HSG

Finally! All the testing is done! I got my HSG on Friday and everything went according to plan (sort of). I got to my PCP’s office at 8:20 and the nurse was there and ready to give me the toradol shot. She made it sound like it was going to hurt like hell so I was a little apprehensive but I figured since I am doing this IVF thing I’d better get used to huge shots. She had me bend over a stretcher and pull down my pants on the right side a little. She told me to be prepared for a very intense sting (my GYN told me the same thing), funny thing was, I didn’t even feel her give me the shot! For those of you that don’t know, I have a herniated disk in my back and more often than not my right butt cheek is completely numb, sometimes even my left. So, I didn’t even know she gave me the shot and I never did feel the intense burning that she said would come about 15 min after the shot. Hmmmm, I will have to remember this when we begin the shots for the IVF. Then we were off to American Radiology for the dreaded HSG.

When we arrived at American Radiology at 8:45 a.m. (right on time) there were tons of people in the waiting room and a line waiting to check in. The funny thing was there was three people at the front desk but only one person checking people in, the other people were doing God knows what. When I got up to the desk to check in and gave the girl my insurance card she very rudely asked me if I had the original signed copy of the referral from my doctor. I told her that I did not and that the doctor made the appointment over the phone and told me all of the information would be sent over to American Radiology and that when I called to make the appointment for the HSG I gave them the referral number my doctor gave me. They never told me I needed the original signed paper. She told me that they most likely would not be able to do the procedure because Kaiser requires them to have the original signed referral before they can do it. I flat out told her to do what she needs to do, call Kaiser, whatever, because the procedure needed to be done that day. I guess she didn’t want to mess with me because they called me back 10 minutes later.

When they called me back I was a little nervous but for some reason I was fairly confident that the toradol shot was going to help. When I walked into the room the nurse handed me a gown and told me to change. When I came out they had me lay on the table with my butt on a pillow. Then the doctor came in. She was very nice. I told the nurse and the doctor about my bad experience and they looked at me like I was insane and said they had never heard of anyone passing out during an HSG. I swear, I am not a big baby and I actually have a pretty high threshold for pain! The doctor told me that she has never heard of anyone passing out and that she would make sure to be gentle. The most uncomfortable part about the whole procedure was the inserting of the catheter. I got a little cramping from that but it was very light and definitely bearable. I didn’t even feel her insert the dye. The whole procedure took about 10 minutes. It took a little longer because for some reason initially they couldn’t find my left tube. Finally she found it and told me that my left tube was significantly higher than my right tube. But both tubes are clear and no abnormalities in the uterus. This is good, but in my case it doesn’t really matter because I don’t ovulate anyway. All in all it was a MUCH better experience minus the b*tch at the front desk. I’m really not sure if it was the Toradol that helped or if it was just that the doctor was much more gentle but either way, I’m glad it was less painful than before.

Now we wait, (AGAIN) for Kaiser to approve the referral which should hopefully be within the next week or so. Then I will need to bring on another cycle and start the BCPs. I’m only on CD10 so I will need to wait to take the provera. Stay tuned…