My Challenged Lady Parts
My lady parts have not been kind to me. I’m a little challenged when it comes to my reproductive organs, and I’ve struggled over the past seven years with some health issues. Problems began when I was 23 years old. Here’s a timeline of how things have gone down:more
2009 - Annual pap came back abnormal (HPV)
2010 - Monitored HPV every 6 months, LEEP #1
December 2011 - HPV progressed to CIN III (high-risk), scheduled another LEEP
March 24, 2012 - First date with my Prince Charming (Mike)
April 2012 - LEEP #2
April 23, 2012 - Results from LEEP #2 revealed that I had an early stage of cervical cancer. I was completely shocked! On top of that, I had just started a new job and didn’t have health insurance coverage yet.
April 25, 2012 - Told Mike about my diagnosis; thank God he stuck around!
May 1, 2012 - Consultation with oncologist, scheduled surgery. At the meeting, he told me that if I wanted a family, I should get on it! Due to the high-risk strain of HPV that I have, it was likely to re-emerge in 5-6 years at which point he would recommend a full hysterectomy. At this point, Mike and I had only been dating a little over a month.
June 13, 2012 - Cold knife cone (surgery) to remove cancerous cells
2012 - 2013 - Appointments with oncologist every 3 months to monitor the virus
2014 - Appointments with oncologist every 6 months to monitor the virus
October 24, 2014 - Got hitched to Mike (best day ever!)
November 2014 - Started trying to make a baby :)
June 21, 2015 (Father’s Day) - Positive pregnancy test (over-the-moon excited!)
July 8, 2015 - Miscarried (hands down the worst day of my life)
July 29, 2015 - Met with my new OB/GYN. She told us if we weren’t pregnant by November, that we may need to investigate why… but she was confident that we could get pregnant by then!
December 2015 - Still not pregnant...
January 2016 - Medically categorized as “infertile.” Holy shit... Mike and I began fertility testing.
February 2, 2016 - All tests were normal, EXCEPT my AMH levels which showed that I have a decreased ovarian reserve (0.52 ng/ml… that’s REAL low, y’all). My OB/GYN referred us to a fertility specialist because there was nothing more she could do to help.
February 10, 2016 - Met with the fertility specialist and developed a plan of action. We will try a few rounds of IUI. (Baby or bust!)
Our journey with infertility is just beginning. This is all very new and a totally scary! While my health issues have been a big part of my life, there’s SO much more to it! I am so blessed, and I’m going to try my best to keep things in perspective and stay positive. What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger… right? We. Shall. See.
Quoted: “Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain.” - Vivan Greene