Many updates...so make yourself comfortable!

Well, I'm writing here in Cleveland. I'm waiting for Myra (my mother-in-law) to get off her conference call so that we can go to lunch, then I'll head back to Columbus.

Excuse the length of this post...it is going to be a doozy. But I've been gone and so much to write, that it is bound to be a book.

1. Birmingham, AL - I had a good time in Birmingham. Unfortunately the boys didn't do as nicely as we had hoped, but Lyle and I are still incredibly proud of them. One boy, Evan, did make it to the semi-final round in Student Congress, which means he was in the top 60 in the nation. Our public forum team and Dennis, our United States Extemporaneous speaker were both one win/point from advancing out of the preliminary round. The week was busy. I judged a total of eight rounds of speaking and was lucky enough to see quite a few students who placed into the final rounds. The city of Birmingham is BEAUTIFUL. We stayed downtown and spent much of our time in the suburbs. The southern hospitality is so wonderful. I did get to go to the 16th Street Baptist Church for pictures but did not get to go on a tour. We also spent time at Kelly Ingram Park and the Civil Rights Museum and have some great pictures that I'll post sometime soon.

2. I need to spend some time talking about my brother-in-law Tom. He is a Type 1 Diabetic and was diagnosed in 2004. He is quite the athlete, as is my sister, and he is currently participating in the Race Across America, or RAAM. He and a team of seven other bike riders started on Saturday in California and are making their way to Annapolis, MD by Friday morning. Below is Tom on the course...his team of four riders bike for six or eight hours in 15 minute shifts, then his team gets six or eight hours of rest while four other riders continue the push toward Annapolis.
His team is making great strides and they are currently first! Keep it up, Team Type One!!!

3. Speaking of RAAM, I'm leaving tomorrow morning with my sister to drive into Annapolis. :-) Just the two of us. I CANNOT WAIT!!!!! My mom will be flying in later on, and the three of us will be at the finish line when Team Type One finishes Friday EARLY (midnight or 1:00 AM). Then on Sunday mom and I will fly home while Tom and Colleen drive back to Ohio. It'll be a fun time...I will never forget seeing Tom finish is 1st and 2nd Ironman, and I look forward to seeing Tom finish this race!

4. I had my "WTF" appointment with Dr. M on Monday. I was rather nervous and was hoping that the appointment would offer some closure on this whole trying to conceive business. Nope. Instead of shutting doors, Dr. M opened quite a few more doors. For one, he now believes (as I've believed for some time) that I just have bad eggs. Really bad eggs. They fertilize, grow, and then die out just when they are supposed to be implanting. I wasn't a mess when he told me this, as I was rather expecting it. Who would have known that four years ago I would be diagnosed as having CRAPPY eggs? He also now believes that my uterus is not a problem. It wouldn't matter where my eggs/embryo's were put...they would not grow. Yes, I still suffer from gene deficiencies, but it doesn't mean I can't carry a healthy pregnancy. I feel some relief knowing this now. Some, not a lot. So, where do we go from here? Dr. M suggested two things: finding an egg donor or possibly adopting embryos. As for the egg donor, he believes that if we turned to a donor then I could carry a child that is 50% genetically related to us. He told me of a patient who over three IVF's had over 90 eggs retrieved and fertilized. After numerous attempts (and MANY frozen transfers) the woman was never pregnant. She has since done three different donor egg cycles and has three beautiful children. So Dr. M believes this could be the case with me too. Another option for us is to adopt embryos. Many times couples have frozen embryo's they are not going to use (they have their completed families) and rather than having the remaining embryo's destroyed, they adopt them out. With this, I'd go through a FET protocol (estrogen and PIO) and then we'd put embryo's inside me. So, the embryo(s) would not be genetically related, and rather than adopting them at birth, they'd be "with me" since implantation. The benefit to this is that it isn't as expensive as donor eggs or "regular" adoption.

So, like I said...many new doors open. A bit confusing, but leaves me a little hopeful in some ways too. Needless to say, John and I have a LOT to talk about!!!!

5. I'm here in Cleveland. Last night I went to see New Kids On The Block for the third time in seven months. I might be becoming a groupie, but I doubt it. John's cousin Molly asked me to go with her. We had a GREAT time. It was so nice to spend time with her. And the show was different from the other two I saw, so that was nice. And who doesn't love looking at Donnie, Danny, Jon (hubba hubba), Jordan, and Joe?

So there you have it! A nice, long update. Thanks for reading this far, if you made it!!!!!