Campaign Story

Hi everyone. Our names are Riley and Adriana and we are going to tell you about our journey. In 2018, I began experiencing a lot of pelvic pain and irregular cycles. I had multiple visits with my doctor, but seemed to be dismissed over the course of a year. In March of 2019, I finally underwent a laparoscopy to rule out what may be going on. Once the procedure was over, I was informed that I had endometriosis. Endometriosis is a disorder, in which the tissue that normally is found within the uterus, begins to grow outside of the uterus. They had found and removed the adhesions from my sigmoid colon and behind my uterus. Just a few months later, I began experiencing the same symptoms again, but only worse. I went to my doctor and was informed that the endometriosis more than likely returned. I then underwent another laparoscopy in December of 2019. As expected, more adhesions were found in the same areas, but had spread to my other organs, including my left ureter. We knew then that I was more than likely going to have fertility issues down the road, but was put on contraceptives and told to come back once I was ready to have children. Once 2020 came along, I began experiencing the same issues, but decided to get a second opinion. I went to an OB/GYN who specialized in the treatment of endometriosis, hoping to find other treatment options. I was put on a medication to help regulate my cycles, which only resulted in more pain and prolonged heavy bleeding, along with a trip to the ER. I went back for a follow-up appointment and was told to come back when I wanted to get pregnant, along with the recommendation of getting a hysterectomy. The specialist also recommended to not wait until I was 25 to begin trying to get pregnant. Of course this wasn’t news I wanted to hear at 21 years old, along with the feelings of discouragement. As time went on, I decided to deal with my issues and get with my doctor once I was ready to conceive. Now 2021 comes around and I notice my cycles were becoming worse. I went to my doctor again and had a couple of ultrasounds throughout the year. I was told there are findings of many cysts on both of my ovaries, so this could also explain part of the issues going on. The findings indicated a possibility of PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). I was again recommended to change contraceptives and come back when I wanted to conceive. Now here we are in 2022. I went to my doctor in January of 2022 with the same complaints. I began having heavy bleeding in February that lasted for 5 weeks. I was getting married in March and was worried about the issues I was experiencing. At this point, my doctor recommended a D&C, two weeks before the wedding, to hopefully seize the bleeding. Once this procedure was over, I again was told not to wait too long and to come back when I wanted to conceive. Once March was over, I began a cycle of Clomid, which is a fertility medication. My doctor recommended doing this over the course of 6 months and then I would be referred to a fertility clinic if I did not become pregnant. Unfortunately, my body did not respond properly to the medication making it impossible to have a chance at getting pregnant. I took matters into my own hands and reached out to Indiana Fertility Institute. I finally found a doctor who could help us have a family. He immediately ordered labs and an ultrasound. One of my labs came back severely elevated, along with very cystic ovaries. He confirmed the endometriosis, PCOS, and was also diagnosed with infertility. We were immediately started on a cycle plan with Letrozole, along with ultrasound monitoring. Once my follicles reached a mature size, I was to do trigger injections to induce ovulation. We have done this for 2 cycles, which have ended in 2 miscarriages. After these 2 cycles, we met with our fertility specialist and realized there may be another issue occurring. With having 2 losses, we were told this could be due to my egg quality. We were thrilled to see I was getting pregnant, but of course not happy with the outcome. He then recommended we begin our journey with IVF. We were told IVF would give us a 60% chance of having a successful pregnancy. The protocol we were doing prior was only giving us a 10% success rate. IVF is going to give us a very high chance of having our own family, but as many know, IVF comes with its financial worries. Our insurance unfortunately does not cover any fertility treatments, medications, or ultrasounds. With this we are expected to pay 100% out of pocket. We would love if anyone is able to help us on our fertility journey to bring baby H into this world. Any amount is greatly appreciated.