When we left off, I was waiting for a call back from the single person who scheduled and performs CT guided needle biopsies. I left my information on Monday and when he hadn't called me back by Thursday, I was started to get a bit annoyed. I then got a cryptic message from my doctor's assistant telling me that she had a message for me. I know there are strict regulations on how to deliver medical information but really, a message to say I have a message? I finally got through to them and was told that my doctor had changed her mind and I would be going for a PET scan instead of a biopsy. Another nuclear test yes, but at least this one didn't involve a huge needle so I wasn't about to complain.
I scheduled my PET for the next available appointment, January 22nd and prepared to wait. The chest pain was gone, and aside from the fatigue, pain when I yawn, and cold symptoms I felt much better - no more crippling pain in the middle of the night. It seemed like I was on the mend until I started having weird, fairly mild stomach aches. I powered through them and figured it was just my body being a pain in the ass until I started to notice some weirdly dark pee. It's a TMI subject but I usually pee clear, so it was a noticeable change when it started getting more and more yellow until this morning when I woke up to nearly orange pee. I also woke up itchy, like I have a bad case of winter skin, especially in my hands and feet. I emailed the doctor who has been most helpful thus far and she told me to take myself post haste to the lab to repeat my blood work. Ugh.
Still thinking it was probably winter skin and my stomach being weird, I finished up my plans for the day and dropped into the Kaiser lab around 5pm. It was pretty busy so I listened to my Harry Potter audiobook while I waited and after a 30 minute wait finally got called in to give blood. I can still only draw from one good vein and after all the IVF tests and lab work I've had done, I swear this vein is going to give up and refuse to give any more blood.
I finished up, headed home, and maybe an hour later my test results came back. They were not favorable. My liver tests were perfect on 12/28 when I first went in to urgent care with the horrible pain, but somehow in the past two weeks they've exploded.
AST: 19 on 12/28, now 249 on 1/13
ALT: 27 on 12/28, now 435 on 1/13
Bilirubin: 0.4, normal is less than 0.2
Alkaline Phosphatase: 50 on 12/28 now 275 on 1/13
Of course my white count panel, my kidneys and everything else came back perfect, so no signs of infection. It looks like the lab test results finally caught up to the visible swelling on my CT scan and my liver is angry. Since my labs were done after hours, I have to wait until tomorrow for the doctor to respond to my email and in the meantime, I'm still itching all over like a crazy person. I still think this is the Lupron but regardless of what it is, my body is not a happy camper.
Showing posts with label ivf meds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ivf meds. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Thursday, December 25, 2014
WTF Side Effects??
Fuck. I was so jazzed about not having to take more stimulating injections that I didn't even consider the possibility of side effects from this teensy amount of Lupron. What could I possibly get from 10 measly units? I didn't even look up if Lupron had side effects. 100% my bad.
The shot itself went off well. Teensy needle that barely hurt, the site was a tad sore but nothing awful. About 2-3 hours after taking my first dose, I started to feel off. First it was a head ache that kind of crept up out of nowhere. Then my back started to ache. Then my right knee. I couldn't figure out what was going on until I asked E to look up the side effects an hour later after I started getting light headed.
I should really have done my due-diligence. These are only a few of the "common" side effects:
I'm going to have to call or email the nurses if I continue to feel this shitty. Hopefully I'll get used to the medication and the side effects won't continue, I'm going to be useless if I feel this way for the next two weeks.
The shot itself went off well. Teensy needle that barely hurt, the site was a tad sore but nothing awful. About 2-3 hours after taking my first dose, I started to feel off. First it was a head ache that kind of crept up out of nowhere. Then my back started to ache. Then my right knee. I couldn't figure out what was going on until I asked E to look up the side effects an hour later after I started getting light headed.
I should really have done my due-diligence. These are only a few of the "common" side effects:
- acne, increased growth of facial hair;
- breakthrough bleeding in a female child during the first 2 months of leuprolide treatment;
- dizziness, weakness, tired feeling;
- hot flashes, night sweats, chills, clammy skin;
- nausea, diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain;
- skin redness, itching, or scaling;
- joint or muscle pain;
- vaginal itching or discharge;
- breast swelling or tenderness;
- testicle pain;
- impotence, loss of interest in sex;
- depression, sleep problems (insomnia), memory problems; or
- redness, burning, stinging, or pain where the shot was given.
I'm going to have to call or email the nurses if I continue to feel this shitty. Hopefully I'll get used to the medication and the side effects won't continue, I'm going to be useless if I feel this way for the next two weeks.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Disappointing Ovaries
Today we had another ultrasound and I'm trying really hard not to be super bummed. My right side, which is usually packed full of beautiful follicles, has basically pooped out in the most disappointing fashion. My left side is definitely more dominant this time and is picking up a bit of the slack, but not quite enough.
I was so bummed and distracted that I didn't take a legible photo of our sticky note to post. So, I decided to rewrite a more festive version to bring in some positive vibes. Last cycle we had 10 follies at this point and as you can see, we only have 6 this time and they're on the small and peaky side. My estrogen came in supporting their scrawniness at only 486 so we've still got a long way to go.
Since the follies are coming along so slowly, I'm going to need to stim for longer than I'd planned. I bought enough Menopur for 11.5 days, through Saturday morning, and the nurse suggested that I'd need enough to get through the weekend. That means three more 5 vial boxes of Menopur from the Kaiser pharmacy for a total of just shy of $900. I was short on Omnitrope as well, I only bought enough for 8 days instead of 12 with the increased dosage, so I picked up a third cartridge of that which Kaiser was wonderful enough to cover for the second time. Small victories, I'll take them where I can get them.
Last night was also day one of Cetrotide and I'd managed to forget in the past 5 weeks how badly this stuff itches. It only lasts about 2 hours but my skin turns red, swells up like crazy and I feel like I need to scratch my skin off. I also hate the pre-filled syringes it comes with, they never prime properly and always leave a nasty bruise. Instead, I prefer to inject the liquid into the powdered vial, switch it out for a regular 3ml syringe, use the included mixing needle, and use one of my own 27 1/2 gauge needles to inject. My 3ml locking syringes are always reliable, easy to prime, and the 27 1/2 needles almost never bruise like the too small 30 gauge or too long 27 3/4 needles. The smaller needles cut capillaries = bruise and the longer needles are the same thickness but go just deep enough to bruise too. Bleh.
I just finished injecting tonight's meds and I'm wishing, hoping, and praying that more follies pop up and that they all mature. I don't think the cycle is poor enough to cancel but I'm so worried we won't get enough mature ones to get our good embryos. Come on ovaries, you can go it. Grow follies, grow!
I was so bummed and distracted that I didn't take a legible photo of our sticky note to post. So, I decided to rewrite a more festive version to bring in some positive vibes. Last cycle we had 10 follies at this point and as you can see, we only have 6 this time and they're on the small and peaky side. My estrogen came in supporting their scrawniness at only 486 so we've still got a long way to go.
Since the follies are coming along so slowly, I'm going to need to stim for longer than I'd planned. I bought enough Menopur for 11.5 days, through Saturday morning, and the nurse suggested that I'd need enough to get through the weekend. That means three more 5 vial boxes of Menopur from the Kaiser pharmacy for a total of just shy of $900. I was short on Omnitrope as well, I only bought enough for 8 days instead of 12 with the increased dosage, so I picked up a third cartridge of that which Kaiser was wonderful enough to cover for the second time. Small victories, I'll take them where I can get them.
Last night was also day one of Cetrotide and I'd managed to forget in the past 5 weeks how badly this stuff itches. It only lasts about 2 hours but my skin turns red, swells up like crazy and I feel like I need to scratch my skin off. I also hate the pre-filled syringes it comes with, they never prime properly and always leave a nasty bruise. Instead, I prefer to inject the liquid into the powdered vial, switch it out for a regular 3ml syringe, use the included mixing needle, and use one of my own 27 1/2 gauge needles to inject. My 3ml locking syringes are always reliable, easy to prime, and the 27 1/2 needles almost never bruise like the too small 30 gauge or too long 27 3/4 needles. The smaller needles cut capillaries = bruise and the longer needles are the same thickness but go just deep enough to bruise too. Bleh.
I just finished injecting tonight's meds and I'm wishing, hoping, and praying that more follies pop up and that they all mature. I don't think the cycle is poor enough to cancel but I'm so worried we won't get enough mature ones to get our good embryos. Come on ovaries, you can go it. Grow follies, grow!
Monday, October 27, 2014
Less Than Awesome Ultrasound
So this mornings ultrasound appointment was less than ideal. At this point in our first IVF cycle, we had at least 8 follies 10-13mm and a 9th slightly smaller than 10mm. Today we had only 5 follicles in the 10-14mm range, 3 follicles a bit less than 10mm and 2 less than 5mm. My right side, which is usually my best producer, is basically crapping out at the moment and I'm super disappointed in it.
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| I was hoping for a bit better :( |
Every cycle is different so it's really tough to compare one to another but I can't help over analyzing everything I've done differently. For example, I suppressed for two days longer. I took Tylenol for cramps while on my birth control pills and tums for heart burn. I was late yesterday for my shot by 30 min. I'm taking the higher, correct dose of Omnitrope. I'm using Italian Menopur instead of UK Menopur.
Realistically, I think the difference is probably from the extra birth control but there's nothing I can do at this point. I just have to hope that a few more follies pop up and the ones we can see grow into beautiful, healthy, mature eggs. I'm going to be adding in my Cetrotide tomorrow since the follies weren't big enough today and my next appointment will be Wednesday. Fingers and toes crossed!
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Zonked Out
Today I am completely and totally zonked out. I think I felt okay for the first couple hours of the day but since then I've been exhausted. My head and eyes feel so heavy, I feel like I could sleep the whole day away and still be tired.
Although the medication dosages have been exactly the same, I'm definitely getting side effects earlier with this second cycle of IVF. With the first, it was probably a good week of stims before I felt any different than a slightly poked version of normal. This time, it only took about 2 days for me to start getting heartburn and bloating and now that we're on day 6, I'm so, so tired. An exhausted, half asleep lump who looks like they swallowed a fat, firm balloon.
I'm so thrown off that I was actually late for my shot this evening. Since starting the IVF process, I've been vigilant about keeping on top of my injections. My alarm goes off at 9am/pm, I immediately grab supplies and prep my shots, and they're done by 9:30am/pm. This evening, I managed to get everything wrong. I was so tired I could barely stay awake so I took Milou for a nice walk in the finally cool, fall air. I came back at 8:40pm, thinking about my shot with a solid 20 minutes to spare, and then got distracted by a phone call from E.
E was on his way home from work and was hungry. I checked the fridges and cabinets but we didn't have anything that could be easily prepared for dinner. I then had the wonderful idea to give my sister L a ride home from her restaurant and bring home Japanese food. Sounds good right? Delicious food, no prep, easy peasy! Except somewhere in there I'd completely forgotten about my shot. And then my evening shot event was somehow deleted from my calendar, which means no alarm. Whoops.
I was sitting outside L's restaurant, listening to my Harry Potter audio book for the 5 millionth time, when I looked down at my clock and saw 9:30pm. It took a few minutes to click
Although the medication dosages have been exactly the same, I'm definitely getting side effects earlier with this second cycle of IVF. With the first, it was probably a good week of stims before I felt any different than a slightly poked version of normal. This time, it only took about 2 days for me to start getting heartburn and bloating and now that we're on day 6, I'm so, so tired. An exhausted, half asleep lump who looks like they swallowed a fat, firm balloon.
I'm so thrown off that I was actually late for my shot this evening. Since starting the IVF process, I've been vigilant about keeping on top of my injections. My alarm goes off at 9am/pm, I immediately grab supplies and prep my shots, and they're done by 9:30am/pm. This evening, I managed to get everything wrong. I was so tired I could barely stay awake so I took Milou for a nice walk in the finally cool, fall air. I came back at 8:40pm, thinking about my shot with a solid 20 minutes to spare, and then got distracted by a phone call from E.
E was on his way home from work and was hungry. I checked the fridges and cabinets but we didn't have anything that could be easily prepared for dinner. I then had the wonderful idea to give my sister L a ride home from her restaurant and bring home Japanese food. Sounds good right? Delicious food, no prep, easy peasy! Except somewhere in there I'd completely forgotten about my shot. And then my evening shot event was somehow deleted from my calendar, which means no alarm. Whoops.
I was sitting outside L's restaurant, listening to my Harry Potter audio book for the 5 millionth time, when I looked down at my clock and saw 9:30pm. It took a few minutes to click
...huh, it's 9:32, hope she gets out soon, I'm hungry....9:37...huh...FUCK!
I freaked out a bit, called E who reminded me not to freak out, and then shortly thereafter my sister got off work. I zoomed home as fast as I could, skipped getting the delicious froyo I was planning to buy, prepped the shot and finally got it done by about 10:05, half an hour late. My beef was stone cold by the time I got to it and I'm still upset with myself and completely exhausted again.
How could I forget for even a second that nothing is normal when you're doing IVF -_- Everything runs on such a strict schedule and here I am acting like I can go do whatever I feel like. Blah. I'm going to go sleep now so I don't accidentally miss my morning shot and next appointment.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Lucky Break on Meds!
Unlike my last package of IVF meds, todays package came bright and early at about 10:30am! It had the remaining 43 vials of Menopur I'll need for this cycle, all well packed in bubble wrap. I even got an out for delivery notice from IVFMeds.com letting me know the package would be coming soon.
I emailed their customer service Tuesday night asking about Meropur vs Menopur and their rep called me Wednesday morning. Instead of emailing, he wanted to explain to me personally that they were in fact the same drug by the same company, Ferring. IVFMeds sources their Menopur from several different countries in Europe and as I thought, this batch happened to come from Italy. Thus far, I'm once again impressed with their quality and customer service.
With my Menopur safely in hand, it was time to move on to my Kaiser order! I called them on Tuesday as well to confirm that my prescription was ready for pick up and got the all clear. So I climb in the car, battle through traffic, find a lucky street parking spot, and stand in line. I get up to the counter to pick up my "ready to go" prescription and surprise! it's not ready. The tech tries to tell me that he doesn't have it at all, I insist he does, and he agrees to get everything together if I don't mind waiting.
So I wait. And wait. And wait some more.
He finally calls me up to the counter only to tell me sorry, he doesn't have my Omnitrope. Le sigh. Again, I insist that he does have it, remind him that I got confirmation that it came in, and he's still insisting that he doesn't have it when another tech walks by and says hey, isn't that in the fridge? Oy. So he finds the Omnitrope, huzzah!, tells me he needs to write it up and I need to wait some more. Okay, I'm good with more waiting. And waiting. For another 20 minutes.
This time I get called up to the counter by a different tech, they go through my prescriptions and surprise! they don't have my big mixing needles. She can't seem to figure them out, apparently 22 gauge needles in the same quantity as the other needles is a complicated request, and she eventually decides to just make a new script for them. So again, I wait.
About an hour after I get there, the pharmacy eventually gets everything correct and ready to go! A third tech started scanning all my items, rang me up, and asked for my card to swipe at the station over so I didn’t immediately see the price. When she handed me the bill to sign I just about died - it was only $30!!! Whaaaaat???
My last Omnitrope order ran me over $300. Whatever they did differently this time, my medication rang up as covered! I kind of froze because it seemed too good to be true, I didn't want to draw attention to the price in case it was a mistake and I didn't want to pay more so ahhhhh I just signed the bill, took my bag and hightailed it out of there! I don't know how it happened but it was so worth the wait and I am so grateful to whatever they did to get my meds covered. This process is running us a small fortune and every little bit helps!
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| MeRopur! |
With my Menopur safely in hand, it was time to move on to my Kaiser order! I called them on Tuesday as well to confirm that my prescription was ready for pick up and got the all clear. So I climb in the car, battle through traffic, find a lucky street parking spot, and stand in line. I get up to the counter to pick up my "ready to go" prescription and surprise! it's not ready. The tech tries to tell me that he doesn't have it at all, I insist he does, and he agrees to get everything together if I don't mind waiting.
So I wait. And wait. And wait some more.
He finally calls me up to the counter only to tell me sorry, he doesn't have my Omnitrope. Le sigh. Again, I insist that he does have it, remind him that I got confirmation that it came in, and he's still insisting that he doesn't have it when another tech walks by and says hey, isn't that in the fridge? Oy. So he finds the Omnitrope, huzzah!, tells me he needs to write it up and I need to wait some more. Okay, I'm good with more waiting. And waiting. For another 20 minutes.
This time I get called up to the counter by a different tech, they go through my prescriptions and surprise! they don't have my big mixing needles. She can't seem to figure them out, apparently 22 gauge needles in the same quantity as the other needles is a complicated request, and she eventually decides to just make a new script for them. So again, I wait.
About an hour after I get there, the pharmacy eventually gets everything correct and ready to go! A third tech started scanning all my items, rang me up, and asked for my card to swipe at the station over so I didn’t immediately see the price. When she handed me the bill to sign I just about died - it was only $30!!! Whaaaaat???
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| My $15 Omnitrope!! |
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| Cilly and Fuckie confirming via bodily inspection that I have removed all items from the bag |
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
IVF Meds Package!
Look what finally arrived! My first batch of meds for this cycle :) I would have had them yesterday but it was Columbus Day and I completely forgot that there was no mail. Since I have to sign for the package or they won't leave it, I worked my schedule so I could be home today. Then I waited.
And waited.
Annnnnd waited.
All Day!
My other two packages from IVFMeds came at 10am and 2pm. This package didn't come until FIVE! I could have done a million other things not the least of which would have been to pick up my Kaiser order which is still sitting and waiting for me at the pharmacy.
This batch of Menopur came in blue boxes labeled "MeRopur". The last batch came in pink boxes labeled "MeNopur", the left overs are in the bottom right corner of the photo. A quick google search told me that it's the exact same medicine, by the exact same company, but its from the lot distributed to Italy where they call it Meropur instead of Menopur. Apparently the word or pronunciation of "Menopur" in Italian translates to something like "Not Yet" which Ferring thought would have a negative connotation. I opened each box to inspect them and make sure none broke in transit and the actual vials themselves appear to be the same vials, with the same med pellet but with different labels.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
IVF Meds Take Two!
Now that the stim start date is inching closer and closer, I went ahead and placed my order for the next round of IVF! Since we had such good success with IVFMeds.com last time and the meds are SO MUCH CHEAPER, we went with them again. Even with the good amount left over from the extra we had to buy for last cycle I still had to order a tooooon of Menopur.
Last cycle I had some extra Menopur left over from my second IUI and even with that extra, I still used a few of the last minute Menopur order. If this cycle is anything like last time, they expect me to use 90+ vials and stim for at least 11 days so I'm ordering over 80 vials of Menopur. Since I was one short last time, I also ordered 5 Cetrotide injections and hopefully that will be enough.
After the second batch of meds took a bit longer than was ideal to get here last time, IVFMeds.com offered to credit me the difference in cost for the extra vials I didn't use. I was skeptical because come on, that's really excellent custom service, much more than I would expect from an online company based in another country. Instead of placing my order online, I rang up customer service and got the same wonderful rep that helped me last cycle. He remember me and my order snafu and in just a few minutes was placing my new order with a credit for the difference in the extra vials. I'm still kind of shocked! It was all quick and easy, I rang them up, rang the bank to authorize the transaction since it got flagged again, and my nurse emailed me the new scripts to upload only minutes later. After all the calling and price checking and back and forthing of last cycle, I never knew the process could be so smooth.
They're moving like ninjas this time and have already shipped out the first batch of my order, 40 Menopur and 5 Cetrotide. Like last time, I ordered so much Menopur that their pharmacy can't fill it all at once from in store stock so they're shipping it in two separate batches. This order went out on Friday so I'm not quite sure when to expect it. Priority Mail Express International does a lot of things regular Priority doesn't do, it's even delivered by a separate branch of USPS. If the package moves on Sunday, it should arrive in New York tomorrow and will probably be delivered by Monday. If it doesn't travel on Sunday, it'll hit the big apple on Monday and I'll get it Tuesday. I also have to call Kaiser to authorize them ordering my Omnitrope and needles/syringes. The order was called in on Friday but from past experience I know they won't actually order it until I ask for it.
It doesn't make a difference protocol wise if the Menopur arrives on Monday or Tuesday since I don't need it just yet, but since I have to be here to sign for it in person, I have to plan my schedule around the delivery. Kind of a pain but well worth the savings!
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| Thanks IVFMeds.com for saving me a ton! |
Last cycle I had some extra Menopur left over from my second IUI and even with that extra, I still used a few of the last minute Menopur order. If this cycle is anything like last time, they expect me to use 90+ vials and stim for at least 11 days so I'm ordering over 80 vials of Menopur. Since I was one short last time, I also ordered 5 Cetrotide injections and hopefully that will be enough.
After the second batch of meds took a bit longer than was ideal to get here last time, IVFMeds.com offered to credit me the difference in cost for the extra vials I didn't use. I was skeptical because come on, that's really excellent custom service, much more than I would expect from an online company based in another country. Instead of placing my order online, I rang up customer service and got the same wonderful rep that helped me last cycle. He remember me and my order snafu and in just a few minutes was placing my new order with a credit for the difference in the extra vials. I'm still kind of shocked! It was all quick and easy, I rang them up, rang the bank to authorize the transaction since it got flagged again, and my nurse emailed me the new scripts to upload only minutes later. After all the calling and price checking and back and forthing of last cycle, I never knew the process could be so smooth.
Impossible to beat these prices!
They're moving like ninjas this time and have already shipped out the first batch of my order, 40 Menopur and 5 Cetrotide. Like last time, I ordered so much Menopur that their pharmacy can't fill it all at once from in store stock so they're shipping it in two separate batches. This order went out on Friday so I'm not quite sure when to expect it. Priority Mail Express International does a lot of things regular Priority doesn't do, it's even delivered by a separate branch of USPS. If the package moves on Sunday, it should arrive in New York tomorrow and will probably be delivered by Monday. If it doesn't travel on Sunday, it'll hit the big apple on Monday and I'll get it Tuesday. I also have to call Kaiser to authorize them ordering my Omnitrope and needles/syringes. The order was called in on Friday but from past experience I know they won't actually order it until I ask for it.
It doesn't make a difference protocol wise if the Menopur arrives on Monday or Tuesday since I don't need it just yet, but since I have to be here to sign for it in person, I have to plan my schedule around the delivery. Kind of a pain but well worth the savings!
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