Hello Denver!

I can not believe the time has finally arrived and I'm now in Denver! Actually, I've been in Denver since Thursday and so far things are progressing well. Jim was here for the first few days but he traveled back to New Mexico yesterday. With Jim's departure I'm a little lonely and I feel like I'm making this journey on my own...sigh! I just need to keep reminding myself that the loneliness is a small price to pay and that I need to keep my head up and move forward.

Anyhow, I've been trucking right along thus far on my injections. My stomach is looking like a war zone, but that's just part of the process. Currently my regimen consists of Lupron, Gonal-F, and Menopur, which are actually different medications than what I used in the past. My ovaries like the medication too and they are responding well. So much so that my doctor has had to back down my meds to slow the growth. I have roughly 20 follicles growing at this point and I recently decided that I'm a human gumball machine. I have 13 follicles on my right ovary and 7 on my left ovary. Only time will tell if all of those follicles will be harvested or not. It's not uncommon for some of those follicles to flat out stop growing to make room for the other follicles. Retrieval/emptying of the gumball machine is tentatively scheduled for Friday and transfer should follow five days later, or at least a 5 day transfer is optimal. All of which will depend on how well the follicles divide after insemination.

I've been going to the doctors office almost daily to have my follicles monitored and blood work performed. The office staff is fantastic and they've been very friendly/supportive to both myself and Jim. I'm still shocked at the number of patients they have, their lobby is always packed. I can't help but think that there is an infertility epidemic in this country. You know there is problem when you're driving on the interstate and you hear a commercial on the radio for a respective infertility office, or see a billboard for an office. And I find myself wondering, is there a problem, or are they desperate for new patients? Anyhow, just a few random thoughts that run through my head.