Managing ALL of the Appointments

Do you ever wonder what you did with all your time before you got sick? Living with three chronic conditions – endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, and multiple sclerosis, all of the appointments can quickly dominate your schedule. Doctors’ appointments, imaging, bloodwork, trips to the pharmacy... it becomes all consuming1

Managing appointments during IVF treatment

I’m finding this to be even more stressful as I continue with my fertility journey. There are appointments several times a week and I often don’t always know the day or time until a day before. It’s just the nature of the process. It has added stress to an already stressful season in my life. I was struggling to balance work, my normal health maintenance ,and life, but now this flood of new appointments... it’s a lot.

I found myself in the doctor’s office this week super stressed because it was a last-minute appointment and a quick dash out of the house. So, I arrived a bit anxious, only to hear that they were running late. As I watched the clock, I knew I was going to be late for my work meeting that had been scheduled for weeks. Ugh! I hate being late or having to cancel, but this was completely out of my control. The reality was there was nothing that could be done other than to sit and wait.

I kept reminding myself that although this feels like a big deal in the moment, in the grand scheme of things, having to reschedule a meeting is so minor. Beyond that, I reminded myself that this fertility journey is my highest priority. Nothing is more important to me right now that this journey.

Coping with stress

So, I have accepted the fact that I’m in a season with less control of my schedule. (I’m sure this is just a glimpse into what my schedule will look like when I have a child!) I can fight it every time my well-planned schedule gets thrown off or I can accept the fact that this is part of the process.

It also has me doing my best to now plan for these interruptions. After I got home from that appointment, I did a complete brain dump of all my commitments over the next three months. Once it was all on paper, it actually felt much better to see a complete list. I trimmed anything that was optional or simply not a priority. I put dates next to anything that had a deadline so I could rank them. And each day, I identify the top three to-dos.

This helps me to stay focused on the most important tasks. When I get thrown off schedule – because that’s now part of my new norm – I have something to refocus me once I’m back from the appointments. It’s not perfect. I still get stressed. I still have to cancel and be late for commitments. But I am prioritizing what’s most important to me and keeping perspective that nothing is more important to me than the health of my family and me.