We have chosen over the past year to keep the struggles of infertility to ourselves and our families. However, when we found out that I would need surgery, we requested the prayers of the church. We still did not give much information, though. Please know that we have only kept things quiet because it is a difficult topic for me to talk about. I know that there are people who have struggled with similar problems for much longer than a year, so I feel a little silly being so down about our struggles. Even so, it is not an easy situation to deal with.
Many have asked why we are going to Houston and what the surgery is for. So, I wanted to share with you what the surgery is about. I have chosen to only share this post (via facebook) with members of the church. We are going to Houston because there is a Dr. there that specializes in the treatment of polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD), which is what I have been diagnosed with, among other issues. You can click the Caritas link below to read about the Dr and her office.
Here is our treatment plan as well as details about the type of surgery I will be having:
-I have been on a dairy free, gluten free diet over the past 7 weeks. This is an anti-inflammatory diet that has hopefully helped with the inflammation of my ovaries.
-I have been using the Creighton Model Charting System. http://www.creightonmodel.com/
-On Thursday the Dr. will do the Ovarian Wedge Resection, Laser surgery for Endometriosis (if she finds that I have endometriosis), selective hystero-salpingography, and a hysteroscopy (scope inside uterus).
The surgery will be laparoscopic and should last 2-3 hours. The recovery time is expected to be 2-4 weeks. Hopefully the recovery will be closer to the 2 week mark than the 4 week. :)
I have included some websites with more information if you are interested.
http://www.naprotechnology.com/surgical.htm
http://www.caritasfertilitycare.com/naprotechnology.php
ANTICIPATED RESULTS
Following the wedge resection, the cycles tend to become more regular again in about 80 percent of cases. Ovulation becomes more effective and Clomid can still be used but, in this case, at much lower doses.
Because women who have polycystic ovaries often have very long cycles, their risk of cancer of uterus and breast in increased. Cancer of the uterus, in particular, may occur in as many as 25 percent of these women. This is due to the continuous, prolonged stimulation of estrogen in the absence of progesterone (which happens with these long and irregular cycles). Progesterone can be administered on a cyclic basis to prevent this from happening.
After a wedge resection and when the cycles become more regular (in 80 percent of the cases), there is a natural regulation of the cycle because ovulation is now occurring more regularly, there are no longer prolonged episodes of estrogen stimulation and progesterone is produced on a regular basis thus preventing cancer of the uterus and breast.
In addition, while the male hormones are often elevated in women with Polycystic Ovarian Disease, and it requires medication to keep them down, these hormone levels decrease with wedge resection.
Finally, this is a procedure which, while improving a woman’s health, also results in regular menstrual cycle with regular ovulation and an improvement in fertility. The pregnancy rate following this procedure is nearly 70 percent in the experience of the Pope Paul VI Institute.
We greatly appreciate your prayers and support at this time. Please also pray that whatever the results may be, we will always trust in the Lord and His plan. We will try to keep you updated when I come out of surgery on Thursday.
We'll keep you in our prayers!
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