Relaxation and Stimulation


After making it through the past two weeks of appointments, procedures, surgeries, and decisions, on top of working, I was exhausted: physically, mentally, and emotionally. Although I knew I made the right decisions and had been very rational throughout the process, by the end of last week, I was searching for affirmation and also struggling to feel like myself. Normally when I am faced with a decision, I gather all information/data, research the course of action/solutions, consider contributing/influencing factors, and understand and consider my thoughts/feelings and those of family/friends. After going through those steps, I am normally confident and able to proceed toward achieving the goal/solution, but at the end of last week, I was not find my normal  “I’ve got this. Let’s do it!” attitude.

The advice that I’ve continually been told recently and that seems ubiquitous in coping with cancer is that I should surround myself with those that add value to my life and bring me happiness, put all negative things and people aside, and focus on maintaining my health and get plenty of rest. Over the weekend, that was exactly what I was able to do. We had our friends Bryan, Christina, and their daughter Harper in town. We had a weekend filled with good meals and conversations and tons of playtime with Harper (including a couple of hours bouncing at the trampoline park, which was legitimately the most fun I can remember having in a very long time). This was exactly what I needed to clear my mind and get back to feeling like myself. I also have continued to be completely humbled by the outpouring of love and support and encouragement I have received in countless ways from family and friends across the country and world. The best part of it is that I’m being constantly reminded that not only do I have my own strength and determination to beat this, but I have the strength of everyone walking with me through it, which further builds my thought that the only option is that I will successfully beat cancer in the next couple of months, which will be followed by the remission phase and then finally to being cured. I will never be able to fully convey the depths of my appreciation for everyone’s support.

During my weekend of relaxation and happiness, I started the stimulation phase of the IVF process on Saturday. This requires that I give myself an injection at the same time each night leading up to egg retrieval. The first drugs I am injecting are Bravelle and Menopur, which contain follicle stimulating hormones and luteinizing hormone. These are used to stimulate the ovaries to produce eggs. Dr. Fritz determined the initial amounts of Bravelle (150mg) and Menopur (75mg) using my baseline estrogen level, which was 49 and was described as a “nice, low estrogen level”. The goal is that over the next 8-12 days, the drugs will cause my ovaries to produce a large number of eggs, ideally 10-15 that will be retrieved, fertilized, and the viable embryos frozen.

The process of preparing the injection is easy. The drugs come in powder form in little vials, which are mixed with sodium chloride using a syringe and a little attachment called a Q-Cap, which is a plastic attachment that attaches to the top of the syringe and makes mixing the drugs with the sodium chloride easier than using a needle to do so. The tricky part is actually injecting myself, which seems entirely unnatural to me. At first, I didn’t think that I could inject myself, because something about jabbing a needle into my skin seems like I’d have to be completely nuts to do that. I’m not a fan of needles to begin with, even when a professional is injecting me. The injections have to go either in my stomach below my belly button or in the back of my arms. Wendy, one of our nurses at UNC Fertility, taught Jason and I how to prepare the injections and to actually inject me, and suggested that many people find it easier to have someone else do the injections in the back of the arms, because you can’t see it coming and tense up or pull away. For the first two nights of injections, Jason did them in the back of my arm, which was terribly unpleasant for both of us. Jason hated having to inject me knowing it hurts me (and I may have let out one of the longest strings of curse words ever on night 2). I also have figured out that the backs of my arms are terribly tender, and both of my arms are still sore a couple of days after the first two injections. On Monday night for the third injection, I decided to suck it up and try to do it myself. I may have been slightly more determined to do it myself, because as I was preparing the injection, Jason was taunting me and said that he thought I’d sit there for a while trying to do it, and then finally ask him to do it. That, of course, was all it took to make me grow a pair and do my own injection. It took me probably 90 seconds or so and a few times of very gently touching the needle to my skin, during which period I was pinching the skin on my stomach between my fingers, and then finally I took the plunge and injected myself. From this process, I figured out injections in my stomach are actually less painful than in the back of my arms, and pinching my skin for long enough that it makes it go slightly numb makes the injections also hurt less. After doing it, I spent the next couple of hours bragging about how much of a bad ass/rock star self-injector I am. I’ve continued to do my injections in my stomach this week, and have gotten a bit quicker, and am not as sore.

I went back to UNC Fertility Tuesday morning for blood work to check my response to the first three injections. My estrogen level was 65, which was increasing, but not quite as quickly as Dr. Fritz would like given my limited timeline to complete the process, which may be due to the extended amount of time that I’ve been on continuous birth control which has suppressed my ovaries. He increased the amount of Bravelle to 300mg for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and kept the amount of Menopur the same. After now 5 injections, I have not noticed any of the side effects that were possible (moodiness, bloating, pelvic pain), and will go back Friday morning for an ultrasound and blood work to check my response to the increased dose and hopefully be able to have an idea of which day next week will be retrieval day. I’m hoping the increased dosage will have kicked my ovaries into high gear by then, so we’ll be set for retrieval early next week.

Outside of doing the injections and going in for fertility level checks, this week has been significantly better. I’ve been quite busy at work, and working on several interesting and challenging deals and projects. I have been able to get back to the gym, although in a slightly limited capacity. I’m still in the 3 week restriction period for movements involving my arms, chest, and shoulder (near the port) and still have some pain when running or doing other harder pounding movements, because I can feel it putting pressure and jarring the port. I’ve used it as a challenge to try new workouts and moves to keep my cardiovascular stamina and muscular strength up. I’ve also used spare time this week to read up on the more practical side of living with cancer and going through chemotherapy, focusing on nutrition, healthy habits, and best choices for hats/turbans/scarves. And to end on another good note, I got the results back from the genetics screening to determine if I’m a carrier of the cystic fibrosis or spinal muscular atrophy genes, and it was negative, so I’m not a carrier, and Jason’s preliminary sperm analysis looked good. I’m off to work and onward to the continual hope for more good news!

 

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Hormone Stimulation Drugs!

 


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4 thoughts on “Relaxation and Stimulation

  • Bob Karaffa

    Hi Kaley!
    I know that we have yet to meet, but we want you to know that you can add us to the list of people who care and think of you while you go though this period in life. Our thoughts and prayers are for you and Jason. Keep up the positive attitude and keep smiling!
    YOU’RE GOING TO BEAT THIS!

    Bob and Kristie.

    • Kaley Post author

      Bob, I truly appreciate your message, thoughts and support. I look forward to finally meeting you and Kristie when I complete treatment!