Appointment with the Fertility Specialist
As promised by my gynecologist, a referral was placed for me to see a fertility specialist. This doctor was super nice, helpful and knowledgeable. He asked me questions to learn more and patiently listened to my responses. He made me feel like he genuinely cared about my future fertility and also me as a person. I was informed that surgically removing the endometrioma from my ovary would lead to decreased egg reserves.
An option I have is to freeze my eggs before doing the surgery to ensure I would have healthy eggs when I’m ready to get pregnant. This option sounds great, providing I have the $10,000 to pay for it. However, I certainly do not have that kind of money lying around. He then asked if the endometrioma was causing me pain or discomfort. That’s an affirmative. If not or if I could stand it a bit longer, he suggested I try to get pregnant within the next year. He then would remove the endometrioma after I give birth. Yea, no.
Neither of these options really seemed feasible so we discussed a little more. I appreciated that he explored what was most important to me and thoroughly explained everything. We landed on me getting my Anti Mullerian hormone (AMH) checked. This test would give us a better idea of my ovarian reserve and ability to get pregnant. We agreed that if this lab came back normal or high I would move forward with surgically removing the endometrioma. If this lab came back low, however, I would need to revisit fertility preservation options.
He then closed the conversation saying, “you need to get serious”, referring to my relationship status. He was joking with me but I also know there was an ounce of truth in it. I was thinking, this man is acting like I haven’t been trying to “get serious” since high school. Sir, have you not seen the dating pool I’m working with? Haha. Any who, I digress.
He orders the test, I get my blood drawn, and wait anxiously for a few days to get my results. As soon as I receive an e-mail telling me my lab results are ready to be viewed, I waste no time logging into my portal. The results say my ovarian reserve is…normal!! Whew! What a relief. Alright, cut me up doc! I actually really wanted this doctor to do my surgery. I liked the way he provided care and the fact that he has done many surgeries for endometriosis. Unfortunately, he informed me he is not currently doing surgeries right now but hopes to resume soon. Dang! I did, however, ask him if he knew anyone I could trust doing the surgery. Because I trusted his work I also trusted his referral. Now that I’ve got this surgeon’s name, let the stalking, I mean research begin!