SHG - HSG - HCG - WTF?

Well my dear friends in blogosphere (is that how you spell that) I have another round of testing which technically I will consider preparing for IVF.  I was able to schedule a few through my clinic near home, but when it came to asking about the SHG (Sonohysterogram - filling your uterus full of saline and doing ultrasound) I got flashbacks of when I had to call about a year ago at this time to schedule my first HSG (Hysterosalpingogram).

Julie of 2011 - Hi I need to schedule an HSG*.
Nurse - A what?
Me - H-S-G
Nurse - Oh Honey, you mean a HCG**
Me - NO - H- SSSSS - G
Nurse - Are you sure its not a HCG?
Me - Okay how can I explain this...I'm NOT Pregnant
Nurse - Oh, who is your doctor?
Me - Ughhh...Dr. Chuppa
Nurse - Okay let me put you on hold.

*x-ray of your uterus using a dye to check to see if your fallopian tubes are open
**Pregnancy blood test

You can only imagine how I felt having to call and ask about an SHG this time around.  However it was much more simple this time.

Julie of 2012 - Hi I need to schedule a SHG.
Nurse - We don't do those.
Me - Crap.

So they are able to do the simple STD testing (Dec 13th), but I have to go to my RE tomorrow to do the SHG (which was another whole ordeal).  The main thing I wanted to make sure of was that I got everything taken care of in December to have my insurance cover whatever possible since my deductible is obviously met for the year AND I am changing insurance coverage in 2013 (Still no actual IF treatment coverage though).  (Right now my insurance covers infertility diagnosis/testing, but not actual treatment.)  So I called the RE to make sure my insurance was going to cover the SHG and I was told NO.  She told me since I have a diagnosis (I do???) my insurance no longer covers it.  I said oh really...what is my diagnosis?  She looked at my charts and says...Oh...ummm infertility.  Okay so my infertility diagnosis is infertility??? WTF!  I didn't let it go.  I went on to explain how since I had treatments (IUI's) and afterwards insurance covered my laparoscopy.  So after a few more back and forths she said, let me try again.  She called back and turned an almost $900 procedure into a $35 co-pay.  Oh sweet success at last!

In other news we put up our Christmas tree and got a few new decorations in the meantime!

I was having a difficult time getting in the Christmas spirit but I think this will help!  Hope you are all doing well and having an okay time gearing up for the Holidays!

Julie

What a Great Weekend...Now back to Reality!

My Weekend in Pictures

Thursday night we made a fabulous taco dinner complete with Jarritos to drink!

Off to watch the heated Packers vs. Bears game in our own private lounge.

My first pair of Toms!!! Bought at Shoo in Madison on State Street.

A quick group photo by the Mendota Lakefront Terrace.

Nothing says Wisconsin like a big campfire complete with beer, brats and smores!

Off on Saturday to the New Glarus Brewery for a tour and sampling...yummy!

The tour was self guided...

Here is out front of the brewery.  Notice all our fun colored pants! :)

Our farewell dinner and a few games of Rummy, followed by a movie at home.

If you didn't read my previous entry I had a few visitors this weekend, and if you couldn't tell by the pictures we had a fabulous time.  We jam packed the entire weekend with "Wisconsin" filled activities and had a nice relaxing Saturday night.  It was just what I needed leading up to this hectic week.  As I have mentioned before, tomorrow I have my laparoscopy surgery which is basically checking for endometriosis.  If it is found the doctor will also try to remove it right away.  I'm extremely anxious about it.  After tomorrow we could potentially no longer be UNEXPLAINED.  After today I have the rest of the week off to recover.  Wish me luck!

Julie

Preparing for Next Weeks Laparoscopy...Eeks! ...and more test results!

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to give you a quick IF update...brought to you in part by my "obnoxious" seemingly perfect thus far uterus.  I went in for my pre-op appointment not quite sure what to expect.  She did a routine physical and after feeling my neck (thyroid) area mentioned it seemed enlarged.  She checked my charts and said it had been awhile since I had my TSH and Prolactin levels checked (probably since May 2011 when I first started seeing the OB for IF).  So I didn't make it through an appointment without drawing blood, BUT this was the first appointment in awhile I got to keep my undies on...(he he!)  Its the small things I tell you!

Anyways, in addition to that I had to wait a day for my results (no worries I will tell you what they are if you keep reading, but you will love the suspense), and I found out I have to do a gallon (which I will refer to as the gallon challenge) of Golytely, you know the gallon of stuff you have to drink before you get a colonoscopy and spend a delightful evening within a step of the toilet.

Source WebMD

She said this is a precaution in case I have any scar tissue on my intestines/digestive organs so they can take care of it right away and not have to close me up and go through this again.  They will also do another HSG - to double check my tubes only I will be knocked out this time.  Thank goodness because this was a fairly painful thing the first time around.  It could be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks for recovery.





I got the results of my TSH and Prolactin today:

TSH: 1.588 mlU/ml
Prolactin 15.9 ng/ml

These both fall under perfectly healthy normal levels...takes a bow.  Did I ever mention I hate you UNEXPLAINED INFERTILITY!!!  Now don't get me wrong, I am extremely happy for my overall health, but after almost 3 years I am ready for some answers.  Hopefully this surgery will give me the answers I need to move forward.

Okay back to the positive side of things...I  have 3 very special visitors coming to see me this week and we have a ton of fun things planned.  I'm ready to show them a "Wisconsin Good Time"!

Julie

Feeling A Little Anxiety About Upcoming Procedure

Okay so I knew that this was coming...this "anxiety" about my upcoming laparoscopy on September 19th.   For whatever reason it hit me this Sunday as I was having a great time with my friends at a water park in Wisconsin Dells.  I looked down at my stomach and thought.."oh..next summer there will be a scar there."  Then I began to think about the specifics, being put under, the incision into my mid-section, the scope going in.  What if they go in and don't find anything!??  What will I do?  Why oh why did I have to start thinking about this already!?  This is how my mind works.

Lately, I have had a few people - (my therapist, my boss and my husband) say that I need to focus on the here and now, the day to day.  I need to give the BIG PICTURE a break and look at what I am doing now, but I am not programmed that way.   I like to think 5 steps ahead of where I am at and for our specific circumstance which I have no control of (infertility) I am not able to think that way.   I guess the only thing I can do is try to create some short term goals each month (anyone read the "Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin? similar idea to what she does).  

So...starting in September I am hoping to do just that, "Goals for September".  I will create 5 specific attainable goals for myself and share them with you here on my blog.  At the start of the new month I will go back and give you my progress report and my new goals for the following month.  I am going to keep them in a little notebook/journal that I will keep with me in my purse and when I start getting anxious about the future, I can refer to my 5 goals.  My 5 things that I will be able to control.  See you in September!

Julie

Picking Myself Up Again

It has been a pretty difficult week, (month, year???) and it is time once again for me to pick myself up, stop being sad and lazy all the time and start eating right.  My surgery is scheduled for September 19th for my laparoscopy (exactly 30 days from yesterday) and I want to be as healthy as possible so I can heal as quickly as possible.  At least that is my own personal thought.

With some encouragement from my sister-in-law telling me about her own fitness goals I decided I needed to get myself going to.  I am going to try a little different approach from my usual gym, run, gym routine and try two things.

1. www.myfitnesspal.com - track food/calories and exercise (want to be my friend? gossja23)
2. 30 Day Shred - by Jillian Michaels (Biggest Loser Trainer) workout DVD

I've heard of a lot of people using this DVD to get a kick start on getting fit and losing some weight.  I don't plan on losing 20 pounds (I think that might be a gimmick) but just to shake things up a little bit from my normal workouts.  Wish me luck!  I took a before picture (very unpleasant) and if I do see any results I will post a before and after when I am done.

Julie

Staying Positive When I Feel Negative

There is nothing worse than feeling "negative Nancy" when there are so many wonderful things going on.  However, sometimes you can't help how you feel. This darn IF crap has me questioning everything about my life and it is making me miserable.  Therefore this post is going to be a positive post about a few happy moments from the weekend to remind me of the good things I do have.

As I had mentioned we had our annual up north gathering this weekend "Suhrfest" and as the cliche goes, "It was the best Suhrfest ever."  (Every year is the best Suhrfest ever.)  In addition to spending time with friends and family I finally got to spend some QT with the Mr.

I was able to perform my first "live" concert to the audience of family and friends along with my cousin who is a very skilled guitar player and made everything sound amazing!  We played "Margaritaville" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance".  How cool do we look!  We even had a spotlight that we had been using to light up our bean bag boards!

Not only did my friend Laci and I get to enjoy some delicious ice cream, we got to see two gigantic fields of beautiful sunflowers!  Here is an instagram photo of it!

My spastic puppy (she will be 2 years old in a couple weeks) finally tired out after running around outside, swimming and playing with the other dogs.  I didn't think there was ever an end to her energy.

Last but not least, we are going to be going to the Packer Pre-Season game this Thursday!  I have been to Lambeau Field, but never been to a game.  I'm sooooooooooo excited!  We also have a friend's wedding this weekend that should be a lot of fun.

So anyways, I think all this waiting around for surgery (laparoscopy) and the continued (constant) stress of IF has the blues kicking in right now.  There is plenty for me to be happy about, but I just needed to remind myself of that!

Julie

Seeking Professional Help

Hello All!

I hope you had a good weekend.  Today's topic is about, you guessed it, "Seeking Professional Help".  What are your feelings on that?  I decided it was finally time.  I've never been to any kind of professional therapy or counseling so I really didn't know what to expect.  I made the decision to go because I am hoping to continue to find healthy ways to cope with infertility. 

I had a referral from my RE to an IF specific psychologist and I'm glad I picked someone who knows about IF (even if I have to drive a little bit extra).  In fact, she has dealt with it herself and came out on the other side.  What was great was that not only did she understand the emotional side of it, she is very familiar with the terminology, testing and treatments.  I couldn't imagine going to see someone who would need everything explained to them about what is an IUI or FSH.  In fact, she asked to make sure I had all the testing done that I should have.  Anyways, I'm interested to see how that goes and hopefully it will help.

Dealing with IF anxiety is a little bit different then dealing with regular anxiety and stress.  You can't always avoid the things that are making you stressed or anxious if you want to continue to try and have children.   Anyways, I will keep you posted on how this goes!  We are currently still in limbo waiting for the laparoscopy procedure at the end of August and will not be doing any treatment until that time other than au natural!

On a side note, I wanted to thank those of you who have reached out to me over the past few weeks.  I have received a lot of support from some unexpected places.  It means a lot to me to hear from you.  It never occurred to me when I started writing this blog that so many people would take the time to sit down and read about my life.  I find it amazing that this month alone I have had over 1,000 page views.  You guys are incredible.  Thank you again for all the prayers that have been sent up to heaven.  I know God is listening and he will answer in His time, but every little bit helps!

Julie

Next Up: More Testing

Hi Everyone,

I'm still kind of pulling myself out of the dark hole I have been in the past few days, but I am definitely getting there.  It doesn't hurt that this weekend I will be taking a nice little road trip to see my FAVORITE country singer Jason Aldean.  Just saying his name... "Jason Aldean" cheers me up!  (Don't worry my husband is well aware of how much I love JA!)

Anyways, back to my post I spoke (messaged I guess) with my RE yesterday about our options moving forward.  She said we could continue and do another IUI or that there is more testing that we could do including testing my ovarian reserve and testing for endometriosis.  How you ask?  Well the ovarian reserve test would be a simple blood test to basically tell how many eggs I have left in case I am at risk for early menopause.  In that case I would assume they would push along IVF a little bit faster.  The testing for endometriosis is actually a surgery called laparoscopy that you can read more about here.  For the squeamish the surgery isn't horrible, but definitely doesn't sound like fun.  I have some, but not all of the symptoms of "endo" since my early teens I have always had painful periods.  I truly believe this should be our next step instead of another fingers crossed IUI (even though the past two haven't worked and we don't know why). 

At this point I would just love to get some answers, does that mean I am hoping I have endometriosis?  Gosh I don't know the answer to that!  If it means that we can finally have an answer and can fix it with surgery and have our baby (and live happily ever after ...LOL!), then I guess the answer is YES.  The surgery is set up at this point for August 29th.

Julie

PS.  Thank you so much for all the comments and support after my last post!  It means a lot to me!