Recently I've had some questions about fertility and Cancer. When my doctor first told me I had Cancer, he told me there was a risk that I could become infertile after the Chemotherapy. The chemotherapy can sometimes have devastating effects on a woman's ovaries.
So at the age of 24 I'm sure you can imagine the despair I felt. I have always wanted to have children of my own, but at the age of 24 I just wasn't ready. So the idea of not being able to have children in the future was devastating. I know I can always adopt, and that's still a potential option, but I just hated the fact that my cancer could take something I have always thought to be so precious away from me.
Then the doctor told me there are things a woman can do to reduce her risk. What I am doing is a shot every month called Lupron, which temporarily shuts down the ovaries, hopefully protecting them from the chemo. Another thing I am doing is going on birth control. Birth control also helps to protect the ovaries. Finally, before I started my Chemo I froze some of my eggs. I was lucky enough to have a few days to freeze my eggs. That way if I can't produce my own eggs after the chemo, I can use one of my eggs that I had frozen in the future.
So as I said before, infertility does not always happen, just in my case I wanted to be safe than sorry.
Danielle
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
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I know there are risks for infertility with chemo. I just wanted to let you know I finished my chemo in Dec. of 2006 and got pregnant in Feb. of 2007. Since my fight with Hodgkins Lympnoma I have had two successful pregnancies resulting in two beautiful baby girls. It can be done. Best of luck on your journey.
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