The Plan: Part 2

We went to see Dr. Butler yesterday morning to discuss the surgery findings and what the next step is. He showed me pictures of what he found during the surgery, including all the normal stuff (uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, etc.) and the endometriosis. Luckily, he said I had Stage 2 endometriosis, with the most severe being Stage 4. He showed me the before and after pictures from where he used the laser to get rid of the endometriosis. He also answered a burning question from my mom and Thomas: what is the cul-de-sac of the uterus? He kept using this term when talking to them immediately after the surgery and they were curious as to what it meant. For your knowledge, it's the space behind the uterus and in front of the rectum. It's a gravity-dependent section that tends to have a endometriosis lesions. Just thought you'd like to know that! Thomas asked the doctor and the medical students in the room if that was actually in the text books as "cul-de-sac," and they said yes. So we definitely learned something yesterday!

Now, the next step is to wait for my period to start. Once it starts, I'll go in to the office on day 3 and get a baseline ultrasound and lab work to see what I look like. I'll start the injectable drugs and go back in every 2-3 days for another ultrasound and lab work to see how I'm responding to the drugs. Depending on how I'm responding, they may increase or decrease the dosage. Once they see that I'm about to ovulate (usually about 7 days after starting the drugs), we'll get ready to do the insemination. Two nights before the insemination, I'll take another injection, this time of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). It stimulates ovulation and the maturation of the eggs. Two mornings later, I go in to the office with Thomas' sample. They wash that down and select the best-looking sperm, then insert them into my uterus, close to my fallopian tubes, with a small catheter. By placing them close to my fallopian tubes, they don't have to make the long journey up there. Once that's complete, I go home and wait for 2 weeks and hopefully a missed period! If it doesn't work the first cycle, we'll try again for a max of 4 total cycles. Then we would move on to in-vitro fertilization. I asked the success rate for this treatment and he said it's 45-50% over the four cycles. However, he thinks I might have a slightly better success rate because my ovaries and fallopian tubes are in such good shape.

The nurse has to call the pharmacy company and they'll call me to get my information and then send me all my supplies, including the drugs. Once they come in, I have to call her back and set up an appointment for me to learn how to give myself the injections. That way, we'll be ready to go when my period starts.

That is all for now! I know it's a lot of info, but that's what's going on right now! I'll update more as I know it...