Medical and Surrogacy Fund
Donation protected
Hi There!
After Tim and I married in June 2015, we were eager and excited to start the family we had been dreaming of. Six months later I started having severe pain in my pelvic area. In a matter of two months, I had been to the ER six times with the same pain. It was during our last visit that we were informed the pain was caused by endometriosis and there was an endometrioma the size of an egg around my colon.
Endometriosis is when tissue from inside of the uterus grows on the outside. It grows and spreads from estrogen. It can grow and attch itself to many parts of the body.
I was diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 20, and was put on birth control to manage it. I was unaware how severe it really was. I had my first surgery in January of 2016, however, they could not remove all of the endo.
I met two amazing doctors, an endo specialist and colorectal surgeon. I was placed on an injection called Lupron, which puts a woman through a temporary state of menopause. The hope was to not only stop the endo from growing, but shrink it. After an 11 hour surgery in Aug of 2016, I was told I was endo free, but would need a temporary illeostomy bag. They removed a section of my colon and restructured my large intenstine. Because of the recovery time, I could not teach this school year.
In November of 2016 I had surgery to reverse the illeostomy bag. My surgeon said it could take up to two years for my bowels to be completely healed and functioning normally.
Nevertheless, after 6 weeks I was told I could stop Lupron and start the IVF process. After a week of my stimulation injections, I started having intense pain. Somehow I made it through and was able to have my egg retrieval. However, due to being on Lupron for so long, my body was not ready for an embryo transfer. We had to freeze our embryos.
In January I started my injections for a frozen embryo transfer. The same pain came back. I went back to the ER twice for pain management before I was told the endo had come back.
My doctors were shocked. They called me a medical mystery. They said in their 30 years they had never seen a woman have their endo come back so quickly. Not only did it resurface so quickly, but it came back in spots it had never been before. The surgeons said because of the location of the new endo, it will be a very risky surgery and that there was no team in Chicago to take it on. I will be having this surgery in June at the Cleveland Clinic. The most difficult news I recieved was that I would not be able to have children.
Tim and I have decided to use our frozen embryos for surrogacy. Between this expense ($50,000-$70,000), me being unable to work, and the medical bills, we have had to make the difficult decision to sell our house.
Endometriosis is a chronic disease. It will always come back. I will continue to have surgeries and deal with pain managment for the rest of my life. But through all the pain, surgeries, and procedures over the last year and a half, nothing has stopped us from wanting to be parents. And surrogacy could finally enable us to be just that.
Thank you for taking the time to read about our journey. We greatly appreciate any donation that can help us with surrogacy or our medical bills. Your support during this time is something we hold close to our hearts.
Warmly,
Sarah and Tim Mondl
After Tim and I married in June 2015, we were eager and excited to start the family we had been dreaming of. Six months later I started having severe pain in my pelvic area. In a matter of two months, I had been to the ER six times with the same pain. It was during our last visit that we were informed the pain was caused by endometriosis and there was an endometrioma the size of an egg around my colon.
Endometriosis is when tissue from inside of the uterus grows on the outside. It grows and spreads from estrogen. It can grow and attch itself to many parts of the body.
I was diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 20, and was put on birth control to manage it. I was unaware how severe it really was. I had my first surgery in January of 2016, however, they could not remove all of the endo.
I met two amazing doctors, an endo specialist and colorectal surgeon. I was placed on an injection called Lupron, which puts a woman through a temporary state of menopause. The hope was to not only stop the endo from growing, but shrink it. After an 11 hour surgery in Aug of 2016, I was told I was endo free, but would need a temporary illeostomy bag. They removed a section of my colon and restructured my large intenstine. Because of the recovery time, I could not teach this school year.
In November of 2016 I had surgery to reverse the illeostomy bag. My surgeon said it could take up to two years for my bowels to be completely healed and functioning normally.
Nevertheless, after 6 weeks I was told I could stop Lupron and start the IVF process. After a week of my stimulation injections, I started having intense pain. Somehow I made it through and was able to have my egg retrieval. However, due to being on Lupron for so long, my body was not ready for an embryo transfer. We had to freeze our embryos.
In January I started my injections for a frozen embryo transfer. The same pain came back. I went back to the ER twice for pain management before I was told the endo had come back.
My doctors were shocked. They called me a medical mystery. They said in their 30 years they had never seen a woman have their endo come back so quickly. Not only did it resurface so quickly, but it came back in spots it had never been before. The surgeons said because of the location of the new endo, it will be a very risky surgery and that there was no team in Chicago to take it on. I will be having this surgery in June at the Cleveland Clinic. The most difficult news I recieved was that I would not be able to have children.
Tim and I have decided to use our frozen embryos for surrogacy. Between this expense ($50,000-$70,000), me being unable to work, and the medical bills, we have had to make the difficult decision to sell our house.
Endometriosis is a chronic disease. It will always come back. I will continue to have surgeries and deal with pain managment for the rest of my life. But through all the pain, surgeries, and procedures over the last year and a half, nothing has stopped us from wanting to be parents. And surrogacy could finally enable us to be just that.
Thank you for taking the time to read about our journey. We greatly appreciate any donation that can help us with surrogacy or our medical bills. Your support during this time is something we hold close to our hearts.
Warmly,
Sarah and Tim Mondl
Organizer
Sarah Mondl
Organizer
Rolling Meadows, IL
