Campaign Story

My name is Laura, and I was diagnosed with Polycystic ovarian syndrome, more commonly known as PCOS about 3 years ago. PCOS affects 6%-12% of women in the United States and is one of the most common causes of infertility. Women who have PCOS can have different outcomes and different forms of treatments. Most cases consist of being insulin resistant, which means your body produces insulin but can’t really use it effectively. There currently is no definitive cause for PCOS and it is a lifelong condition. Having PCOS can also cause other serious health conditions anywhere from high blood pressure, heart disease, and even uterine cancer.

My husband, Dan, and I have been trying to start a family for 3 years now with no luck. In my case of PCOS, it had caused a buildup of polyps and a potential cysts in my uterus. I recently underwent a procedure called Hysteroscopy D&C to have those polyps and potential cysts removed. My provider then sent those to a pathologist just to make sure they were benign growths. In 98%-99% of premenopausal women, those growths are in fact benign. Unfortunately in my case I fell into that 1%-2% and I am in between pre-uterine cancer stage 4 and uterine cancer stage 1. You could probably imagine the amount of shock, emotional chaos, and grief that passed through our minds within that first 60 seconds of being told this news. All of this adding to our current grief stricken hearts of losing my father 7 months ago in an accident and 5 months ago losing my aunt due to an underlying illness.

We have been informed, however, that there is a good chance I could kick this cancer to the curb because of this type of cancer being treatable via hormones, such as progesterone, and me being in the beginning stages of development. The quickest and highest probability of being rid of those cancerous cells is through IVF. Though we would absolutely love to go that route, unfortunately that is not something we had even considered doing let alone planned for due to the costs that come with it.

Currently, through research and advice from our providers, it could cost anywhere from $15,000-21,000 which would cover extractions, embryo development, all procedures, all imaging, and all medications associated with IVF. Becoming pregnant sooner rather than later, in my case, is the best case scenario in order to not allow those cancerous cells to progress into other stages. This is because the hormone that would be most effective in getting rid of those cancerous cells is progesterone. During the entirety of a pregnancy, the mother has a continual supply of progesterone. If a pregnancy was carried full term to 40 weeks that just increases a positive outcome in terms of becoming cancer free AND becoming parents!

We understand that money is tight for a lot of people during these times of crazy inflation on everything it seems like. Even as little as a $5 donation towards this fund would be greatly appreciated and could save a life while creating another.