What Happens During LIT?

Image source: Pixabay

To know where we processed Hubby's blood for white blood cells in my LIT, check out my post on Asian Institute of Immunology.

After Hubby's blood extraction at AIII, we went to Festival Mall in Alabang, the mall nearest to Asian Hospital. The mall was still closed so we waited in one of the benches outside. When the mall opened, window shopped and ate lunch. MY LIT was at 12nn.

Nurse William texted me that the white blood cells were already delivered to Dr. Carol's clinic. We immediately went to the hospital.

There was another TTC couple having their last LIT when we came to Dr. Carol's clinic. While waiting, I was so nervous. I read stories of women shouting, crying during LIT. The pain was so bad that some patients couldn't take it. Nurse William assured me that there was pain during LIT but not gut-wrenching. Some ladies just overreact during the process.

From 18 vials of blood, the white blood cells were now in a tiny container, almost the size of a P1 coin. The WBCs were white. Dr. Carol had a laugh when I told her I was surprised to see that the white blood cells were indeed white.

After some chit-chat to relax my nerves, Dr. Carol sanitized my inner left arm in preparation for LIT. On her desk, she had six new small syringes, small cotton balls in cut up medical tape. She told Hubby to hold my hand during the procedure.

Image: Pixabay

Dr. Carol got one syringe and drew a small amount of the WBCs. She injected the WBCs underneath my skin--not in the muscle--underneath the S-K-I-N. The skin surrounding the injection swelled and redden. After injecting the WBCs, she closed the puncture with the cotton ball and tape. It was done six times. In a row. Same arm. 

We waited and chatted some more. After 15 minutes, Dr. Carol checked out how my body reacted to the WBCs by measuring the size of the redness of each injection. She measured the diameter of each red spot and wrote the sizes in my chart. The goal was to minimize the size of the redness at each LIT session. This would mean that my body was slowly accepting the proteins of my husband. If and when I get pregnant, my body wouldn't be attacking this "foreign" body growing in my belly.

My left arm was put in an elastic bandage. Dr. Carol gave me a list of do's and don'ts:
1. Do not wet the area for three days.
2. After 24 hours, check the wounds. If there was some pus forming, apply the prescribed ointment.
3. Replace the gauze if needed.

Dr. Carol said the injection of the syringe was less painful than the release of the WBCs. It was actually the WBCs that caused a stinging sensation during LIT and caused pain in some women.

Image source: Pixabay

In my LIT, the pain differed every session. During my first LIT, I was praying the "Hail Mary" over and over in my head that I didn't feel the full scale of pain of the injections. I was focused on my prayers that my brain didn't notice the injections. I squeezed Hubby's hand whenever I felt the WBCs being pumped from the syringe. There was one session when I felt like my skin was being slashed with a disposable blade. OUCH!!!

LIT may be a scary--even torturous--treatment. Some believe in its effectiveness in helping couples conceive, some don't. I heard KATO Repro Biotech Center don't recommend LIT to their TTC patients. To each his own.

We TTC couples try and research the various treatments and procedures which we think would help us in our journey. We never lose hope. We try and try anything and everything. 

Some people around us may commend us for our courage at trying something new. Some may discourage us with our choices. But, at the end of the day, it's our choice. Our decision. Our life. Our journey. Also, our money. :)