Fourth Appointment

Just a quick update about today's appointment. It was crowded and I had to wait about two hours. Of course I left my book in my car so that was no use. In any case, I was eventually seen and had my sonogram. I have a couple of large follicles and some smaller ones. Dr Garza almost postponed my retrieval to Tuesday but, after further scanning, stuck with the Monday plan. He upped my meds even further for today so, instead of mixing one liquid with four vials of powder, I mixed one liquid with six.  I have another shot to do tomorrow morning and then, at 10:00 pm, I have to do my trigger. It will be my first IM injection on myself and I'm trying to practice with a pen... I can do this!

On Sunday I'll have no meds to take at all - first time in over a month that I won't be injecting myself!  Then, on Sunday night, I have to stop eating and drinking in preparation for the procedure. The anesthesia is twilight rather than general but still knocks everyone out briefly.

I keep planning a post that will delve into the medical side of things more - should come along soon.

In other news, I visited the Palo Alto Battlefield this afternoon. There was something very profound in being there - one visitor described it as a feeling of peace.  Maybe that's what happens when noble people give up their lives when following the call to duty.

Quirky Stores, Chinese Food and Polka Dot Socks

After my appointment yesterday my day was pretty uneventful.  I got some gas, washed my car and sent postcards to my class.

To mail the postcards, I went to a postal center and what a quirky affair it was!  The place felt like something right out of Harry Potter's Diagon Alley. Welcoming people to the center was a sign on the front door that read, You're welcome to bring in your cat but it's at your own risk. Being as I didn't have a cat with me, I felt it was relatively safe to enter.

Once inside I found myself in a dimly lit and dusty room. There was a tall counter to one side that was piled with kitsch. A couple of wooden stools were positioned in front of the counter and a man sat there, his shoulders hunched over his phone. The light from the screen lit up his face but he neither glanced at me nor moved a muscle as I let the door clang shut.

Not knowing if the man was a customer or the proprietor, I began browsing the nic nacs that filled the space. Postcards, greeting cards, mugs, flip flops, gum and candy, sunglasses and so on lined the walls - I looked through them carefully while always keeping one eye on the silent man.

All of a sudden, with a flash and a meow, a white cat appeared at my feet. Looking up I found that not far behind this four legged creature was a women with silver, curly, hair tumbling down her back.  She peered at me over her glasses with a questioning gaze and, recognizing this women as the likely owner of the establishment, I stretched out my arm mumbling, "I need to mail these please".

The women snatched the postcards from my hand and bustled off with them behind the counter. "That will be seventy cents" she said with her hand outstretched. I fumbled with my purse until I found the necessary change and placed the coins in her waiting hand.  With that the transaction was over. The women turned abruptly and walked back into the darker recesses of the store. Even though I really just wanted to leave the place, I felt uncertain as to whether my carefully chosen postcards we're ever going to reach the children they were meant for, and so I called out to the women in a doubtful tone, "You'll mail them?" As she disappeared behind a pile of items at the back, she threw an answer over her shoulder, "Yes, I've got this!".

I left the building and stepped out into the hot sunshine of South Texas. Was it all a dream?  I look forward to hearing when and if my postcards are received.

In the evening I met up with my RN co-patient for dinner.  There really aren't very many places for a vegetarian to eat out in Brownsville and so I let her choose between Jason's Deli, a vegan food truck (which I'm going to try out) and a Chinese restaurant.  She chose Chinese, which sounded good online, so that's where we went.

The restaurant was started by a couple from New York and they've opened two or three other locations in other cities nearby as well.  The menu had a vegetarian section which was what originally attracted me.  Nevertheless, once our food arrived (I had vegetables/tofu/steamed rice and she had chicken/mushroom/fried rice) it was pretty mediocre.  My vegetables were swimming in a flavorless brown sauce and the steamed tofu was boring as well.  Still, all was not lost as I received this fortune in my cookie:

That was last night. This morning I tried to find a more scenic place to walk but was once again challenged in this endeavor. I ended up trying out a small neighborhood park.  Images of it online were pleasant enough but when I got there it felt like a small sad lot.  After consulting google, yet again, I made my way to Resaca de la Palma National Battlefield.  The battlefield was surrounded by a neat dirt path and, of course, the trees were pushed back to the far outskirts. I say of course because Brownsvillians apparently have a thing for exercising in full sun.  The real highlight of the park was a small brown rabbit hopping along through the grass; we'll call him Fred. I would have preferred a deer but didn't let Fred in on this secret.  He was a sweet bunny and there was no reason to cause hurt feelings.

And this finally brings us to this evening.  I had my haircut which was a good opportunity to learn more about Brownsville and the surrounding area.  I was really just supposed to get a trim but the lady did a more thorough job than that.  She shared with me that Progresso is really the best place to cross the border for a good Mexican experience - so I'm hoping to make my way over there in the coming days. 

After my haircut I went shopping for retrieval socks.  Patients are supposed to bring socks with them on retrieval day as, apparently, it gets pretty cold in the procedure room.  I'll be going with polka dots as those are my favorite!

On this note, have a good night all.  Tomorrow morning I head back over to Mexico!

Third Appointment

My eggletts seem to be slow growers. There are still five/six making their way towards retrieval but the biggest was only at 13 mm today.  Typically eggs grow at about 2mm every 24 hours, however, as I understand it, when you are working with multiples they slow down a bit. They need to hit 18mm to be retrieved. Dr Garza is upping my meds and now I have to mix four powders with liquid instead of three before injecting. Retrieval is tentatively scheduled for Monday with a three day transfer after that. I'll go in on Friday for a sonogram to confirm. 

I had fun conversations with the border agents this morning. They wanted to know about the meds I was lugging over the border and so I held an improvised class on IVF right there. When I asked them if they knew anything about IVF; just one of them raised his hand.  My talk of ovaries, hormones, and follicles seemed to make them just a little bit squeamish. I couldn't help but smile seeing these big men, dressed in uniforms of authority, and carrying weapons on their belts, become uncomfortable listening to words and ideas that I now live and breathe on a daily basis.

Nevertheless, while they certainly had a lot to learn on this topic (I helpfully suggested that they staff a doctor to identify the various medications coming into the US) they were respectful, kind, and wished me all the luck in the world. Hope I see the same guys on Friday - then I can pick up where I left off.

That's about it, although when I got back to the hotel, I helped a fellow patient, an RN, with her injection. This turned out beneficial for me as she shared tips on how best to insert the needle.

I've run out of things to share but thank you for reading this far. I'm looking forward to what the next step brings.

Tootles! 

Keeping Busy

Today started with more injections before I headed out for a morning walk. I was able to successfully mix the three vials of powder with the one of liquid before injecting myself.

Above is a picture of all the meds I'm on right now and below is a picture of the destruction following the mixed injection.  I was mainly concerned about breaking open the glass vial but all went well. I was clumsy but managed.

As the morning wore on, it seemed to take forever for daylight to appear. In fact, it took so long that I ended up dozing off again before leaving for my walk. When I woke up at 7:30 though, the sun was shining bright. I searched Google for a good walking trail and found one that sounded promising. It was called Brownsville Historic Battlefield Trail.  With such a romantic name, I felt  certain it would have plenty of beauty or interest to offer.

Nevertheless, on arrival, the path didn't feel romantic at all. On one side there was a bit of water - on the other were vats of mostly dried and cracked mud. The sun glared down on the people exercising and only a few trees were available to offer a bit of shade. This very straight, paved walking path went on and on forever...

In the afternoon I decided to head out to Padre Island to visit the turtle sanctuary.  It was an interesting place and I was just in time to sit in on their last education talk of the day. There I learned that all the vehicles driving up and down the beach, which I was so impressed with during my first visit, compress the sand over the turtle nests. When the babies hatch out of the eggs they are unable to dig their way out through the compacted sand. It's very sad and I wish signs could be put up on the beach to let people know.

Above is Allison, the one flippered turtle wearing a prosthetic.

And this is Gerry, it seemed like he was scratching his body on the wood. Everyone was vastly entertained by his antics.

Before leaving South Padre I wandered over to the beach to get my feet wet. The sand was so very hot and the water cool and pleasant. There were just a few people with their children and dogs - and if the sun hadn't been so harsh I would have settled in and made myself at home.

My laptop isn't picking up a strong enough signal so I'm writing this on my phone which is frustrating.  In any case, now I need to do laundry and go to bed. My third appointment is tomorrow and I'm really hoping all those follicles have continued to grow! Fingers crossed!

Second Apointment

SeriusXM made my drive down south rather uneventful this time. It kept me engaged and there was a wide selection of shows to listen to.  I was not obliged to find other methods of entertainment

When I got to the motel there was an issue with my room - they had mistakenly booked me a regular room rather than one with a kitchenette.  Calling central reservations ended up bringing out the customer with expectations monster in me and, after expressing myself very clearly over the phone, the manager on duty honored my original reservation. So, in the end, I got the kitchenette room at the rate of a regular room. 

I didn't get much sleep last night so slowly meandered my way over the border at about 9:00. I walked again and it was fine. During my appointment I asked Dr Garza about the safety of walking to his office. He said it was perfectly safe - and said to just avoid engaging with the homeless. I specifically asked if someone was going to pull out a gun or knife on me and he laughed as he shook his head. That is all. 

During my appointment he did another sonogram and ran some more blood work. He was hoping for five follicles and, while it's still too early to know if they will all make it to retrieval day, there were in fact five growing today. Yay!  Of course, even if all five make it to retrieval - they may or may not fertilize. We'll just have to wait and see. It simetimes happens thst not even a single egg is viable. 

Dr Garza prescribed a new set of shots for me to start. I was doing morning and evening shots. Now I'm going to have two in the morning and one at night. They all go into my stomach which is looking a little spotty these days.

One of the injections requires a mixing of liquid and powders. The nurse, Ari, demonstrated the mixing of the meds so that I could learn. She broke open a glass vial of liquid and then sucked the liquid into the syringe. She then injected the liquid into a vial of powder. Next Ari sucked that mixture back into the syringe and repeated this with two more vials of powder. Once all was well mixed together she gave me the shot.

I've been following other patients' experiences with this medication and I'm hoping I can do it right. Ari made it look easy but apparently it's also pretty easy to shatter the glass vial of liquid when you break the top off. Alternatively, if you are more inclined towards injuries, you can slice your fingers in the process. One patient has advised wrapping the glass vial in a paper towel to add protection. Seems like sound advice.

It was mid day when I left the office and Dr Garza sent me to the border in the medical district van. There was a bit if a line getting back over and I assumed I needed to stand in it. During this time I had a nice chat with a lady who lives in Mexico but comes over the border to shop. She had four empty shopping bags in hand along with two of her grandsons.

When I asked her what she shops for in the US she responded with, "Oh, some things I buy here and some things I buy there. For example, they (pointing to her grandchildren) really love Doritos. We can buy them in Mexico but they just don't taste the same." Then she chuckled and added, "I like Doritos too."

We went on to talk about my treatment and she told me about her uterine reconstruction surgery that she had in Mexico as well. They did a really good job and she was able to get pregnant. Unfortunately the pregnancy was ectopic and she had to have emergency surgery to avoid bleeding out. The experience was so traumatic for her that now, as a mother of five and a grandmother of nine, the thought of getting pregnant again terrifies her.

And on that interesting note, I finally realized that I was standing in the line for non-US citizens. There was in fact no line for passport holders so I said my goodbyes and walked on over to the US of A.

The border agent felt like I was familiar to him. We chatted a bit about which days are the busiest on the bridge - he said they all are - and he looked at my meds before waving me through.

My next appointment is Wednesday. I'm thinking about how to spend my time tomorrow.

Tootles!  

We're Taking the Plunge!

After a long period of mostly quiet deliberations, we've decided to go ahead with IVF in Mexico.  I would have updated sooner but we've been scrambling to get everything pulled together.  To set the stage, my first appointment was last week on Wednesday, the 22nd, and I drove down to Brownsville on my own.

                                                                                       ~

One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi, five Mississippi... as the car began drifting out of the lane I grabbed the steering wheel again.  After several attempts, my best record was seventeen Mississipis, and it only happened once. Seeing how long I could let go of the steering wheel was one of the ways I kept myself engaged as I traveled down south. 

As I left the Austin area, my radio tuned into elevator music which was interspersed with religious quotes. As time passed the gentle sounds coming from the radio changed to harsh static. Now I had to guess what language was being spoken and, at one point, I was certain Bollywood dance music was being aired. I was wrong. Other than messing with my radio, I watched and listened as bugs splatted against my car, got frustrated with slow moving vehicles in front of me, and gained a little experience in overtaking a car on a single lane road.  I have a pretty good awareness of how far and quickly I'll travel when I'm going 70 miles an hour - but not such a good understanding of my speed combined with that of on coming traffic.  

My departure for Brownsville was somewhat unexpected so I ended up working a few hours before heading home, packing, and then getting on the road.  I left home at around 5:00 p.m.  J looked at the maps and suggested I travel via Highway 123 so that I could avoid navigating San Antonio's highways.  It added a few extra miles but the estimated time on the road was roughly the same.  Aside from being stuck behind slow drivers on a one lane stretch now and then, I really enjoyed the route.  I can't say that the views were incredibly beautiful but I liked driving through the small towns and wondering about the people living in them.  A highlight was when I drove through Kenedy and saw the tiniest HEB ever.  I didn't realize it at first but it was an HEB convenience store/gas station attached to a typical sized HEB.   It was so cute that I had to

stop and have a look.  They sell HEB milk at the HEB Fuel stop and the bathrooms were really nice. 

Other than a few simple joys, such as clean bathrooms, the trip was pretty uneventful.  I only got tired in the last fifteen minutes and then J called and we talked until I got to the hotel so all was fine.

I ended up arriving at the hotel around 10:30 pm and went straight to bed.  The next morning I was anticipating a large group of patients waiting out front for the doctor's driver, Mario, and I wanted to be one of the first ones out there to ensure that I had a seat.

And so it was that I set my alarm, woke up early, had a little breakfast that I had brought with me, bathed, packed my bag, loaded up my car and waited outside for Mario.  As the minutes ticked by no other patients appeared and certainly no Mario.  After a time it became apparent that Mario wasn't coming.  I had assumed that there would be other patients and so had not specifically requested him - naturally it turned out that I was the only one needing Mario that day and so there I was, once again, without transportation!  If I wanted to keep my appointment, my only option was to walk across the border and either walk to Dr Garza's office or take a taxi. I drove to the border crossing and was able to park at the local college for free. The bridge was a stone's throw away.

I was still uncertain as to whether I should walk to the office or take a taxi and so decided to consult with a group of US border crossing agents who were grouped together near the gate. They seemed to think that walking was preferable to taking a taxi so, with a wave and a thank you, I approached the bridge. 

As you leave the States, you have to go through a turnstile that costs 1.00 dollar (quarters). If you don't have coins there is a way to make change there. On the other side, I walked past the Mexican border agents and they didn't ask anything of me.

The streets were quiet as I made my way towards Dr Garza's office. Here and there a neighbor worked in their yard, a couple stood on the street talking and drinking cokes, and a few people were washing their cars. I also passed a man selling breakfast tacos off a cart. There was no question of getting lost as I first walked down a main Street and then only had to take two turns.  It was so very peaceful meandering through this quiet neighborhood.  I felt free and happy.

Once at the office I only had to wait for a little while; there were fewer patients than last time.  My appointment went well although Dr Garza noted again that I still have some small fibroids.  So far no one has told me that they need to be removed and I'm  hopeful they won't be a problem. Dr Garza gave me five days worth of shots and told me to come back on Monday for my next ultrasound and new meds.  Because there was a longer interval between appointments I was able to come back home for a few days.  From tonight onward, however, I'll have to stay in Brownsville until treatment is over.  Dr Garza will need to monitor me every other day or so to ensure I'm responding to the treatment correctly. My best guess is that I'll be home a couple of days after Labor Day.

After my appointment, and because of the heat/sun factor, I asked Dr Garza if his office staff could call the medical van to take me back to the border crossing. I wasn't able to explain myself properly though and he ended up sending me with one of the women who works in his clinic. It was very kind of them both but I wouldn't want her to have to do that for me again. In any case, after a very short drive with the windows down and no seat belt, with friendly conversation where we both said we wanted to learn the other's language, I arrived back at the bridge.  

As you leave Mexico there is another turnstile - this one costs 25 cents. I was able to walk right on over - no wait at all. They just looked at my passport and waved me through.  

I  need to stop writing here as there is so much to be done before I leave this evening.  Thank you all for your continued encouragement and support!  It means more to us than you can know.