December 30, 2003
Gonal-F Cycle 1, starting
Tuesday - 150 UI
Wednesday - 150 UI
Thursday - 150 UI
Friday - blood drawn in morning, next dose to be determined after checkup
Starting the next level
This afternoon I had my first visit in months to Dr. Vaughn. He was pleased with the way my uterus and ovaries looked. He said my ovaries had a number of follicles to work with. I thought they looked like whiffle balls.
We left his office with a stack of lab forms, two prescriptions for Gonal-F, a chart to track my injections, and an instructional video (for the injections!). Tonight when I get home from work, Dale and I will watch the video, mix up my first batch of Gonal-F, and do the first injection.
Friday morning, I'll get blood drawn early and then go in for a checkup in the afternoon. Depending upon how things look then, we'll adjust the dosage and continue the injections through the weekend. Monday, I'll have blood drawn in the morning and see the doctor in the afternoon. Likely, that checkup will just be used to adjust the dosage again for the next few shots.
The injectible treatments have a much higher success rate than the Clomid I've been taking, but Dr. Vaughn cautioned that because of my stubborn ovaries, it could still take up to two weeks (as opposed to the usual one week) before my ovaries would be ready for the next step.
I'm so very glad that TFC is covered by our insurance now. Each checkup that involves an ultrasound is $164. By this time next week, I'll already have had three of them. The medicine itself is very expensive too.
I hope this next year is a lot more successful than the past year has been.