Category Archives: After treatment

Fertility AMH results

Posted in After treatment, Bumpboobs, Chemotherapy, Fertility, Life, Love by

Today I received a phone call. The phone call. I’d been expected the used car salesman to ring me up and name his offer on our car. This morning we stopped by the lot, and having checked it over he said, “yes we’re interested in your car, but I need to talk with the boss about pricing. Leave your mobile number with me.” Which we happily did, meaning that today I carried my mobile on my person, whereas normally it’s left in my purse in the back office as I work in the library.

But today it was on me. And when it rang, I nipped into the back to answer it away from the students. Good thing for that because twenty seconds later I was in tears.

Results are in. They’re not great. My eggs are quite depleted with .7 pmol/L (or something like that, I’ve only heard the results, not seen the paper detailing the anti mullerian hormone (AMH) test results). The nurse said she was so sorry to deliver bad news, but the consultant thinks my best option for the future would be egg donation. Meaning, not my eggs.

Good on the .7 for hanging in there, even if that basically classifies me as ‘barren’ – it’s better than zero. “You just need one,” said both my husband and mother.

Anyhow – cue the tears, hang up the phone, start the profanity (a kind of medicine not recommended by professionals, but definitely recommended by me). Quiet utterances of ‘fuck’ interspersed with sobs of disappointment. My poor boss opened the door during the phone conversation and saw that look on my face (the ‘ugly cry’ look of uncontrolled emotion), but he handled things very well. After I sucked up my outburst just long enough to fill him in, again rose the tears and he was a great comfort. Poor fellow! It was my last day working with him, and the Avenue has been such a wonderful experience – leaving on a tearful note really does not represent my time within the library. It’s been all laughs and conversation (plus diligent work habits), even during the chemo months the library has been a place of refuge.

But he responded quite well. Didn’t try to fix anything, just let me go home for a private cry.

And then there was my husband. I called him up thinking ‘can’t share this news over the phone, must relate in person’ so just said: “I don’t feel well and need you to pick me up. Like right now, please.” So he came – but not before running around the flat to change his stained t-shirt and throw on some jeans instead of sweat pants. He thought we were going to the hospital! And when he arrived (I had decided to sit on the ground while waiting, which probably increased his worries), he jumped out of the car, and again I broke into a fit of tears –

“I got the results and they say I can’t have children.”

You should have seen his relief! Relief. I wasn’t sick, we didn’t need to go to the hospital. Considering the panic situations that’d been running through his mind, things were okay.

“That’s fine, we’ll be fine.” And he let me cry a little more.

And we will be fine. Today I’m grieving the loss of those eggs. Ever since flipping through Zsolt’s baby album I imagined having my own little big-headed baby, and now – well, we’ll see. Unlike a cancer diagnosis, I am not filled with fear. Sadness, yes, because there has been a loss. This is a loss. But no fear – instead there’s hope. There are options, there are possibilities, there are opportunities. And when we’re ready, we’ll see what can be done.

For now, I’m grieving. For today. Maybe again a little later. But Zsolt and I both feel that things will be okay. We want a family, so we’ll get a family (Hello! We already are a family, but children would be a wonderful gift).

And until then, there will be adventures. Moving to Canada, trips around the world, chasing careers, getting involved, making a difference, enjoying life. With every year – every bloom of the roses – I’m reminded that things are always beginning, always full of opportunity.

In time we’ll grow our family. For now, we’ll grow ourselves.

Early morning ‘To Do’s

Posted in After treatment, Bumpboobs, Canada, Finding Home, Life, Love, Writing by

This morning is waking me up with a mental ‘to do’ list knocking at the door. It first started knocking around 5.30am, but I sent it away through various mental images of babies being put to bed, boats adrift in the water, river currents taking away my thoughts (plus the addition of a shirt over my eyes to block any/all light) and it must have worked because eventually I fell asleep. However, it didn’t work for sooo long, or maybe the t-shirt fell off my face, because here I am typing away at 7.30 am and hoping that the clackity clack  of this keyboard doesn’t wake up Zsolt.

TO DO: Firstly, call the various utility companies and request a cancellation of their services. Unless I want to pay for another month of service, this needs to be done today.

TO DO: Zsolt has to drop by the printers to arrange a hard-binding of his thesis. It’s an expensive errand (most are these days) but the results are forever. For generations to come, his work will sit somewhere in the University of Southampton’s archive of past graduates, and maybe one day – when either he or I become hyper-famous, they’ll remove the book from its shelf and display it in the small gallery tucked toward the back of the library. “And here we have the writing of Zsolt, Hungarian scientist extrodinaire”. Well, regardless of whether that happens, the thesis, hard-bound and pressed with gold leaf lettering, will take a place of honour on our bookshelf.

TO DO: Little Peugeot needs to be sold. This is a must. Today we’ll be taking it around to the used car dealerships to see what type of prices they quote (so we have a sense of its value, but also, if we don’t find a buyer before leaving we’ll get the best of the worst prices, because used car dealers probably wouldn’t offer the ‘actual’ value of a car, considering they need to sell it later and make money from the exchange). Poor little Peugeout, she’s going to be poked and prodded.

TO DO: Sell the blooming mattress. Unfortunately despite being quite comfortable and good quality it has two strikes against its favour: strike one – it’s used, even if only for a year, it’s nevertheless used. Strike two – it’s a king size, which apparently doesn’t jive in this chocolate box land of petite and practical housing.

TO DO: Clean this apartment! Life imitates schedule. I’m busy : my apartment goes bizerk. For the past month things have been quite smoothy running in terms of housekeeping, but as soon as I began my marathon of goodbyes (aka, a great excuse to go out everynight and many mornings), the tidiness of this place has suffered. IF time allows, I’ll pop in a DVD and clean this entire mess up. When cleaning, always have a source of entertainment – whether it be music or a show in the background. For me, who hates cleaning in general (it’s not in my DNA, just ask my father), entertainment is essential.

TO DO: Say more goodbyes, heart breaking stuff. Yesterday I left a friend who I’ve known since my MA days at the Uni – she’s one of those inspiring women I was raving about the other day, and it was quite crap to say goodbye. And today there will be more of the ‘goodbye’ing, no crying, as work begins to wind to a halt. Friday is my last day.

TO DO: Pack. Ugh. Not worth discussing at this point.

TO DO: Write! Which clearly I’ve started on, and will need to continue once a bit of sky breaks in my day of busy activities. Yesterday I had some time alone in the flat, which is a rarity, and was able to use the main computer to begin my article-writing adventure. So far, so good.

Okay, time to get a move on – and maybe draw a picture. 😉

Thank you for your company, and for reading my to-do list. Now that I’ve blurted the whole thing out, it feels far more manageable. Writing as therapy always does the trick. And so, onto the dishes.

Cue the fireworks, please

Posted in After treatment, Bumpboobs, Writing by

Oh boy! Good things are cooking this week. Zsolt has finished his corrections, and he’s volunteered to pack up the entire household (“Don’t worry, Catherine, I’ll pack everything” – he’s almost like Superman); plus one of my very best friends will be visiting in Hungary (with the specific request to party at a European nightclub, however I have to say that in general European clubs share a striking resemblance to North American clubs: darkness, sticky dance floor, cheesy but fun music, overpriced drinks . . . actually, there is a difference, the men dance, and they dance well). And – oh boy, here it comes – and I’ve been asked to write an article for an awesome magazine! WOOOOOOHOOOOO!

WHOOOOOOHOOOO! Whoot-Whoot! Yes! Distribute the exclamatives, and high fives all around. If you’re at the screen reading this post, please – give someone a high five on my behalf.

It’s really exciting news. I’ll be writing a piece around my experience with Facing Cancer Together, which is a site for women/carers/family to meet and ask questions, find support, connect with others. When dealing with a cancer diagnosis so much STUFF begins to spin (e.g. will my work keep me, what’s treatment like, how can I cope?) so having a common area to ask questions and share stories is basically essential for coping.  Plus, when you do reach a high moment (e.g. successful surgery, treatment completion, feeling good about life) there are others who want to celebrate that success with you – everyone ‘gets’ it. I’m quite proud to blog for their site.

Anyhow – it’s exciting. And I’m not blurting this out for bragging purposes (though a few more WoHoos might push the ‘obnoxious’ button soon) but keeping good news hidden is somewhat similar (though less extreme) as keeping bad news hidden. The act of hiding creates a strange balloon-like pressure inside my chest; it’s like my cheeks are going to puff out with me holding my tongue when all I want to do is laugh and smile.  Anyhow, it’s a great opportunity and positive step forward.

Further good news: my parade of social engagements continues. Yesterday it was dinner at a quality Polish restaurant in Southampton (Stacja PL Restaurant) with mulled beer for Zsolt, and a stewed sauerkraut & sausage dish for me. Yum. This morning it is Tragos (surprise!) for breakfast with friends, and so on, and so forth right through to next week, when everything stops and the packing begins.

 This assignment is exactly the boost I need to distract from all this change, and it’s exactly the sort of challenge I love. What’s better than that?

What about you? Any good news to share? Don’t keep it bottled up  – it’s okay to have a shining moment. (Took me a long time to realize that, my mom often said: Catherine, you hide yourself so others don’t feel bad – well, hopefully she approves this post, because there’s no hiding here! – and no one feel bad either, I hope.)

* I’m late for Tragos! No time to grammar and spell check (probably shouldn’t post in that case, but screw it! I’m posting.)