My Fertility Plan Blog: Your Conception Action Plan

Chris and Maddie's Amazing Adventure: counting down...

Monday 3/2/09       

 

WE ARE FINALLY HOME....... YAY!!!!!

 

 

What an absolute nightmare! Chris was scheduled for "fairly" routine brain surgery and was originally scheduled to be released to go home on Sat pm. Now due to the on- call Dr. being such a slacker and not taking care of Chris's pain issues right away, we have lost two precious days that we can never get back. Am I angry about it? Hell yeah, I'm angry about it.

 

But you know, there's nothing I can do to get those days back, so I have decided to quit wasting my energy on worrying about and focusing on being thankful that we are home and moving forward.

 

Chris is feeling fairly good today and is grateful to be home. He is tired, but that is to be expected after the past two tumultous days we have experienced. To recap- After dealing with myself and Momma (Chris's mom and one of my best friends), the on-call Dr. finally saw it our way late Sunday evening and changed Chris pain meds regime to reflect what he was already taking at home. Miraculosy (go figure) Chris seemed to improve overnight.

 

He is still very weak, but it is quite drastic in the difference it has made in Chris's attitude and Will to fight now that he is comfortable and back in his own home. So far, the sutures seem to be healing quite well and we are scheduled to go back next Wed 3/11 for suture removal and a check up.

 

Keep your fingers crossed that the cancer is sleeping and won't wake back up.

 

On the Baby Front:

 

I can't believe we are officially on the countdown now~ 16 days and counting before our babies will be coming home (in the womb)!!

 

My ultrasound last Friday went very well and I am scheduled for my saline sonohistogram next Friday 3/13. So far everything looks really good!!  I am settling back into taking my meds daily and so far the shots haven't been too bad, in fact they are better than I remember.

 

"Come On Lord, we almost there, just keep us calm as possible and keep us on track... Amen"

News from GA Legislature: Results

Georgia's SB 169 will limit not only the number of embryos that can be transferred but the number of eggs that can be fertilized with IVF. SB 169 could very well end the practice of IVF in the state of Georgia.

A public hearing is being held by the Georgia Senate Health & Human Services Committee on Thursday, March 5 at 9 AM in the State Capitol building. Physicians and patient advocates will present testimony against the passage of SB 169, which is seen as a knee-jerk over-reaction to the Nadya Suleman-Michael Kamrava Octuplets Fiasco.

Evelina Sterling is at the state house this morning and will be sending updates as they happen.  Stay tuned....

The hearings were...contentious and for now, we can breathe a sigh of relief.  Evelina will explain in greater detail later, but the bill has gone to subcommittee, and may be addressed in the fall.  Embryo adoption bill still on the table for today...

You are on twitter, right?  That's the best place to get up to the minute news.  Follow us @myfertilityplan

Chris and Maddie's Amazing Adventure: Finally In a Room.....

Saturday 2/28/09

 

Finally In a Room.....

 

Today has been a major disappointment, after seeing Chris feeling so much better yesterday, you would hardly recognize him today. He is in so much pain that he has been sleeping for most of the day and isn't really interested in eating anything, and the worst part is that the pain is not caused as a result of his surgery, but of the doctors not prescribing enough medication to be administer to control the pain caused from the other tumors throughout his body. I am still fighting the doctor to switch Chris pain regime to the pain meds he is taking at home. I almost think he might be going into withdrawal, if they don't do something soon, I may just have to start administering his meds myself.

 

This is so not good, I hope they fix this problem soon 'cause if not the hospital REALLY doesn't want to be introduced to "the wrath of Maddie." 

 

Trust me it's not advisable and really not pretty......

IVF at Risk in Georgia

Dear Georgia Residents,

RESOLVE: the National Infertility Association needs your urgent and immediate action on a bill introduced in the Georgia State Senate. The Bill is SB 169 and would severely impact the ability for a patient to receive treatment for infertility in Georgia.

Senate Bill 169 would restrict doctors' ability to perform IVF in accordance with best medical standards.  Here are the key provisions:
-  No more than 2 or 3 eggs could ever be fertilized in a cycle; if a woman produced more eggs, they still could not be used.
-  Only 2 embryos could ever be transferred to the uterus, unless the woman is age 40 or over (then a max of 3).
-  No extra embryos could be cryopreserved.  If they are created, they have to be transferred.
-  No financial relief, such as insurance coverage, is proposed to help with the added financial burden of using less effective treatment.  Patients will still have to pay out of pocket for less effective treatment.
- Bans all financial compensation for donor gametes, such as egg donor, sperm donor, or embryo donation, which would greatly reduce the pool of available donors in Georgia.

The Georgia Senate Health & Human Services Committee will hold a hearing on this bill: SB 169 this Thursday, March 5, at 9:00 AM in Room 450 of the State Capitol. At the hearing, the committee will hear testimony on the bill.  RESOLVE will be testifying as will a number of physicians in Georgia.  RESOLVE and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) oppose. this bill and consider it bad medicine for infertility patients. The hearing is open to the public and RESOLVE encourages you to attend the hearing and send a letter to the Committee members before Thursday. To send a letter immediately, click here:

https://secure2.convio.net/res/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=219

RESOLVE is asking Georgia residents who care about open access to the best care possible to let the Committee members know before Thursday that you oppose these two bills.  To send a letter or fax to the Committee, simply click https://secure2.convio.net/res/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=219

for a letter template that will be automatically sent to each of the Senate Health & Human Services Committee members. You can also call your state Senator even if they are not on the Committee and tell them you oppose these two bills.   A full list of the Committee members can be found by clicking on the link below, then clicking on the Senators name for a link to their direct contact information:

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/senate/health.php

To find your senator, please go to:

http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/FindLegislator.htm

Sincerely yours,

Barbara Collura
Executive Director, RESOLVE

To view the full text of the bills please follow the links below:

SB 169:  http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2009_10/sum/sb169.htm