Tonight, shortly after 8pm, we performed our nightly ritual for the last time. To commemorate the occasion, I took some pictures.
In this first picture, you'll see the big red sharps box on the left. The pouchy thing to its right is a handy travel pouch! It contains a mini sharps container, and came with a reusable ice pack. I've used this a few times and it's quite handy. To the right of the pouch, there are a bunch of boxes of drugs! Only the Repronex box has anything left in it other than the millions of syringes that come with Gonal-F. Next, a handy carrying tote from our sponsor, Serono. Seriously, in addition to funding the egg freezing study, Serono gives generously to the organization promoting fertility after cancer, Fertile Hope. (www.fertilehope.org) In the foreground, we have our vials and needles, more on that next.
Here we have all the things we use on a nightly basis. There are two flavors of alcohol wipes, but that's only because the two green/white ones come inside the Cetrotide packaging. The red/white one came in the handy travel pouch. The big syringe that's pulled out is pre-filled with saline that gets mixed with the vial of Cetrotide package. See the two small things between the alcohol wipes and the big syringe? Those are the two needles that go with the Cetrotide. First we attach the big needle and use that to put the saline into the little vial.(First vial on the left.) After it mixes (which takes a while for the Cetrotide) we use the same big needle to suck the medicine back into the syringe. Then we cap the needle (safety first!), unscrew it, and screw on the smaller needle. Then after squeezing any bubbles out, we inject that. The two other syringes on the right are for the Gonal-F (second vial from the left) and Repronex (third vial from the left). First we draw up 375 IU of Gonal-F and squeeze it into the powdered Repronex, which dissolves very quickly, but tends to bubble up a little. Then we remove that needle, put it in the saline (fourth vial from the left), and draw up 225 IU, then add that to the Gonal-F/Repronex mix. We have a total of 1mL at that point. Then we take the other fresh needle, since the first one is dull from pushing through so many stoppers, and draw up everything from the Repronex bottle and inject it. This part takes forever because it's really hard to get every last drop. I'm sure I've lost a couple drops here and there.
This is a close-up of the inside of the sharps box. This box is FULL!
Last, I'd like to take a moment to say a special farewell to these four vials. To you, Cetrotide, I'll miss the way you refused to mix completely until I was about ready to throw you across the room. I'll miss that itchy spot you left on my belly . And mostly, I'll miss the nausea you gave me that only subsided with a long night's sleep. To you Gonal-F, thank you for encouraging my ovaries to develop nice, big, follicles. I know the Cetrotide held you back, but you did well. I'll miss knowing that by holding your one small bottle, I was holding over $1000. I know I'll still have a semi-dose in my fridge for some time, so I'll look in on you from time to time and we can reminisce. Repronex, I know you're made from the pee of menopausal women, but I thank you for your work with Gonal-F in making some good eggs. I'll miss the way you got all frothy when I added Gonal-F to you. You must not like her much, but I'm glad you two eventually got along and your bubbles popped. I'll miss the way you dissolved almost instantly; you entertained me very much. Ah, saline. You were always the strong, silent type. You brought everything together, and made sure I took in as much of my medicine as possible. I'll miss you the most.
As fun as you all were, I really hope I don't need to see you again for a very long time, if ever again.
