A Journey through Treatment and Pregnancy

The following week after speaking to my GYN about my diagnosis, I called my doctor’s contact at the fertility clinic. A lot of the information I’d like to give you on the amount of time it took them to call me back, and so on. However, it’s vague to me now, as time has passed and I’ve been under a lot of stress from all of this.

What I will tell you is that I finally spoke to either my doctor’s contact or a colleague of that person, and they kind of scared the crap out of me. I told them about my diagnosed condition, and one of the things they said was something like, “Well we only treat women who are looking to have children now.” NOW? NOW? In my head was swirling the question of, “Why do I need to seek treatment only if I’m looking to get knocked up now?”

I tried my best not to get anymore upset than I had been over the months that led up to that moment, but it was becoming difficult for me. I finally made the counselor understand that, no, I was not ready to start trying for children, but wanted to speak to a doctor about some sort of treatment before it was too late. I mean 70% diffused over the entire uterus is a lot of space. Being 32 at the time did not leave me a lot of time, as no one is sure if the adenomyosis began recently or had been creeping ever since I started getting my period when I was 12 years old.

I guess the counselor finally understood where I was coming from, and referred me directly to the receptionist who at first gave me a date in March, 2007 for a doctor. I begged her for a date that was as soon possible, and she found one. My appointment was set for January 9, 2007

Adenomyosis
Originally sited on haveababy.com - link no longer exists
A condition in which the endometrial glands grow into the uterine wall, creating a spongelike effect; can be associated with poor uterine linings. This condition is sometimes associated with heavy, painful periods and uterine enlargement.

The information from the great “Wiki” is too much to include, so I strongly suggest you click here to see what has been written.

I distinctly remember that I had a 2+ hour meeting the day my GYN was going to call me with the actual results. I had told my boss about what was going on, so she was well aware of the fact that I was going to have to walk out of the meeting at some point if/when my doctor called.

Sure enough, about 3/4 of the way through my meeting, I got the call. My heart was beating so hard, because I didn’t know what to expect. My biggest fear is not being able to have children, and I was afraid my doctor was going to tell me I had a 0.00000001% chance of ever having children.

What my doctor said was almost exactly what the results stated (of course I didn’t find that out until later, but it’s true); confirmed Adenomyosis diffused over 70% of my uterus. What does this mean? The simple explanation of “diffused” means “fanned out” or “not concentrated.” The bad thing about diffused means that it covers too much ground. If the adenomyosis were concentrated, the doctor’s could have given me an operation to remove the diseased portion and sew everything back up. However, because it’s diffused and covers too much, it cannot be removed, only treated.

After the doctor gave me the results I asked him what my chances were, and this is what I love about my doctor; his honesty. He told me that he is not a fertility expert and felt very strongly that I should get in touch with the Women’s Fertility Clinic in Midtown Manhattan to get real answers to my very real questions. He gave me the number of the person he usually sends his patients to . . . and so I called her . . .

History: Prior transvaginal ultrasound obtained from 11/30/06 demonstrated heterogeneous asymmetric myometrium suggestive of adenomyosis.

Technique: MRI of the pelvis is obtained utilizing T2 weighted sagittal, coronal, coronal HASTE imaging, oblique T1 weighted axial imaging, T2 axial and T1 weighted VIBE coronal axial imaging utilizing Tesla Siemens magnet.

Findings: The uterus is retroflexed measuring 5.3 x 7 x 8.7 cm in AP, transverse and craniocaudal dimension. The junctional zone is seen to be thickened posteriorly compatible with the presence of adenomyosis. This focal area of posterior thickening measures approximately 2.8 cm in thickness extending over a 4.5 x 5 cm portion of the posterior uterine wall. This area is best seen on coronal image 14 of series 3 and axial image 15 of series 4.
The right ovary measures 3 x 2.4 x 3.3 cm. The left ovary 2.6 x 2.8 x 4.2 cm. There are multiple small follicles noted in both right and left ovary. There is a small lesion demonstrating intermediate signal within the left ovary which demonstrates mildly increased signal on the T1 weighted sequence measuring 1.2 cm in diameter which likely represents a hemorrhagic cyst.
This lesion is new since the prior exam.
There is a small amount of free fluid noted in the pelvis.
The urinary bladder has normal appearance.
There is no evidence of lymphadenopathy within the pelvis.
The osseous structure is intact.

Impression: Posterior uterus adenomyosis.
Small likely benign hemorrhagic cyst noted in the left ovary

The Pelvic MRI is cake for people that are not claustrophobic. Thankfully, I am not like my mother, so they didn’t have to give me the happy pills to get me to not freak out. They have you lay on a slat and kind of strap you in a little bit, so you don’t make jerky moves in case you fall asleep. You are given a set of huge headphones that play classical music, over, and over, and over again, and you just lay there.

When I lay in that tube, and it is a tight tube, I felt kind of like I was hiding under the bed because there is no real space. However, I was out like a light in less than five minutes. They woke me up about twenty minutes later to ask that I take a deep breath and hold for a few times, and then I was done.

Way less invasive (and I mean that literally) than the intravaginal ultrasound. Thankfully!

The most common use for Lupron is to stop the growth and progression of Adenomyosis, Endometriosis, and Fibroids. Taking a six-month regimen of this medication stops a woman from having her period completely during the time she is on the meds. Sounds great right? Well because the medication puts you on something similar to early menopause, hot flashes are one of the more common side effects. Still sound great? Well here’s another one for you: Lupron effects the density of your bones, making a woman permanently more prone to Osteoporosis. Oh, and did I tell you that some blog sites have women indicating that the hot flashes never really ended after they finished taking the Lupron?