The fertility talk was scary, and I was extremely anxious for the appointment. Both of my parents came to the appointment, which was a little awkward, but I got over it. We explained to the doctor that I would be undergoing chemotherapy and my oncologist had recommended freezing my eggs. This was all fine until I told her I was on the Depo Provera shot. This is a form of birth control that you get once every 3 months. Because I was on this form of birth control, they were not sure how long it would take to mature my eggs. It could be anywhere from 1 1/2-4 weeks. If it went 3-4 weeks, it would mean pushing back the start of chemo. At this point in time, we did not know if I could afford to push chemo back. Would the cancer spread? Was it safe to wait? These are all questions we would ask the next day at my oncologist appointment. To be prepared, if I was able to wait on the chemo, the nurse taught us how to inject the fertility medicine. There was so much information to remember. My parents or I would have to inject the shots every morning and evening. The nurse helping us was amazing. She gave us her personal phone number and provided us with so much support and comfort.
It's Friday and we are back in the hospital for my PET scan and oncologist appointment. Today is the day I can finally break that crazy strict diet! (After my PET scan of course). This was my first PET scan. They brought my dad and me to a room and put in an IV. They would then administer radioactive fluid that would light up the cancer cells on the scan. It took an hour for the fluid to disperse through my body.
Once the hour was up, they brought me into the scan room. The actual scan took about 15-20 minutes and they gave me a rice crispy treat after. I needed that so badly, my sugar was definitely really low. I started to feel lightheaded and achy after the scan. My mom met us at the hospital for the oncologist appointment and noticed I was pale right away. I was trying my best not to faint in the waiting room. We were finally called back and the nurse got me some juice, which helped a lot. The point of the appointment was to review all of the test results from the past week or so. All good news today! There was no sign of the cancer in my bone marrow, all blood work was good, and the MRI came back clear. The doctor also saw no reason to worry about pushing chemo back in order to freeze my eggs. That night I would start giving myself the injections.
I had to go into the fertility office every morning by 7:30am for them to take my blood and do an ultrasound. They had to monitor the growth of the follicles so they knew when they could take the eggs out. Other than these morning visits I was spending time with family and trying to coerce my parents into getting another puppy. I had been pushing for a puppy since December, but now I had cancer! Yeah, I am going to use it to my advantage. I needed something to keep me busy and a puppy would do just that. Not to mention the happiness and support a puppy would bring. My dad can be a big softy sometimes and the next thing I knew, he caved. I woke up Sunday June 2nd and decided to call a few breeders. One of them answered and had a litter ready to be picked up that day. This was the first time I couldn't stop smiling in a long time. I was getting a puppy!! I got myself together as fast as I could, and we were off to pick up my little cancer puppy. (Yes, I call her my cancer puppy...she is very supportive). When we got to the breeder's house there were two litters. Out of all the puppies there, the one with an orange collar came right up to me. I picked her up and she snuggled her head into my shoulder. That was all I needed to decide she would be the one. We named her Olive and she was the sweetest puppy we could have asked for.
On day 6 of giving myself injections, the fertility doctor was able to tell us that the procedure would be that following Tuesday. This was very exciting news because we were afraid it was going to take 4 weeks due to the Depo shot. The doctor even expressed how one of my eggs was already a "beast"...apparently the Bushman's are pretty fertile!
The weekend arrived and that meant it was golf outing time! My family has an organization called GLY Foundation. We hold events to raise money and awareness for cancer. We work closely with Four Diamonds, but also donate to many other organizations. The annual golf outing is an event we look forward to every year. The entire family comes to town and either volunteers or participates in the outing. It was definitely a nice get away from all the cancer problems going on.
Okay, now it is time to get those eggs taken out! I was nervous, happy and sad all at the same time. I was sad because it would be the last time, I would see the nurse I talked about earlier. She became someone I looked up to and admired through the process.
On the day of the procedure, I went into the office bright and early, feeling like I had massive water balloons in my uterus. I was anxious to get started! My IV was in and I was laying on the table with my feet in the stirrups. For the procedure, they would stick a long scary needle through my uterine wall. Yes, I know, it’s terrifying. My nurse assured me I would be properly medicated with Demerol, so that I wouldn’t feel much of anything. The doctor was ready to begin and instructed the nurse to administer the Demerol. I think it took a minute and I was already slurring my words. As the doctor did the procedure, my nurse kindly pushed more and more Demerol to make me comfortable. Yes, it made me feel great and loopy, but boy did I need it! As the needle went into each follicle, it would suck out all of the fluid buildup. The egg would also be sucked through the tube and would go straight to the doctor in the lab. I remember the doctor saying, “we got our first egg.” At that point I was completely out of it and turned to my mom, who was sitting next to me. “What is today’s date?” I asked. My mom was confused and answered back with the date. She couldn’t help but ask why I wanted to know. My response was “because, today I had my first baby. I am a mom now.” Apparently, extraction of your eggs categorizes you as a mom in my doped-up mind. I am a proud mother of 14 eggs, that are now safely stored in a storage facility.
What's Next: My next post will talk about the port procedure, as well as my first chemo! Keep following and engaging. #IGotTheCancer
