Infertility Update Part 2

 November 20, 2017

6 Months have passed- 6 months of cancer treatments complete. James comes with me to the Oncologist to have the biopsy repeated. This biopsy will determine if my cells had retrained themselves to be Cancer free. While sitting in the exam room, James shares he is feeling optimistic about the results. I have a lump in my throat because I know what this test entails and am cautiously optimistic about any sort of test results after having been on this journey for the last 14 months.

The Oncologist comes in to talk about the last 6 months and to explain the biopsy procedure. She asks if James would like to stay? I quickly answered on his behalf- Yes- he would like to stay.

While I lay on the exam table, I looked up to James with tears in my eyes and to his nearly blue hand that I was squeezing. After some complications- 5 minutes later the procedure is complete, the Oncologist has left the room and both of us are trying to remain strong for one another. I can tell that James is upset and asked what was wrong. He shared " It's just hard to see your wife needing to have a procedure done that causes her extreme discomfort and there is nothing I could do to take the pain away. I didn't realize the tests were so painful on top of everything else"

November 27, 2017,

We got the phone call from Oncology that the Cancer cells are gone. James is over the moon about the news and wants to celebrate! I am in a twilight zone. While I was grateful that the Cancer was gone, I was anxious about the next steps with the Infertility Doctor's. I schedule a follow up appointment for Dec 4th.

Dec 1, 2017

While enjoying my coffee and checking work emails on a slow Friday morning. I received a cryptic meeting invite from my boss for 10 AM the same day. While on the conference call my Boss shares "I'm so sorry Chelsea-Due to extreme budget cuts, we are having to lay you off. Your last day will be December 22"

Dec 4, 2017

I walk into the Infertility Office for my follow up feeling beat up BUT as though the past is behind us. This is my new leaf appointment! The Infertility Doctor invites me over to the infamous table where important things are discussed. I started off with sharing that we would like to start with Clomid, the cheapest of the 3 options to get pregnant. The doctor looks at me, nods and then diverts the conversation to confirms that the cancer cells are gone but before we could continue on with our journey we would need to repeat all of the tests from the prior fall to see where each of my levels are before we can continue.

I felt like a week old party balloon in that moment. . . "Repeat all of the tests again?!?" I exclaimed. The Infertility Doctor explained that because of the 6 months of Cancer treatments + the 15 months that have passed since my testing- previous levels that were normal may no longer be. She continued by sharing IF the panel of test came back normal the Clomid option paired with my potentially blocked tube would put me at a high risk of a tubular pregnancy which would need to be terminated. To closely monitor the development of my eggs I would have to be monitored daily with blood tests to ensure the eggs were forming and dropping to the open tube. I asked "Would this be the case with IUI too?"- she said yes. The only way to avoid this would be with IVF (the most expensive and invasive of the options) because the egg is extracted prior to dropping into the tube and paired with the sperm in a lab. The embryos are then placed directly into your uterus avoiding the tubes entirely.

As I sat there and began to tear up- she reached across the table in an attempt to comfort me. She shared- lets start with the panel of tests and go from there. Did you have any additional questions she asked? "What are the odds of the Cancer coming back with the large volumes of hormones being put inside of my body" With a somber face she replied "Nobody knows for sure, but I would say 50/50"

The walk out of the hospital was long as I passed multiple expectant and new mothers. The drive home was even longer. I shared the news with James that night over dinner. We agreed to enjoy the holidays with family and friends and start the panel of tests in 2018 prior to our February follow up.