This is day 6 for my new routine of taking progesterone meds three times a day. So far, so good. Only a few minor reactions as my body is adjusting. The biggest constant is the headaches and occasional fast heart beat. But it doesn't last long and it goes away even quicker when I apply my essential oils. After checking with the oncologist, he approvede to be able to continue taking all of my vitamin supplements (doTERRA LLV), as well as the doTERRA probiotic (which was amazing relief to my digestive system), and DDR prime, which is commonly used by those fighting cancer.  I have begun my running journey again and am aware of carbs and sugars. The biggest concern for my diet the oncologist had for my situation was the hormones in milk and meat. Although we already try to avoid non-organic meat for the sake of adalyns future, we will also be switching over all dairy to organic, or use dairy alternatives. 

I have made a chart of the days remaining on this treatment to remember that despite any tough days ahead, I can do it!  If we do not receive the results we are praying for, at least we know we tried and worked hard in this journey.  I am excited for the challenge (as much as I can be!) and look forward to looking back on our journey and seeing how God was specifically working. I have already seen evidence of him at work for Jason and I, as well as through the abundance of prayer warriors and support through this.  So we want to thank you for taking the time to pray- especially these next 4 months as we take one day at a time on this medicine and pray for strength and joy even on the hard days. 

Oncologist

This is my third post about our current situation, to understand the background of this post, please refer to the other two posts.

So, I had my procedure on August 7. All went well, and the Dr. told Jason that it was not polyps, and that everything looked fine and we should be good to try to concieve in September. This was relieving and we were at peace. On Wednesday while in Greenville I was on my way to my parents after visting friends.  I receive a call from the Dr. She proceeded to tell me that she was very thrown off by a phone call from the lab from what she had removed from my uterus. It turned out to be pre cancer cell growth. After somehow getting to the end of the phone call, having a hard time making it home, laying Adalyn down for her nap, and finally being able to literally yell and wail into the bed, my mom came home from work early to help me cope and talk to Jason and my inlaws about what we had been told. No one ever ever ever wants to hear the word cancer in any shape or form in their body. Especially those of us who are younger and have young children. It was a very hard few days as we researched, talked to some dr friends, cried more, prayed a ton, and tried to be distracted.
The Dr scheduled an appointment for me with the gyno oncologist and in the initial phone call, she told me about a few possible options that I may be presented with by the oncologist.
She said that since we were trying to concieve, there was most likely an option to take a progesterone medication as an alternative to a hysterectomy.

Our appointment was today, Tuesday the 18th. Jason was able to come with me and some dear church friends helped watch Adalyn.

As we met the Dr, he began by saying "ok, I have all my notes here, but I want to hear from you what's going on." After I gave a quick recap and expanded on what I learned about my situation, he looked at Jason and said "Wow, I have my work cut out with her, huh? She has done her homework!"

So, during the conference, he explained that currently, even after the d&c, there is a good chance my uterus has hidden pre cancer or even cancer in my lining. So, we have two options, take a medicine to increase my progesterone levels and basically "kill" off all the cancer cells that could be in my uterus then be rechecked in 3.5-4 months through another d&c, or have a hysterectomy.
Considering how we want to have more children, and the progesterone treatment has at least a 50% success rate for fertility, we felt at peace to try.  Of course, at first, hearing the possible side affects, and taking through some more realistic things about it with the Dr, we had to discuss and decide what would be best for our family.  Since pregnancy provides the body with the amount of progesterone needed to keep the cells from creating, pregnancy is a healthy option for my condition, granted my uterus comes back 100% clear after the treatments.
As long as the progesterone clears up all signs of any cancer or pre cancer cells in 3.5-4 months, we will be able to try and conceive. If there is progress in the clearing of any growth, we will go through a second round of treatment and check again after 4 months. If we are not clear after the first treatment, and then not clear through the second treatment, we will have a hysterectomy. If we have an all clear after the first or after the second treatment, we can proceed to try to have another child.
We are in continuous prayer and are seeking Gods will about our fertility and also know that there is a chance we will not have success with this treatment and may have to proceed with surgery. We also know that we could do very well with this treatment and have at least one or even two more children in our future.

My brain hurts and my emotions are all over the place. We are clinging to each other as we prepare for some tough few months ahead.

God is in control.

So, I had my OB appointment on Tuesday. I went in for a yearly checkup and was hoping for some additional answers to our current infertility. I ended up getting bloodwork done as well as a thorough ultrasound. Blood work and yearly tests came back great! The ultra sound showed that I still have my fibroid, although as I've always been told- it is really a non issue since it is on the exterior of my uterus. However, I have polyps. Which may (not guaranteed), be the reason for our infertility. So- since polyps can cause several possible issues in a pregnancy, the dr strongly suggested to have them removed.
So, tomorrow morning I will be having the procedure to have them removed. Hopefully all will go well and I will be back to 100% quickly. We are thankful that we got some long awaited answers very quickly and that I am able to have this procedure (more expensive than we thought, but God will provide).
We will continue to pray and trust God with our families future as well as with Jason's continued search and pursuit of the next step in his career.