9 Blood Tests, 12 Days, And 33 Injections Later, I Am Now The Proud Owner Of 22 Frozen Eggs

September 11th, 2018

I would first like to start off saying if you know anyone going through IVF treatment I would like you to pause reading this and do the following: send them a text message, give them a phone call, or if they are close in proximity give them a hug because they are badasses. I had no clue all that went into freezing my eggs and I only did 1 cycle of injections which, for me, was a lot and I cannot fathom doing anymore. So to all the women out there going through this process, I obviously don’t know you, but your dedication and strength are astounding.

When my parents and I first met with my oncologist she recommended freezing my eggs. Yeah, okay. This was an unimaginable concept. At one point during the meeting, the doctor left the room and my dad turned my mom and I and laughed and said, I quote, “You don’t even have a boyfriend.”

Thanks, dad.

He’s right though. No boyfriend, no fiancé, no husband.

Having children is so beyond my scope of reality that having this conversation with my oncologist seemed as if it were a dream. I can confidently say that at the ripe age of 23 my interest in having children is 0%. I was very willing to not even go through the treatment needed to freeze my eggs until both my doctor and mom said it would be smart to do as a precaution because I may change my mind down the road.

My treatment for chemo consists of 3 different drugs and one of those drugs could potentially affect my fertility. It could affect it, it could not affect it. Unfortunately, we won’t know until after chemo. Therefore, freezing my eggs would act as a safety net in case something were to happen during treatment.

I mean who knows, I could end up marrying Chad Michael Murray and I may desperately want to have children with him and then we are saved by my frozen eggs!

The same day I was told I had cancer I was hustled over to a reproductive specialists office to talk about my options. My brain was about to explode with the amount of information I was receiving on a Tuesday but let me tell you after reading all the papers I got I felt like a freaking genius.

I can talk to you all about sonograms, estrogens levels (mine was high), follicles (I had a lot), Gonal F, Menopur, Cetrotride, trigger shots, in vitro fertilization (IVF), intrauterine insemination (IUI), the fertility works.

The nurses often asked why I was getting my eggs frozen seeing as I looked fresh out of the womb compared to all the other women waiting. I then would explain to them my current predicament which was vastly different than the others waiting outside. Most of the patients seemed to be older women (not 50+ calm down people) but around 35-45 with their husbands looking to do IVF or IUI.

Throughout these past 12 days, I have had to go to daily doctors appointments where they would perform sonograms and blood work. What boggled me was how packed the doctor’s office was each time I went. No matter if it were 7:15 a.m. on a Tuesday or 3 p.m. on a Saturday, the waiting room and the secondary waiting room were always packed and appointments would end up lasting an hour and a half.

I was shocked by how many people were in the office but I was even more flummoxed to learn that egg freezing is not covered by most insurances. Bonkers. Let me also tell you that most injection drugs are also not covered by insurance either. Thanks to Live Strong Fertility and the kind doctors at the reproductive specialist’s office I only had to pay for my trigger shot which was extremely grateful for.

The cycle for egg freezing could last between 10-14 days depending on how your body is reacting to the injections. At the beginning of the cycle I started off by taking two shots a day and by the end of it, I was getting injected 4 times a day plus blood thinner shots from my surgery so it was a solid 5 injections. I am not terrified of shots but, needless to say, they are not my favorite thing.

Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for my mom, since I got surgery on my abdomen I couldn’t inject myself with the shots there so I had to have to my mom inject the back of my arms. My mom gave me 33 injections over the past 12 days and did not throw up or mess up once! Contrary to popular belief, most mothers do not enjoy stabbing their daughters day after day, so next time you see my mom make sure to give her a high five. I’m sure she would also be down to be on speed dial for you in case you ever needed someone to inject you. She’s got a really steady hand.

Thankfully, all the drugs and the process worked to produce enough eggs to allow me to forgo another cycle. When I came to after the procedure I was able to learn that they were about to extract 33 eggs and freeze 22 eggs.

So although I don’t have a boyfriend, fiancé or husband I still have 22 or so chances to have a child, so bring on the men.