When It Rains, It Pours

The idle time of waiting for some sort of progress with doctors has dramatically shifted into a busy week. Here was my today:

5:45 am – Woke up and took ovulation test.
A little background on this ovulation test: It’s the digital kind from Clear Blue Easy. It counts the days and tells you which days to test. There are three phases: low (no surge in hormones); high (hormones starting to surge, leading to ovulation), peak (you should ovulate within 24-36 hours). This is the first month I have used it and as of yesterday we were at day 25 and still hitting the low mark. I was getting discouraged. Is it broken? Am I broken? Do my hormones really not do what they are supposed to and that’s been the problem all along?

Today the test came back as "peak". Good Grief! How did we miss “high”? (I may have messed up a little with the tester, I now know better.) And to put the cherry on top, Jim is out of town. He hasn’t travelled for work in nearly eight months and has been so antsy about that. He finally gets a two day trip and I hit peak right in the middle of it. He’s right – God really has a sick sense of humor.

My primary doctor gave me a referral for an ultra sound to be done when I think I’m ovulating. Since I can’t ever tell physically, I have been waiting for the monitor to tell me. So now I have to decide if I should try to go in today or tomorrow

7:00 am – Go to the lab to have the blood tests for endocrinologist.
I was afraid it was going to be ten vials like one of my girlfriends had which made her pass out. Luckily it was only two.

7:55 am – Call to schedule ultrasound.
They couldn’t get me in tomorrow and were looking at next week. I explained my situation and I was put on hold. She comes back on the phone and asks if I can be there at 10:15 am today. So now my day is starting to flip upside down, but as Tim Gunn says, I will “make it work”. She explains the prep I need to do by drinking water.

9:07 am – Received call from Dr. K (the liver doctor I like)
Have I mentioned how much I like him? He just starts off with some really friendly banter. I essentially just wanted to open up the questions again regarding fertility treatments / Clomid. Since my liver has been doing pretty good for six months, what is his opinion now? Essentially he is going to consult with another doctor and get back to me hopefully within a week. There is concern that the medication could affect my liver; but conversely, being pregnant sends the PSC symptoms into remission. So it’s a fine line.

I also re-asked the question to him regarding being sick last month and when I should be concerned. He asked me if I had some specific symptoms – all of which were “no” – and then said that those symptoms are really the ones to be concerned about being PSC related. Otherwise my body is just fighting harder when I get sick. Now, why couldn’t Dr. Stupid-Head have told me that? That was the answer I needed!!

9:15 am – Start drinking water

10:15 am – Arrive at medical center

10:35 am – REALLY HAVE TO PEE!

10:45 am – Ultrasound
The technician was very friendly but I wanted to kick her in the shin every time she pushed on my bladder. It’s a very sadistic procedure, especially for someone with a “pea-size bladder” as my husband always likes to tell me.