Pincushions

Wed Trina had her first u/s and blood work to see how she's responding to the meds. The u/s showed several follicles on both sides in the 7-8mm range. Later when the nurse called with the blood results they said her estrogen wasn't where they wanted it (not sure of the exact number) but that the dr was hesitant to up her meds. She has so many reserve follicles that he's worried too many would grow and we'd have to cancel this cycle. Instead, he recommended that she keep the same dose, but switch to IM instead of SQ. Trina did amazing with her first 3 injections and was really disappointed to hear that she had to change her routine. The mere thought of IM injections make her dizzy and panicky. She wasn't sure she'd be able to make herself put that needle into muscle, but she wasn't ready to give up control of the syringe either. When the time came, I gave her an icepack for her arm and she left it on until the skin was good and numb. With only a little hesitation, she was able to inject herself. Afterwards she was really lightheaded and a little nauseous, but the deed was done. Today, CD-8, she had her 2nd monitoring appointment. The u/s showed she had several small (less than 10mm) follicles on both sides and one 13mm front runner on the right. We were both really surprised to see only one follicle breaking from the pack, but we were assured us that anything can happen between now and triggering. Her estrogen was up to 138 so he said to continue with the IM injections at the same dose. We go for another check up on Monday. That makes 3 blood draws, 3 SQ injections and 3 IM injections so far this cycle...

Wed I had an arthrogram and an MRI. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect because I had never had either procedure. I did a little research and was not impressed by what I learned. They were going to lay me on a table, numb the area with lidocaine, guide a 4" needle into the joint capsule by means of live action xrays, inject 10-12cc's of contrast dye then slide me into an MRI tube for about 40mins. This did NOT sound like a good time. It wasn't. First of all, local anesthetics never work right on me. It takes an elephant dose to numb me up and it always wears off very quickly. Sure enough, the radiologist starts in with his "bee sting" speech. Why can't they be more honest about these things and say "It's going to feel like I'm ramming a dull hot sword through your leg and out the other side. Please don't scream as it upset the other patients, but feel free to weep quietly  to yourself". After the radiology tech had to go track down more lidocaine, I was somewhat numb. Even though he assured me I'd only feel "pressure" as the coffee straw sized needle went in, I prepared for the worst. I can't explain the sensations I felt. It was like painful cramping and pulling punctuated by sharp jabs each time he hit the bone. He was having a hard time "finding the right spot" so he would push in, hit the bone, back out a little and inject a bit of dye over and over. Finally he was "pretty sure" he had the right position but wanted a 2nd opinion since the dye wasn't dissipating the way he wanted it to. I lay there on that table with a huge needle stuck in my hip for what felt like hours as my anesthetic quickly faded away. The sensations were getting sharper and I was starting to get nauseous. My mouth was watering and I kept myself from vomiting by shear will as he came back with the other radiologist who said his position was fine. As he slowly injected the dye, the pain in my hip grew and grew. It felt like something was going to rip. Finally he was done and the needle was removed. Now all I had to do was walk the 50 yards to the MRI suite with a half numb, painfully distended hip capsule so the dye would move around in the joint. Swell..

I made it and they got me situated on the table and slid  me into position. I'm not overly claustrophobic, but I was glad I was out of the tube from my eyebrows up. It's a wonder what a few inches can do for you. Just being able to look up and see the room was comforting. Unfortunately about 20 minutes into the scan they pulled me back out of the tube, resituated me and slid me back in past the top of my head. My feet were taped together, an MRI coil kept me strapped to the table from mid chest to mid thigh and my arms were crossed over my upper chest. Both elbows pressed against the sides of that damn tube and my nose was only about 6 inches from the top. I had to remind myself that I could breathe. They had given me headphones, but half the time I couldn't hear the music over the thumps and AK-47 like bursts coming from the machine. Every time a series of clanging would stop, I'd think "oh good, it's almost over", but then it'd start back up. It seemed to go on and on. At last the machine was quiet and my table slid out of the tube. I waited patiently while a woman untaped my feet and unstrapped me from the "coil" I asked how long I'd been in there and she replied over an hour! She said they were having trouble getting clear images because I'm "so skinny". When I finally hobbled back out to the waiting room to see Trina, I had been gone for 2 1/2 hours. I have had more pain in my hip since that arthrogram than I've had in weeks. Monday I should get a call from the orthopedic office to schedule my surgery. Hopefully then I can finish healing and put this all behind me for good.