication.
He also brought up Invitro. He said he wasn't saying that we needed to do it or that I wouldn't be able to get pregnant any other way, but he just brought it up. I asked him if we did invitro would I get pregnant. He didn't hesitate or anything and said Yes, you would have no problem.
After discussing with Eli we have decided to do the injections again with the new drug Lupron. If this doesn't work we are leaning towards Invitro. Not because I am convinced I need to but because I want to. I am tired and emotionally drained and just want this over with. We start the next cycle before July fourth weekend. I will update more as I find out more.
Thanks for all of your encouraging words, thoughts and prayers.

Love, Kristen & Eli

4 comments:

Mindy said...

So sorry to hear of another loss for you. I am on Metformin right now and it is no walk in the park, but I guess comparatively to other meds. you've been dealing with it might not be bad. Brian and I are going to start looking at fertility specialists this Fall. Hey...have you heard of the Attain IVF program? One of the centers I was looking at contracts with this company to provide one flat fee for up to 6 cycles and if you don't get pregnant then you get most of that money back. Since it's an outside company that does it, it might be an option...here's a link: http://www.ivfminnesota.com/attain-ivf-program.html

Best of wishes with your new plan, and keep us updated

Torri Washington said...

Kristin and Eli,
I just wanted to say that I am really sorry to hear the news. Please know that I am thinking of you guys and saying a prayer for you. I work casual at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Mpls and they are the ones who do the Attain IVF program. Let me know if you have any questions.

Torri Washington

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