Dr. Marks suggested that this consult be scheduled because there is a slight chance that chemotherapy may affect fertility later in life. During my first appointment he mentioned that I had basically had 3 options:
1. do nothing-- chances are that with my type of cancer and type of chemotherapy that I am going to have (ABVD) that I will return to normal upon completion of my treatments (<20% risk of infertility post chemotherapy, some sources say 5% risk)
2. get Lupron injections each month for 6 months during my chemotherapy treatments-- The Lupron will force my body into menopause for the 6 months and put a halt to ovulation all together and in theory preserve those eggs to be available later in life. The theory with this is that cancer cells and ovulation cells are proliferating, and chemotherapy is not selective and can target both kinds these cells (as well as other cells- this is why there is such vast side effects to chemotherapy). So if you stop the ovulation, the chemo will hopefully not target the ovulation cells and fertility will persist after chemotherapy. This is not proven AT ALL through any clinical trials for my type of cancer/chemo but has been proven for other cancers and chemotherapies. My fear with doing this is exposing myself to even more drugs than necessary and the side effects (hot flashes, mood swings, bone loss) that coincide with menopause on top of the expected side effects of chemotherapy.
3. harvest embryos-- NO THANK YOU, NO THANK YOU, NO THANK YOU!
Upon going to the clinic I had my mind made up that with my age and stage of life (still in school, not married or currently planning a family) that either options 1 of 2 would be my choices. After the consult and a lot of thinking, I decided to do nothing and to tackle the idea of children when the time comes. If in the slight chance that I am infertile after all of this, adoption is ALWAYS an option. To have the stress of what cancer brings already is enough, to add forced menopause on top of that seems ridiculous at this stage in my life. It would be different if I were married and currently planning a family or if my cancer/chemo was considered high risk for infertility. My cancer/chemo is low risk and lupron is not proven at all.
Just as a side note- can I tell you how awkward it was being in the fertility clinic with all these other couples who I'm sure will be our next Jon and Kate Gosselins!? No thank you, get me out of here!!
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