The original plan (we'll call it Plan A) was for Andy & I to go to Omaha on February 22nd for a baseline ultrasound. Consult with Dr. Hilgers on Tuesday, Feb. 26th; surgery Feb 27th, Laparoscopy review on Feb 28th, stay for daily sonograms until I ovulated. We were going to drive our car, stay in a hotel, mom was going to watch the kids. Simple enough.
Then it became apparent throughout January that my cycle was not going to cooperate with said timeline and I would be ovulating in early to mid February, thus necessitating a trip to Omaha early in the month. So we had to come up with Plan B: Michelle will drive her car to Omaha by herself (so that Andy doesn't have to take off of as much work) and stay in a hotel.
Then I called on January 31st to schedule the ultrasound series and they said they wanted me to come for my baseline ultrasound on Friday February 8th. Okay, no problem says I. It wasn't until I got off the phone that I realized that Feb 8th was just over a week away. Whoa! Lot to get ready in a week. We happily decided that Andy could take one day off of work to go to at least the Friday, Saturday, & Sunday ultrasounds. Hooray! We would get to experience the PPVI Institute for the first time together as we had originally hoped! What a blessed surprise! Plan C
Monday, February 4th, I had to throw papers (our route of 800 that we do once a month) and do some grocery shopping and get my oil changed in my car. Walmart (where we usually get our oil changed) had a 2 hour wait, so I decided to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday to get it changed. I also called to get in at the Dentist's office to have them look over my crown/jaw that are still hurting immensely. Not great news there: either my body will just take a long time to heal from the crown, or my nerve might be dying and I'll need a root canal. Not exactly the simple fix to the pain that I was hoping to be done with before going to Omaha. Time will tell on that one. That night as I finished up the laundry in the washer that occasionally leaks increasing amounts of water and went to get it out of the dryer that takes 2-3 cycles to actually get things dry, I said to Andy, "I think we need a new washer and dryer."
Tuesday, February 5th I took my car to the mechanic because it was doing this weird thing where the dome lights just randomly turn on and off after opening a door. Also, the glove box light randomly goes on and off while I'm driving. The "service engine soon" light was on as well as the "change engine oil" which had come on shortly after they changed the oil last time. I figured it was all related and just a weird electrical short. The car also does this "cutting out" thing like one time every 2-3 weeks where I push on the gas and it hesitates before going. I thought maybe a plug was fouled. So Tuesday morning I take the car to the mechanic thinking that they'll run the diagnostic scan, maybe change a fuse and a plug, and I'll be on my way. Instead, they couldn't look at my car right away so I called my mom to come pick Ruby and I up and we went to Rosary Group with her. On the way we call my sister (who was 6 days overdue at that point and whom my mom is "on call" for for childcare) to tell her that if she needs mom to call my cell phone. While at Rosary Group, the mechanic calls on my car. "Great" thought I - that didn't take long! And then it was one of those situations where what you're hearing doesn't match up with what you thought you'd hear and it takes your brain a little time to catch up. "Wait, what? 14 codes... diagnostics alone would cost hundreds... wires... transmission... You mean my car's not fixed?... I'm going to have Andy call you so you can explain all of this to him." Andy's call back to me confirmed what I suspected. The car is not worth fixing, we need a new car, and in the words of our mechanic "I wouldn't take it on any trips." Ohhhhhh.....kay. So mom & I go pick up my car and decide that it would be wise to rent a car to drive to Omaha. Scoured the interwebs and a number of coupon sources, found a good deal on a car and secured a rental for our trip for a week with the option to extend. Plan D Looks like we'll be adding purchasing a car to our list of things to do after we get back...
Wednesday, February 6th was a blessed surprise - Mandy had her baby! A girl - Clara Elisabeth. Ruby and I went to the hospital in the early afternoon and planned to go back with Ira & Andy later in the afternoon/evening. I had a good talk with my older sister about the emotions I was feeling in advance of going to Omaha. I had initially thought I would be just so excited and elated and happy to be going. But I was feeling surprisingly sad and upset about going. I had not anticipated how much I would miss my kids. my husband. my daily life and duties of keeping up our lives and house. And for anywhere from 5-10+ days! Although I was kind of looking forward to a relaxing "retreat" I was so going to miss my life. We went back up to the hospital to see baby Clara again in the evening. Ira loved holding her and smothering her with kisses. We got home from the hospital after bedtime. Both kids were asleep. As Andy was putting Ira's jammies on him, I noticed some purple marker across the back of his shoulder. "Silly child. Thought I. How do you get purple marker across the back of your shoulder when you wear a sweatshirt and a uniform shirt all day at school? Sheesh."
Ira slept on an off throughout the morning but about 12:30 I went downstairs to find that he had woken up and barfed all over himself, his pillow, blanket, the couch, the carpet & the ottoman and just a little bit in the trashcan. I bundled everything up and stuck it in the utility room sink to deal with after I'd gotten Ira & the rest of the stuff cleaned up. When I took fresh jammies down to him, I again noticed the purple marker on his shoulder. Only I noticed that it wasn't purple marker. It was bubbled up reddish/purple and veiny looking. I touched it and Ira said "ouch." I said, "did you scratch your shoulder on something?" "Umm... I was scratching my back on the wall outside at school..." Enter full-panic-mind-spinning-a-million-miles-per-hour-mode..."what is that thing? It looks like some kind of bloody vein... is this related to the sickness and fever and confusion from last week... the throwing up today... what is that...I need to get a hold of the nurse!" While sitting on hold for the nurse, I called Andy's aunt who is a nurse to see if she could come look at it, but got her answering machine. So I sat on hold until the "on-call nurse" talked to the receptionist and she said we should take him to the minor emergency room to have it evaluated. Ohhhhhhh kayyyy. I called my mom crying and asked her if they could watch Ruby (b/c I didn't want to expose her to all the crud going around at the doctor's office.) I called Andy who said he would meet me at the doctor's office. For the second time in 10 days, I made the trip into town fearful for my son's health. Wondering what was wrong... why does it take so long to get to town?... what if they need to biopsy it... Ira is terrified of needles... would they do an MRI...would they even be able to do that this late in the afternoon... I'm supposed to drive to Omaha tomorrow...should I even go... do I keep my rental car & hotel reservations...
I told Andy to go back to work. We decided to go ahead and still have him seen since we were already there just in case they could give him tamiflu. While we're sitting back in the exam room waiting for the doctor, Ira says, "That is gum on my shoulder." And you're telling me this now? I think to myself. "When I was chewing gum sometime last week I pulled it out of my mouth and stuck it to my shoulder and I tried pulling on it and couldn't get it off." Of course, that makes perfect sense?... I think to myself. "Well, thank you for telling me the truth now. I do wish you'd told me sooner though." "Well, I kind of forgot." And I am the worst mother ever for not even noticing it... for a week...more....less?? who knows... Epic. Fail.
The doctor said to push fluids, call back if he still isn't keeping anything down by tomorrow afternoon, and go easy on the gum removal - skin will probably come with it at this point.
I picked up some Pedialyte and Sierra Mist for Ira and then picked Ruby up and we headed home. Andy came home from work and we decided that we would see how Ira felt through the evening. If he acted better, Andy would still go. If he threw up again, Andy would stay home. Plan D 3/4. I went down around 7:30 to check on Ira and he was running a fever. So we made the difficult decision that Andy would stay home with the kids and I would go to Omaha by myself. Seriously devil? You suck. Plan E. I put Ruby to bed & couldn't kiss her and hug her enough. Ira fell asleep on the couch. We let him sleep there until we were ready for bed. I couldn't kiss and hug Ira enough.
Friday morning, February 8th, I got up around 5:30 after I'd woken up around 4 and couldn't go back to sleep. Andy fixed breakfast and coffee and we ate breakfast together before my mom came at 6:45 to take me to get the rental car. Ira and Ruby woke up before I left so I got to kiss and hug them a couple more times. Ira still had a fever, but he wasn't throwing up at least. It was so hard to say goodbye to Andy. We've never been apart more than a couple days in our "whole" (7.5 years) of married life. But we both felt like we were making the right decision albeit hard. I picked up my rental car around 7:30 and was on the road around 7:50. I had some time to make the trip, so I stopped as "the spirit led me" to take pictures of various things along the way.
As the scan got underway, there were all kinds of measurements and screen shots being taken. Both ovaries showed "strings of pearls" (many follicles in a line around the ovary) which can be indicative of Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS.) They were looking for a dominant follicle - one that was 1.5 cm or larger. None of the follicles were that big (the largest were around 1.1 cm) So they said I could wait to come back until Monday. Hmmmm....what?... I just checked into my hotel... my husband is halfway here... are you serious?!
I called Andy and called my mom and we decided that Andy would still come and we would just enjoy a weekend away together. Plan G.
It was so nice to see the kids and Andy when he got home from work. I had a hormonal meltdown about the condition of the house (welcome back to reality!) But we got everything cleaned up (including the still-smelled-like-barf couch and carpet in the basement.)
Tuesday the 12th was spent in the kitchen making cinnamon rolls and cookies for a fundraiser on Saturday that I didn't think I was going to get to help with. It was such a nice, normal day in the midst of crazy times.
Wednesday the 13th I got to take Ruby to Ash Wednesday Mass and help Ira begin his Lenten Sacrifices (something I didn't think I was going to get to do.) I got to see some cousins that were in town (from Alaska) that I didn't think I was going to get to see. I got to take newborn pictures of my god daughter that I didn't think I was going to get to take. Andy got to go to evening Mass which he didn't think he was going to get to do. Ruby was going to stay the night at my parents' so that I didn't have to take her there in the morning. She had been okay with the idea, but at bedtime, really did not want to. (She - unlike Ira ever has been - actually missed me while I was gone. So it made it really hard to leave her. At one point (trying to cheer her up) I said "What are you going to say to Grandma when you wake up?" (kind of a "tradition" she says "Grraaaaaaaaammmma I'm aaaawaaaaaaaakke.") And she said as she starts bawling, "I misssssss myyyyyy moommmmmmmyyyyy." Broke. my. heart. I put her to bed and she was mildly okay with staying there overnight.
Thursday morning (February 14th - Valentines Day) I got up before Andy left to tell him goodbye (not knowing whether I would be home later that night maybe or not for a few days or even a week Hypothetical plans I, J, & K made.) Ira woke up on his own and kept thinking that Ruby was still asleep in her bed. (Seriously, like 3 times he said something about "not waking Ruby" or "aren't we going to get Ruby up?") I took him to school and headed back to Omaha for the 2nd time.
At my appointment on Thursday, there was finally a dominant follicle (just barely) so they put me on the "daily plan" for sonograms. I called Andy. I called my Mom. I called the rental car company. Plan L I called Mandy and told her that obviously they could schedule the baptism for whenever they wanted to, knowing that they wanted to get it done as soon as possible. I completely understand wanting to get your child baptized as soon as possible - been there, done that. I told her that if need be, I would drive there for the baptism and back here. She said she'd talk to her hubby and get back with me. I checked into the hotel and extended my reservation until Monday morning (not without difficulty - some big Volleyball thing was going on in town, so I had to switch rooms Friday morning and switch back to another room for Saturday and Sunday nights.)
Friday (the 15th) the follicle had grown. Mandy called back to see if 3 o'clock on Saturday (pending the priest's approval) would allow me enough time to get there and back for my Sunday scan. I said that would be an excellent time. Plan M I went to 11:15 mass at St. Cecilia's Cathedral. I prayed there afterwards. I went to a great diner for lunch/dinner called Petrow's. They had a old-fashioned soda fountain and a bakery as well. I got tilapia and a piece of coconut cream pie and both were outstanding.
Saturday the 16th, the follicle had grown some more (it was around 1.7 cm - they look for them to rupture - ovulate - at or above 1.9 cm.) I got out of my appointment, got gas, and got on the road and didn't stop until I was running out of fuel about 7 miles from the church. Clara Elisabeth was welcomed to the Catholic Church at a beautiful ceremony with dozens of family and friends there to celebrate. The church was full of LIFE! Afterwards, Mandy & Damien hosted a party and meal. I was able to stay for a couple hours before I headed back to Omaha around 6:30. By the grace of God (and some grody coffee from McDonalds), I (who struggles many days to stay awake - while driving - from town to home) was wide awake and had no trouble driving back to Omaha. I got back right before midnight.
Sunday morning's (February 17th) scan revealed a 2.1 cm follicle. Jeannine gave me 50/50 odds of ovulating before my scan on Monday morning. I went to mass at St. Cecilia's Cathedral - just an absolutely magnificent church. As I was walking out, an elderly gentleman (and one of the ushers) asked if I was a visitor. I said, "Well, yes I am," and told him where I was from. He asked if I'd like a tour of the Cathedral. Having absolutely nothing planned for the rest of the day, I heartily accepted his offer. He introduced me to everyone we passed (everyone seemed to know him) including several priests, a former senator, and someone who went to my parent's parish back home before moving here in the mid nineties. He spent two and a half hours showing me through the Cathedral building (including the art gallery behind the iron gates in the apsial ambulatory and the museum which is only open the third Sunday of the month) sharing history, facts, stories and trivia about the century old building, the saints represented in art and statue, and Omaha in general. He commented throughout our time that it was so nice to show the building to someone who wasn't in a hurry. All the while I was thinking it was so nice to be shown by someone with such obvious love for the Church and her story. We parted ways and I treated myself to some lunch/dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. After that, I went shopping and found a pair of orange khaki pants at GAP - in my size (!!!) - for five dollars (!!!!!), and a pair of jeans - again - in my weird tall size - for thirty dollars. What a DAY! I went to bed feeling a little wistful and sad that my relaxing "retreat" to Omaha was far from relaxing or retreat-like (although there have been some wonderful hours in there!) while at the same time being realistic enough to acknowledge that what needed to get done - the ultrasounds - got done.
This morning (February 18th), I went in for my scan, ready to jet outta here and head back home (I even wore nice clothes, did my hair and put on makeup for seeing my hubby again.) Except the follicle was still there. 2.13 cm. Not "ovulated" yet. Wow. I should just learn to not be surprised by anything anymore. Disappointed, I called Andy, called my mom, called the rental car company, and checked back into the hotel. Plan N Apparently, I should learn to stop making plans too. And then I thought maybe just maybe (with the prospect of nothing better to do all day) I should write this all down so that I can look back at it fondly some day. That was five and a half hours ago. Holy moly.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude that I could even make this crazy journey. Grateful that there is a place where women and their bodies are respected and healed. Grateful that it was a feasible option for us. Grateful that our insurance is covering it. Grateful that we could afford it. Grateful that we made it to this point. Grateful for a Doctor who has dedicated his life to revolutionizing Women's Health care in moral and ethical ways. Grateful for our loving, helpful family who is there for us through the craziness; willing to do whatever needs done to help out. We are so, so blessed.
