I'll give everyone a little background on the road so far. When I was 14, my appendix burst and it was burst for 5 days before we knew it. I had to have a few surgeries, spent 10 days in the hospital and got to miss a whole bunch of school. All for a useless part of my anatomy. For those that don't know, when you appendix bursts, it leaks poison into your body continuously, which is one of the reasons it is so deadly. The surgeon said it was one of the worst infections he had ever seen. I recovered fully from this without any residual problems...or so we thought.
Fast forward to the near present. While living in Carson City, my OBGYN, Dr. Tomita, diagnosed me with Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). The name of the condition comes from the appearance of the ovaries in most women with the disorder — enlarged and containing numerous small cysts located along the outer edge of each ovary (polycystic appearance). The main symptoms of PCOS include infrequent menstrual periods, excess hair growth, acne and obesity. Thank you Mayo Clinic for the accurate description*. Another condition that normally goes hand-in-hand with PCOS is insulin resistance. This is not diabetes, but rather your insulin/glucose ratio is off kilter. Since insulin is a hormone, it is affected by PCOS. Basically, I don't ovulate like normal women. If there isn't a little egg to fertilize, there is no baby. The only time this is a problem, is when you are trying to get pregnant.
There is your medical school training for the day.
We did all the normal 'easy' treatments for PCOS. It cannot be cured, but you can manage the side-effects enough to go around it. I went on Metformin, which is a diabetic medication, but is used for the insulin resistance. I went on Clomid for 7 months, which forces ovulation. We did a hysterosalpingogram, which basically looks at the tubes and the uterus. Nothing worked. I was referred to Dr. Faulk, a "reproductive endocrinologist", otherwise known as a fertility specialist. However, we moved to Idaho in early 2008, so I wasn't able to see him. When we got to Idaho, I established care with Dr. Rice. Dr. Rice performed an intra-uterine insemination (IUI) procedure in May 2008. This is fondly known as the "turkey baster". I won't go into the specifics, but all the conditions were perfect. It failed. She decided to refer me to Dr. Slater. Dr. Slater, it turns out, is Dr. Faulk's partner! What a small world. We had our consult with Dr. Slater and she noted the appendix issue in my chart. She thought we should try a couple more IUI's with some more aggressive medications. Medication, shots, ultrasounds, more shots and the procedure within 2 week time. Then wait 2 weeks for the results. Then start all over again. We did two more procedures that summer, and both failed.
In August of 2008, my dear Nonni passed away, which was incredibly hard for me. At that point, K and I decided to take a break from living life in 2-week increments. It was emotionally breaking and financially not very feasible any longer. While we didn't realize that our break would be this long, here we are.
Read on for the current fun!
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