Former Egg Donor Undergoing IVF

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Thursday, September 11, 2014

The Awkward Post

This is kind of an awkward, hard post for me. It is probably because I want to be in denial and not believe the worst can happen. There is always that chance that I am starting to diagnose myself with everything I am studying in med school to though.

Since my last donation (earlier this year), my periods have become extremely irregular. I never had abdominal cramps during my cycles, but since the last donation, my cramps are horrible. I am unsure if these abnormalities are consistent with the complications and oddities that occurred during my donation, and I am scared to find out the worst possible outcome.

During my last donation, the IVF doctor put me on maximum dosages, and on some days asked me to take the maximum dosage twice instead of the protocol of 1 dose daily. In my opinion, my ovaries were extremely pissed at the doctor for putting it through more hell than it had to asking me to take twice the maximum doses daily. I developed severe OHSS after the egg retrieval. I was also under lots of stress with the last cycle.

Since I study medicine full time, I am constantly reminded how my symptoms (additional ones not mentioned here), are red flags for me to get checked out. It's easy for someone to recommend to see a provider about the issue... but the doctors/providers are always the hardest patients. I can honestly relate to that. It is extremely difficult for me to see a doctor about any issue- because I can come up with lots of differential diagnoses for myself with the knowledge I have now. Of  course I still don't know everything, and doubt I ever will, even as a practicing clinician. The world of medicine is the understanding that we as clinicians should constantly be learning and be humble enough to recognize that we don't know everything.

In school, we had the medical board come speak to us about the laws and regulations, and a quick introduction on "how to avoid getting sued." During their time with us, it struck me how many things the IVF doctor did wrong with my last donation. It is my hope that there are no serious adverse effects to my symptoms- and if there is, I need to restore my faith in doctors. Sometimes, they get so busy, they miss the small details, which in turn can cause life-threatening or negative outcomes as a result.

As a future clinician, I want to always promise myself to treat all patients like they were my own family members. We are all going through hard things, and there is no reason for medical providers to make those "hard things" even harder for us (patients).

Please read my post "10 Basics Things You Should Know About Egg Donation Before Donating." Though the after-feeling of donating is rewarding, we also sign up for the unknown side effects that come with it. Be good to your body... we only have one in life.

- The anonymous egg donor