Reproductive Specialist, Round 2!

It wasn't long after Chad started his new job that I wanted to get back on track with a weight loss surgeon. I called the insurance company to find out if our insurance covered the surgery... after a few calls, the answer was no. No? What do you mean, no?  For whatever reason, I was under the impression that it was pretty standard for insurance companies to cover weight loss surgery. Apparently not.

I was devastated. It didn't even feel like I was back at square one, I felt like the door was slammed in my face and that was that. What was I supposed to do? What did this mean about our fertility? Where did I even start?

I decided to start with seeing an OB/GYN again and seeing what she had to say about my non-existent periods. When I went in to talk with her, she didn't seem worried about my periods, and after voicing my concern about my fertility she suggested Clomid and Provera again. I didn't want to. I wanted to tell her that I had already been there and done that, but I wanted to hold onto some kind of hope and if that meant Clomid and Provera, then I guess that was what I was going to do.

Chad and I tried another 3 unsuccessful rounds of Clomid and Provera. Very disappointing, but I wasn't surprised. At that point the OB/GYN suggested I see one of the fertility specialists that visited the area from time to time. I made an appointment and just prayed that we would find some answers. I prayed that some weight would be lifted off our shoulders. At this point, two years into our marriage and two years of "trying", I was starting to let it bother me more than before. 

Chad and I met with the fertility specialist... I didn't like him. He was quick, short answered, and just demanded that the tests we had done the year prior be done again. He also told me that as long as I was fat, that I wouldn't get pregnant. Thanks! Just what someone who has been dealing with weight issues for years wants to hear and definitely what someone who has been dealing with infertility wants to hear. It's your fault that you can't get pregnant, so drop the fork! Ok, so those weren't his exact words, but it might as well have been.

Back at square one, again! I was feeling all sorts of hurt and confusion. I thought our move was what God wanted for us, so what did God want for us in our marriage and personal lives? I was so very confused. My heart broke just thinking that this might be the end of the road, that this was a door closed and locked. My heart ached and yearned to know what God had planned for our lives.

Reproductive Specialists: round two!

Chad and I took a "break" from seeing the specialist for about 6 months, I would say. After multiple failed diet attempts and some "too good to be true" miracle pills, we were getting the urge to see a specialist again. My mother worked with a lady who had seen a reproductive endocrinologist that she highly recommended. For multiple reasons, Chad and I were not 100% thrilled with the specialist we had seen before, so we decided to give this doctor a shot.

Our first appointment with the new specialist was just like the first specialist we saw. They ask you all the typical medical background questions, go over what you've already tried, and what their plan of action is going to be. Since I had already been diagnosed with PCOS, the first thing that was suggested was to lose weight. No surprise there. I had been told by almost every doctor I had seen that I needed to lose weight. When you have PCOS, a lot of the symptoms can be "reversed" by losing weight. On the other hand, when you have PCOS, you struggle with your weight due to hormone imbalances and insulin resistance. The more weight you gain, the worse the PCOS symptoms; the worse the PCOS symptoms, the more weight you gain-- welcome to the vicious cycle that is PCOS.

I met with a nutritionist that had me work on a full plate diet. Which basically looks like this:

Looks simple enough. It wasn't a hard diet to follow. It requires a lot of whole foots, which I am a fan of anyway. With any diet I have tried, I feel with PCOS that your body adjusts. I would hit a point where my body would "get used" to the new routine and would just make up for the difference. I would lose about 25 lbs pretty quickly and then I would stop losing weight and eventually gain back what I just lost. It was the brick wall that I would hit every time I would go on a new type of diet. It was no different with the full plate diet that the nutritionist had me do.

After having more blood work done, it showed that I still had elevated liver enzymes. The doctor suggested that I see a gastroenterologist. After running some tests and having an ultrasound done on my liver, the doctor determined that I have what is called a non-alcoholic fatty liver. It was suggested that I see a weight loss surgeon. He felt that my weight was starting to have more serious negative affects on my body. 

Weight loss surgeon? I'm not saying that it never crossed my mind. I always felt like it would be nice to have surgery to help me finally lose the weight, but I never thought that my health would take such a toll that it would actually be suggested to me by a doctor. Was this really the path that I was to go down? I definitely had a lot of questions to be answered!