Monday 2nd - Eve Health

We went to see Dr Yazdani today at Eve Health. We were a few minutes late because getting dressed took a fair bit longer than we'd anticipated. Got there in the end though.

Had a chat to the Dr and asked some questions. I'll stay on the Synarel for the duration of the chemotherapy. At the moment I'm on it as a nose-spray, and then when the chemo starts, I'll be on it (or something very similar) through monthly injections. The Synarel puts me into menopause; it basically shuts everything down and stops me from producing hormones. I asked about my breasts, and yes, the Synarel makes them smaller because I'm effectively in menopause. I thought the right one was looking a bit shrunken up! At the moment they are quite similar in size, but that's because the left one still has a bit of swelling and the right is menopausal. I haven't started hot flushes yet, but that might be something to look forward to.

Why do I stay on the Synarel after the egg pick up and throughout chemo? Apparently if we can 'shut my system down' using the drugs and prior to chemo, studies show that there is a better chance of my (fertility) system working again after the chemo. If we let chemo 'shut it down', then the chances of it working again are lower. Interesting, don't you think? It's still in the 'studies' stage, but as far as I'm concerned, a chance at it is better than not.

From Thursday (5th), I'll start injecting myself with the FSH, follicle stimulating hormone. This makes more than one of my follicles stimulated into producing eggs. Normally, only one (or in the case or non-idenitcal twins, two) follicle produces one egg per cycle. But we're going to stimulate all my follicles to produce around 10 eggs. Luckily, my follicles seem to be in working order in each ovary.

Because they're giving me lots of hormones to stimulate the ovaries, they'll also give me a tablet which will suppress those hormones at the same time (don't ask me how that works!). So because I had breast cancer, that can react to hormones. We don't want the breast cancer coming back, so we are going to suppress those hormones, but at the same time they will stimulate my follicles to produce eggs. It's a bit confusing but I trust them!

Had a bit of a laugh in the doctor's rooms. Laughs are a bit few and far between at the moment, so any one is a good one. I had to have an internal scan to have a look at my uterus and ovaries (check out those follicles). I put the device in and the doctor guides it around with a long handle. It's all pretty amazing. Anyway, even I could see that the screen looked quite blank. And I could sort of feel something rubbing on the end of the scanner. I was going to ask the doctor about that, when he asked if my bladder was empty. I'd had a glass of water earlier, so he asked me to please empty my bladder. It was then that I realised that the scanner device wasn't the only thing up there! I still had a tampon in! How embarrassing. I laughed so much and apologised, and then was in such a hurry to go to the bathroom to remove it that I almost forgot my drain bag. When I was ready again, everything looked much clearer on the screen. I'm sure it's not the first time it's happened, but still!

So it's all go for the egg pick up to happen on the 18th of March. I'm over anaesthetics now. It will be done through my vaginal wall into my ovaries using an ultrasound scanner and a needle to collect the eggs. It might be a bit wore afterwards, but there you go.

Had a little discussion on the way out with the receptionist about payment. They were going to charge the full $135, but I insisted that we were only 'private' patients out of convenience for the doctor, but we were still 'public' and on a scheme for oncology patients (I think they must say 'oncology' instead of 'cancer' because it sounds nicer). I think that because they're a new clinic, they haven't got everything set up on system yet and possibly we're one of the first couples to go through it on this system. After some checking, we paid a lesser amount and will get back more from medicare.

After all we've been through, I don't want to be stung full price for this part. I'd be into paying more if this was the only thing we're going through, but with loss of one income for an indefinite period, it's not that easy. It was all sorted out in the end though. We just have to double-check with QFG (Queensland Fertility Group) to see if their fees are also waived. We'd been told yes, but it might be worthwile checking again. Eve Health are great in that you never leave without having a second appointment made. Ours is next Wednesday at 1.15pm for a scan to see how stimulated those follicles are.