Thirty Days of Lupron

I remember the days when I was starting my second IVF cycle and thought that two weeks of lupron was torture. I was naive then.

If my current cycle goes as planned, I will be on Lupron for 30 days.

But let's review.
As you may remember, I started lupron back at the beginning of June with the idea of doing a retrieval at the end of that month. Sadly, my period did not arrive on schedule and thus, I ran into the one week of the year they close the lab, and I was unable to move forward. So that was 11 days of lupron for nothing.

Now, I have been on lupron since Day 24 of my cycle, which was July 6, and since my body decided to gift me with an unprecedented 38-day cycle, I have now been on Lupron 16 days, and I have not even started my stimulation shots. AF came yesterday, so I called CCRM and we set up a "calendar" and I bought my ticket to travel there on Monday.

This morning I went in for an ultrasound, looking forward to starting my stimulation shots and generally getting on with my life.

The ultrasound showed plenty of follicles: 14 on the left side and 12 on the right. The local doctor said he also saw an old, ruptured cyst, but that it would not affect my stimulation. I got my blood work done, and started waiting for the phone call from CCRM.

The CCRM nurse said that the cyst was borderline and my estradiol was slightly high at 66, so, while they weren't going to cancel my cycle at this point, I would have to stay on Lupron until Friday, when I will have another ultrasound and bloodwork to see if the cyst has shrunk. If it has not shrunk, it would interfere with the stimulation, so they would cancel the cycle.

The protocol calls for me to be on Lupron all the way until I take my trigger shot, approximately 10 days after I start the stims. So if my math is correct, that's 30 days of lupron. And that is not counting the 11 days from my last failed attempt.

I am tired of being on lupron. I am tired of shots, and I haven't even started the thrice daily regimen of lupron, menopur, and gonal-f.

I put in a request with Bear for some of his fool-proof puppy play therapy, but he, too, is tired of the effect Lupron is having on the mojo of the house, so he chose to rest on this chair instead.

Tonight, more Lupron, more dexamethasone.... Wish me luck!