Five Hours In Sydney

Yesterday, I woke up with a migraine, so took a sickie ...

Yesterday, Mr. S and I picked Star up from the airport and headed to our appointment at our SDD’s office.

'Migraine's are a really handy sickie excuse for work' I informed Star 'They're good to use at least twice a year'.

While Mr. S then went off to work, Star and I grabbed a coffee and chatted for nearly an hour before our appointment.

How had each of our counselling gone the couple of days earlier?

Easy. In a word.

Star said their Counsellor mostly spoke to them. Our Counsellor was the same. We’d covered so much ground together over the last couple of months, there were no sticking points and no surprises.

So we had time to chat about our lives, then headed to our appointment.

‘If we look like we’re disorganised,’ SDD’s wife announced, ‘we are, we’ve had a whole new computer system put in and we’re learning the ropes’.

While Star was sitting filling in her details, I checked if she had her GP’s Referral Letter with her? Blank look. SHIT.

She had misunderstood and thought she needed to go visit somewhere after this appointment.

Easily fixed, we could go to a local medical centre straight after the appointment and the billing would be corrected so we could claim back.

I was up first to see the doc. I was again told not to get too excited. Not to start worrying about anyone’s dates. Christmas was coming, clinics close. I had to remember the logistics, double the time I thought things would take, lots of problems can happen. Okay, got it. Then straight to the dildo cam.

‘Okay, theres your uterus in all it's glory, here the endometrium - looks like things are happening there’
‘How thick?’ - Reflex reaction.
‘9mm, aaand that looks like the remains of a corpus luteum’ he said looking at a big black hole
‘A WHAT' [Holy shit, a corpse in my uterus!] (bing went my mothers voice ‘Pardon not What!’)
‘The follicle left behind after releasing an egg’
‘Oh’ [Phew]
‘There on the right looks like another follicle forming’
‘KEH? I’m on Day 23?’
‘They form all through the cycle’
(Question: does this mean I have the lunar cycle?)
‘Right, so that’s you done, everything looks good’.
‘Actually, that’s slightly depressing’
‘Because you still can’t get pregnant?’ (He got it)
‘Yeah’
BIG SIGH
The tragic irony - living as the fertile infertile

Star’s turn, so I focussed my full attention on the glossy mags. in the waiting room. Next time I looked at my watch close to half an hour had gone. Briefly thought, I hope Star’s okay with the dildo cam. Funny, she’s had a baby, but never had a dildo cam!

Ten minutes later I was asked to join her and the doctor.

By now there was a an energetic whirlwind of paper and instructions being issued to the Coordinator and us.

‘These papers for Star and Mr. Star to sign, script for BCP for Star, Pathology Orders, this sheet to read ... both of you to start bcp’s on your Day 1., all the drugs to be picked up today, we’re trying to get everything organised for the next cycle so we can transfer before Christmas’.
‘Ummm, do I need a script for bcp’s?’
‘Fill Star’s script now, then split the pack’
‘Easy’

Hmmm, so obstacles are clearing. Was meeting Star reassuring to the doc.? Reassuring to him that I hadn’t dragged a total fruit-loop in off the street? Or the internet?

So we were ushered out of the room into the Coordinators room for Star’s instructions.

The show bag is prepared.

We go over everything. Syn.arel is primed. 'Start either nostril then alternate. AND it doesn’t matter which side you start'.

‘Hey, keep some tic.tacs handy, the metallic taste in the back of your throat is awful in the beginning’ I offered.
‘Oh, I didn't know it tasted bad’ adds the coordinator.

Pure.gon - dose 150ml, 900ml cartridge loaded. Then we practise with a foam block. Star’s turn – she’s stabs it into the foam with such force I blanched.

‘Hey, here’s a tip – grip the pen in your hand and use your thumb to depress, it’s more stable. Place the needle on your belly, then breath out, then slowly push in, and slowly depress’
‘Hey that’s a good tip to hold it that way’ confirms the coordinator.

‘Here’s the trigger, flick the top then get rid of the bubble’
‘Mr. S and I will do it for you if you want’ I offered, 'the needles a bit thicker, so can sting a little more.'

So we’re looking at the mountain of contents all over the table that have to fit in the bag.

‘Here, let me have a go at packing’, so I quickly start rearranging everything around the ice brick. Voila, all in.

While packing the stacks of alcohol wipes I mention -

‘I know I shouldn’t say this, but by my last couple of cycles, I didn’t even bother with these, I just bunged in the needle ... Whoops, sorry I know it’s bad, but I did do six cycles’
“Dear god, how awful for you ... oops sorry Star – you’ll only be doing one cycle – and you will be using the wipes’, the coordinator looked at me with sympathy.
‘You know it’s not as bad as people think, I mean you can watch the procedure on TV and think ‘Yikes’, but I always found my life the most difficult thing to manage when cycling’.

So there we were, packed, instructed, instruction sheets, new appointment (for me and Mr. S), letter for the airport, after two hours we were leaving.

Next thing, find a GP for the referral. Thankfully we found someone that could book us in within the hour - bonus - they also bulk.billed (nothing to pay). We managed to squeeze in time for a bagel and coffee. My great plans to take Star to a great place for lunch squashed.

After Star had seen the GP I asked her if he asked why she needed the referral – she said that he’d asked if she had any particular gynaecological problems, and she had told him ‘No, I’m doing a donor cycle for my girlfriend in the waiting room’!

We laughed loudly as we walked down the stairs.

BCP script filled and split, then Star also had to split to get to the airport and catch her flight home.

Me, straight back to the docs. to drop off the referral (had to be dated for the day of the appointment in order to claim back from Medi.care).

‘Here I am with the referral’ I announced.
‘Great, we can put this through the new system’.

Paperwork done, ready to go, both the Coordinator and SDD's wife say to me -

‘Sparkle - Star is lovely’
‘Yeah I know, amazing isn’t it’
‘She’s fantastic, you are really lucky’

Yeah I know.