Saturday, June 25, 2011

Resolve Fertitliy Panel

This morning Mr. P and I went to a Resolve Fertility Panel that was held at a library right near our house. Our Resolve group leader had been talking about it for a while and I thought it would be interesting to go. I have to say that I was very impressed with it. I didn't really know how much I would get out of it since we already going through IVF treatments, but it was nice.
There were about 8 ladies there who were on the panel. Each one spoke about different aspects of IF and where IF had taken them. The journey's ranged from IUI, IVF, IVF with donor eggs, IVF with donor sperm, and living child free. Some of the ladies had been successful, some had not and were living child free, some were not and had moved on to adoption, some were dealing with secondary IF, and some were still undergoing treatment. The group leader also discussed ways to cope with IF, and the stresses that IF can put on your relationship emotionally and financially. There were even handout regarding local resources like acupuncturist and counselors who deal with IF.
I think most beneficial for me was the portion on dealing with IF. Right now I think that Mr. P and I would agree that IF seems to be taking over my life. I am spending so much time focusing on what I don't have, that I am losing sight of all that I do have. Two things that were discussed today really resonated with me. The first is that it is not my fault that I suffer from IF and that these cycles have not worked. IF treatments are kind of like the lottery and if I played the lottery and lost I wouldn't be blaming myself, so I can't blame myself for the treatments not working. I am doing ALL THAT I CAN DO!!!
Second, was that I have to see myself for who I am, not just who I want to be. In other words, I might not ever become a parent, but there is still more that I can offer the world. I dont' think that I'm paraphrasing that very well, but hopefully the point is clear. The group leader challenged us to make two five year plans. One if we are successful with treatments, and one if we are not. I think that will be very hard to do.
Another good thing (for me) that came out of the panel, was that another lady attending the session had decided to stop treatment and is moving on to adoption. Since she will not be cycling again and she had leftover meds from her last cycle, she was willing to give them away. She had Menopur and Ganirelix that she didn't need anymore. I told her that we wouldn't be cycling again until September/October so if there was someone cycling before that then they could have it, but she said since no one else asked, I could have it! I was super excited. I don't really know how much Menopur or Ganirelix cost, but since she gave me 5 250 vials of Ganirelix, I am sure that I won't need to order any of that. She only had two vials of the Menopur, and I don't know if they can split up the box of 5, but I hope they can and that saves me some money as well. She also had a trigger shot that she wants to donate, but it was in her fridge and she didn't want to bring it.
I found out that she lives right around the corner from me (literally - we both could have walked to the library today. In fact she did but Mr. P and I are lazy) so we are hoping that we can meet up and get together sometime to talk about things. So, all in all it was a great morning!

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