During my first appointment with my Oncologist, the subject of fertility was brought up. My head was already in a state of panic after being diagnosed with cancer... and now I had to make an immediate decision about freezing my eggs? Ugh. Fertility and IVF was a concept I had never thought deeply about and really had no idea what it entailed.
My chemotherapy has a significant chance of leaving me infertile, so the decision had to be made to undergo IVF before starting treatment. This was a huge decision... but when the choice had to be made the words "Yes, I need to do this." fell out of my mouth. I knew it was something I had to do in order to have peace of mind through my treatment and my life after cancer.
So, what did freezing my eggs consist of?
I walked into a very soothing, calm office and met with the fertility doctor to discuss the process, side effects, and success rates. Honestly, that conversation is a complete blur. The decision was already made in my mind so I was just focused on getting started. After speaking to the doctor, my fertility nurse started the paperwork and trained me on how to administer the necessary injections. For 10 days (+/- 2 days), I would be giving myself injections in my stomach that would force my ovaries to produce as many mature eggs as possible.
I started off with two injections at night. Every other day, I went in for bloodwork and and an ultrasound to monitor the progress. During the ultrasound, the nurse records the number of follicles and measures the size of each. The follicles that are growing have a good chance of having an egg inside. After 5 days of my nightly injections, some of my follicles had grown enough in size for me to start the third injection. This was done in the morning and kept me from ovulating in order to keep the larger follicles while the rest continued growing and caught up.
Let me pause to talk about injecting the medications... it sounds very scary and I was so nervous when the nurse first showed me what I would be doing. During my first injection I was extremely timid to stick myself with the needle. I reminded myself what I was doing it for. The future. This thought motivated me so much that it became easy. So, if you are scared to inject, remember you are doing this for an amazing reason. Also, the needles are very short and thin so you can barely feel it.
As my follicles grew, I started going in every day for blood work and an ultrasound. I could literally feel my ovaries inside my stomach. I have never been so excited to be so bloated!
They monitored my progress closely in order to perfectly time the egg retrieval procedure. As soon as the majority of my follicles were at the appropriate size to be home to a mature egg, I was told to give myself the "trigger" injection. This was timed exactly 36 hours prior to egg retrieval. I excitingly injected myself with the trigger and anxiously waited for my procedure time.
I showed up at 6 am and was immediately brought back to change into a hospital gown. I was put to sleep for the procedure and woke up with great news from the doctor. She was able to tell me how many total eggs they had retrieved. They only freeze the completely mature eggs so that final number came later in the day. I was sore for a couple days but nothing the prescribed medication and a heating pad couldn't control.
All the injections and sore stomach were completely worth the outcome of the procedure. I have peace knowing that if cancer takes my fertility I still have options. My eggs are safe and frozen for me should I need them. In a situation with very little control, it was rewarding to do this for myself. It is a bit of happiness and excitement in the midst of the cancer darkness.
Now... it's time to start kicking this cancer's ass.
Picture courtesy of: http://portfolios.artinstitutes.edu/gallery/73976161/IVF-Embryo-Watercolors
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