Hope has returned…a little bit anyway

So, I had my appointment with my NaPro Doc yesterday and it went pretty well.  I actually have a teeny tiny bit of hope back! 

Obviously I’m not expecting any miracles…but I think the plan we came up with sounds perfect for me considering my current life situation with school starting in May.

Basically we decided that we’d just start with the initial Medical NaPro protocol (as opposed to Surgical NaPro).  So starting this cycle, I will stop all meds so that my body can get back to doing what it normally does. 

Then the following cycle, I will have a cycle-long blood work series completed.  This includes 5-6 blood draws in the follicular phase and then another 4 blood draws in the luteal phase.   The blood will be sent directly to the PPVI Institute and my doctor will have some possible treatment options based on the results.   Mainly treatment usually consists of things to correct any hormone imbalances that may be present. (like HCG injections during the luteal phase)

So once that’s done, we’ll work on getting my hormone levels all straightened out.  He is pretty sure something is out of wack given my normal pre-menstrual spotting.  However, it is possible that there are other hormones out of wack as well that just never got picked up on with all my prior testing (low estrogen could also be a problem during the luteal phase).

Since I am starting nursing school in May, and will be crazy busy for an entire year, it’s not the most ideal time for me to be getting pregnant.   Obviously, we are open to life at anytime, and we know that if/when God chooses to bless us with a pregnancy we will be ecstatic and we will work my school around it.  But let’s just say we’re not at the point where we’re going to go all out right at this very moment in order to get pregnant.  So I feel really good about just getting my hormones normalized over the course of the next year. 

If I make it through nursing school without getting pregnant, then I will start to consider pursuing Surgical NaPro.  My doctor doesn’t actually do the surgical side of NaPro himself, so if I did it, I would probably go directly through the PPVI Institute.  The doctor suggested that even though I had my endo supposedly removed by my RE, that Dr. Hilgers has a much better method of removing the endo.  

By that point in time, it is quite possible that some of my endo will have grown back.  We will also have a better idea if I really do have PCOS since that diagnosis is still debatable to both my doctor and I.  So by then, I think it would actually be a good time to have another surgeryto remove any new endo and also to possibly have an ovarian wedge resection if it is confirmed that I do have PCOS.  However this time, the surgery would be performed by Dr. Hilgers himself!  Wow, it’s cool to think that I could have “THE” Dr. Hilgers operating on me!  Amazing!

So overall, I left the appointment feeling very at peace with the situation.  I’m not ready to go all out and have any more surgeries anytime soon and I like the idea of getting my hormone levels fixed because obviously that is good for my health anyway!    Also, the idea that there still could be an even more beneficial surgery available to me down the road, gives me just enough hope to keep going! 

Thanks for all your kind words the other day!  It always helps to be reminded that it’s ok to have a bad day every now and then as long as you keep it in perspective in the grand scheme of life!