It's been a while since I've posted anything, so there are several things to report. First of all we got some of my blood test results back. Everything was normal as far as my thyroid levels and immunities go. I have a slight vitamin D deficiency, which is easily cured with a supplement. My AMH, which determines egg quality, was 0.9. Normal for my age is 1.0-2.0 so I'm a little bit low there, but it wasn't so much that they are very concerned about it. We're still waiting to hear back about the Fragil X test to find out if I'm a carrier of the gene, and I still have to send my Cycle Day 3 blood work (I have to have it done here, freeze it, and ship it) but for that I have to wait for my next cycle to start.
In other news we have decided to proceed with the surgery to remove my tubes. After lots of battling with the clinic, it is now scheduled for March 16. I really wanted to have it done during our Mardi Gras break so that I wouldn't have to miss more work, but Dr. Surrey is going to be overseas that week. They wanted to wait until my April cycle to do it because the procedure is supposed to happen between cycle days 5-15 so that they can be sure you're not pregnant. I just didn't like that idea because that was going to end up pushing everything back. Finally they agreed to let me do it March 16 even though it won't be during the correct cycle days - they just told me I need to avoid pregnancy. (Um, no problem?!?)
So that's where we stand. My mom is going out to Denver with me this time. I think she's pretty excited about seeing the facilities and meeting the doctor. Not to mention she gets to play "mom"! We have our follow up consult with the doctor on March 11. That's when we'll review our blood test results and discuss our protocol.
In completely different news, we find out in a week if Ryan got a residency in Jackson! We are so excited about that prospect! Especially since my boss has been pretty mean about this whole ordeal. I'm ready to be out of here!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Hubs is a Rock Star!
We got R's semen analysis results back yesterday and they were the best he's ever had. Despite his bad habits (smoking and drinking way too much caffeine) his sperm counts and everything were spectacular. Yea for good news!
Monday, February 14, 2011
One Day Work Up Complete
Well, we are back from Denver with a lot to think about! First of all, Denver was beautiful, and CCRM was a very nice facility with very nice staff - although after everything that I had heard about it from people who had been, I have to admit I was expecting it to be a little grander! haha!
So most of the day was spent talking to a lot of people. We met with a nurse (a very scary nurse I might add) who gave us a basic run through of how CCRM works. Then we met with the nurse that we will be working with for our IVF cycle. She was super nice and informative. I had an ultrasound to check my antral follicle count (resting follicles) and they saw 9 follicles total. They also saw two cysts on my left ovary which completely freaked me out at first. Then we met with the doctor and he didn't seem to be too concerned about the cysts. He just said we'll keep an eye on them and hope they go away on their own. He said that an antral follicle count of 9 isn't great for someone my age but it isn't terrible either. He said it's just below average so he doesn't see why we can't give IVF another shot with my own eggs - yippee! He said it will take a pretty aggressive protocol (lot of meds) but he's willing to give it a shot. In that same ultrasound they checked the blood flow to my uterus - that was pretty cool to watch. Everything looked good there, and he said that the shape of my uterus looked good, too!
When I had the HSG a year ago it showed a blockage at the distal end of my tubes but no dilation which means that there wasn't any fluid in the tubes (what is called hydrosalpinx)so the doctors I have talked to didn't have any concern about my tubes being blocked as long as I'm doing IVF - since IVF bypasses the tubes. Well, Dr. Surrey seems to think that I need to have a laproscopic surgery to remove the tubes to be on the safe side. Just in case there is some fluid in the tubes, he doesn't want to take the chance that the fluid could flow back into my uterus and kill any embryos that are trying to implant. We've been here before - trying to decide whether or not to have the lap done, although before it was to clear the tubes, now it's to remove them. We decided against it because the lap surgery would have cost around $10,000 - about the same as an IVF cycle and we figured we would put our money towards something that would be more successful (or we hoped anyway). So at first R and I were pretty against it. We just don't have an extra $10,000 laying around! But then the nurses talked to our insurance company and convinced them to pay 50% of the surgery. We're still not convinced it's necessary, and we still don't have $5,000 laying around! So who knows - just another decision to make!
We met with the business office and signed all sorts of consents - R and I felt like we were buying a house we signed our names so many times! I had another ultrasound of my uterus done where he checked to see if there were any fibroids or polyps that would get in the way and all was clear. It wasn't the most comfortable experience because he also did a trial transfer to make sure there wouldn't be any problems when the actual transfer happened. But it was just some cramping that went away pretty soon afterward. During that time R had to give a sample - the boys always have the easy part!
Then R and I both had to give blood for some tests. R had to give 2 whole vials and he was such a baby about it. Until I got in the chair and had to give 10 vials of blood - after that I felt a little light headed but the nurse gave me some juice and cookies. R got some juice and cookies too for being such a good support system! :) We should get those results sometime this week - they're checking hormone levels as well as testing to see if I carry the fragil x gene. We opted not to get the other genetic tests run because we don't have any reason to think we are carriers. We might get the tests done at a clinic here, because there's more of a possibility that insurance will cover it.
All of our meetings regarding donor eggs were very short or canceled because we no longer needed to discuss that possibility, so we got to leave a little early. It was a long day for sure, but very informative!
Now we'll wait to get the blood test results back and we have a phone follow up with Dr. Surrey on the 23rd. In the meantime I have to wait for my next cycle to start and I have to go some place here to have my blood drawn on day three of my cycle, freeze it in my freezer, and ship it to CCRM for them to test my day three hormone levels.
Lots to think about! I will post more when I find out results!
So most of the day was spent talking to a lot of people. We met with a nurse (a very scary nurse I might add) who gave us a basic run through of how CCRM works. Then we met with the nurse that we will be working with for our IVF cycle. She was super nice and informative. I had an ultrasound to check my antral follicle count (resting follicles) and they saw 9 follicles total. They also saw two cysts on my left ovary which completely freaked me out at first. Then we met with the doctor and he didn't seem to be too concerned about the cysts. He just said we'll keep an eye on them and hope they go away on their own. He said that an antral follicle count of 9 isn't great for someone my age but it isn't terrible either. He said it's just below average so he doesn't see why we can't give IVF another shot with my own eggs - yippee! He said it will take a pretty aggressive protocol (lot of meds) but he's willing to give it a shot. In that same ultrasound they checked the blood flow to my uterus - that was pretty cool to watch. Everything looked good there, and he said that the shape of my uterus looked good, too!
When I had the HSG a year ago it showed a blockage at the distal end of my tubes but no dilation which means that there wasn't any fluid in the tubes (what is called hydrosalpinx)so the doctors I have talked to didn't have any concern about my tubes being blocked as long as I'm doing IVF - since IVF bypasses the tubes. Well, Dr. Surrey seems to think that I need to have a laproscopic surgery to remove the tubes to be on the safe side. Just in case there is some fluid in the tubes, he doesn't want to take the chance that the fluid could flow back into my uterus and kill any embryos that are trying to implant. We've been here before - trying to decide whether or not to have the lap done, although before it was to clear the tubes, now it's to remove them. We decided against it because the lap surgery would have cost around $10,000 - about the same as an IVF cycle and we figured we would put our money towards something that would be more successful (or we hoped anyway). So at first R and I were pretty against it. We just don't have an extra $10,000 laying around! But then the nurses talked to our insurance company and convinced them to pay 50% of the surgery. We're still not convinced it's necessary, and we still don't have $5,000 laying around! So who knows - just another decision to make!
We met with the business office and signed all sorts of consents - R and I felt like we were buying a house we signed our names so many times! I had another ultrasound of my uterus done where he checked to see if there were any fibroids or polyps that would get in the way and all was clear. It wasn't the most comfortable experience because he also did a trial transfer to make sure there wouldn't be any problems when the actual transfer happened. But it was just some cramping that went away pretty soon afterward. During that time R had to give a sample - the boys always have the easy part!
Then R and I both had to give blood for some tests. R had to give 2 whole vials and he was such a baby about it. Until I got in the chair and had to give 10 vials of blood - after that I felt a little light headed but the nurse gave me some juice and cookies. R got some juice and cookies too for being such a good support system! :) We should get those results sometime this week - they're checking hormone levels as well as testing to see if I carry the fragil x gene. We opted not to get the other genetic tests run because we don't have any reason to think we are carriers. We might get the tests done at a clinic here, because there's more of a possibility that insurance will cover it.
All of our meetings regarding donor eggs were very short or canceled because we no longer needed to discuss that possibility, so we got to leave a little early. It was a long day for sure, but very informative!
Now we'll wait to get the blood test results back and we have a phone follow up with Dr. Surrey on the 23rd. In the meantime I have to wait for my next cycle to start and I have to go some place here to have my blood drawn on day three of my cycle, freeze it in my freezer, and ship it to CCRM for them to test my day three hormone levels.
Lots to think about! I will post more when I find out results!
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