Monday, March 2, 2009

stim check, day 3.5

we had our 2nd appt for an u/s and blood work yesterday. according to the ultrasound tech my uterus looked fine, i had 3 follicles <10 on my right ovary and 5 follicles <10mm on lefty. i would have been annoyed with the small number of follicles and my underachieving ovaries, but the tech said they don't get hung up on the number of follicles at this appt, it's more to make sure that i am responding and that my E2 level is ok. my E2 level was a shitty 47, up from 15 before starting stims. this level isn't great, as a matter of fact, it's borderline worthless.

so, next appt is scheduled for friday, which will be day 8 of stims. i just called the IVF nurse back today b/c i am still freaking out about the low E2 level and she said they will decide if this cycle will be cancelled on friday or if we need to adjust meds. i asked yesterday after the call about the E2 level and again today if they wanted to change my meds now and the answer both times was a big fat 'no and please stop bothering me, you crazy IVF girl, i've got people with a real chance at success to deal with here.'

i also tried to get some info about acupuncture since my RE's office has a in-house acupuncturist. the useless receptionist was no help and i feel dumber after talking to her. she also eluded that i an extremely irresponsible IVF patient b/c i should have been doing acupuncture this whole time. duh. here's a fun sample of what i dealt with for 8 minutes before i had to hang up and bang my head on the table.

question 1: when should i get my first acupuncture treatment?
shitty useless answer: you should have already had it. many people come here for months before they start IVF.

question 2: what is the recommended # of times to have acupuncture when undergoing IVF?
shitty useless answer: it really depends on what your problem is. that will be discussed at your first appt.

question 3: how exactly does acupuncture help, other than increase bloodflow and decrease stress?
shitty useless answer: it really depends on what your problem is. that will be discussed at your first appt.

question 4: will i be able to schedule an appt when i find out when my ET will be since it's kinda last minute?
shitty useless answer: it really depends on what your problem is. that will be discussed at your first appt. we'll try to fit you in.

so, super. all i know after that conversation is that the lady answering the phones is a useless bitch, each session is $100, i am already a bad mother according to her. she would probably blame my shitty E2 on my lack of acupuncture from age 5 up til now. i gave up on having acupuncture at that place other than the day of ET if we make it that far. i will have an acupuncture treatment right before the ET and then again right after. in the meantime i will be having acupuncture by a far nicer lady that is closer to my house anyway. first appt is today.

as far as any side effects i am having - the lupron has made me excruciatingly tired from the beginning and continues to do so. i also have a weird constant headache that never really goes away, but gets better/worse intermittently. the gonal f causes more hot flashes than i had w/ the lupron and slight irritability. my skin is wicked dry, and i'm not sure who the culprit is on that one. i also seem to have some laxative effects from the gonal-f which i don't recall from taking it before. but, i see it as win/win. i'm getting some (hopefully) good follicles and possibly losing some weight. bring it.

tiffanie 1, IVF 1 (shitty E2)

4 comments:

Megan said...

I hope your levels pick up. I'm sorry you had to deal with clueless receptionist lady. I hope your week turns around.

Dagny said...

Ok, First, common E2's, common!!!!! Rise and rise and rise.

Hopefully that helped. ;)

As for acupuncture, omg, I would have hung up long before you did. I did acu for a few months leading up to my last cycle, and while I had a different response, I was also on different stims that time also, so who knows what made things improve...not that it improved to the point where I got pg...of course I did not..heh. But at least I made it to transfer. Again, I don't know if it was the new protocol (which is more than likely the case) or the acu, or both. I am sure IF I had gotten pg I would be telling everyone to get it done...but I didn't. So I won't. And with all the money this costs, I am not sure I'll return if I cycle again.

xoxoxoxo

JenM said...

I was never even told my E2 levels, so I am no help. I'm sorry you had to deal with a bitchy receptionist. I would have highly recommended my acupuncturist if I knew you were looking - she's wonderful, and has a very nice receptionist. :-)

I hope that you get good news on Friday!

To A T said...

What a terrible receptionist! Ugh!!
I hope your levels go up and up and up!! Let us know how Friday goes!