Now that Christmas has passed, the process of preparing for our next appointment with the fertility specialist has begun...
The previous appointment ended with the news that repairing DH's varicocele may improve sperm quality, but wouldn't do anything to improve pregnancy chances... very much one of those "huh?" moments!
I've just spent ages trying to track down articles and try to make sense of them... :throw_computer: I'm so frustrated!
My acupuncturist suggested one that ACCESS had up... only I found that you need to be a member and I am not... and my next acupuncture appointment is on the 12th, with the FS appointment on the 11th! And then there's the articles you find that could be really relevant and useful - but you can only get the abstract and need to pay US$25 to read the full article!
My DH had a varicocele and he had an embolisation done. 75 days later he had a SA done and everything had increased. The main problem was 0% morph which jumped to 29% and then another 3 months later jumped to 31%. We were over the moon, of course. It's now been 5 months since getting those great numbers and we're still not pg though. I don't know what to do.
Anyway, I just wanted to write and say hi and see if there's anything I can answer for you. I did heaps of research before my DH had his op. There isn't a lot out there unfortunately, and the doctors all seem to have different opinions on the issue.
It's all very confusing, which just makes it harder doesn't it??
I think we've pretty much decided that we'll have the repair done... unless there's some issue with me that means we'll need IVF anyway. In that case, our clinic doesn't charge extra for ICSI, so there doesn't seem to be much point.
The only tricky bit is that DH is leaning more towards the embolisation, but his current specialist only does surgery. I notice you are in Sydney... which specialist did your husband see? We've been given a name, but as we are in Windsor and the specialist is in Hurstville, we'd prefer someone closer if possible!
My DH had the embolisation done at Kogarah Private Hospital, so a bit of a hike for you... There must be some way of finding someone that does the embolisation closer to you... I'm not sure how though. My acupuncturist gave me the name of our doctor, maybe yours can recommend someone?
GL with it, it's such a rollercoaster ride.... I can't wait till it's over.
That was the name given to me by the acupuncturist!
DH has me driving in to Rozelle from Windsor weekly for acupuncture (doesn't want me to stop, even when I've been frustrated, and it has certainly helped with my state of mind if nothing else), but complains and grumbles about having to see a specialist about the same distance away even though it wouldn't be anywhere near so often!
Which acupuncturist do you see in Rozelle? That's where I go. I see Leah @ Rozelle Acupuncturist Centre.
The doctor that was recommended was very good. My DH had his op at 3pm but they made a mistake and he didn't go in till about 4pm, and we left the hospital at about 6pm I think. It wasn't too bad. And that's it, you don't have to go back again. The recovery is much better for the embolisation compared to the surgery. My DH had the op done on a Friday afternoon and went back to work on Monday. All he had was a bit of a sore neck.
How long have you been TTC'ing?? Have you been all checked out??
my DH had huge improvement in count, morphology etc after having his repaired, his count actually shot through the roof. We did however, need ivf in the end as we both had problems, but he doesn't regret having it done at all, our philosophy and that of my gynea is that it would increase the odds while we weren't ivf-ing
I remember 'chatting' to you a while ago about varicoceles. You were a help to me back then, thank you. I'm so happy to see that you're pg. Congratulations!!! You must be over the moon. I hope you have a healthy happy pregnancy.
Thanks Sam, we are very excited, DH is sure having the embolisation done has helped us along the way.
I can see what you guys mean about the resistance towards having it done, I think the biggest problem which our andrologist told us, is the lack of research done on the topic. Apparently due to the nature of infertility and the length of time that would be involved, not enough people are willing to participate in any research. I have heard so many positive stories along the way where guys have had the repair or the full surgery and had such positive results. I must say that it was something I was worried sick about, I just wanted to get on with IVF if I had to go down that path and stop wasting time, looking back even though we did need IVF I am still glad he had it done.
Thankyou to you both for your insight on the topic of varicoceles!
I was getting really frustrated by the research that the FS handed us. When much of the research involved men with sub-clinical (only detectable by ultrasound) varicoceles, and/or men who already had normal sperm counts - it seems blatantly obvious to me that of course correcting those varicoceles wasn't going to improve anything! There is very limited research out there on men who have large varicoceles, triple defects in sperm and normal hormone profiles - I've encountered quite a few studies that were abandoned because they couldn't get enough participants!
Jane, did your husband have the embolisation or the surgery?
I think that if we need to have IVF anyway for my issues, then we won't be worrying about the repair, DH seems to be positively terrified of it now after our last FS appointment!
Jane, did you fall pg on your 1st IVF? Congats again!!
BW, please tell your DH not to be terrified. My DH was fine. It's all over so quickly and there's no pain, just minimal discomfort for a couple of days. Of course it's up to you, but we thought it was worthwhile fixing the problem for all future babies! It might help your chances with IVF also, or mean not needing ICSI. Your appointment on the 11th Jan will help I'm sure. GL !
Sammi Jane, just thought I'd give you an update on where we are at with the varicocele.
At the FS appointment we found out that we would need to do IVF+ICSI. The FS says that because of my PCOS that they'd do ICSI anyway as they get a better response, and repeated that he didn't think it was worth worrying about the varicocele. I've now got 4 weeks on the pill to try to get my insulin levels under control - it's not good when you can surprise the specialist with your blood test results!
We had an appointment with Leah the following day - DH doesn't normally go but he did this time, just so we can talk things through. We'll be going ahead with the varicocele repair, and the ICSI. The short term plan is to use the IVF to get me pregnant ASAP ( ), and long term work towards getting my hormones under control and DH's sperm sorted so that hopefully we won't need to go to such drastic measures with subsequent pregnancies. We'll be going with a local doctor, though - we've found one that does embolisations only about 20 minutes from here, which sure beats the hour and a half from here! Meanwhile, Leah is wanting to get hold of DH so he can be turned into a pincushion too!
Varicocele research - ugh!
:throw_computer: I'm so frustrated!
And then there's the articles you find that could be really relevant and useful - but you can only get the abstract and need to pay US$25 to read the full article!
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It might help your chances with IVF also, or mean not needing ICSI. Your appointment on the 11th Jan will help I'm sure. GL !
), and long term work towards getting my hormones under control and DH's sperm sorted so that hopefully we won't need to go to such drastic measures with subsequent pregnancies. We'll be going with a local doctor, though - we've found one that does embolisations only about 20 minutes from here, which sure beats the hour and a half from here! Meanwhile, Leah is wanting to get hold of DH so he can be turned into a pincushion too! 
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