Wednesday, December 12, 2012

hCG Dropping Slowly... Along with my Blood Supply

I saw Dr. Youman on Monday, as suggested by my RE to discuss possible reasons for miscarriage and to order further testing. He asked me plenty of questions, and as usual right off the bat says, "You have quite a few things here that concern me." I could have predicted that one! Anytime you tell a dr. that your dad died at age 47 from cancer, your mom at 52 from cancer, and also your grandmother from cancer, they don't take a liking to that. However, I was not here to talk about cancer necessarily. I was here to uncover any unknown reasons that could cause miscarriage in the future. You see, outside of being an oncologist, Dr.Youman is supposedly the man when it comes to hematology and knows about all things blood related. My RE often refers to him for more in depth testing of clotting disorders and autoimmune stuff for women who have lost more than once pregnancy.

Upon first meeting this guy, I wouldn't have known what to think of him had I not already known he'd helped Lance Armstrong beat cancer. There are pics of Lance all over his office, and I couldn't help but get a little choked up thinking of all that cancer patients go through battling this horrific disease. By the way... If you haven't read It's Not About the Bike, I highly recommend it. It's one of my favorite books of all time. If you really want some inspiration and a reason to put on your big girl panties, that is the book for you! I linked the whole first chapter above for your reading pleasure.

Seriously though, Dr. Youman is extremely old school, scribbling everything illegibly on a half sheet of torn computer paper, and that is "your file."  haha!  He agreed that because I already tested positive for cardiolipin antibody, that I should do further testing for other related clotting disorders and autoimmune diseases. Off I went to their in-house lab to give 15 MORE VIALS OF BLOOD. Gasp! As of Friday, I will have given 24 vials of blood in one week, but who's counting? Honestly, I'm happy keep giving blood until I'm blue if it gives me answers on things I can keep an eye on going forward. If I have risk factors, I want to know about them so I can take precautionary measures to prevent any miscarriages in the future. I go back next week on Monday to meet with Dr. Youman and discuss the findings of the additional testing.

My first hCG results following the MTX shot came back yesterday. hCG went down to 196 from 207. This is progress, but the 2nd test done post-MTX shot (two days from now) will be kind of crucial. They want to see a 15% decrease in the next result to show enough progress to avoid having a second dose of MTX. It needs to drop about 30 points to be considered enough progress. I had quite a bit of pain and bleeding on Monday and a huge mass of tissue that passed (sorry TMI), a little bit of bleeding on Tuesday, and now just back to spotting with no cramps at all, so I'm hoping what they call "tissue separation" has already occurred and that hCG levels will continue to plummet fast! I do NOT want that second shot, nor do I want surgery, so please pray for me that these levels drop faster than a hoochie mama in a Fifty Cent video! 

Speaking of politically incorrect things, I found something I would like for Christmas and figured you all might appreciate it. What a spectacular stocking stuffer...



How funny is that?! I may become a target of hate crimes or at minimum toilet papering if I put that on my vehicle in my small town family friendly Texas neighborhood. I'm almost willing to take the chance though, I like it so much. Seriously, this is a pretty hard time of year with all the family holiday cheer going on. Forgive me if I need to find a way to laugh amidst my own debacle of trying to start a family. I've got to find a way to keep it light, and if a chainsaw chasing the annoyingly perfect family and stroller won't do that, then I don't know what will!

15 comments:

  1. I am so sorry to hear about your parents' passing :( I hope your HCG drops SO fast.... so you can move on without surgery, etc. Good luck with all the testing. So sorry you're going through this.

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  2. OMG. After the day I have had, I just laughed out loud at that decal. YES PLEASE!!

    My measly 2 vials of blood in the past 2 days are nothing. I kinda feel like poo for even mentioning them. I'm so glad that you are seeing wonderful specialists. I think this is a huge step for you in getting your body completely ready for your IVF cycle and subsequent BFP!

    Girly, I am cheering for you all the way. Super loud. With pom-poms.

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  3. THAT sticker is priceless! I cringe when I see those stick figures. And this is one rare time when it's not b/c I'm jealous. It's just stupid! Like those dumb "baby on board" signs. Is it ok for me to run into a car that doesn't have one? I should respect your life more because there's a baby on board? Ok, my dumb rant. Fingers crossed for the HCG plummet and for good blood results.

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  4. I need to don a pair of big girl panties these days. I've been pretty mopey since our first failed IUI this weekend. I will check out that book. And yes. The stick figure phase needs to die. Die hard.

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  5. You ladies are cracking me up! I'm glad I'm not the only one who could do without the stick figure phenomenon going on lately....

    'not because I'm jealous. It's just stupid!" Love it! I think the same thing about the baby on board signs. Oh, better drive EXTRA careful around that vehicle. There's a baby on board! Paleez ;)

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  6. Hahaha! I would totally put that on my car! Its quite priceless.

    I'm praying that you don't have to take another MTX shot and this one would do the job. Sounds like you have two great doctors willing to take that extra step to help you out.

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  7. Love the sticker! Praying your levels decrease like they should.

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  8. Praying that the Dr can find an easy problem to fix so when you are off your MTX break you can get your sticky rainbow baby!

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  9. I LOVE the decal!! I need to get something like that, LOL! I'm glad the levels are dropping, hoping they are at 0 soon and also hoping that you most def do not need another mtx shot. *hugs*

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  10. Omg, I need one of those decals. EVERYONE puts them on their cars here and it drives me nuts! Both the husband and I can't figure out why you'd want to broadcast personal details about your family on a car. I bet they're all the same people who freak out about every little thing in the news and talk about how "bad" times are now. Don't hand out information for strangers to use if you're so worried about it! The ones that make the stick kids something specific, like hockey players, bother me even more. Way to pigeonhole your kids based on what they like at 5, dude. Anyway, rant over. I would think you were totally awesome if you put that on your car.

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  11. I like your sticker! I can't stand those stick figures family things. They are creepy, lol

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  12. My husband and I saw one of those "happy family" sticker sets once on a car that clearly belonged to a divorced dad. There was a big gap where the mom had been, but you could still see the outline of where she had been ripped off. It was kinda sad but I couldn't help but laugh at it!

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  13. Omg that bumper sticker is AMAZING!! And so is your comment about dropping faster than a hoochie mama... hahaha. I'm sure with that clump of tissue passing, your HCG will decrease substantially now. I actually got 2 shots of MTX right off the bat for my ectopic and when it kicked in, it hurt LIKE A MOTHER. And yeah, how ironic that with all your family history of cancer, you now get stuck taking a freakin' chemo drug. Ugh. At least it sounds like you've got some awesome doctors on your case... so curious to see what all those blood vials reveal. Have you asked about Lovenox at all? That seems to be what everyone with autoimmune issues gets put on...

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  14. Emily,
    Been praying that your numbers are dropping like "a hoochie mama" (totally made me laugh) and that tomorrow's blood results uncover another piece of the puzzle for you. Sounds like you have some GREAT doctors surrounding you, so I have no doubt that you are in the very best hands and a strong and better gameplan and understanding of your body will come out of this. A better understanding that will lead you to your baby, finally. This is what I have been praying for. Keeping my fingers crossed for you and tomorrow's appt.

    Hugs,
    Kara
    www.waitingonbabyb.wordpress.com

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  15. I've been following your blog for a little while after finding the link on Baby Center (I'm username Kearazy on there). I hope the hcg levels continue to drop and I'm glad that this new doctor may provide some more insight to help you for next time.

    I could never put it on my car, but I love that bumper sticker! I think the stick figure families are so stupid. Even worse was the one I saw that had just a woman and no joke, like 12 cats.

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