I Want A New Drug

March 27, 2015  Go ahead and continue to sing some Huey Lewis with that title, I'll wait....

It's day 7 of being a needle junkie. I've now stabbed myself 15 times. I took it upon myself to take a photo of one section of my tummy this morning. I pretty much look like a big game of connect the dots. It's getting harder to find a fresh area to give injections. I'm always rotating and really haven't had much bruising. Only a couple spots have little darker marks, except for the new one which is now a sprawling red irritated area.

Not only can I see every needle mark on a stomach that never sees the light of day, but I realized I really CAN see the bloating of my ovaries. I thought I had to be imagining it. Over the course of the day I could feel myself getting more and more uncomfortable. I had to keep leaning back in my work chair to try to ease up on my ever expanding gut region. 

We did the math and consulted a ruler. Using logic that tells me of course my follicles are larger than yesterday morning, it is safe to say they are all 10 millimeters or larger now. On one ovary I have at least 10 follicles at that size. A millimeter seems small. But make it ten and you realize that's a centimeter. So I have at least ten follicles just on one ovary and they are all more than a centimeter in size now. Ya, so I'm NOT crazy!!

Tonight after I prepared my Menopur I started a new drug, Ganirelix. This one was easy in that it comes in the needle ready to go. No mixing of powder and liquid, no turning of dials. It was just one dose in my needle. All I had to do was get rid of the air in the syringe and pick an injection spot. This is when I confirmed I am poofy. The first day I did a shot I was pleasantly surprised at how my tummy wasn't easy to squeeze for injections. Tonight I went to find a fresh spot and noticed my stomach is different! It is tender and poofy right over my ovaries. It all makes sense now!

Eventually I settled on an injection site and tried to stab myself with the needle. This one didn't go in as easy. I don't know if it's a bigger needle or if I just went too delicately but it actually took a little work to pierce the skin. After I was done it was stinging for a while. The skin is a little red and tender in that area but I'm not worried. My nurse did say this one would feel different than the others.  

As far as my non medical expertise can tell, all is going well! I can also confirm that I am not in danger of becoming a recreational intravenous drug user!

MARCH 2015
Sunday		Monday		Tuesday		Wednesday		Thursday		Friday		Saturday
1		2		3		4		5		6		7
Official day 1!!!		Phone call to OHSU		Grandpa :(		Prescriptions set!						Protocol arrived
		to get it started!										in the mail
Birth Control Pills				Got my protocol
8		9		10		11		12		13		14
				Prescriptions arrive
15		16		17		18		19		20		21
				Last birth control pill		Suppression check						Injections begin
22		23		24		25		26		27		28
				Status check #1				Status check #2		Begin Ganirelix
29		30		31
Status check #3