Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Kurt and Heather's Infertility Story



Kurt and I met in December of 2014, only 3 days before Christmas! The first date was perfect and we quickly fell in love after. We planned a wedding for September of 2015 and waited anxiously for the big day to arrive. During the fun plans, Kurt was sick. He went to several doctors and they looked into his illness further. Still no answers, but the fear was cancer. Two days before getting married, Kurt had to get a biopsy to test for cancer. It was almost surreal to be sitting in a hospital waiting room the week of our wedding with the fear of cancel looming over us. I was almost a little bitter that we had to face this. The wedding was amazing and we had a great honeymoon in California! Once we got home after a second biopsy, Kurt was diagnosed with cancer. He started chemo almost immediately and our time as newlyweds quickly became doctors visits, scans, surgeries and the worst of all, chemo. We tried to make the most of it and be grateful for time spent together, but it was hard. The chemo seemed to be working and we celebrated that...until March when we were told he has primary refractory disease and would need a stem cell transplant. Life changed completely after that. Time was spent only at Huntsmens where he endured so much. Chemo got more intense and he got very sick. He is now receiving consolidation chemo in hopes of helping in life expectancy since the statistics aren't great for primary refractory disease. Our greatest hope is he will live a long fulfilled life, a healthy one! We've made it through a lot in our short 18 months of marriage. Now together, we are facing the devastating side effects of such strong chemo. Kurt was diagnosed with infertility with zero sperm count. We took the news really hard. During all of this, I was diagnosed with PCOS and have been trying to manage it as best as possible. Both of our health concerns left us with one option for children... IVF and it is expensive. We've tried all we can to receive aid in funding our dream of becoming parents through contests, grants and fundraisers, but we're not able to fund our IVF just yet. We have a long ways to go. We do our best staying hopeful and managing our expectations when it comes to our infertility. We are never losing hope, we didn't with his cancer and we won't with our infertility. Facing something as intense as a cancer diagnosis changes you and it allowed us to see what truly matters and what is worth our focus in life. We chose to live each day and love each other to our fullest capacity. Life is shortand we need to love every minute of it, despite any obstacles. Infertility is a unique pain I never thought could exist, it can consume you and isolate you in the worst ways, you feel hopeless at times and feel as though no one understands the pain. Although it is painful, it is a teacher as well. We are hopeful to be parents and see our beautiful children grow and do great amazing things. If you don't have hope, what do you have? We are grateful IVF is an option but it often times feels out of reach. As a couple we can't wait for the time to start IVF and fulfill our dreams of having children. (Hopefully twins haha)
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