Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Meet Honor

Thank you all for your help with my layout. I cut some things out of a couple entries and now it's fixed! Yay! You guys are the best!

So I went to the doctor today. But before I share that story, let me tell you about Bob's day. He met his future service dog. That's her pictured above. Her name is Honor and she's a black shepherd. She's a year and a half and she has been living with cats at her trainer's house. She is a beauty isn't she? Bob met three dogs today. He met Honor, a male black lab, and a male golden lab. He said of all the dogs, he felt the best about Honor. The male black lab was hyper and too energetic. The golden lab was too laid back, mello, and lazy. But Honor was just right. He is going to call the center tomorrow to tell them that he has definitely made his mind up to choose Honor. Actually, Bob said his favorite dog came in later. Someone brought in a goldenpoo as a brand new recruit and Bob fell in love. The only problem is this dog isn't ready to go out to anyone yet and she wouldn't grow to be big enough for his needs. But that little goldenpoo stole his heart right out. Anyway, Bob really likes Honor. He did say that he was hoping for a shepherd or a heeler and he got his shepherd. Yay!

It sounds like he will go to the center 8-10 times and train with Honor before he is able to bring her home. That sounds fine. He is so excited. Not only that but he really likes this place and felt right at home there. He really wants to work/volunteer for them and do what he can to raise funds for them. They are a non-profit and only charge $10 for the dogs. Everything else comes from donations, grants, and fundraising. If you are looking for a good place plug into for volunteerism and donations, we HIGHLY recommend MN Hearing and Service Dogs.

So, my doctor's appointment. I met with my regular physician and she was awesome. She said they would check my insurance and then match me to a couple of reproductive endocrinologists that accept my insurance. She named two she thought would be good. One is a man in Maple Grove and one is a woman in Minneapolis. She said they would most likely do a test where they inject dye into my uterus to see if my fallopian tubes are blocked. If they look OK and everything else looks OK with both me and Bob, then most likely they will put me on Clomid so that when I ovulate, 2-6 eggs are released instead of just 1. I'm not sure if I want the Clomid though. That's too far down the line to think about right now though. My doctor's referral specialist is going to call me tomorrow with the referral. While I'm waiting on that, I am going to call the UofM clinics and make an appointment for Bob to meet with the reproductive specialist and the genetics counselor. So, it's an appointment at a time and a day at a time.

Finally, I want to bring up something that I don't really want to talk about. The other day someone asked me about my weight loss and how that's going. The truth is, it's not. I've not lost a pound in over 6 months. And if the weigh in at the doctor's office is any indication, I've not only NOT lost weight, I've gained. It's so hard to admit this here. I feel like a failure. I went into this knowing that the surgery was a tool. Just a tool and I needed to learn to use the tool in a way that ensures the best possible outcome which is to lose weight and get healthy. I started out OK. But somewhere along the line, my lifetime of bad eating habits and my penchant for turning to food for comfort and emotional placation got the best of me. This is NOT good. I am looking forward to having Honor come home so I have a reason to get outside and MOVE again. I am looking forward towards keeping trying to have a baby so I have a reason to lay off the caffiene and sugar again. Why oh why can I not have been one of the lucky ones who dumps after eating sugar? Why did I go back to drinking soda? Why can I not stop? Why could I not work through these food issues that first year so it wouldn 't be so hard now?

Look...this is hard enough to admit. So I respectively ask that no one say anything about it in my comments section. These issues have emcompased a lifetime and won't go away with just a comment from you. Thanks for understanding. Posted by Picasa

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad to hear Bob's getting the dog! She looks so adorable, and I love the name!

Anonymous said...

beautiful dog that bob is getting, i'm happy for you. now, about the doctor and so on...i had the dye test in july '05 (after many years of not having peace about any testing) praise the Lord my tubes were clear. but, through blood tests the dr. found that i was not ovulating. she started me on clomid in August. Started at lowest dose of 50mg for 7 days, that didn't work, next month up to 100mg for 7 days, didn't work, my progesterone levels only rose from 3.8 to 4.4, over 10 shows you ovulated...so up we went to 150mg for 7 days....IT WORKED...my levels in October were 12.2!! So now we've been on that dose since then, I'm sitting here as I type this hoping that my period doesn't show up on Friday or Saturday...the side affects differ from person to person, but I have had to deal with hot flashes, shadowy vision and appetite increase, the first month at this dose the side affects seemed pretty intense, but after that month they have not been so bad, I think my body is adjusting. Anyways, just thought I'd tell you what's going on with me and let you know it's not so bad, and worth it in the end. My hubby did get tested during this process also and passed with flying colors. The hardest part is having to coordinate our lives around "perfect timing", I"m so ready to have spontaneity back in my life. I have 3 refills left on my prescription and if I'm not pregnant by then, I go back and we discuss our next move. I hope it doesn't go that far. God bless you and Bob and I hope that my experience can be helpful in your decision making.

p.s. My doctor uses and in-home test for the male factor. They have a website where you can order, but I think you have to have a referral from your doctor. It's called Andrology Institute. If you can't find it, email me and I'll see if I can find the link for you. rgarrard@co.hinds.ms.us

Anonymous said...

What a cute dog! What a wonderful blessing she will be to you both!
I've heard varying things about clomid...PMS on 'steroids' (forgive the pun)smf possiblity for multiples.
As for "all" else...hand fast for He has overcome"!!!

B.E.C.K. said...

So cool about Honor! (What a great name.) I didn't know there were so many training sessions involved in getting a dog to work with a new owner, but of course that's totally logical when I think about it. She looks like a beautiful dog, and I hope she and your husband make a wonderful team. :-)