And Mortality

The mortality part of this blog has been underrepresented of late, so I am linking to an Open Salon piece about the last days of an Alzheimer's patient. Not for the faint of heart.

Suitcase Update

Suitcase has arrived. Dexamethasone ingested 1:26 a.m.!

A Cautionary Tale

I am sitting in my hotel room with my dog, waiting for my suitcase. They say that it will arrive by 12:30 a.m. so I am going to stay up until 12:30 a.m. to see if they are telling the truth.

The truth is that I made a mistake. I put my pills in checked baggage. It was a direct flight. How could they possibly lose my luggage if the luggage and I were on the same plane?

Well, apparently it is possible. Apparently one of two things happened.
Either
1) United lost my luggage in the Denver airport or
2)The flight had too much checked luggage and someone decided my suitcase was less important than someone else's.

When I called United this morning they told me I would have my luggage by 6, so I did not redorder my pills or buy new underwear. Then, at 6, after CCRM was closed, they said the suitcase would arrive my 10:30p.m. At 10:30 p.m., they said it would arrive by 12:30 a.m.

So now I wait.

In other news, this morning I went into CCRM for my bloodwork and ultrasound. The follicles are still growing: 10 on each side within a similar size. Dr. Surrey lowered my Gonal-F dose to 75 tonight, and my Menopur to 1 ampule tomorrow morning.

Things I miss from my suitcase:

Dexamethasone
Clean underwear
the sleepmask that lets me sleep past dawn
my daily disposible contact lenses

A Little Something Extra

Well, I have arrived safely in Denver and have given myself my evening shots. Unfortunately, my suitcase did not arrive. This is a mystery to me, since I took a direct flight. But the airline people have no idea where my suitcase could be.

On the bright side, it is surprisingly easy to travel with medical liquids and needles. I just put them all through the scanner and no one said a word about it. For my purposes, this was a great relief, but I didn't necessarily feel safer in my air travel.

At least the Enterprise Car Rental people are on top of things. Not only did they rent me a car, but their rental car airport shuttle is ready for any emergency, including Bloodborne Pathogens. I wasn't aware that this was a problem on rental car airport shuttles, but I am happy that Enterprise is ahead of the game.

Like Soup

For some reason, I haven't been able to stop thinking about an episode of the cancelled sitcom Arrested Development entitled Beef Consomme. In the episode, teenager George Michael, who suffers from a secret attraction to his cousin Maeby, asks his grandmother whether they are really related.

NARRATOR: George Michael, having failed to get the information from anyone else, made the ultimate sacrifice and went to visit the keeper of the family secrets.

[Cut to the penthouse kitchen, where George Michael stands on one side of an island. On the other side, Lucille prepares tea.]

GEORGE MICHAEL: So, uh, it's about Maeby.

LUCILLE: Oh! That's a lost cause. But you get what you pay for, eh?

GEORGE MICHAEL: Yeah. Wait, what? What do you mean, "pay"?

LUCILLE: Fertility tests, lab fees, donors and implants. She's not real. She was made in a cup. Like soup. (pours tea) A hundred and thirty-thousand dollar cup of soup. How do you like them egg rolls, Mr. Goldstone? All I know is it took an extra year before we could add a den.

GEORGE MICHAEL: So are you saying we're not directly related?

LUCILLE: I'm saying she already spent her inheritance getting here.

Watch the whole glorious episode here.

High Anxiety

Earlier today, I was looking for some instructions on how to mix Menopur, when I stumbled on this preface to the requisite document:

At Ferring, we understand that having to mix and administer your own medication may seem overwhelming, and increased stress and anxiety levels can potentially hinder your treatment. We want to make it as easy and stress-free as possible.

In a survey among members of RESOLVE, The National Infertility Association, patients who were prescribed multiple injection methods (needle and syringe plus pen) experienced higher levels of anxiety when handling, preparing, and injecting their medications.

And in fact tonight, as I prepared for shots #2 and 3, I did feel stress and anxiety.

Shot #2 was 300 of Gonal-F. It's a pre-loaded pen, so it does not require any mixing. But I found it difficult to push the button that administers the medication, and once I did push it, the result was more painful, in a stinging way, than any of the other meds I am taking this cycle. I have a vague memory of repronex also being painful in this way.

Shot #3 was Lupron, down to 5 units.

So for the day:

a.m.

One Folgard pill

Two vials of Menopur, injected

p.m.

One Folgard pill

One prenatal vitamin

One baby aspirin

One dexamethasone

5 units Lupron, injected

300 Gonal-F, injected.

3 squares Green and Black Organic chocolate

Ready, Set, Go!

Yesterday I got the word that the cyst had disappeared and I was ready to move forward with this IVF cycle.

So this morning I started my first stimulation shot of IVF #3--Menopur.
I added a photo of the Menopur paraphernalia at right. You will notice three small vials in addition to the Menopur box and the two needles. Two of those are the Menopur powder, and one is the sterile diluent, which I think is just a fancy way of saying saline solution, which in turn is just a fancy way of saying salt water.
The Menopur comes in powder form and I have to add 1 ml of diluent to one vial, using a long needle, and wait for it to dissolve before sucking the mixture back and adding it to a second vial of powder. Then I suck that mixture back up, and unscrew the long needle and screw on a short needle. Then I ice my belly, wipe a spot down with alcohol, and inject.

It has been nine months since my last fresh IVF cycle, and once again, this morning, as I was mixing these powder and very nearly accidentally stabbing myself with the wrong needle, I remember why I am not a chemist.

Tonight, Gonal-F.