I'm Keen on Dr. O'Keane

Okay, the fact remains that I really respect and enjoy working with my regular RE.... dont get me wrong... but today, for my first Ultrasound since starting Stimulants; Dr. O'Keane, one of the 3 other doctors at my clinic; really made my day.

The nurse doing the blood work sucked, and as I sat on the table naked from the waist down and draped in the "luxurious" 50 thread count sheet; I examined the HOLE she had made in my left arm. It was already bruising... you would think she'd be an expert at this... after all, there were at LEAST 20 other women having their blood drawn this morning. Perhaps she opted for decaf at breakfast and was a little jittery, 'cause this was definitely not an example of her best work. Things were off to a rocky start.

So I lay there on the table, waiting for the RE to sit down and deliver the news... I was ready... good or bad, I would take it in stride. So when he sat at the foot of the table, inserted that lovely camera and uttered the word "nice" under his breath, I wasn't sure if he was impressed with my progress, or happy to see that I shaved my legs this morning for the occasion.

Thank God he followed up quickly to the nurse that he was pleased to see my uterine lining looking great. 12mm I believe was what he asked the nurse to record. Not knowing if that was good or bad, I accepted his comment and breathed a sigh of relief.

He then moved to the left ovary.... this was it.... 8.... "8 nice even sized follicles" he stated. Was that good? Should there not be more? Was my body doing what it should? I had recently been reading reports of friends seeing 15 or 20 follicles in ONE ovary... was 8 really going to cut it? He looked up and reassured me, saying that seeing 8 follicles at this stage was excellent. In fact, I was reacting almost TO well to the medications, and that he suspected by our next appointment other follicles would be there to join the party. The fact that these were all small (about 12-13 mm) and all evenly sized showed that I SHOULD have a successful retrieval, and that my body was doing exactly what we have been coaxing it to do. Then he moved over to the right. I warned him that Dr. Greene wasn't sure we would get much out of that one, but he cut me off and laughed, apparently Dr. Greene was mistaken, there sat another 6 well proportioned little follicles. As he finished up he smiled and said; "This is what we like to see"... you're doing great kiddo (Kiddo? Anything that makes me feel younger at this stage is a good thing!). He decided to bump me up to 225 Gonal F, to see if he could get any other follicles to show their face. And with that, he sent me on my way.

Today was a good day. I'm sure that there will be some crappy ones thrown in along the way these next weeks, but it's days like this that keep me going... that and the fact that news like this deserves being rewarded with a Banana Split Blizzard... so what if it's dairy... I need to celebrate!