The McAllen Experience

Yesterday and today I had a lot of time to kill. Nothing to do but wait for tomorrow. I enjoy being in the motel room some, but it also drives me crazy to be in here too long.

To avoid the stir-crazy madness that's a part of who I am, I drove over to McAllen yesterday to explore. My goal was to see an orange orchard and, if at all possible, pick my own to buy.

The internet wasn't much help but I did locate an organic store that sold their own fruit and juice. It is called Earth Bound.

When I reached Earth Bound I found a pleasant shop full of fruit and bee related products. In addition, they had a large selection of gluten-free and vegan snacks - many that I had never seen before.

The store was one room and spacious.  Wooden shelves lined the walls and we're filled with unusual sounding jams, jellies, salsas and more. Earth Bound has their own bee hives and one shelf was full of their honey; orange blossom and wildflower.

To the back of the room was a tasting station. The round antique looking wooden table had a variety of sliced citrus fruit for customers to enjoy.  Also present was a cup full of plastic spoons, the two honeys, and several jams and salsas.

I went straight for the honey as the orange blossom lable had me intrigued.  I poured a droplet or two onto a spoon and let my tongue do the rest. Except, my tongue was unable to process the experience on it's own. The orange blossom flavor, and the more traditional honey flavor, challenged each other. It was as though they were both vying for domenance. The result was delicious.

The wildflower honey was gentle in its approach to flavors. It was not nearly as flamboyant as the the orange blossom and seemed to be happy sitting quietly by.  While just as complex, the flavors seemed to swim and dance about gently, until they merged into a lovely and delectable liquid gold.

There were more things to taste too. Little sample cups were stacked next to their freshly squeezed juices. There were the traditional single fruit juices but also a large variety of mixed vegetable and fruit juices. Oh, I do love a good tasting session!

Just when I was finishing up with the juices, one of the women working at Earth Bound, asked if I needed help. I told her how I was wandering around the country side looking for a citrus grove to enter and explore. She pointed to the orchard right outside and told me that I could go pick an orange for myself.

The trees were all covered in oranges and some of the fruit were rotting on the ground.  Smells of the rotting fruit were in the air but I can't say that it was an altogether unpleasant scent.

I love orchards but I haven't been in many. In fact, the last one I was in was a plum orchard in the hills of Tamil Nadu. It was private property of course and my friends and I would wait for a fog to settle in before trying to snag a few. We were rewarded with stones flying at us through the branches - but that's a story for another day.

After standing amongst the orange trees, and taking them all in, I selected a plump ripe orange to pocket and have on my drive home. Why is it so attractive to pluck fruits and vegetables straight from the tree/plant?

After thanking the women inside, and making a small purchase, I used their restroom. Pardon my naivety but I had never seen a bathroom like this so I snapped a pic.

On asking them for recommendations, for places to visit in McAllen, they suggested I visit Quinta Mazatlan; one of the largest remaining adobe homes in Texas. And how beautiful it was! The house itself was peaceful and oh so elegant! The surrounding acreage had quiet footpaths and is a paradise for those who wish to go bird watching.

I'm going to end here very abruptly. Tomorrow is transfer day and, unless there are unexpected changes, I should be driving home in the afternoon. Today I spent mostly packing, getting gas for my car, and that sort of thing. I can't wait for the morning!

IVF cycle II - Retrieval

Retrieval arrived yesterday - faster than it arrived during my first cycle. It was a mixed day of feelings though; happy to be doing retrieval but sad because J had to go back home. Having him here longer this time was wonderful but it made his departure harder. 

I drove with Mario and three other patients. One was transferring so she and I got a lot of visiting time later on in the prep/recovery room.  

For retrieval you don't get to see Dr Garza. With his multitude of patients, his office hours are filled with running upstairs to the offices, and then back downstairs to his surgery.  After checking in with the downstairs staff they send you upstairs to get the procedure order. Then you are sent back down to prep. 

There is a little bathroom to change in and the nurses have a spot on top of their cubbies for your purse.  When you change, you are allowed to leave on upper clothing but otherwise just wear a hospital gown and socks. Many patients struggle with the one hospital gown and keeping decent as they walk around. Tip: either wear a short dress/long shirt or, use two gowns, one in front and one in back. 

The prep/recovery area is so dim that it's almost dark. Paintings of Jesus and Mary are on the wall looking in on the surgery. There are a couple of big chairs and a few beds for patients to rest on. 

While you are waiting/recovering, the nurses are in and out, checking on everyone's level of pee urgency. For the transfers they want the paitents need to be at a 9 on a scale of 1 through 10.  For the retrivals, they want the patient absolutely empty.  

The other patients and I talked to each other and shared the individual stories. One had endometriosis, like me, and we compared pain stories all the way from our early teenage years until having it diagnosed and treated as an adult. Growing up, we both assumed the pain was normal - it took us so many years to find out otherwise!  My OBGYN in Austin has a special focus on endometriosis which is fortunate for me. He's told me that many doctors aren't that focused/interested/aware (?) of it though and my impression is that many patients go un-diagnosed.

Back to yesterday though. After a lot if talking and waiting it was finally my turn. The nurses downstairs are much more social than the upstairs staff. One nurse in particular, Ruth, was very bubbly and fun. She enjoyed practicing speaking English and had sentences written out to help her. Every time she read out a command to me, she would look at her senior nurse partner, Karina, for approval and a giggle. Ruth also had a blast with my name - just like last cycle. She would ask me to pronounce it, repeat what I said as she struggled over the J sound, and a minute later would be back asking me to say it again. I really liked her 😊

Hector, the anesthesiologist, is a middle aged man who sits at the head of the surgical table. When I came in this time he was yammering away on his cell phone. He kept talking as he put the little clip-reader-thing on my finger and as he adjusted the position of my arms. When he did put his phone down, just before gassing me, I got to ask him his name too. I think I was the noisiest patient they had that day. Everyone else was silent in the surgery - I just have fun talking!

Also? While I certainly enjoyed interacting with Ruth and the other nurses, my very own Nurse Cathy is the real example to follow. Her care is not limited to the time you are standing in front of her - instead, it continues with phone calls after treatment and even emails after retirement. And she always prays to the Fertility Goddess for me too💕

The gas wasn't as bad as I remembered it from last time. I did not have an urge to pull the mask off and I went to sleep faster. The next thing I knew they were calling my name to move me on to a bed. I was wheeled out to lie with my fellow endometriosis patient and she quietly asked me if I wanted a pain shot. Many of the women experience a lot of pain after retrieval; I've been fortunate that I have not. 

I didn't need the pain shot but, in my semi-awake state, I did start crying and wondering out loud how that Facebook person was so mean to me 🙃.  I thought I was mostly over that incident but I guess deep down it still hurts.  Not to allow those feelings too much power, I wiped away the tears and sat up. I shared with you on Facebook and received messages of love that made such a difference!   Sitting up, I was a little dizzy for a minute, but pretty quickly I was alert and feeling good. 

I sat there for what seemed like a long time. A new patient was waiting for her IUI procedure so I shared my IUI stories with her. This was her first attempt and she was worried it would hurt. It does not. 

This patient had a most interesting story to share. She said that when her mother was pregnant with her, at the five month window, she tested negative for the pregnancy hormone HCG. Her doctors in the States told her there was nothing she could do and that miscarriage was inevitable. This mother couldn't accept the information though and so headed across the border for a second opinion. The doctors in Mexico loaded her up with folic acid, and other vitamins, with the recommendation that she not tell her US doctors that she was being treated. They feared that the US doctors would refuse to treat her if they knew. I believe she continued to test negative for HCG but went on to have a healthy baby. Crazy story! I wonder what the explanation is. 

This about finishes yesterday's retrieval experience. After I had dressed, I found that Mario had already taken the rest of the people back, so he had to make a special trip for me. I'm taking a short round of Medrol this time - starting it now and ending it a week or so after transfer. It can be helpful when you have endometriosis and/or natural killer cells. We stopped at a pharmacy on the Mexican side to get it. The rest of the ride home was uneventful but I felt lonely sitting in the van by myself. I knew J would be gone when I got back to the motel but, even though I was prepared, when I entered the empty room, I couldn't help but cry and cry. He's my best friend 💕

A Shout-out for Adam Riezenman

One of the tricky parts of doing IVF in Mexico is getting your progesterone in oil (PIO) prescription filled. All other medications come from Mexico but the progesterone needs to be purchased in the States because of quality issues. PIO has to be used daily until your first pregnancy test. If you get a negative test, you can stop the PIO injections and allow your cycle to start. If, however, your test comes back positive, PIO is continued for twelve weeks. By twelves weeks the placenta takes over making progesterone and you no longer need supplementation.

Dr Garza prescribes three vials of PIO which is about thirty days worth. The trick is, once you're back in your home town/state, and if the IVF cycle is successful, you need a way of getting more PIO.  Once you leave the valley, pharmacies stop accepting Mexican prescriptions. You could of course buy enough for the full twelve weeks before going home - but it's an expensive purchase that might end up wasted.

My solution to this problem, is my very kind and companionate OBGYN in Austin, Dr Breen. He has told me on numerous occasions that he'll support these IVF attempts in whatever way I need. He's happy to put in the order for more PIO if I need it. So I'm covered. Other patients aren't so lucky. Many of them have OBs that will not facilitate their treatment from Dr Garza. It's hard to understand.

PIO fun fact - there is often a scarcity of PIO so it's a good idea to order in advance. Interestingly enough, it's not the progesterone that causes the scarcity, but the sesame oil used.

To get back on track though, exceptional help and kindness was given to me by Brownsville's HEB Store 3, Adam Riezenman. He is the kindest and most helpful pharmacist/pharmacy manager I've ever met.

I found him when I went hunting for PIO during my last IVF attempt.  At the time he had just three vials of the prescription and was able to run a special coupon that brought down the price significantly.  He talked me through the injection process and reassured me that I was going to indeed hit muscle.  As I was leaving, I saw him bound out from behind the counter and help an elderly women who was shopping nearby.

It's been several months since I've seen him but, when I went in with my prescription yesterday, he remembered me well. He asked follow up questions on how the injections went and gave me new advice to help with the pain. And, most brilliantly, he gave me a suggestion that lead to a real solution!

Adam suggested that Dr Garza write in refills on the prescription. The prescription can be processed in Brownsville but then transfered to my HEB pharmacy in San Marcos.  While my pharmacy wouldn't accept the prescription order on its own, they will accept it if it's already been processed by a sister-store. This seems so obvious that I don't know why we, Dr Garza's other patients and myself, didn't think of it before.

Here's some information about Adam Riezenman I wanted to share. I've already talked to his store manager about my experience - next I'm emailing HEB.

https://pharmacy.tamhsc.edu/prescription/2013/fall/riezenman.html

Thank you Adam!

IVF cycle II Appointment IV

This is just a brief update. On Saturday I had my fourth appointment and it was pretty quick. It looked like Dr Garza was juggling a lot that day. He did confirm that my retrieval is tomorrow though so that was helpful.

Tomorrow is one of the no fragrance/jewelry/make up days. They'll use twighlight anesthesia and I shouldn't be out for too long. I did well last time with not much pain - fingers crossed I'm just as lucky tomorrow!  My least favorite part is that I can't eat or drink now until after the procedure. I just know I'm going to be starving in the morning.

Jason and I did go to Boca Chica Beach yesterday evening and it was pretty although very gray. The sky was foggy and the waters looked like steel. We saw a cayotee (it might have been a dog but I've never seen a cayotee before and that was our first guess) crossing the highway and, at the beach, pelcans bobbing just off shore .

This morning we went to the zoo and I managed to develop blisters on both my baby toes. The place was just as pleasant as my previous visit and we spent a few minutes mimicking a gorilla. He watched us intently and kept repeating gestures, seemingly, for us to copy 😀

The weather has been beautiful. We almost hit eighty today and this evening was 70. There is most often a breeze moving through town and that keeps things fresh!  This is my kind of winter.

I need to get to bed - there are typically long waits before the retrieval procedure and during recovery afterwards - if I'm feeling ok, maybe I can provide some live updates.

Tootles 🙃

Cycle II Appointment III

Most of my treatment payments are made with my credit card but, for retrieval, the payment needs to be made in cash. The first retrieval cost was $2925.00 and this cycle retrieval cost is $1575.00.  When I take the cash over, I like to use Mario, Dr Garza's driver, so that I avoid walking down the street in a loaded fashion.

While I  sat on the bench next to the motel's front door this morning, waiting for Mario to arrive, I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society recommended by my aunt AM.  Although I haven't finished it yet, I can already add my own recommendation. It's a good, gentle, but fun read.

Anywho, as I was sitting there, a young man came out of the motel and asked me for a cigarette. Not receiving a favorable answer didn't stop him from sitting down next to me and asking more questions. I answered briefly, but kindly, each time going back to my book between answers. To each of my answers, the man responded with a "Cool...cool..."  In fact, even when he asked about my Thanksgiving and I said I spent it sitting in a hotel room, "Cool... Cool..." was the response I got.  After a bit he got in a taxi and drove away. On one hand he made me feel young - on the other, ancient!  Soon after this man's departure, Mario came and I headed to the office with several other patients.

At Dr Garza's, there was a cute little boy, probably just under one, sitting in the chair next to me with his mom. He had the brightest red hair I've ever seen occur naturally and what a sweet smile! We looked at the chair's armrest together, noticing that the leather was torn, and the stuffing coming out a bit. Later on, when he expressed discontent, he let me talk him through it and stopped crying as he looked at me shyly.

When my sonogram turn came, Dr Garza saw four to five follicles again and some of them were already at 16 mm. He told me that my retrieval might be on Monday, much earlier than I expected, but I need to go back tomorrow to find out for sure. He upped my meds to increase follicle size and added a medication that prevents ovulation.

Other things happened but we must move on. I caught the medical van back to the border and J was waiting for me on the other side. We wandered around downtown for a bit and then went to Russo's to celebrate our anniversary. Four years now everyone... four years!  At Russo's I broke my anti-inflammatory diet by eating a cucumber/tomato/olive/basil/feta salad and baked ziti. J had some of my salad and a pizza. It was all very tasty - afterwards we came back to the motel and slept it off. We call this being in a food coma. That is all.

IVF Cycle II and Appointment II

It was a long and tedious drive down South this time. In an unexpected turn of events, adrenaline did not rush through my veins as it typically does. Instead, my eyes kept drooping shut. At one point I thought I saw a deer, or the ghost of a deer, making its way across the road. She was lit up for a moment by a truck's headlights but then, in a flash, she had disappeared into the brush. I started begging the sun to come up - I really didn't want to hit a deer - and when the sky finally lightened, I had already been driving nearly three hours.

It was raining when I made it to Brownsville around 9:40 A.M. The rain was a steady drizzle - not quite enough to saturate your clothing but certainly wet enough to make the streets unpleasant. After dumping my bags at Motel 6, I headed to the International Gateway Bridge and parked in the nearby parking garage. 

As I walked from the garage to the bridge, the streets were full of gray sludge-like puddles, and I had my work cut out trying to avoid them. While most were monochrome, some drew my eye to the myriad of constantly shifting oil-induced colors on their surface. When I did finally make it to the sheltered border crossing though, only the edge of my pants legs were a bit wet. 

As mentioned in my last post, there has been no apparent change in the US border security. Mexico, however, has added a security dog and today they were inspecting people's bags. They waved me through however so these changes didn't affect me. 

Walking towards the exit gate, I approached an elderly man leaning against the customs building wall.  He waved to me and smiled. I had seen him last week in the same spot and today, as I went by, he put out his hand and exclaimed, "Amiga!" While I did hesitate at first, his friendliness was contagious and I shook his hand. The day started looking better.

My appointment with Dr Garza went well. Dr Garza saw three or four follicles on my left ovary and two on my right. My left ovary is the one that had a surgically removed dermoid cyste but, despite the surgery, it always seems to have more follicles. It's a good little ovary! 

Dr Garza and I had a lovely talk afterwards and he was very encouraging and positive.  He pointed up to the heavens and said, "Make a strong connection with Him. When you are connected to Him, He can do many things."

My next appointment is Friday and I have a mere four shots to give myself before then. J arrives today and will stay until Monday. I'm really looking forward to him being around more than last time. I think he is too. 

In other news, I'm trying to stay on an anti-inflammatory diet which is no easy task! I've had to go vegan and gluten-free for this - and sugar-free too of course.  There is unsweetened vanilla almond milk in my fridge right now and it sure is  boring! Still, it's better than plain almond milk in my opinion and I do like having something different to drink. If anyone has suggestions, please feel free to share! I feel constantly hungry and don't want to end up gaining more weight.

And to think... There are delicious Thanksgiving meals being prepared in most houses throughout the Nation right now... Shucks :) 

Happy Thanksgiving All! 

IVF Cycle II

Hurray. That is all. Hurray. Yesterday my blood work and sonogram results were good so I've started treatment at last. It took another early morning dash down to Mexico and back to find this out - the trip was well worth it!

The sun rising on a new day and new IVF attempt!

Dr Garza is in New York for conferences so a young female doctor (in training is my guess) was performing the tests. She looked like she was 18 although that's highly unlikely. Dr Garza's nurse, who is very matronly, watched over her shoulder and directed her during the sonogram. I loved seeing a more experienced nurse teaching a doctor - and the doctor being fine with it!

During the sonogram I saw three follicles on my left ovary and four to five on my right. Hopefully they all stick around and produce many nalla mottas.

The office waiting room was empty except for a few US patients. Some of them I've talked to online and it was fun meeting them face to face. Everyone has such individual stories but the struggle is the same.

On my way back across the border, I stopped at Garcia's and talked briefly with Eduardo, one of the salesmen, about the approaching caravan. We've heard rumors that the Matamoros city government is going to start shutting down businesses near the border to reduce problems when the caravan arrives. Some of Dr Garza's patients are very stressed about this so I was looking for information to share.

Eduardo couldn't tell me much. He did mention that he thought not all the people in the caravan were bad. As far as businesses being shut down, he hadn't heard anything.  There was a sort of cautious defensiveness in his voice.

I asked a US border agent what he knew and he didn't have anything concrete to share either. He did not have information on the border potentially shutting down -and he said we should just keep our ears to the ground.  He did, however, suggest that we follow Paloma For Trump, on Facebook, to stay informed.

Personally, nothing felt different or scary. It was easy to cross the bridge from both directions.

I saw a couple of interesting things on my drive. One was a fair that has sprung up right across from my Motel 6. And it had a ferris wheel. On closer inspection it might prove too rickety to actually try out though.

Also, driving through Driscoll, I saw a collection of fruit stands that we're selling locally produced fruit. They had a sign that read, "5 avocados for $2.00". So that was a neat deal that would be advantageous to collect on.

Anyway... I have five days of medication to take at home and my next appointment is on Wednesday. I'll probably drive down that morning. J will join me Thursday and will stay until Monday! So he'll have a nice vacation which is long over due AND we get to celebrate our anniversary together down South.

Onwards!

The Wait!

An update has been long in coming! Last month I was planning to go down for my second attempt but, most unfortunately, my LH was too high and treatment was cancelled. Dr Garza told me to wait a month and test again. That month is about to end and I'm hopeful that all will be well!

There was a beautiful silver lining to the cancellation, however, because I was able to attend my cousin's wedding in Nacogdoches. We had good times with family and such opportunity for happy tears!

But, to come back to the present, if things go according to plan, I'm hoping to be in Brownsville the week of Thanksgiving. This will be a huge savings for me as I have the week as paid time off from work.

I do love Thanksgiving though and was felling a little sad to miss it. Then one of my lovely cousins, who is going to miss Thanksgiving as well, had an idea...  And with her idea, the sun came out and and angels sang!  We would have an early Thanksgiving dinner. Which is exactly what we did - minus the turkey because we're both vegetarian 😉 Pictures of our feast follow:

Ahhhh..... Our bellies were full! After pleasant visiting, good laughs and burps, I locked my keys and my phone in the back of my car. I had never done that before. It was interesting. Help came after an hour and a half. At least it came.

I brought leftovers home for J as he had to work - and I stopped to buy him turkey and baby back ribs from Kent's BBQ so that he felt like he was getting a real meal. He enjoyed!

Onwards!