Shocking Treatments

I briefly mentioned before that we took the girls to Copper Mountain to ski for Spring Break.  Well, this was a strategic decision on our part.  After the one day work-up at CCRM in October, we were informed that my uterine blood flow was low.  This was the first time it had been tested on me, so we weren’t really sure what that meant.  I had sipped on a Pepsi roughly 65 hours prior to the test, so they said that may have caused the issue.  Basically, I was going to have it retested when we were there for retrieval.  However, I forgot, and they forgot.  Humans.  When I called to ask about it, they said I had 3 options:

1. Have it retested at home for $270.
2. Complete the treatment for $380.
3. Have it retested at CCRM for free.  Well, that sounded absurd because it would cost more than $270 plus $380 to travel out there for the test.

So what did we do?  We traveled to CCRM for the test, of course.  We were going to take the girls on a trip anyway, so it made the decision easy for us.  This way, we knew the test would be accurate.

My ultrasound was set for Friday of Spring Break, so we had time for 3 days of skiing before we had to report for another transvaginal ultrasound.  I was very careful not to drink any caffeine the week of the trip.  Let me rephrase.  I was very careful not to drink any Pepsi or coffee the week of the trip.  However, I did drink about 4 cups of hot chocolate, eat a couple of Snicker’s ice cream bars, and gobble up some chocolate birthday cake.

We walked into the ultrasound room at CCRM with our chests held high, knowing we were about to pass this “ultrasound with dopplers” test.  And then she dropped the bomb.  The nurse asked if I had any caffeine or chocolate in the last 72 hours.

WHAT?!

How did we forget that chocolate had caffeine?!  They had never emphasized that before.  I swear.  Educated people here.  We just don’t always show it.

She performed the test, and I failed.

Within a few days, the nurse had called to say that Dr. Schoolcraft was recommending I go ahead and complete the treatment to be extra careful, but it was ultimately up to us.  She said it was a possibility that my test failed because of my indulgence in chocolate.  Ha!  If she wants to see an indulgence….

The unfortunate part was that treatment consisted of 8 rounds of electromagnetic acupuncture over the next 4 weeks.  I did my due diligence to get recommendations and call each of them for pricing and scheduling.  Finally, I settled on Brandy Valentine Davis at Cancer Treatment Centers of America because she would only charge $380 for the 8 treatments (a steal) and could take me with minimal time away from work.

Electromagnetic acupuncture is simply described as normal acupuncture with jumper cables clipped to the needles…if you ask Todd.  J

The next two pictures are actually my back and legs with several acupuncture needles.  Only some of them are hooked up to the leads.  If needles make you woozy...well, this is your warning.

The treatments were mostly enjoyable.  There was the one time that she accidentally turned one of the leads up high very quickly when she meant to turn it off.  It felt like I was being electrocuted through a needle because I was basically being electrocuted through a needle.  She never made that mistake, again.

For the most part, I had some of the deepest naps of my life during those sessions.  It was invigorating.

Our fingers are crossed that it worked.