Patient Consent to Sperm Cryopreservation and Storage USF IVF

One of the first things that happened with the diagnosis, transfer to chemo floor and impending first treatment was the discussion of one of the side effects of the chemo Mathew would receive. That was sterility. A program was set up where sperm (and I assume ova for women) could be harvested and saved so once a cancer patient has been cured, they can still start a family one day.

Mathew had always wanted his own family and I always saw him as settling down, getting married and having children.

So, the paperwork was provided.

At that time, it was $100 for analysis after drop off, which had to be no more than 60 minutes after collection. Arpie, Diane and I had worked out the logistics. It was a bit of a drive and traffic could be an issue.

Then, the sperm was stored by cryopreservation.

Mathew filled out paperwork appointing me as the designee to decide the disposition of any frozen sperm if Mathew should die.

I didn’t have the money to make the first payment, so Arpie and Diane did.

The first years' storage payment, well, we figured we would worry about that later.

Unfortunately, because of the tumor and edema, Mathew was unable to provide a sample. It was a very depressing day for him.

There would be another chance later. That would be a very depressing day for me.

****Update to this post, on 4/3/2018
Yesterday I found a poem Mathew wrote about this time. The blog link is here.

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