The Out-of-Towner

Today marks exactly five weeks since my retrieval -- 4w5d from when the biopsies would have reached the lab -- and still no word on my CGH results. I know the official wait time is six weeks, and I was thoroughly informed of this interval by the geneticist, but other people seemed to have heard within the four-to-five week range so I had hoped I would too. I've found that the two-hour time difference between CCRM (MT) and me (EDT) just adds further frustration because even though my day might start around 7 am, the relevant people in Lone Tree, CO are all still sound asleep in their beds. Now that I'm down to the finish line, I watch the clock every morning, impatiently awaiting 11 am which is the earliest I can realistically expect a call. At least I started Estrogen Priming today – a consolation of sorts since it means the ball is once again in motion.

Next come the travel arrangements. Because CCRM requires that your Day 6 ultrasound be done in their offices, I usually fly to Denver on Day 5. Hotel and rental car booking can be arranged now and based on estimated dates, but airfare will wait until I know positively what day Day 5 actually is. If things play out as expected, I will fly out on April 27 and my husband will follow five days later. Since switching to CCRM, I’ve been cycling back-to-back which means I get my post-retrieval period and then I start right up again. Each time I pull out my suitcase, I feel as if I've only just unpacked from my previous cycle -- largely because I have. Still, it’s a feeling that I’m used to and with routine (this one included) comes an odd comfort. Interestingly, as much as it’s inconvenient to be out of town for a week and half every month, I've noticed that it’s actually very healing to be away from home during my cycle. The physical separation provides a buffer that allows me to segregate IVF, if even a little, from the rest of my life.

When I first started looking into IVF in late 2007, I narrowed my search to three clinics: one local, one very local and CCRM. Even back then I viewed CCRM as the mother of all clinics, an opinion based not only on their SART stats but on a significant amount of anecdotal data -- the experiences of women who had cycled there. At the time, it was the distance that scared me off. As an IVF novice, I just couldn’t envision flying across the country to do a cycle. It seemed so extreme, so excessive...especially since I lived just outside of New York City, home to a number of well-regarded clinics. What’s more, cycling locally seemed difficult enough with the daily ultrasounds and bloodwork; how exactly would cycling 1,500 miles away work? Could it really be worth the effort? The fact that so many women were doing it should have been a big clue, but I wound up initially choosing the shorter commute over the cross-country jaunt. The great irony, of course, is that my local clinic turned out to involve a treacherous one-hour drive whereas my hotel in Colorado is a relaxing 10-minute ride from CCRM. I still kick myself for not heading to Colorado straight away, but I suppose everything’s a process, even good decision-making.