Here we go again!

On Friday afternoon, I got the calls from the nurses and REs at PMFC that all of the tests from those copious blood draws and the ultrasound were normal.  Luckily, the tiny cyst on the left ovary did not cause a hormone imbalance and we were given the OK to start with the study meds.

The study coordinator told me to return the next day, Saturday morning, to pick up my daily study diary and my study meds.  She explained the the study does not use the subcutaneous Ovidrel trigger that I have always used, but instead an intermuscular Pregnyl shot in the buttock.  She said that you cannot administer this shot to yourself and that I had to bring either C or someone else to be trained on mixing and the correct procedure.  Oh, boy...

Since C was working and wasn't too comfortable with this idea anyway, I brought my cousin, a DO resident with me.  When we arrived, I found out that I had been randomized into the pill group, much to my dismay.  While a tiny part of me is always relieved to receive fewer needles, I had really hoped that this would be our opportunity to try Menopur without the hefty price tag.  As it turns out, I will be taking either Clomid or Femara again in the same dosage.  Hopefully, if my follicle development continues to be so slow and consistently one follicle, they will up the dosage to improve our chances for success.

The training on the trigger shot really freaked me out, but I am getting a little better about it.  Jean showed us how we would have to mix the powder trigger with a solvent, switching between mixing needles and injection needles.  Seeing the one-and-a-half inch trigger needle didn't really sit well, either.

My cousin has a genuine interest in all of this given that a) it's not her buttock getting jabbed and b) she is a doctor.  She asked the obvious question, why use the IM Pregnyl instead of the sub-Q Ovidrel?  The nurses response was less than satisfying.  She explained that in the past, all fertility meds were IM, but that more recently, researchers have found ways to make them sub-Q.  Ovidrel and Pregnyl are really the same drug with the same efficacy, but that the Pregnyl is much cheaper for the study to purchase massive quantities, and it does not need to be refrigerated.

Gee, thanks.  My stomach is doing cartwheels right now because Pregnyl is cheaper?  A little part of me wanted to secretly run out and buy my last prescription for Ovidrel, but obviously, that is ridiculous.  The only redeeming part about getting a shot in your buttock instead of the belly is that I don't have to look and I don't have to see it coming...

Right now, it is CD5 and I am two days into taking the mystery pills.  I have to return to the RE in the next few days, but luckily, she allowed me to choose CD10 which falls on this Saturday the 17th.  Since my follicles have always been slow to develop, I am sure that I will have to go back on CD12 and CD14 and that these will fall on workdays, but at least I will most likely be able to go to the suburban location, then just zip off to work.  We shall soon see!