We both made appointments to see our PCP individually…

For me, it was the general questions, how long have you been trying?  what are your periods like? are they regular? so you have unusual facial hair growth on your chin? She was fishing for signs of PCOS, which I hadn’t ruled out myself.  I exhibited most of the signs, except for the facial hair growth and that my hormones which had been previously been tested came back at normal levels.  PCOS causes a slew of problems, one of them being infertility and because of this she suggested both an internal/pelvic ultrasound and a traditional one as well that would take a look at both my Ovaries and my Uterus.  She was awesome and even coded it differently so that it would fall under a different category other than infertility, that way it was 100% covered, rather than at the 50%.  I was so thankful, realizing that the bills would start adding up once we had the infertility testing and treatments.

Kaiser is amazing, and the referral process is so seamless, everything is digital, and the communication between departments is on point.  I didn’t have to call to make the appointment, they called me and even had a weekend appointment available so I didn’t have to miss work.  I was instructed to drink 2 full cups of water and not to empty my bladder until after the ultrasound, this was the worst part.  Although I didn’t have to wait long to be called in for my appointment, not emptying my bladder after about an hour (with travel and waiting) became super uncomfortable.  Finally I was called in, I don’t remember is Jon couldn’t come in, or I just told him to wait outside, but it was just me in the exam room with the ultrasound tech.  She was so sweet, she did the external ultrasound first followed by the internal ultrasound.  She explained that everything looked good but that the Doctor would have to go over the results with me.  I told her about my infertility struggles and she was so comforting, explaining her struggles as well.  She told me that I should request an Hysterosalpingogram (HSG), that she had one and was able to conceive shortly after.  For those of you who don’t know an HSG test is essentially an x-ray test performed where dye is injected into the Uterus.  This dye flows through the Uterus into your Fallopian tubes and checks not only for a blockage in the Fallopian tubes but also shows the shape of the Uterus which helps to determine if any abnormalities are present.

I waited very impatiently for the results and after about a week or so, I got the e-mail from my Doctor, everything came back clear, the ultrasound showed no abnormalities.  This pretty much ruled out any possibility of PCOS, they did not find any cysts, a tell tale sign of this disease.  I was so grateful, but it also meant that something else was awry.  I replied to the e-mail and explained I wanted to move forward with the HSG testing, but was told I needed to see an OBGYN to move forward with that.  Then some devastating things happened, things that are not my own to share, so I will leave this there.  Needless to say, other things took priority, and rightfully so.  My infertility saga was put on hold once again but only very temporarily.

Fast forward to 2018, I made an appointment with my OBGYN for a yearly exam and spoke to her then about getting a referral for an HSG, she explained that I would need to get a referral to the infertility clinic in order to move forward with that testing, and that several other tests would be done as well.  This was a BIG step, before this, I could hide, pretend like nothing was really wrong with me, but this, this made it all too real.  The OBGYN went over the same questions my PCP did, except in a little more detail, to see if I was a candidate.  Of course my weight came up, I was expecting that, it seems to be the first thing Doctors go to.  “Well if you lost weight, you know your chances of getting pregnant would increase significantly,” she said, as she handed me a chart that broke it down.  “Yes, I know the statistics, I have read all about them,” I replied.  “I’ve started this Keto Diet,” I continued, “I have lost 24 pounds.”  I went on to explain that I wasn’t always this fat, that I was much lighter for several years in the beginning of our relationship and that I wasn’t able to get pregnant then either.  I get it, they are Doctors, their job is to make sure they explain the risks associated with things like this, they are supposed to encourage me to live a healthier lifestyle, yadda, yadda.  I just hate the feeling that they are writing me off because I am fat, I know myself, I know my body and while being fat may be a contributing factor, it isn’t the factor.  Okay, end rant.  She entered the referral, and I awaited the call to schedule our very first infertility appointment.

xoxo – angie