More positive news

I've been trying since Thursday to get in touch with the clinic and find out what my other levels were, as they only gave my FSH level in the message they left. I was told on Friday that someone would call me back, but Friday evening came and nobody had, so I resigned myself to waiting until Tuesday, since Monday is a bank holiday.

I'd forgotten that XXXX clinic is open seven days a week. Yesterday morning I was working on a little DIY project, and when I'd finished I decided to have a good long soak in the bath. After only five minutes in the bath, my mobile - which I'd left downstairs - rang. That ruined my bath, more so when I checked the message on the phone and it was the clinic that had rung. The message didn't give any information, but said they'd try me again today. I couldn't ring them back, because although the clinic is open at the weekend, the switchboard is not - they don't have enough staff working weekends to deal with non-urgent queries.

I swore and stamped around a little bit, then resigned myself to not knowing anything until today, and just hoped they wouldn't try to call while I was in church today.

But then in the afternoon, I was driving to the shops and as I sat waiting for a traffic light to turn green, my phone rang again - and it was the clinic again! Of course, I had to (illegally) answer it.

So, although my FSH is slightly up at 12.3, my oestradiol has actually gone down again, to 143 (its lowest level ever), LH is 6.8 and prolactin is within the normal range (she didn't give me a number). So all in all, those numbers are not too bad (for me), and certainly still better than last summer.

I mentioned that things had been a bit stressful recently and asked if this could affect my FSH level. The nurse said stress definitely had an adverse effect on FSH in many patients, and if things calmed down a bit this month I might well see a better result next month, though she also said it's not always easy to tell, since FSH levels fluctuate anyway from month to month.

After a pretty awful morning yesterday, I spent most of the day feeling as though I had a little ball of panic sitting on my chest. The call from the clinic didn't make it go away straight away, but it certainly helped.

Now all I need to do is keep calm over the next 22 days, and hope that makes the difference.