Working With What You Have

I was actually able to get away this past weekend and made it on the slopes to ski for a day. The weather was spectacular and the snow pretty darn good for the Mid-Atlantic. I am not an aggressive skier which is mainly the result of breaking my collarbone on a ski trip back in college.

That tumble was on the first day on the slopes and apparently my fall was pretty impressive. As I lay on the ground stunned from my fall a well-meaning fellow skier rushed over and said "Man, that was an amazing wipe-out!" "I can't move my arm," was my reply. "That's OK, Dude. It's probably just dislocated. Wanna have me pop it back in?" I declined his offer and skied down to the first aid station. I ended up with an x-ray from a machine that looked like surplus from Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory. I survived the trip from Vermont back to Boston in an 8 seated prop plane and eventually healed up by the time Spring Break rolled around. Not sure how I ended up on that tangent but could be part of the aging process I suppose. In any case, the point I wanted to make has to do with the lovely self-portrait seen here. If you look closely you may notice that I am wearing a fetching pair of turtle shell sunglasses that my wife purchased from Brighton.

To say that this choice of eye-wear was embarrassing to my children would perhaps be an understatement. However, since I had given my sunglasses to one of my kids to protect from the blinding sun on the snow I was forced into sporting the Dame Edna look. Ultimately, the day was a success and the comments that I received on my sunglasses were minimal...at least to my face. But the lesson here is that you work with what you have. In terms of IVF that means not giving up and remaining hopeful in the face of odds that sometimes seem overwhelming.

Time and time again I have seem success with the final embryo that remained in the cryo tank. Over and over patients turn up pregnant when treatments have failed. If you have high FSH, low AMH and diminished ovarian reserve then all we can truly say is that you a one egg a month person. Other than that we really can't know if you have that one good egg left....until you walk in with your baby and then the answer is definitively "YES!"

So if you are a one egg a month person don't despair...there are options. Plus, be happy that your significant other wears more appropriate eye-wear out in public!