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Oct.30,2007Got discharged from the hospital today. Already a quicker recovery than last time 
Also Joy can eat regular food, all good things.
Today we got a visit from Dr. Derosa, Dr. Silber, and the Dr from Japan that developed the vitrification process that was used to freeze the ovarian tissue. (will get her name soon).
All the reports are good, the surgery was a-ok. The incision which is about 1/2 the size as the one from February is looking good, and the pain is lower than yesterday. We got to leave the hospital around 2pm and after a quick stop at the local Trader Joe’s spent the rest of the day in the hotel. We fly back home tomorrow, during Joy’s most favorite holiday halloween .
A much mellower day today than yesterday, yay for that.
Rodrigo and Joy
Our journey of creating family – A fertility endeavor
Category : Fertility
A long day today. Joy is feeling ok tonight, with some pain but not as much as last February. They have her on some pain medication which puts her out, which is good since it has her get some needed rest. Dr. Silber came by in the afternoon to check up on her, and to talk to us a little bit. He gave his account on what he saw as they removed the ovary this morning. He mentioned that the artery that was supplying the ovary was crimped by other tissue, and was most likely the reason why the last transplant stopped working. Those are sad news, and at the same time very good news. It all points to today’s procedure being a success. We still have to wait 12 weeks to find out that it worked, which will again be a good opportunity for us to practice patience. I guess that is some good training for our future parenting.
Something feels really different about today than what we did in February, it is as though I have a certain knowing that this time it will work for sure.
In the upcoming days I will post some more about what we have been going through in the past few months in coming to the choice of returning to St. Louis.
thanks all
Joy is out of the OR. I spoke with Dr. Silber who said it all whent very well. I got to see some pictures of the procedure, and the new implanted tissue. I have not gotten a chance to see her yet, but will be able to soon.
Dr. Silber had some preliminary feedback on why the previous transplant didn’t work as intended which rules out rejection, and that is great news! since it assures that this procedure will be a sucess. I will post the picures and more information very soon.
It has been a long time since we have posted any news. We have been waiting a bit to post. The last few months have been ones to given to figure out what has been happening with the transplant from February. From the results of all the test we can only conclude that it didn’t work as we intended. The reason for this we don’t know yet. We are going back to St. Louis tomorrow morning, to work again with Dr. Silber and have some of the frozen tissue transplanted. This is to have another try at what we started earlier this year. At the same time the transplanted ovary will be taken a look at to find out more information about what happened. We chose to keep very quite the last few months to give us a some time to decide what we wanted to do. If continuing on this path was what we would choose, or to try another. We both chose to continue this journey. So we are off bright and early tomorrow, and Joy will have another surgery on Monday morning.
Tonight Joy and I attended “Down to a Science cafe”.
A close friend Kish has put together a monthly event in San Francisco where the science and health professionals and the community at large can interact and a dialogue on a certain topic. Tonight’s topic: fertility.
It was awesome to see two experts in the field talk in plain terms about fertility, and then see a group of 25-35 people engaged in the topic of fertility. At time people sharing deeply about their own experience, or asking questions that goes right to the heart of “hey i want to have a child, what do i do?”
It was really great to hear about the wide range of egg counts, and cycles, and all kinds of stuff that we rarely are exposed to. This was also a topic that of course is hits close to home. One thing that I kept on thinking was “wow, it is hard to get pregnant, it’s almost as if the odds are stacks against you” There were so many statistics that say, at this age, the women chances start to wane, and so forth. At times during the session, I was feeling like we are at the bottom of a mountain of statistics, and if we are lucky then maybe we will have a child. Then at a few moments later I would remember that these are doctors, and they are also human beings with opinions and personalities, and that if we always just plainly took what they said at 100%, then lots of things would not happen. In the end I was really happy to have seen such a rich dialogue take place, and I learned some about the current conversation of fertility in my local community. It was also great to see so many people there that are interested in this, and how they each are walking their own path to creating a healthy family.
I am left with this at the end of the night. It is about the patient taking charge of their own reproductive system and really finding out what they want, and where to go get it. Science has come long way in the last few years, and yet we are still at the beginning of this trek.
Check out Kish’s site for more info. http://www.sciencecafesf.com/
Took me a little while, and here it is.
Some comments on the piece. They filmed at our home and at Golden Gate park. They have Maeapple’s name as Mae , but she goes by Maeapple.
Joy was 27 when she was diagnosed with Lymphoma, also the pictures used to show her at the hospital are from a month ago when we were in St. Louis for the ovary transplant, we just didn’t get GMA any pictures of Joy in the other hospital.
Today marks the 21st day post op.
The past week for me has been a bit of a whirlwind, I had to take some time and slow down. Work has picked up quite a bit, i needed to put in some extra time at that. Slowing down for me is hard sometimes, i just want to keep on going, doing it all and making sure its all 100%.
Taking time last week was good, i got to devote more attention to Joy and her continued healing. Also taking care of some much needed house things. The weekend was fabulous, Joy and i got to spend some much needed alone time together, loving on each other and feeling much more normal. We were talking and she said, “you know you are my best friend”, and as i looked around and let that moment hang there, it was exquisite. She really is my best friend as well, and so much more too. I feel as though we continue to get to know each other even more, and the past 21 days have been a sort of fire to cook us together.
I can see the healing process take shape everyday with Joy. It is fantastic how fast and well she is going through this. Last week was such a night/day change from week 2. She has much more mobility in her body, she can drive again! The pain level seem to have gone down a notch, or at least not happening as often. She measured her incision the other day, it came in at 5.25 inches, that may not sound very large, but she has a little waist, so its quite large on her. The incision looks even better this week, i am sure it will just continue to heal better and better. Overall she is doing amazing, and we are starting to get back into our groove, life is starting to normalize, and that is good!
i don’t if its just a function of my attention or Joy’s hormones kicking up, but i have been noticing children so much the past week. I have been enjoying watching my friends and their children, or other people kids, and saying “whoa that will be us soon”. Its quite exciting.
A few people have asked some questions, that i will answer over the next couple of days, things like, “where did you meet? how long have you known each other? have you picked names for your kids?” if you want to know anything else, contact us.
Just heard from Dr. Silber’s office. The Learning Channel (TLC) will be airing a show about the 2nd ovary transplant Dr. Silber did.
This is set to air FEB 21 2007 @ 08:00 PM (check local listing for your time)
Here is the information.
Link to show information on TLC website
TLC — Menopause at 22
Menopause at 22For Cordt and Bonny, their only chance of ever having a child lies in an experimental ovary transplant procedure. In order for this procedure to take place, however, Bonny’s twin sister, Crystal, must be willing to donate one of her ovaries to Bonny.
I put together a video to show you how the surgery day got started. This is a few minutes of what the prep looks like. They both are so nonchalant about the whole thing.
There are so many other nurses and doctors we met and talked to, but i only shot part of it. And they just would not allow me in the OR 
going to have to wait for the official surgery video on that one.
I got a hold of the FOX piece tonight. Take a look here.