Our Journey for "Baby K"- IVF
Donation protected
Normally I would not disclose all of this information, but along our journey I have met wonderful women and couples who have traveled the same path we have. I would like to spread the word regarding infertility and Endometriosis and let people know that there are many couples around you that are struggling and you may never know. I am not looking for pity just asking that people be sensitive to the journey others may take.
In December of 2011 we decided to begin our journey to expand our family. Unlike your "usual" newlyweds we knew from the get go we would have some obstacles to overcome. Our journey to have children wouldn't be easy and we had a lot of questions about what would be our best option so we scheduled an appointment with Fertility Specialist, Dr. Shaykh, in Jacksonville, FL.
In February 2012 we met with Dr. Shaykh and went through all kinds of assessments for both of us to ensure that we would make the most educated decision on how we should attempt to make a baby. After much discussion and reviewing of medical charts Dr. Shaykh said we would be great candidates for a tubal reversal. Tubal lengths were good, sperm count was good- we would have an 80-85% chance of conceiving on our own after the reversal. This was wonderful news for us! Now we could take our time and try when we wanted to and it also gave us the opportunity to have more than one child if we decided to. We set our appointment for the procedure to be done on April 5, 2012 and we paid cash up front with our savings. We were ready!!!
That day seemed like it took forever to arrive but when it did we were more than ready. We were living in Orlando, so we booked a room in Jax for the night before and headed in for our pre-op appointment. Early morning April 5th we headed in for the procedure. Dr. Shaykh seemed very positive going in and before we knew it the surgery was complete. I vaguely remember waking up with Phillip in the recovery room. He looked really frustrated... He held my hand and said the procedure didn't go so well, but that we shouldn't worry. When the doctor came in he told us there was something wrong with my tubes and that the length was not what it should've been. He said he wasn't sure if the procedure worked and even if it had we would have less than a 10% chance of natural conception. Talk about a buzz kill. Phillip just held my hand and smiled and said 10% is better than 0% and soon we headed home.
Recovery seemed to go well and after two weeks I was back out in the woods working with my homeless veterans. I was having a dull ache in my back on the right side but I just attributed that to normal recovery and kept pushing through the day. I mentioned it to Phillip a few times throughout the week but we didn't think much of it.
On April 26, 2012 I called Phillip from work and told him I was driving to Urgent Care. I felt like something was really wrong and I wanted to get checked out. Arriving at Urgent Care they advised me they needed to call an ambulance (which I refused) so I drove myself to Florida Hospital ER. Initially upon arrival the staff treated me pretty poorly and assumed that I couldn't possibly be hurting as much as I was because I wasn't crawling across the floor in tears. I told Phillip I would call when I knew what was going on and just to wait at home. They took me in for a CT and upon arrival back to my room the nurse notified me they were going to do an ultrasound "because it was part of the routine." That was probably the most painful thing I had ever endured. When I arrived back in my room in the ER ten staff members were waiting around. Something didn't seem right and within seconds I had a surgeon blurting out that the blood flow to my right ovary was obstructed due to torsion and they were going to have to remove it- especially if I had already been having this pain for a week. I burst into tears, called Phillip and my parents who rushed up from Tampa... This was just the beginning of our nightmare. All I could think was all of this thought, time, and money has been wasted. When the surgery was complete the doctor informed us that I had a very large fluid filled cyst on my ovary, they removed the cyst and sent the tissue for biopsy and they were able to save the ovary. Phew, talk about weight off of our shoulders. Thank you, God.
Fortunately this procedure was done laparoscopically so again the recovery time was quick and I would be back to work in a few weeks. Our follow up went well and my OBGYN (who was also the surgeon) stated that we should be clear to try to conceive after one normal period. Woohoo!!! By mid July we were cleared to try and so we did. With every month that passed it seemed like that would be the time, but all of our pregnancy tests were negative. We called Dr. Shaykh in Mid September and informed of all that had gone on and he said he wanted to see us back in Jax in October if we hadn't gotten a positive pregnancy test by then.
On October 8, 2012, before we could make it back to Jax I ended up back in the hospital. Same situation, same pain on the right side, same prognosis. A laparotomy was performed with the intention of removal of the ovary, but again there were large, fluid filled cysts that were removed and pockets that were sewn up. This time I was out of work much longer, unable to return until after Thanksgiving. At this point the surgeon referred us to a local Fertility Specialist in Orlando by the name of Dr. Jaffe. Her credentials were remarkable and we had great faith in the fact that she would give us good news.
In November 2012 we were scheduled for a HSG, the procedure that flushes dye through the tubes to verify function. Our results were poor. According to Dr. Jaffe the right tube was completely blocked and the left tube was pooling somewhere it shouldn't be. And on top of that my body was producing these large cysts on both ovaries again. We discussed our options and decided that we would begin birth control until my body could regulate itself. We continued to have biweekly trans-vaginal ultrasounds and it seemed like things were getting worse. Dr. Jaffe informed us that my egg count was critically low, between 5 and 7. She advised us that our only option for conception at this point would be IVF. In Florida our health insurance did not cover IVF or any fertility treatments for that matter, so we became pretty discouraged considering we had spent close to $10,000 on all the procedures and specialist visits up to this point. So we decided to take a break and begin again in about six months.
In July I was offered a wonderful job in Colorado so we decided to try something new and I accepted the position. We really needed change after our chain of events and this seemed perfect. The OBGYN decided to put in Mirena on July 25, 2013 to help control the cysts until we decided we were healed mentally and physically and completely ready.
On August 8, 2013, less than a month before our move I headed back to the ER in severe pain. I had a 6x7 cm cyst on my right ovary. The surgeon decided it was in my best interest at this point to completely remove the ovary and the tube via laparotomy. I was so frustrated and in so much pain that I really wanted her to do a complete hysterectomy, but she wouldn't. She wanted to give us a little more time to try to conceive. She advised us that we had less than a year at most because the cyst she removed was a "chocolate cyst" which meant that I likely had Endometriosis. She gave us options for Lupron injections but based off the side effects I opted to pass. We would try IVF, if possible, in the spring of 2014.
Today, December 26, 2013 I returned for an ultrasound due to pain on my left side. The pain is consistent with what I felt in the beginning of my issues with my right ovary. I am now forming cysts on the left ovary, similar to what was taking place on the right. I have two cysts, both over 5 cm that have formed despite my continuous use of birth control. That's the worst news to tell your husband... A man who has no biological children, who only wants one child of his own, the day after Christmas. I am fairly certain that we are probably nearing the end of our "Baby K" journey. At this point I have decided to reach out to our friends and family in hopes of reaching our goal before it is no longer an option. I am putting back every dime and praying we can beat the clock! My clock that is!!! God bless and wish us luck.
In December of 2011 we decided to begin our journey to expand our family. Unlike your "usual" newlyweds we knew from the get go we would have some obstacles to overcome. Our journey to have children wouldn't be easy and we had a lot of questions about what would be our best option so we scheduled an appointment with Fertility Specialist, Dr. Shaykh, in Jacksonville, FL.
In February 2012 we met with Dr. Shaykh and went through all kinds of assessments for both of us to ensure that we would make the most educated decision on how we should attempt to make a baby. After much discussion and reviewing of medical charts Dr. Shaykh said we would be great candidates for a tubal reversal. Tubal lengths were good, sperm count was good- we would have an 80-85% chance of conceiving on our own after the reversal. This was wonderful news for us! Now we could take our time and try when we wanted to and it also gave us the opportunity to have more than one child if we decided to. We set our appointment for the procedure to be done on April 5, 2012 and we paid cash up front with our savings. We were ready!!!
That day seemed like it took forever to arrive but when it did we were more than ready. We were living in Orlando, so we booked a room in Jax for the night before and headed in for our pre-op appointment. Early morning April 5th we headed in for the procedure. Dr. Shaykh seemed very positive going in and before we knew it the surgery was complete. I vaguely remember waking up with Phillip in the recovery room. He looked really frustrated... He held my hand and said the procedure didn't go so well, but that we shouldn't worry. When the doctor came in he told us there was something wrong with my tubes and that the length was not what it should've been. He said he wasn't sure if the procedure worked and even if it had we would have less than a 10% chance of natural conception. Talk about a buzz kill. Phillip just held my hand and smiled and said 10% is better than 0% and soon we headed home.
Recovery seemed to go well and after two weeks I was back out in the woods working with my homeless veterans. I was having a dull ache in my back on the right side but I just attributed that to normal recovery and kept pushing through the day. I mentioned it to Phillip a few times throughout the week but we didn't think much of it.
On April 26, 2012 I called Phillip from work and told him I was driving to Urgent Care. I felt like something was really wrong and I wanted to get checked out. Arriving at Urgent Care they advised me they needed to call an ambulance (which I refused) so I drove myself to Florida Hospital ER. Initially upon arrival the staff treated me pretty poorly and assumed that I couldn't possibly be hurting as much as I was because I wasn't crawling across the floor in tears. I told Phillip I would call when I knew what was going on and just to wait at home. They took me in for a CT and upon arrival back to my room the nurse notified me they were going to do an ultrasound "because it was part of the routine." That was probably the most painful thing I had ever endured. When I arrived back in my room in the ER ten staff members were waiting around. Something didn't seem right and within seconds I had a surgeon blurting out that the blood flow to my right ovary was obstructed due to torsion and they were going to have to remove it- especially if I had already been having this pain for a week. I burst into tears, called Phillip and my parents who rushed up from Tampa... This was just the beginning of our nightmare. All I could think was all of this thought, time, and money has been wasted. When the surgery was complete the doctor informed us that I had a very large fluid filled cyst on my ovary, they removed the cyst and sent the tissue for biopsy and they were able to save the ovary. Phew, talk about weight off of our shoulders. Thank you, God.
Fortunately this procedure was done laparoscopically so again the recovery time was quick and I would be back to work in a few weeks. Our follow up went well and my OBGYN (who was also the surgeon) stated that we should be clear to try to conceive after one normal period. Woohoo!!! By mid July we were cleared to try and so we did. With every month that passed it seemed like that would be the time, but all of our pregnancy tests were negative. We called Dr. Shaykh in Mid September and informed of all that had gone on and he said he wanted to see us back in Jax in October if we hadn't gotten a positive pregnancy test by then.
On October 8, 2012, before we could make it back to Jax I ended up back in the hospital. Same situation, same pain on the right side, same prognosis. A laparotomy was performed with the intention of removal of the ovary, but again there were large, fluid filled cysts that were removed and pockets that were sewn up. This time I was out of work much longer, unable to return until after Thanksgiving. At this point the surgeon referred us to a local Fertility Specialist in Orlando by the name of Dr. Jaffe. Her credentials were remarkable and we had great faith in the fact that she would give us good news.
In November 2012 we were scheduled for a HSG, the procedure that flushes dye through the tubes to verify function. Our results were poor. According to Dr. Jaffe the right tube was completely blocked and the left tube was pooling somewhere it shouldn't be. And on top of that my body was producing these large cysts on both ovaries again. We discussed our options and decided that we would begin birth control until my body could regulate itself. We continued to have biweekly trans-vaginal ultrasounds and it seemed like things were getting worse. Dr. Jaffe informed us that my egg count was critically low, between 5 and 7. She advised us that our only option for conception at this point would be IVF. In Florida our health insurance did not cover IVF or any fertility treatments for that matter, so we became pretty discouraged considering we had spent close to $10,000 on all the procedures and specialist visits up to this point. So we decided to take a break and begin again in about six months.
In July I was offered a wonderful job in Colorado so we decided to try something new and I accepted the position. We really needed change after our chain of events and this seemed perfect. The OBGYN decided to put in Mirena on July 25, 2013 to help control the cysts until we decided we were healed mentally and physically and completely ready.
On August 8, 2013, less than a month before our move I headed back to the ER in severe pain. I had a 6x7 cm cyst on my right ovary. The surgeon decided it was in my best interest at this point to completely remove the ovary and the tube via laparotomy. I was so frustrated and in so much pain that I really wanted her to do a complete hysterectomy, but she wouldn't. She wanted to give us a little more time to try to conceive. She advised us that we had less than a year at most because the cyst she removed was a "chocolate cyst" which meant that I likely had Endometriosis. She gave us options for Lupron injections but based off the side effects I opted to pass. We would try IVF, if possible, in the spring of 2014.
Today, December 26, 2013 I returned for an ultrasound due to pain on my left side. The pain is consistent with what I felt in the beginning of my issues with my right ovary. I am now forming cysts on the left ovary, similar to what was taking place on the right. I have two cysts, both over 5 cm that have formed despite my continuous use of birth control. That's the worst news to tell your husband... A man who has no biological children, who only wants one child of his own, the day after Christmas. I am fairly certain that we are probably nearing the end of our "Baby K" journey. At this point I have decided to reach out to our friends and family in hopes of reaching our goal before it is no longer an option. I am putting back every dime and praying we can beat the clock! My clock that is!!! God bless and wish us luck.
Organizer
Ashley Kondracki
Organizer
Greeley, CO
