Two major updates on this post. And a minor update.
Update #1: Physical Therapy Progress
I had another monthly check with my clinic PT the other day. I've been working with him monthly on strength and conditioning exercises. Usually he will give me new exercises to work into my routine at the gym. This week, we did a whole reevaluation…and I am thrilled to say I have made some great progress! My six minute walk test improved by 12%, I was able to increase my bicep and tricep weight tolerance by 5 pounds and I had amazingly improved on planks and pushups! Wahooo!!
I tried to tell him that I could tell it was all working because my legs felt "less flabby". And in truth, I have felt that my body shape has improved as well, not as much jiggling in my belly. When I was at the gym later in the week, I watched myself in the mirror and could see the difference when I did whatever exercise it was that I was working on. So instead of adding new exercises this week, he just increased the intensity of what I have been doing…so if I was planking for 30 seconds before, I now have to do 45 seconds. Or if I was doing 6 push ups before, I have to do 10 now. And for exercises with weights, I have to do 12.5 pounds instead of 10.
I am extremely excited for these results. It's great motivation for me to keep going. I want to see progress and change. To think that I've been meeting with the PT for 10 weeks now…I was on vacation for one whole week, had a few bouts of bowel blockages in which I was not able to work out…and to see progress despite all of that, I am pretty amazed! What will the next month bring, if I can go to the gym more frequently and I don't get sick? *insert happy face*
Update #2: Fertility Treatments
It took us quite a while…but we finally have our new insurance! And of course I called to see what they cover for fertility right away. The general copay is quite steep (in my opinion, and compared to before)…BUT our deductible is very low. So…if we meet our deductible (with fertility visits OR any other medical costs)…then there would be no additional cost for treatments. Since we just started with the insurance it isn't likely we will have met our deductible any time soon…and of course that deductible would start over again on January 1.
So I called the fertility clinic yesterday to start thinking about getting back there. They gave me a list of dates that our doctor is in the office and as soon as husband and I can agree on a date, I will call them back. Since we've already done two tries with IUI, my inkling is that he (the doctor) will want to proceed right to IVF. I am ok with that, but I am not sure husband is ready for that. The one problem with the new insurance is that we have a lifetime limit of five cycles of fertility treatments. So naturally, I don't want to waste any of those on IUI if it might not work. I might agree to one more round of that, but I don't want to keep that up. I just don't know. I have said previously, I have this intense fear that pregnancy will never happen for me and I am scared. I know there are other things in life that could fill that emptiness, I want to be able to say "at least we gave it our all".
Minor Update:
I've been doing a LOT of knitting and crocheting! It has really helped to take my mind off of fertility stuff…and it gives me great pride to see someone's happy face when I give them something beautifully hand crafted. That's why I haven't updated much on here. I started a Facebook to sell my stuff and in one week, I have 150 likes! GO ME! I've kind of been biding my time to open up this page. I've wanted to do it for a while, but never felt I was good enough or that people would like my stuff. But a few weeks ago (before I set up the page) I posted a picture of a doll outfit that I had made and one of my friends immediately commented and said "I need two of these!" So that gave me confidence to set up my site. Check it out and give me a like! https://www.facebook.com/yarncraftsbycait
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