Let The Fertility Preservation Games Begin!

Days before the world turned their attention to the Olympic games in London, I turned my attention to my upcoming fertility preservation.  When I was diagnosed with breast cancer again in June at age 33, every doctor and surgeon I saw named what was already on my mind upon diagnosis:  let's get your eggs harvested, pronto.

No, I do not have six-pack abs. I am not particularly good at any sport.  I can not be found on any Citibank commercial.  However I have a few things in common with this year's Olympic athletes.
 
1.  Training:  I completed training where I had to focus intensely on medicine preparation, storage and administration.  Just as McKayla Maroney on the vault, the consequence of error or miscalculation in my prescribed routine would be costly.  Not in medals or physical injuries, but rather an unsuccessful egg harvest (and incidentally $10,000). 

2.  Hydration: Once I start the medications, I have to drink lots of water to make sure my eggs are as healthy as possible at harvest time and to help prevent a complication called Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome.  Although the Olympic Coca-cola commercials depict athletes consuming a cold Coke after practice, I am fairly certain that they too will be consuming large amounts of water just as I. 

3. Attention:  Thousands packed Old Trafford stadium to watch the US Women's soccer team play Korea DPR with particular interest in star Abby Wambach's moves.  Eight to nine people's attention are dead set on my ovaries.  Perhaps a slightly smaller number than for Abby, but these eight to nine people are really devoted, invested fans.  I do not recommend getting between potential future grandparents and my ovaries in question.

4. Sponsorship:  You might notice that Roger Federer is sponsored by Nike.  Instead of wearing his own country's jersey like his teammate Wawrinka in their doubles match against Japan, he wore Nike emblemed everything.  My ovarian stimulation is sponsored by the Livestrong Foundation.  They are paying for about $3,500 worth of the fertility drugs currently in my possession.  I am grateful.  I plan to purchase this Livestrong onesie for David and my baby down the road.  Incidentally, this baby will also be sponsored by Nike, just as Federer.  No pressure, future baby.

5. Coaching: Behind every Olympian is a hard working, meticulous, caring coach. Behind my fertility preservation are Audra Katz, RN and Mitch Rosen, MD.  They are the two-person UCSF Fertility Preservation Center serving young adults with cancer.  They do the same work as a reproductive endocrinology team but with the added twist of squeezing in appointments, ultrasounds, treatments, and egg harvesting between cancer diagnosis and the start of fertility-threatening cancer treatment.  They have a legacy of previous patient success stories, they contemplate their clinical recommendations with care and enthusiasm, they highlight the positive, they provide clear instruction so I can have my best chance at future pregnancy, they understand what is at stake, and they care about not just my ovaries, but the person who holds them, me.  Yep, I have all-star coaches.

Although our Olympians and I share a few struggles and support, our rewards differ.  My immediate reward is regaining a sense of control and hope in an otherwise out of control and depressing medical catastrophe.  But my gold medal will be holding our squealing baby, face and hands covered with mashed peas after David and my attempt to feed our little rascal, all before the Rio 2016 Olympic games.