Well, I went in for the ultrasound on Tuesday. Those hours on the phone paid off and I was able to get in on my one day off. Right when I saw my ovaries on the ultrasound, I knew what was going on. No need for the radiologist to tell me. It was hard to visualize the right ovary, which is the one the clinician was concerned about, but the left one was covered in cysts plain as day. It looked like many of the PCOS ovaries I have seen online. Like a blackberry about to pop. I was very upset for the rest of the day, and I ended up telling my mom about my plans later that evening (this needs to be devoted to another post entirely). BTW, thanks to the great group of ladies on the SMC forum; your words of encouragement are honestly what got me through that day :).
I called the clinic and asked for the radiology report, which they told me could not be released to me, only the ordering clinician. WTF????!!!!??? They're my medical records! I think I can honestly say that I will never be going to that clinic again. With the trouble they gave me with scheduling and now this, I've had enough. I was only at that location because of their appointment availability in the first place.
So, I called the midwife I saw last Friday, and she said that that aside from the ovaries, the ultrasound was unremarkable, i.e., normal. The ovaries are covered in "several small follicles." She tried to steer me off the thinking-I-have-PCOS track, but with the absence of AF, I know that something along those lines is going on. I told her as much, and her response is to wait and see if the progesterone works to bring on a period in the next week or so. If not, she will run more tests then. I remember being told in the past that some of my hormone levels were, "borderline, but normal;" whatever that means. I'm trying to track down old medical records so I have as much info as possible for the RE that I now intend to see in Feb, when I will have insurance that will cover the consult and tests.
What frustrates me is that everyone keeps telling me to, "wait and see what happens." I keep hearing that, and I want to be investigating what is going on. Even though I keep telling the "professionals" that I am using donor sperm, and they claim to understand what I am going through, it seems like they are still treating me like a married/partnered woman who can try to conceive naturally. I can't wait and see when I am paying for the sperm! Diagnostics are very important to me at this point to reduce the chances of repeated failed IUIs, or even miscarriages.
At this point, I have modified my plan a bit. I took the last Provera tab today, so we'll see what happens there. Assuming I get my period, I will start the aforementioned "full-on charting" using multiple methods to really get a handle on when/if I am ovulating. I will probably make an OB/GYN appointment to have the necessary blood work done to confirm/rule out PCOS. That way I can have a few weeks of medication and monitoring by the time I get to the RE. I want to at least get the second opinion before moving forward in any direction. Assuming I don't need ultrasound monitoring, I will probably go back to the midwife for my IUIs because of the costs. I can still have the pre-natal care, birth, and post-partum care in an alternative environment like I wanted, but I think I need to be a bit more aggressive to help ensure my success in this process.
So, that's that for now. I'm going to go nibble on some carrot sticks and dream about brownies. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment