Today's beta was 1.6, so there is no need for additional betas. This chapter is closed, but I don't know how much more there will be to the story of my surrogacy journey with Mia and Urs. There will be a FET in September, but whether the transfer is to me or to Mia remains to be seen. Mia will have a sonohysterogram on July 10. The results will be faxed to Dr. Sleepy, and if her uterus is shown to be structurally sound, Mia will have the FET. The last diagnostic check of her uterus was done within the past year and a half by Mia's regular OB/GYN, and those results were fine. Next week's sono is mostly precautionary, so I don't expect any problems to show. Mia and Urs are cautious, but they are hopeful and excited about this turn of events, as am I. I want this for them.
Of course, I am also feeling a bit sorry for myself. Though we will always have our friendship, I will miss Mia and Urs in the role of my intended parents. I feel secure with them and I know that had everything worked out the way we wanted it to, we would have had an amazing surrogacy journey together.
If this is the end, I will move ahead as well and work on finding new intended parents. I'm rewriting my ad so that it is ready to post and I'm also updating my surrogacy profile and transferring it from a Word file to a private blog, which is turning out to be quite a painstaking task. I always enjoy the matching process, even though it can be daunting. I trust my instincts and I think I'm a strong judge of character, but I still have worries of matching with someone who turns out to be a complete fruit loop. I've seen it happen to a few surrogates who I think very highly of and if could happen to them, it could happen to me. I've been blessed with three wonderful sets of IPs, each of whom I hold near and dear to me. I just have to have faith that I'll continue to be blessed with finding great people to work with.
In other news, last week Frank had a 3-hour long MRI of his head, neck, and spine to check for new Multiple Sclerosis lesions. His neurologist called today while we were out and left a message with the excellent news that he hasn't developed any lesions in his spinal column. She didn't mention anything about the lesions in his brain, so for now I'll just assume that no news is good news on that front.
Also, I've noticed that Frank seems to be having slight memory problems, which in MS message board lingo is dubbed "cog fog". His short-term memory is sharp; he can remember a grocery list I rattled off to him three days before, while I can hardly remember what color underwear I have on. However, when it comes to his long-term memory, he seems to forget either minuscule, but easy to remember details of significant events or it takes him longer than it should to retrieve information that he should know almost off-hand. His neurologist doesn't have any major immediate concerns but it is problematic enough that she wants to get some baseline cognitive data, so after the MRI Frank also had some initial cognitive testing of his memory with a neurological psychologist. The psychologist asked Frank a series of basic questions about Frank's biographical history. After he answered, the psychologist would look to me for verification that Frank had given a correct response. As an example of this cog fog, it took Frank nearly 40 seconds say how old his mother was, and though he was correct, he wasn't completely sure of his answer. The psychologist confirmed an information retrieval lag and has scheduled a full 6-hour battery of intensive cognitive testing. Frank will have 3 hours of testing in about three weeks and another 3 hours of testing a week later.
In the meantime, we have a follow-up appointment with the neurologist on the 9th to discuss the MRI and the initial cognitive consult. Most importantly, we will determine if Frank will continue taking Rebif (an injection given three times per week) or if it is time for him to make the switch to Tysabri (a newer, more powerful medication given via IV-infusion once per month). Some of you might remember my previous freakniption at the neurologist's suggestion of choosing between chemotherapy or Tysabri (which has a minute potential to cause a lovely brain-eating deadly disease as a side effect) as Frank's next step. We've done some research and though it does give us a minor case of the heebie-jeebies, we think that Tysabri would be the best option for Frank if the neurologist thinks it's time to move up from the Rebif. All in all, right now Frank is doing well. The MS seems to have released its grip on his thigh and my groovy dude is out at the gym playing basketball.
At the suggestion of a few bloggers, Frank will be donating his two cents (or 20,000 calories) to my blog on Fridays for Frank's Friday Fixin's. I have to give thanks to Wishing4One for the name suggestion - oh, how mine heart dost hasten its beatific beat at the pulse of perfectly placed alliteration. Tune in tomorrow for chocolate biscuits with macerated strawberries.
