ER Update

  
So…Murphy’s Law continues…as soon as I posted the last blog, a new nurse came in and said that they needed MORE blood from me. I actually said outloud “You have got to be kidding me.” Unfortunately, even though the first nurse took 7 vials (one of every color, her words not mine) the “blue” vial didn’t “work”. What do you mean it didn’t work? It was probably because the first nurse was so inept at the blood draw. Chris actually had to help her with the vials because she was fumbling so much and that needle was wiggling in my arm like crazy. Of course it’s the same vein that all the blood draws have come from because I only have two good veins and it hurt like hell. End rant. 

 

Vein four days after ER blood draw

 
  
Anyways, new nurse comes in to stick me again and since my two veins are shot she goes for my hand and I freak out. I mean, full on crying, shaking, hyperventilating, the whole nine yards. In my years of needlephobia I have trained myself to cope with blood draws from my two good veins. If anything veers from that path (like the IV in egg retrieval #1) then I flip out. And of course I had an audience of two doctors and a nurse see me turn into a 3 year old. Oh, did I mention all of this was while I was draped in the stirrups ready to go because they were set to do the ultrasound? Must say, it’s not one of my proudest moments. It’s a good thing I have no shame. 

Then comes the ultrasound. As if I hadn’t been poked and prodded enough. The doctor was all up in there for probably about 10 minutes. No exaggeration. The good news was there was no fluid build up. No blood. No fluid causing OHSS. All of that was good. The doctor did note that my right ovary has decided to hide itself behind my uterus. Didn’t think it was that big of a deal. My right ovary likes to move around and is often snuggled up against my uterus. No biggie. All the poking and prodding with the wand was quite painful. I have been hardly able to walk or sit for hours because of the pressure my own body is putting on itself let alone a hard wand being repeatedly jabbed up there. 

Ultrasound was over and I am still in pain. Doctor said everything looked okay and she had been very worried that she was going to scan me and see blood and have to immediately take me to the OR. So no blood = good. She said maybe because we got so many eggs this time and my ovaries are so big (the size of baseballs) that everything is just extra sensitive and painful. She said she would write me a script for stronger pain medication and we would just wait for my blood work to come back before I could go home. 

Oh yeah, remember Murphy’s Law? Well, the doctor comes back in the room and hands Chris a prescription for Percocet and then starts up the ultrasound machine again. While it’s booting up, she does a physical palpitation examination down there. Ow! She then tells us that she spoke to Dr. Bohler who was concerned my right ovary may be torsed. Apparently at retrieval, a mere 12 hours earlier, it was not anywhere near hiding behind my uterus and it was kind of weird for an ovary the size of a baseball to make it’s way back there. The doctor wanted to check the blood flow to my ovary to see if it was twisted…but Murphy’s Law strikes again…the ultrasound machine we were using was an older model and it was very difficult to see blood flow on it. Normally there is a setting that shows color to see where the blood flow is, but this showed barely any. She even ultrasounded a vein and it showed zero blood flow. She was able to see a bit of blood flow in my right ovary and based on her physical palpitation she does not think it’s twisted, but the only way to know is to go to the OR. If we went to the OR and it is twisted, she may be able to untwist it or she may have to “take it”, i.e. remove my ovary. She feels I would be in more severe pain if it was torsed. 

So what’s the plan? She sent me home with Percocet for the pain. I am to drink a lot of water and Gatorade, do an injection of Cetrotide which will help my ovaries go down in size and start my antibiotic as instructed after retrieval. If the pain gets worse, I call her and come in and we head to the OR. If the pain is the same tomorrow morning, not better and not worse, then I come to the clinic at 8am for another ultrasound with a better machine to show blood flow. If the pain is better, then I call the nurse and let her know so my doctor can stop worrying about me. 

  
Well, we got the pain medication and I am already doped up and it is definitely helping. Chris stabbed me with the Cetrotide (remember when I thought we were done with shots? Ha!). I have taken the antibiotic and have drank a large amount of Gatorade. I am now laying in bed, somewhat painfree and reflecting on the events of today. It has really been one for the books. Right now, I am looking forward to tomorrow and hearing our fertilization report. I am hoping to get some sleep. Hopefully the pain medication will help with that. I am focusing all my positive thoughts and good energy on our embryos that are now growing in the lab. This little scare is just another bump in the road but it won’t shake us. I can get through this. I will get through this!