Before I started my cancer treatment I was offered IVF fertility treatment to freeze my eggs and give me the chance of using them if/when I was ready to have children. If I'm honest I was unsure about going ahead with the IVF treatment as it put back my cancer treatment by a month. On top of that I was dating someone and the treatment meant I couldn't drink; I remember sulking about this at the time- laughable now.
I had to inject myself every day for roughly three weeks and had to go to hospital every few days to check on how my eggs were coming along. It was a strange situation to be in (one of many throughout this journey) as everyone else getting the IVF weas couples and obviously desperate to have children, and there I was having a huff about not being able to drink. It certainly put thing into perspective for me. Before the eggs were removed I had to inject myself with a booster to ensure the eggs were developed enough.
To remove the eggs I was put under local anaesthetic and rods were put into my tummy just below my belly button to remove the eggs. The procedure was meant to be half an hour long, but because I had so many eggs to be removed it took an hour and a half. I came to from the procedure still in the theatre and realised I had been speaking out loud. The nurse told me I was talking about Rangers (my favourite football team) and a Christmas night out. It's safe to say I was really embarrassed by that, although now it seems trivial compared to things that have happened since. Overall they removed 26 eggs from me and 22 were successfully frozen. I was told how fertile I was..... Great, just what I wanted to know before undergoing treatment that would leave me unable to have children.
It safe to say that I was not convinced about the IVF treatment and saw it as an inconvenience at the time, but looking back I am so thankful to my mum that she pushed me to do it. I am so grateful that I am in the position that I could use a surrogacy to have children one day. Whether I use the eggs or not, it is a great reassurance that they are there. So while my friends save for houses and weddings I will be saving for a surrogate.
