Still here
I'm in the thick of the IVF cycle right now. Last week I took 7.5mg of Letrozole Monday-Friday, then went in Saturday for blood and ultrasound. 187.5 IU of Gonal-F Saturday and Sunday, back in Monday. Added one powder of Menopur and one syringe of Ganirelix to the nightly routine (that's three shots per night) Monday and Tuesday, back in today. As of this morning I had something like 5-7 follicles on each side, the largest around 20mm. Dr. SF estimated that I'd have one more day of stims, then assuming blood and ultrasound tomorrow looks good, trigger tomorrow night, retrieval Saturday.
I'm finding the shots somewhat challenging--there is a big difference between doing one little 29g shot with a pen, and doing three shots, two of which are now 27g needles and one of which needs to be mixed. My skin is unusually sensitive, too--normally I have problems getting the needle in but then everything is fine; once I added the Ganirelix and Menopur I've started getting little welts at the injection sites and big red patches all around. But I'm powering through.
I'm still terrified of the PIO shots. I got the nurses to write me a prescription for EMLA cream to help. The nurse I spoke to on Monday said, "You know it'll just numb the surface, right? You'll still feel the injection going into the muscle." But it's exactly the sensation of that thick needle punching through the skin that I'm freaked out about.
The nurse had to run and check with my doctor to make sure it was OK for me to get the Rx, and when she came back she said, "OK, we can write you the prescription, but just so you know, Dr. SF thinks you can TOTALLY handle it." A nice vote of confidence, except that I very clearly heard him say in the hallway, "That's just stupid." Meaning, I guess, my desire to numb the pain, assuming he was talking about me and not, say, a malfunctioning pen or his shoelace coming untied. Thanks a lot, doc. I was pissed, and upset, obviously, but didn't really know how to handle it. (Clearly I should have said to the nurse, "Did he SERIOUSLY just say 'That's stupid'???") I told my husband later and he said, "Well, we always knew that niceness was on the surface for him."
Whatever. Honestly, it doesn't really change anything. I got my numbing cream, my doctor is still excellent at the medical stuff regardless of how arrogant he is (and I've always known he is). I don't care if he thinks I'm being silly as long as he treats me with respect and gets the job done. But I am still pissed.
I'm finding the shots somewhat challenging--there is a big difference between doing one little 29g shot with a pen, and doing three shots, two of which are now 27g needles and one of which needs to be mixed. My skin is unusually sensitive, too--normally I have problems getting the needle in but then everything is fine; once I added the Ganirelix and Menopur I've started getting little welts at the injection sites and big red patches all around. But I'm powering through.
I'm still terrified of the PIO shots. I got the nurses to write me a prescription for EMLA cream to help. The nurse I spoke to on Monday said, "You know it'll just numb the surface, right? You'll still feel the injection going into the muscle." But it's exactly the sensation of that thick needle punching through the skin that I'm freaked out about.
The nurse had to run and check with my doctor to make sure it was OK for me to get the Rx, and when she came back she said, "OK, we can write you the prescription, but just so you know, Dr. SF thinks you can TOTALLY handle it." A nice vote of confidence, except that I very clearly heard him say in the hallway, "That's just stupid." Meaning, I guess, my desire to numb the pain, assuming he was talking about me and not, say, a malfunctioning pen or his shoelace coming untied. Thanks a lot, doc. I was pissed, and upset, obviously, but didn't really know how to handle it. (Clearly I should have said to the nurse, "Did he SERIOUSLY just say 'That's stupid'???") I told my husband later and he said, "Well, we always knew that niceness was on the surface for him."
Whatever. Honestly, it doesn't really change anything. I got my numbing cream, my doctor is still excellent at the medical stuff regardless of how arrogant he is (and I've always known he is). I don't care if he thinks I'm being silly as long as he treats me with respect and gets the job done. But I am still pissed.
Labels: infertility, project 2.0, WTF?
posted by electriclady at 12:19 PM
4 Comments:
OK, that's just stupid on his part. What?! I mean...I just .... ARGH.
I think EMLA cream sounds like a great option. I mean, why NOT?
Good luck. Oh please good luck.
Good grief, what an asshat. I am reeeeeally hoping he was talking about something else.
I totally sympathize with your anxiety about the size of needle, but from what I remember, the biggest problem with PIO shots is what's in the needle. I think - very unscientifically - the oil tends to form hard deposits, so it can actually get more painful to do the shots as time goes on.
But! You can do something about this too: massage the injection site firmly afterward, to distribute the oil instead of letting it collect in one place, and then apply heat.
They may have already told you to do both these things, but I know they didn't tell me to do them LONG enough. Massage: try a full 1-2 minutes. Heat: I'm guessing, but I think 15 minutes would be a good minimum. It makes the whole process take longer, obviously, but it's really worth it in the long run.
So much luck. So much.
Well of course you could handle it if you had to. But you can make it a little easier on yourself, so why on earth wouldn't you?
When I was in high school I heard a dental hygienist making fun of me around the corner over my worries about my teeth. I'm still bugged.
Jeez, let's see how much he likes getting shots.
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