Monday, August 8, 2016

Estradiol Levels

We started the stimulating meds on Saturday. The tentative plan was for the shots on Sat and Sun to contain four vials of meds and then decrease to three vials for Mon - Wed. I was scheduled for blood work this morning and blood work and an ultrasound on Wednesday. After the blood work this morning, I got a call from the doctor saying my estradiol levels were a little high ("which is perfectly okay!"), so they want me to decrease to two vials tomorrow and come in a day early for the ultrasound.

They told me that my estradiol level was 327 which means absolutely nothing to me, so I did some googling and it seems that most women are at or near 100 after three days of stimming. Of course, everyone has a different IVF protocol, with different meds, etc, so who knows what the actual "normal" level is. I can tell something is going on because I haven't been feeling great today: I didn't sleep well, my ovaries feel sore, and I've head a headache since the afternoon which just won't go away. If these are side effects of the meds and/or high estrogen levels, then I will have to live with them for another week since my egg retrieval is tentatively scheduled for Monday. Here's hoping at least the headache goes away before then.

On a side note, I also had my post-op appointment for my polypectomy this morning. (Yes, I had a busy morning!). The doctor I met with was the one who did the first surgery. He acted confounded by the quick reappearance of the polyps and wondered aloud whether they were "compressed" during his surgery. I could tell he felt a bit guilty. He was glad to hear that we are doing IVF and said good things about the IVF doctor. I mentioned the cost and he said my doctor is pretty affordable (as far as IVF goes) and then mentioned that his friends in GA had spent upwards of $120K on IVF cycles. Who has that kind of money laying around for IVF?! I guess it's a small blessing that the one place within an hour of us approved by my insurance is significantly more "affordable"!

1 comment:

  1. No one. No one has that kind of money laying around for IVF. Thank goodness for small blessings!

    I'm glad that things are going pretty well, considering! Hang in there!!

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