Next steps...

Today had its good/bad with our second opinion visit. The bad first... the whole atmosphere of this hospital is depressing... I mean, I realize there are sick people there, but that's where people need a smile the most, right? The registration desk... the waiting room... everything felt "cold". This is different than the other RE office where they work hard to remember your name, everything is clean, the nurses smile etc. Now the part that I liked- first, a resident student went over my whole medical history, asking questions and seeming genuinely interested. I was glad someone could try to make sense of my history- I can't even do that! Then, Dr. S. came in. Her mood matched the tone of the hospital- no "hello, how are you" but more like "you must be "Mac"... okay, here's the deal...". However, I do fine without the small talk and like to get to the point too. So here's the deal... the other RE did not test me for PCOS because I didn't fit the typical appearance. She wants to do that anyway. Basically, more blood (that needs to be a post... how much blood does a IF patient "donate"?)
and after that she wants to do an ultrasound to count/check my egg quality. Hello!? Why has no one offered to do this before? I didn't know you could see/count them! Her thoughts were very sensible and PC and I agree to go through with these tests and then make additional decisions. My mom was great company and didn't ask a lot of questions since I was able to tell her that they were going to run more tests to get to the bottom of my issues. Those appointments will take place in the next 3 weeks & I say- let's go!!!

Second Opinion

I'm almost ready for my visit to a new RE on Tuesday... filling out pages of medical history, picked up HSG x-ray etc. This clinic is connected with a University so I'll probably have several interns to observe through whatever treatment we go through, but that's okay! I will be glad to share my problems if they make it a mission to figure out the best treatment plan for me. PC will not be going on this initial visit because he's out of town with work that day and, for the first time, I asked my mom to go with me. I haven't shared every detail with her about our IF journey this far and I probably won't. We just leave it as "I have some female problems I'm trying to work out before we can think of starting a family" which really translates to "We can't have children because my ovaries are not doing what they're supposed to". Sharing this struggle with others has been difficult... the people closest to me know that I have female problems that interfere with TTC. No one except for PC can understand how it changes your life... countless appointments, financial issues, medications and injections, emotional roller coaster... to name a few things. Regardless, I'm eager to get another viewpoint! A new chapter maybe...