Long Term TTC & Assisted Conception August 2013

[myturn]

Sitting here waiting for my scan.... There are six other ladies in here.... Does anyone else find it strange that we don't talk to each other?? I wish someone would say hello to me - I am too scared to initiate...

[nothing2lose]

I hate talking to people Myturn (generally, but especially in ivf waiting rooms )

Good luck!

Just had appt with lap surgeon. Now I am more confused than ever whether to get it done :/

[myturn]

I hate talking to people Myturn (generally, but especially in ivf waiting rooms )

Good luck!

Just had appt with lap surgeon. Now I am more confused than ever whether to get it done :/

yeah I know people feel differently, which is why I don't want to say anything, but at the same time it would be nice sometimes not to feel so isolated.

Anyhoo.... Why the confusion?..

[Mrs O'M]

Hi all, my sincere apologies for joining awhile ago and then being mia for a couple of weeks. Have had lots of tests in the mean time and a visit with the clinic this morning to get the FS consent and all of the medications needed.

While initially we thought I was the only one with issues, it now appears that DH has major morphology problems....... so we are looking at ICSI

The good news is however that af is due in a few days so we can get started. Juniper may I please be added to the list? I am CD23 at the moment.

Congrats to Glorious, great news, I hope you have a H&H 9 month ahead.

Myturn, I hope your scan went ok, no one chats in my doctors waiting rooms either, everyone buries their noses into their phones of the trashy mags to pass the time.

Hi to everyone else!

[juniper76]

N2L, sorry to hear you're more confused rather than finding clarity. You're always welcome to send me a PM if you want to talk through it. It's often a difficult decision.

Mrs O'M, did you only get the regular s/a done? The reason I ask is because DH also has morphology issues and when we had advanced testing done it showed a high rate of aneuploidy (chromosomally-abnormal) sperm, which can occur in men with low morphology (and cannot be treated and ICSI doesn't help because they can't identify the aneuploidy sperm visually). The other potential issue with low morphology is DNA fragmentation (which can be treated). If we had known about the aneuploidy when we were doing IVF (we only had the advanced testing done this year), we would have been less surprised about needing so many cycles (took 5 stim cycles to get DD). At this point, I'm not prepared to start IVF again unless we have the money for at least 10 cycles, because it could realistically take that many... (Not that I could do that many, but that pool of money could pay for about 5 IVF cycles and then the unused portion would be enough for a donor embryo cycle overseas...)

[nothing2lose]

Thanks Long story short, he said age-wise IVF only has a 5% success rate. A lap *might* bring that up to around 10%max. He said though there is no real evidence that getting rid of endo helps with implantation. (This is the head of the endo/lap team at the Royal Women's so I assume he knows what he's talking about.) Then there are the associated risks...

If I do it he will also inject dye into tubes, reposition my ovaries, and check inside my uterus (cyst...something or other)...

If I go public it will be 3-4 months (he said too long). Private will be at least $6k out of pocket.would be done in four weeks.

Of course, I might not even have endo.....he said it is 60/40.

[juniper76]

He said though there is no real evidence that getting rid of endo helps with implantation.

I don't know about implantation, but there are certainly studies showing that removing endo increases IVF success rates (with which he appears to agree since he gave you higher odds for that scenario).

It's common to do a hysteroscopy (ie camera through the cervix to look inside the uterus) along with the lap. I've always had both done at the same time. Is that what he was talking about?

The other thing to consider, is that endo is not just a fertility problem. I realise you may not have it, but if you do, it does organ damage. I was told I will need a bowel resection one day as a result of the damage my endo has done to it. I really wish I'd had mine diagnosed and treated before it had the opportunity to do so much damage... Of course, waiting 3-4 months (or even a few more) probably won't make a huge difference on the non-fertility aspects, so it's not a reason to rush into a lap... It's "waiting" (aka having Drs dismiss your concerns) for 10 years that makes a big difference... *sigh* Endo sucks... I really hope you don't have it.

[nothing2lose]

Thanks i definitely have adenomyosis. My hospital stay earlier this year diagnosed endo. Summary discharge notes from CT scan say "findings are concerning for ongoing pelvic endometriosis" and was given as the "Principal Diagnosis" along with acute pelvic abscess.

He mentioned pain management as a reason to get it done.

Problem is he wouldn't say one way or another whether I should go ahead. He said I had to make the decision....