Tuesday, November 10, 2009

It has been a long time!


Sorry for not updating my blog with any photos for the past month. I have been so busy with freelance work. Also, I am participating in a research study at Georgia Reproductive Specialists, and it has taken up a lot of my time. I have been driving to the Meridian Mark building near Northside Hospital twice a week for the past 6 weeks.

I lack a hormone called GnRH which is produced and secreted by the hupothalamus (a region of the brain). The reason that I am participating in this study is that I need this hormone in order to get pregnant.

The purpose of this study is to determine the safety and effectiveness of GnRH delivered from an iontophorectic (low voltage electrical current) patch into my bloodstream. GnRH has been approved by the FDA to be given by injection but not through a patch. It goes off every 90 minutes 24 hours a day. I have to change the patch every 12 hours. I have been doing this for almost 3 weeks. I am in one of 5 study groups and one is a placebo group. This is a double blind study so I will never know what group I was in, unless I get pregnant that is—then I will know I was not in the placebo group. I am trying not to get my hopes up—we will just have to wait and see. Participating in this study has brought back a flood of emotions that I had when Bob and I were trying to get pregnant with Amanda. But God knows the desires of our hearts!