Clomid...

I received the results from my HSG which came back normal. My remaining Fallopian tube and uterus were ready to start the journey to motherhood. My fertility specialist encouraged me to continue to eat healthy and lose weight as did my oncologist as this was a very vital aspect of my fertility. She also encouraged that I begin a prenatal vitamin. This was news to me because I thought you only took them once you conceived however this is now highly encouraged for women trying to conceive. 

So finally once the blood results were back and clearance from my oncologist was received I was given the green light to conceive. This process does require your mate to be involved to rule out any problems from both parties. We learned without being too graphic there were certainly no problems there. Once all of the results were in we started with a very noninvasive measure. In April of 2016 I took my first prescription pill to aid in this process of conception. My doctor informed me there are multiple prescription pills out there however she wanted to first start with Clomid which is typically the first course of action any fertility specialist take when you are in their care.  Clomid is the street name for this drug but it is actually called Clomifene. It is used to treat women who are trying to get pregnant and that are not ovulating properly. So in lamest terms in helps regulate your ovulation. It helps produce more hormones than normal that ultimately stimulate your ovaries to ovulate.

 Although this was not the case for me in this instance however many women who have PCOS or other inovulatory problems must take progesterone to bring down their cycle. It is not until your cycle comes that you begin taking Clomid. Depending on the fertility specialist and your own history is when they will decide which days of your cycle you will begin the Clomid. Some doctors advise that you take it cycle days 3-7 or 5-9. It has been said that days 3-7 produces more eggs and days 5-9 produces possibly less but more mature and quality eggs. My fertility specialist decided in my case we would try cycle days 5-9. On the next post I will discuss the side effects of Clomid, the dose (in mg) and the next steps of the process.

One Test After Another....

A few short weeks later I received the pathology report that confirmed I did not have uterine cancer and that the bleeding I was experiencing was just believed to be abnormal breakthrough bleeding. Before I left my appointment my oncologist advised me to speak with my OBGYN to discuss meeting with a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE) or most often referred to as a Fertility Specialist to discuss my family planning options. After I received the results from the pathology report I called my OBGYNs office that put me right in to her desk line. This is one of the great benefits I have with my doctors. If I call and they are free they transfer me right over to her or if I leave a message I know she will return my call in 24 hours or less. I spoke with her regarding my appointment, the unexplained bleeding and my final results. I further told her my oncologist thoughts on starting a family ASAP and she was onboard with his decision. She provided me the name and number of a RE that she said came highly recommended. I followed up with a call to their office and made an appointment for February 2016. This initial appointment was basically information gathering to learn my family history, my previous diagnosis, how many children I wanted and ultimately what my next steps were. I even learned at this appointment that the RE was trained by my Oncologist as with my OBGYN and Primary doctor. What were the odds?! At this point I was comfortable with her due to this fact although I was not comfortable with the 30 minute drive to her office and I soon found out there were weeks I would need to visit her office 4-5 times a week. No fun!

Things started off really slow with this doctor because they had to run various test on me to determine how healthy I was, the condition of my remaining ovary and fallopian tube. Outside of blood work one of the first tests they did was a hysterosalpingogram (HSG) which is an XRAY that looks inside of your uterus and fallopian tubes via a small tube that inserts dye into your vagina, uterus and ultimately flowing to your tube(s). The test is done to check if there are any abnormalities or injuries to your uterus and to verify if your fallopian tubes are open and nothing is causing a blockage. I was warned this test would be painful by my REs office and it was very close to the pain I felt during the Biopsy I had to test for uterine cancer. I left feeling like everything would be fine because ofcourse I read online of other women’s accounts who stated that it’s usually much more painful if there is a blockage. I had to wait on these results to determine from my RE what my next steps would be.