Three Little Birds

Tara's surgery went very well, considering how much of a "mess" her RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist) said her uterus/tubes/ovaries were! Dr. Walmer was able to complete the surgery without having to make the larger, hip-bone to hip-bone incision we were afraid Tara needed. Endometriosis was "everywhere", including in her ovaries. He was able to remove the scar tissue within the uterus, and placed a balloon into the uterus to keep it open and avoid re-scarring over. Tara has to keep the inflated balloon in for 3 weeks... a long time!! :) She also has to be on high doses of estrogen, to basically "jump-start" her uterine lining to begin growing. She returns to the doctor for the balloon removal and evaluation of post-op scar tissue and endometrium thickness in 3 weeks. We are hoping the endometrium (the lining of the uterus) responds well to the high doses Tara will be receiving over the next few weeks. If so, that means we MAY be able to move f...

Well, our fertility journey has taken a little detour... Yesterday Tara developed severe and sudden pain in her lower abdomen, which resulted in an ER visit, lots of drugs, and (thankfully) no emergencies. However, they found that Tara's ovaries are very much enlarged with either blood or cysts, and that last night was possibly the result of a ruptured ovarian cyst, which is extremely painful. Everyone in the ER took great care of her; Tara did NOT want to go there since those are her coworkers and colleagues, but they were very discreet and professional. Soooo, Dr. Walmer, Tara's Reproductive Endocrinologist (specialist) at Duke heard about her visit to the ER and called her today. He said he had "major concerns" about her and wants to move up the date of the surgery. So we now have a surgery planned for June 26th (next Friday!!). Tara's doing a little better today, but VERY sore, and having to take Percocet to handle the pain. We appreciate the prayers we ...

Well this is the first of (hopefully) many blogs to come! I thought it would be good to keep my friends and loved ones updated on life as we know it. As you all probably know, we are very busy people ... both of us are in graduate school - Justin for his MBA, me for my Nurse Practitioner's. More importantly, we are ready to move on to the next step in our lives together - having a baby! However, most of you also know that we have experienced some obstacles in making that dream come true. On July 17th, I will have my 5th surgery for correction of endometriosis as well as my Asherman's Syndrome. If you don't know what Asherman's is, you can check it out at www.ashermans.org. Basically, I have the most severe form, which is development of scar tissue blocking the outlet of my uterus - so nothing can "get in or out" haha :) Anyway, this has been a long, arduous, and sometimes frustrating road for us. So keep us in your prayers - I honestly feel very posit...