I received a call one day after the surgery and was told 23 eggs were retrieved and 21 were frozen. During the 'average' egg-collecting procedure, doctors typically retrieve 10 to 12 eggs so 23 is excellent!
The surgery occured on a Friday and I felt absolutely fine going home and the next day. About Sunday evening, I started feeling nausea and a fullness feeling in my stomach that made it hard to breath. The shortness of breath was the worst I had ever experienced. I stayed in bed a lot. I was tired.
Tuesday night, I had plans (a Court case-if I did not go, my case would be dismissed)that could not be canceled. I felt particularly 'vomity' that night but after having some soup and plenty of sleep Tuesday night, I felt 100% perfect the next morning. Basically, I had about 3 days of feeling yucky, not super yucky, but yucky enough.
My guess is that I had a slight to moderate case of OHSS aka Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome. I diagnosed myself with this after doing some research. This is what I found.....
What is Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome?
OHSS is a complication associated with ovulation induction. Ovulation induction is commonly performed with IVF and IUI infertility treatment procedures in order to increase your chances of conception. It uses specific types of fertility drugs (including Clomid and gonadotropins) to increase the number of follicles in your ovaries. Sometimes, however, too many follicles begin to develop in the ovaries, causing them to become swollen and enlarged. Known as OHSS, this syndrome can cause severe pain and trigger the release of fluid into the abdomen and lungs.
I am sure, based on the number of follicles produced and my estrogen level at retrieval (over 4K), I had mild to moderate OHSS.
Wiki indicates that mild symptoms of OHSS include abdominal bloating and feeling of fullness, nausea, diarrhea, and slight weight gain. Since Wiki did not mention shortness of breath, I kept searching and found this....
The symptoms of OHSS vary depending upon how severe the condition is. Symptoms typically manifest four or five days after egg collection, and are often associated with pregnancy. Possible symptoms include:
* nausea and vomiting
* diarrhea
* abdominal bloating and distension
* abdominal pain
* sudden weight gain (due to fluid accumulation in the stomach)
* the appearance of cysts on the ovaries
* difficulty breathing
Additionally, depending on the severity of your OHSS, you may experience reduced frequency in your urination as well as dark urine.
Wiki claims symptoms resolve in 1-2 weeks but I had planned a visit to NYU that Wednesday if the symptoms did not resolve. Luckily, the symptoms left as fast as they came.
Wiki indicates that treatment requires reduction in physical activity (check-I was chillin' in bed from Sunday night to Tuesday/Wednesday), closely monitoring fluid and electrolyte balance (I drank a lot of gatorade), and aspiration of accumulated fluid (ascites) from the abdominal/pleural cavity may be necessary, as well as opioids for the pain (luckily I did not need either an aspiration or any type of pain meds). Over time, if carefully monitored, the condition will naturally reverse to normal - so treatment is typically supportive, although patient (moi) may need to be treated or hospitalized for pain, paracentesis, and/or intravenous hydration (again, luckily this was not needed).
Now, I am just waiting for my doctor's assistant to contact me back to have my follow-up visit. I have some questions that hopefully she can answer. I will update once again after this visit.
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