poked by the wicked witch of the west

T brought me to the theatre tonight to catch Wicked, the acclaimed musical I have heard so much about. It was brilliant. Absolutely fantastic. One of those shows which I'm sure I can watch another three times.

But today was a weird day in terms of the egg donation procedure. I went to the clinic at 8:30am for the usual blood test, then trotted over to La Fromagerie off Marylebone High Street for coffee. On a side note, the shop is like a little paradise for me. Anyway I hung around as I thought I would receive a call from the clinic to go in shortly for yet another blood test (it happened yesterday).

But no call came. I headed back to T's place and because it was a beautiful day, I did some raking in the garden. My very first time raking! Pleased as punch. Then came the call from the ARGC to say I have to poke 75 units of Gonal-F now and go in at 2:30pm for blood test and scan.

More stats:
Wednesday, 25 Nov 2009: LH 2.9 IU/L Oestradiol 2577, Progesterone 1.7
Thursday, 26 Nov 2009 AM: LH 2.7 IU/L Oestradiol 4190, FSH 5.5
Thursday, 26 Nov 2009 PM: Oestradiol 4989
Friday, 27 Nov 2009 AM: LH 2.6 IU/L Oestradiol 5147

Follicles are growing nicely, big and round like the Japanese grapes. Dr G (yet another doc!) had a very quick consultation - I'm starting to feel like I'm cattle now, what with all that prodding and poking and being hurried along - and then off I went.

The evening instructions came at 6pm for 37.5 units of Gonal-F between 8-10pm. But because I was going to watch Wicked, I had to poke myself at the intermission. I couldn't possibly have poked myself at my seat so I had to do it in the bathroom. It was a stroke of pure chance that we were sitting right next to the Ladies, which made things a lot easier. So many pokes for today! What is it, 4 pokes? That sure is a record. My arms are getting sore and bruised with all the blood tests. And we're only halfway through. Wish me luck!


Hello, my name is Real Golden Goose and I am a druggie.

poke #2.5 and prod #2.3

More pokes and prods. Yesterday's poke was Merional 75IU and today I was back on Gonal-F 112IU. Earlier this morning (Wednesday) I went back to the clinic for blood tests (that's probably poke #2.5 but oh, who's counting when it's just my arms) and another prod. Again I have a different doctor, a female one, hurrah! She was much more gentle although had a more hurried manner. I felt as if I only had 5 minute to see her.

I do have polycystic ovaries which explains why I have many follicles and almost all of them are of the same size. It was explained to me that the symptoms of Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) include weight gain, excessive facial and body hair, very irregular periods, etc. I have mildly irregular periods but definitely no excessive hair (on the contrary, I'm actually so hairless I have never shaved my legs!) nor obesity, so there's nothing to worry about. The upside of this is that T will potentially receive a lot of eggs from me, like M the first time round. Well, 55 eggs or not, I hope I don't get OHSS again.

More stats:
Monday, 23 Nov 2009: LH 2.7 IU/L Oestradiol 678
Tuesday, 24 Nov 2009: LH 2.0 IU/L Oestradiol 2220

I have no idea what Oestradiol is but to see it jump from 678 to 2220 is scary. I was assured that everything is going fine, with the doctor saying that nothing is out of the ordinary. I sure hope so. Fingers crossed.

poke #2.3

The ARGC requires me to go in for a blood test every day so after the trudge down to the clinic on early Sunday morning, T, her daughter and I went to the zoo. Of course I had to go - it's the London zoo!

That was a lovely excursion which distracted me just a bit, before a call from the ARGC in the late afternoon instructed me to lower the injection to 112 units of Gonal-F. Apparently I am reacting a little too well to the drugs.

I went in for a blood test and a scan this morning. Nurse K at the clinic managed to get my file right on top so I didn't have to wait too long - how sweet of her! This time it was Dr D who greeted me (how many doctors do I have to see, I wonder?) and he said I have too many follicles and not one dominant one. Ideally there should be a few big ones but mine were all "democratic". Hmm.

I jotted down my blood test results:

Tuesday, 17 Nov 2009: LH6.0 IU/L Oestradiol 37
Thursday, 19 Nov 2009: LH 8.4 IU/L Oestradiol 37
Saturday, 21 Nov 2009: LH 5.9 IU/L Oestradiol 137
Sunday, 22 Nov 2009: LH 3.2 IU/L Oestradiol 420

They don't mean nothing to me, but it seems that my Oestradiol shot up a little too much and hence the lower dosage of Gonal-F. I started on 150 units on the first poke, down to 112 units on the second and third poke (today).

in London (again) - gear two!

After sitting through a stifling flight on Cathay Pacific - what is comfortable about the new "clam-shell" seats?! - I finally arrived in London. Every time I visit this city there is usually beautiful weather and I was proven right again with a rare bright autumn day greeting me.

I was driven straight to T's place and what a wonderful, big, lovely house it is. The guestroom on the third floor was enormous; the bathroom itself is bigger than my study in Hong Kong! Neat. And the house has a large garden, complete with an apple tree (!), plum tree, lavender shrubs and a 2 metre-high trampoline. It is paradise for T's precious adopted daughter, B, 5 years old. It is paradise for me. I'm 28.

We went straight to the ARGC to get in queue; they have a maddening system of patient management which I have to accept. No specific appointments, just go in and queue. So T and I queued for almost 3 hours before we saw Dr A (all doctors are your doctors - that's the motto!), had a scan and blood test. LH level is finally down to 5.9 so I can finally start stimulation.

My suspicions that the ARGC wanted me to be in London before I start the injections were proven right when we were waiting for our turn to see the doc. Part of the waiting game means you hold on to your medical file and wait - which means I get to see everything in the file. There was a memo inside which says that since I will be in to see the clinic on Saturday, I may as well start stiumulation then. Ha! They are unbelivable, aren't they.

This means that I will have to remain in London till 4 December at the very least. Sigh. As much as I love London, I need to be home soon...

Anyway, we are set in gear two now. Poke #1 tonight!

Poked for the last time

Last jab at 9:00am this morning. Yay!

My bloated ovaries are starting to make me feel as if I have water balloons implanted inside me. Ugh. Can't wait to get them eggs out.

Prodded - Part II

So my period finally arrived on 14 March, Saturday. I called the clinic and made an appointment on Monday to see Dr C again. And again, she prodded me. I think I'm somewhat getting used to being a cow.

This is the day I start my daily gonadotrophin injections and it will go on for roughly 10 days. Essentially, gonadotrophin kick-starts my ovaries to make many, many eggs so when it is time for the surgery, they can harvest a maximum number of eggs (usually 20 or more). That also means I will be super fertile. It sounds so strange, doesn't it? Ho hum.

A very nice nurse taught me how to poke myself. I have to say, I'm not terrified of needles but of course I'm not a fan either (who is?). There's just something so sinister about a needle... but like the nurse said, if a grandma with diabetes can poke herself everyday, I surely can too.

Poke poke poke.