First Fertility Tests Done

I don’t know if it’s because of COVID, as it’s been 13 years since I was last in the fertility clinic, but the best thing about it was that I only waited for 5 minutes before my name was called. Five minutes!!!! Amazing. As a haematology patient, I’m used to waiting for a lot longer than that before being seen. Not that I ever mind waiting. It was a nice surprise.

The tests consisted of a couple of different scans - one I’ve had before so know what to expect and the other one was a surprise. In a few ways! And a blood test which obviously I’ve had hundreds of.

"You might feel a bit of cramping"

The first scan was looking at my womb and ovaries - it’s an internal scan, like a wand with a camera on the end - and doesn’t hurt at all. All looked good and one of my ovaries looked like it was getting ready to ovulate which is really positive. The nurse, I think was surprised, at how good it all looked so I told her it’s because of being a haematology patient that I’m in the clinic, rather than because of being infertile or having fertility issues, and then it made a lot more sense.

The second scan was, well, brutal. A catheter was inserted into my womb and then fluid was injected into it to create pressure to both fill my womb and inflate my Fallopian tubes/send bubbles it or something. I didn't really listen to the explanation in all honesty. And the outcome is, well, I thought I had a high pain threshold. The pressure from the fluid and the catheter touching the womb wall makes its contract. So I was essentially in labour with very frequent contractions for 15-20 minutes. Not pleasant. I loved how the nurse explained it beforehand... you might feel a bit of cramping. Well f**k me. If that’s what a bit of cramping feels like! But I still managed to joke that I was going to be rubbing in labour if I couldn't hadn't this!

Results of my blood tests

In the end, she said I did really well as I apologised for being so pathetic for being so bothered by the pain. But to be fair, all I said was ‘ow’ and ‘that really hurts’. She also said that many women scream so maybe I’m not as pathetic as I felt.

The other thing that possibly made the pain worse is that you can’t really move as they need to do the scan and take images.

I then had blood tests done and said to the nurse which is the vein that works and that they are fine so I need a small needle. She said ‘we’ll see after I’ve had a feel’. And I said that I’m a haematology patient and I know which works, so she just went into the one I said and it worked! Sometimes the knowledge I’ve learned through being a cancer patient for so long can be very useful!

My blood results are back and the hormones they looked at are all in the normal range. A bit low but now that I’ve had these tests done, I’m going to do all my naturopathic stuff and supplements, etc. to support my body through the next stages.

Not sure when my next appointment will be, as I can’t do anything until spring. But it’s a relief to know that all my ‘internal plumbing’ looks good and my blood tests weren’t disastrous either.