Fertility issues is currently on the rise amongst females globally. Every group of women I speak to, there’s at least 30 to 40% who will be having it. In Asia, it is slightly more taboo but more women are coming out about it. Of course, as a cancer survivor, I am not spared my fair share of fertility issues.
Cancer & fertility
Talking about cancer and fertility, I was appalled when many of my girlfriends who are survivors were not told to freeze their egg before going for treatment. This is because chemotherapy reduces a female’s egg count! What infuriates me is the fact that my friend at the age of 21 was laughed at by her doctor, saying she’s too young and Muslim girls can’t do it.
Mayu was a good addition to our lil family to fill the void of not having a child
Guess what? My friend’s cancer recurred, and she has no eggs frozen! Her chances of giving birth is naturally alot lower now and it’s not even sure she can produce eggs anymore because of the amount of chemotherapy she has done. I am writing about this because I think it is important for females out there to know the importance of egg preservation, especially those who will be undergoing treatment.
The importance of IVF for me
For me, as a cancer survivor, I only wished I tried getting a baby earlier when I first got married instead of waiting 2 years. Due to my genes(which I will be sharing soon), I didn’t expect to have issues in my uterus too, and potentially my ovaries. We did try for 2 years, and finally we decided on our own to try ivf, even when my gynecologist did not tell us to. I am glad we did because that was how we found a POLYP in my uterus with pre-cancerous cells, basically my hyperplasia atypia.
The ins and outs of hospital during the pandemic because of ivf and hyperplasia atypia
Hyperplasia atypia
Hormone treatments started shortly after, and it was really difficult for me as I would vomit every meal I ate out. The first round of treatment was a success, and that was when my fertility doctor asked me to start my first round of ivf. We had 7 embryos and tried 3 rounds of implantation but all of it failed. Of couse, we then went back to the drawing board and tested the balance of the embryos and my uterus. Lo and behold, the hyperplasia atypia came back, and this time it was complex!
We went for the 2nd round of egg extraction, before hormone treatment. It was the best idea ever because it gave me a chance at having a baby if we found anything later on which we did. I then went for another round of hormone treatment for almost a year and this time, it failed. Through this failure, we did more digging into my condition and how it may be related to colorectal cancer.
Our strength and hope to have a child didn’t waver
Before I share more, I want to focus on the fact that embryo preservation gave me a chance at conceiving. It’s an important consideration for cancer patients, as well as those wanting to give birth at a later age. I am writing this to share my experiences, and want to break the taboo of egg preservation for females.
Thoughts?
Did you guys find this sharing helpful? Do you want to know more about my story? Do let me know 🙂
Love,
Meiz
