Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Breakneck Speed

Things are suddenly moving so fast we can barely keep up!

Our conference call with our nurse yesterday went a long way to ease our minds and answer all our questions. But just when I thought we could come up for air, we found out a few things that changed everything.

Things never stay easy for long!

Our doctor is scheduled to be in San Francisco for the 64th Annual American Society for Reproductive Medicine Conference from November 8-12, which was going to be the exact week that I was on my stimulation medication.

This obviously threw us into a panic for several reasons, but mostly, because we really feel we need our doctor (the one we are coming all this way for) to be looking our our case daily during stimulation medications, because this is the part of the protocol that can make it or break it. Not that we don't trust all the doctors at CCRM, we do. But we don't want to look back with any regrets or what ifs. We want Dr. Schoolcrafts eyes to monitor our doses based on our blood work and ultrasounds, and decide the exact day that we should trigger. Triggering too early could mean the eggs aren't mature, and triggering too late could mean they are over mature. So, based on this information -- and taking into account that we also want to get done prior to the Christmas office shut down --we needed to make some rash decisions and push our calendar up. And fast!

So here's our tentative plan:

TODAY -- I just ordered my suppression drugs for overnight shipping, to make sure they arrive by tomorrow.

TOMORROW -- Meet with Dr. Schoolcraft to discuss our results. And if everything is okay, and we are given the green light, I will start my injections that very night!

FRIDAY -- We will be faxed our updated/solid calendar and I will order the rest of my drugs ($5,000 worth) today. We will also pay for our IVF cycle (as they require the bulk of thier payment upfront) today. Another $15,000.

THE WEEKEND -- Over the weekend, we will need to book flights, research and book hotels, figure out what we are going to do with our four-legged baby, make a list of everything we will need to bring with us, and what we can buy in Denver, and basically try to get everything organized. I've already got a to-do list that is 2 pages long, and it's only 10am!

MEDICATION SCHEDULE: I will continue my suppression injections and drugs daily, until October 25th, at which point I will add my stimulation injections. I will then be monitored locally by my old clinic with blood work and ultra sounds for 5 days.

LEAVE FOR DENVER: At this point we anticipate flying To Denver on October 30th! Then we will be monitored by CCRM and have my medications checked daily by Dr. Schoolcraft, until the time he determines to trigger me.

TENTATIVE EGG RETRIEVAL: As of now, we anticipate that my egg retrieval surgury will be on November 5th.

EMBRYO TRANSFER: Our embryo transfer will be between November 8 - 10, at which point Lisa will be on bed rest for 48 hours before we can fly home.

So after our meeting with Dr. Schoolcraft tomorrow, this will all happen very fast! We're excited, scared, and overwhelmed -- with a to-do list a mile long.

Ready, set, go!

4 comments:

Nikki said...

Wow - you're really on the fast track here Lisa! I'm so glad you made that call to the nurse yesterday. Dr Sch had told us he would be coming to SF for the conference, but we didn't register the dates!

Who knows - maybe we'll be there for my surgery while you're there for your cycle!

Good luck with your cycle - fingers crossed that all falls into place and goes on smoothly! Can't wait for your updates!

Anonymous said...

This is great news! Your cycle is coming up fast and it's a relief that you won't have to wait much longer. Wow...to think that at this time next month you'll be in your (2ww) 2 week waiting period!! Awesome.

Linda said...

The price of it all is frightening. My first cycle there, we paid about $18,000, not including meds. This go around, the bill comes to about $20,000, again not including meds. It looks like our cycles will be coinciding with each other! My tentative ER is Nov. 3rd, but I've been known to stim longer. Perhaps we'd bump into each other!

DAVs said...

Hey I'm a fellow CCRMer. I just had my suppression check today and will be on the MDL protocol so I start microdose lupron this Saturday and stims on Monday. We're flying to Denver on October 25th. Our doc is Dr. Minjarez whom we ADORE. She's changed SO MANY things for this cycle (will be our fourth IVF).
We might see each other in their posh waiting room!
Good luck, hope it all works out!