Tales from the Fertility Specialist

The Fertility Specialist Pre-Op

From my last post, you know that after a painful test, I was referred to a fertility specialist. I had also found out that the reason I was not getting pregnant was that my fallopian tubes were blocked. Basic anatomy shows that if the tubes are blocked, the egg cannot meet up with her friend, the sperm.

After meeting with my fertility specialist, the only option for me to have a baby was in vitro fertilization. However, before we could even think about starting that process, I had to have my non-performing tubes vacated. Alrighty then! If that is what we need to do then Bye Felicia – – see ya never. I got it scheduled and was ready for my pre-op appointment.

I am the type of woman that makes fun of myself before someone else gets the chance. The crazy things I do without realizing just makes me laugh and I might as well share with others. With that thought in mind, you will understand why I must share this story. I had one of the most embarrassing moments EVER during my pre-op appointment.

My nurse, Ruth, was a funny and fabulous woman. Her dry sense of humor helped so much during a stressful situation. She started off telling me about how we were going to remove these non performing fallopian tubes. My procedure was laparoscopic so I was not going to have a huge scar from this surgery. Sounded good to me!

Ruth then told me that the night before I needed to shave so they could access the incision points easier. My doctor will make one incision in my belly button and two right above my pelvis area, thus why I needed to shave the top of my pubic area. I started laughing! Having never had a laparoscopic procedure, I figured they would go up through my hoo-haa and do what they needed! I told Ruth that I am so glad she clarified because I would have shaved my “lower” region like I was having my yearly exam. She just looked at me like I had two heads.

The next directive is that I am to give myself an enema the night before. She looks me dead in the eyes and tells me “Lisa, the enema needs to go in your anus”. Ummm!!!! Thank you Ruth, I kind of figured that out. Her reply to me was “well you did not get the shaving correctly, I figured I better be specific with the enema”. Mike drop.

The Surgery

Oh ladies! I cannot begin to tell you the feelings I had right before I went in for surgery. I felt like I was getting spayed and I wanted children. I liked my doctor, did my own research, and I agreed with this procedure. But, I was having key reproductive organs removed when I wanted kids. Try wrapping your brain around that when you are going under. I had faith that this was the right thing to do, said a prayer, took a deep breath, and I was out. Thankfully, the surgery a success.

The recovery process for this was hard for me. I was in a lot of pain and it took longer for me to start getting around than I had expected. My doctor said that most women have these types of procedures on a Friday and are back to work on Monday. Who are these wonder women? It took me a couple of weeks to get myself too feeling somewhat normal. However, it was behind me and time to move forward.

The actual in vitro process is a physical and mental challenge. There is such an emotional component to it that unless you have experienced it, trying to explain is hard. I was dealing with my body not doing what is was created to do, procreate. Having the ability to use drugs, doctors, and no physical intimacy to create life is amazing. However, this being my only option created some real body shaming for me.

In the next segment, I will share the first step in my in vitro process.