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Hello,
My hubby and I are researching for a good doctor to complete a vasectomy reversal near toowoomba or brisbane.I have a couple of doctors names but was wondering if anyone had used anyone within the QLD region and how much the cost was and if it was successful. My husband vasectomy was approx 6 years ago and he is 31. (we are now going through dr woolcott at Newcastle)
Thanks
Shandi :D 28
Chris :D 31
Big Brother 8
Little Brother 6
Hi Shandi,
My husband had a reversal in late January 2008, I'm now in my 27th week of PG. I can recommend our Specialist but unfortunately he is based in NSW. His name is DR. Robert Woolcott. We were just lucky that one of his surgeries is based in Newcastle where we live (the other is in Sydney). His web site is extremely comprehensive and answers all questions, travel questions even the cost factor. Basically we expected to pay around $10000.00 but were pleasantly surprised to find out it was nearer to $7000.00, with the private health fund refund we were barely out of pocket! (Google search his name and you'll see his web site come up).
I can't recommend this Specialist enough, he is extremely skilled and see's patients from all over Australia as well as overseas. He does face to face consultations as well as over the phone consultations for people who live interstate. My husband works for an offshore company and after his op. spoke to a few men he works with, two of which live interstate TAS & QLD and both these guys had reversals by DR Woolcott, mind you we were the first to have a BFP!
My husband and I were to give Dr Woolcott a little challenge as Dave is 41 and had his Vasectomy over 12 years ago, the reversal success rate is very small if you have been done 15 yrs or longer! So the chance of having a good sperm count was small as over time the body naturally considers the sperm as a foreign body and tries to kill it off. Plus there is always the chance that the old scar tissue will affect the outcome. We were lucky that we had no problem with either and six months after his op. we conceived our baby. It was worth the discomfort (which was minimal, but just a little bit more than the Vasectomy), time and money. Hope you find his web site, if not just PM me and I'll send it on to you.
Mel.
Hello,
Thank you for the wonderful reply. I have seen Dr Woolcott's website and found it very good with lots of information. I have been in contact with one doctor that is Dr Jamie Reynolds who is based in Brisbane. The only thing is I can not find any success rates when I google it so I am worried as to wether we are finding the right doctors or not. Did it take you long to get in to Dr Woolcott? Our problem is we just sold our business and my husband is going back to work in a month - so we are trying to push him in before that! Wish me luck!
A big congratulations on your BFP! That is truly wonderful and inspiring!
Thanks
Shandi
Hi my docotr reffered me to a specialist who has an ofice in the sunnybank private medical suites, he has years of experience and is very friendly, i just need to save some more money before i go ahead, to save costs he uses a public hospital theatre.
he is about $3500
due to changes in governement initiatives medicare doesn not allocate a number for reversals, and will not consider helping towards these costs, private health funds only pay on items that have a medicare number, so it is not a refund, but given your chances after initial consultation it may be allot cheaper than IVF.
Hello,
Just wanted to let you know I contract Dr Woolcott office and they were able to get hubby booked in within 10 days of calling! So he is going in to be reversed on MONDAY! I am truly excited and hope it works well. He has had his phone consultation and the doctor believes he is a good candidate as he had his reversal 6 years ago but he is only 31. The only worry is that he has haemcromotosis which mean he gets way to much iron which can lower his sperm count. But he has been maintaining normal iron levels for the past six months so this should help. I have also started him on zinc as it states it will assist in producing healthy sperm.
Thanks for supplying me with the information on that doctor. We are really excited for our long weekend this weekend!
Thanks
:pray: :dance:
Hi Shandi,
Fantastic news! I'm really excited for you both and glad I could help. Will you be going to Sydney or Newcastle?
It won't be long now until you will have a BFP, a little pampering of hubby over the next couple of weeks will be all worth it for the end result.
To tell you the truth it is amazing how affordable the whole procedure ends up being with the refunds at the end, out of pocket expenses end up being close to what damosflee wrote. I wonder why more people don't consider it, maybe it's the idea of going under the knife again!
If you get a chance you can mention our names (David and Melanie Phillipson) to Dr Woolcott, he may remember us!
Good luck to both you and hubby for the weekend....... you are in good hands!
Mel.
Hello,
He was able to get us into newcastle earlier so we are going there. The hospital is a little bit extra but it got us in 2 weeks earlier. The money is definately worth the try - how do you know it won't work if you don't atleast try.
I will be sure to mention your name when we see the doctor and hopefully soon I will be sharing my BFP with everyone.
I will make sure I pamper my husband well- it will be hard for him as he is so use to working a lot - but he understands it is important for him to rest to make sure he gets the best possible results and to stop scarring.
In response to the vasectomy doctors in qld - we did find plenty but the waiting periods are anywhere from 2-6 months and I feel that the operation is in good hands going through dr woolcott as he does them alot. I also had one surgeon turn my off by saying "I will give it a go" when asked if he did vasectomy reversals.
Thanks for your wishes.
Hopefully I will reply with good news soon!
Bye for now
I was wondering if i can have the details for this specialist please. DH had a vasectomy about 2 years ago now, worst mistake ever, and now we have just started looking around to get it reversed.:
Hi All,
I am new to this forum, my husband had his VR done in Feb this year with Dr Lekich his VR was done only 15 months after his V. He had his first sperm test done a few weeks ago and sadly it came back with no sperm in there at all I am very disappointed about it but the doctor said not to worry about it yet as sperm can take a while to return. Now I am hoping his next test in six weeks time will have some in there or I don't know what I will do.
Hello,
I am sorry to hear that your reversal did not work at this stage - we hope you get some sperm with the next test - we did have that dr Lekich on our short list but we decided to go with Dr Woolcott and I am so very glad we did. My hubby got his sperm results back and he had an amazing amount of sperm 127 million of them - the only thing is only 13% were going in the right direction and doing what they should be doing - they also tested him for sperm antibodies as they believed he would have them as the vasectomy was originally done 6 years earlier - but we never went back to the doctors for the results as we just found out we are pregnant! Our baby will be due nearly a year to the day my husband had the reversal. We are very excited. I wish you guys all the best of luck with your reversals.
ShandiB- Thanks for the reply I am hearing a lot of good results from Dr Woolcott we were going to use him but it worked out cheaper (out of pocket after medicare) for us to go with Dr Lekich. Dr Lekich sells himself well and told us we had about 95% chance of success so I am trying to believe him and wait to see what our next test shows. I spoke to him the other day and told him I don't understand how some men can get sperm straight away and that my DH has none even though his V was only 15 months before his VR and he just said every man is different.
Enjoy your baby and hopefully I will have some good news soon too.
Hi, I just came across this thread.
MelP - my DH had a vasectomy about 12 years ago too - so we're a bit worried about the chances of success. Does the presence of sperm antibodies effect the result? We had had two cycles of ivf and one frozen embryo transfer (bt for that on 20/7), but if that doesn't work we are considering changing clinics or doing a reversal.:confused:
Hi mum2bXX,
It didn't in our case. I think there would always be a small chance of sperm antibodies for anyone who has had the snip. It is a risk but it isn't the dominant risk. Most reversals seem to have a positive outcome with conception happening within the two year period of the reversal procedure. The main risk would be the specialists inexperience (always consider how many procedures they have done and their success rate). And the other risk is scar tissue. But with an experienced surgeon that problem is greatly reduced.
Dr.Woolcott is an expert at what he does, so good in fact that he can tell other surgeons work once he opens someone up just by looking at the way they have worked the original vasectomy.
We chose a reversal as our first choice over IVF as the success rate is greater and now we have a beautiful baby boy to prove that success.(hubby is now now 42 and I'm now 39, although both our B'days were after bub was born). We went through the whole ordeal with the thought if the reversal didn't work we still had the choice of IVF as our last resort. I believe your chances of conceiving through IVF is a lower percentage than a reversal and then trying to conceive naturally. From memory if a vasectomy has been done for 15 years or more the percentage of success is greatly reduced. We were made to feel we would have a positive outcome and we did.
Dr. Woolcott's website is extremely comprehensive. I'm sure you would find the right answers there. There is also a video of a reversal procedure you can watch, it is just amazing! They also break down the whole cost of service and how you can claim through private health funds and medicare. They also specialize in conceiving through IVF. So maybe there would be some more useful information about that on the website as well.
I wouldn't be too worried about the procedure, it is well worth the trouble and although it does mean hubby will have to go under the knife again, I think it is still less invasive that the whole trauma of IVF. All I had to do was start charting my cycle and wait until he had recovered enough before I got jiggy with him. We were very active even before the official sperm count which I think was at the 6 or 8 week mark (I could be wrong with those dates).
It is a hard choice to make and I wish you both all the success in the world, for us reversal has been a dream come true and I'm so happy we went down that path. Good luck.
Mel.
Thanks for the info MelP. I will definately look into it further. I am just really, really impatient, so I'm not sure if I can wait up to two years :lol: Also we are moving to Canberra soon, so we might have to get in soon if we do decide to do it.
I agree that ivf is very invasive, but I don't know if I could handle the waiting each month... At least ivf is very closely monitored. Hmmm.. lots to think about!
Anyway congratulation to you and your DH..
Hi mum2BXX,
I should have clarified the 2 years waiting part. It can take up to 18months for sperm production to reach what is considered normal count. This doesn't mean you can't fall pregnant with a lower count, as with myself. As our GP said to us, "it only takes one"! David and I conceived Jasper 6 months after he had his reversal, in reality it was only three months or three cycles as he works away, one month on and one month off. So we only tried three times and the third time I fell pregnant.
Also consider the dates with ShandiB, she fell PG at the 5-6 month mark after her hubbies reversal as well. The waiting time wasn't hard and we found trying to conceive fun, relaxing and healthy. Waiting for those two pink lines is much harder, but then I didn't have to wait long!
Hope this clarifies what I first wrote.
Mel.
Hi,
my husband and I are currently considering a VR. Just wondering whether anyone here has used the metro centre - Dr Lekich and if so, what there opinion/experience has been so far. And i was so happy to read about the success some couples have had with Dr Woolcott. Could someone please commment on whether the procedure was straightforward from the start and whether the doctors had any difficulties locating the vas etc. Would really appreciate some feedback... please
Thanks
briggsy50
My DH had his VR done by Dr Lekich in Feb this year we found them really professional and was only out of pocket about $2200. He does a ultra sound on the first consult and looks at the vas so he knows what he is in for before the op. DH had his first SA done 4 months after his VR and sadly it came back nil/zero sperm. Dr Lekich said it would of been good to see some but it is not unusual and can take 18 months to return, He will be having his next test done in a few weeks so hoping to have some by then.
If you need any more info just let me know.
Jotana - thanks so much for your response. I am actually having a hard time choosing the most skilled surgeon. It appears that Dr Woolcott and Dr Lekich are the 2 choices. My cvoncern is that not all VR are the same as it depends on how the original vasectomy was done. Some vasectomies are done high up in the groin and requires quite a bit of skill. Dr Wolcott talks about this issue on his website but Dr lekich does not so it;s kind of hard to tell which one is better equipped to deal with difficult VR where the vas is blocked or the vasectomy has been done higher up. Could you provide further info on what happened at the intial consultation and whether the procedure was straigh forward in your case? Also, how many doctors were present at the theatre on the day of the VR and how confident did you feel after speaking with your doctor? Thanks so much...
when we research this Dr Woolacot was our first choice He couldn't have been more helpful we eventually went with IVf as i have fertility isssues of my own with my DH's vascetomy standing in our way luckily it worked on the second round and my Dh tell me all the time how much he must love me to have such a huge needle inserted somewhere where needles really shouldn't go :) i wish you all the best of luck with what ever you decide and on up coming tests
briggsy50- we also had a hard time choosing we wanted to go with Dr Woolcott because there was no waiting time, and with Dr Lekich we were told about 4 months. We live in Brisbane so it was easier to go with Dr Lekich, and worked out cheaper (out of pocket) paid more up front but got more back from medicare as I said last post only cost us $2200. We also picked him because he was taught by Professor Owen.
I didn't go to first consult with DH but he showed DH a video of the way Dr Woolcott does it and a video of the way he does it and DH said his way looked a lot better. Also he did the scan and squeezed his vas and could see how his V was done how high it was etc when he squeezed DH's he said it was still opening up so that was good. My DH came out excited about it and at the time didn't care if we didn't have any more baby's.
DH's procedure was straight forward and Dr Lekich said every thing went so well that if I don't fall pregnant it is our fault, even though his first test came back zero I have a lot faith in him as he said every thing was great and it had only been 15 months between V and VR. I also rang him a few weeks after DH's test results because I was so worried and annoyed about it and he answered my questions.
Dr Lekich was the only Dr in the op but his wife works with him I'm sure she is a nurse and the anaesthetist.
Jotana... thakns for your reply. M8uch appreciated. like everyone else we are trying to make an informed decision. i will keep you updated. We have an appointment with Dr Lekich but will talk to a few doctors before deciding for peace of mind. We live onthe Gold Coast and Dr lekich is conveneient but see how we go. have you spoken to anyone else that have had success with Dr lekich. Hope your next test is positive.
Briggsy50 - no I don't know of anyone that has gone to Dr Lekich, a lady on another forum is booked in for December and another one that lives in Tassie wants to next year. It seems that a lot of people use Dr Woolcott or just a urologist.
When is your appointment with Dr Lekich?
jotana - i posted a reply here but it is not showing up. Anyway here i go Again. We went to see Dr Lekich at the Metro Centre. He was very professional and is highly confident but he also sells himself well. it has been 10 years since my husband's V and Dr lekitch detected some blockage on the right side. he told us straight away that it was not a striaghtforward case which we appreciate. But he is confident he is experienced in such cases. I am however skeptical that he is the best man for the job although i must admit he does appear convincing. hate to sound so negative but at the end of the day we have to go in with an informed mind so we don't have regrets later. Dr lekich works out cheaper even if we have to see him twice should the first VR not work. Dr Woolcott is expensive but i have heard a LOT of positive rsults .
This journey is not easy and sometimes i feel so helpless that not enough concrete information is out there but i guess VR is not exactly a perfect science and we are lucky to have Doctors such as Dr Lekich and Owen as well as Dr woolcott who give us a glimmer of hope
Every case is different. i will talk to Dr Woolcott to see what he thinks of our case. IVF is an option but it cn casue permanent damage and is very expensive. Let me know how you go with your results. hang in there as yours seems t obe a straightforward case. Regards
Briggsy - I just wanted to say regarding IVF - I don't think there are any risks of permanent damage. DH and I were actually told that there was a higer success rate with that than VR.
We did two cycles of IVF/ICSI (in April and June) and both were :bfn: Just as we were about to give up hope and recondsider VR, we had an appointment with our Fertility Specialist and because he is so lovely, decided to use our one and only frozen embryo. I did a natural cycle (where they thaw our 6 day old emby and implant it at time of ovulation) and 9 days later I did a HPT and got my :bfp:
I've taken 5 tests with 2 different bands - and they all had the same result. But I guess we should wait until tommorow when I have my official BT to crack open the (non-alcholic) champagne! MelP - I know what you mean about the two pink lines - I couldn't believe I was seeing them :D
In regards to cost, I don't think it is that much out of pocket. I think the out of pocket expense for the whole thing was around $2000. ICSI is more expensive, but sperm is injected into the egg, so you don't have to worry too much about the quality of sperm.
Sorry I just realised that I am promoting IVF in a VR thread, but it's definately another option to use in the meantime :)
I typed a long post, but I'm not sure where it is???
Anyway, Briggsy - just wanted to say I am not aware of IVF causing permanent damage? We had done two cycle and had one blastocyst left over to freeze. This month we did a Frozen Embryo Transfer and it resulted in a :bfp: :D
I don't think it's that expensive compared to VR and we were going to do VR as a back up if this cycle didn't work. I think the out of pocket expense is quite similiar and although it is a bit invasive, depending on which clinic you go to, the nurses and doctors are all so lovely and it's been a really good experience for us. Also you get BT's and scans every few days - so there is no doubt as to what is going on with your body.
MUM2BXX - Thanks for your feedback on IVF. Could you briefly explain the process involved and why you chose IVF over VR? My husband is 42 and I am 34 perhaps we are better suited to the IVF process. Also roughly what's the cost involved and could you recommend anyone in particular? Sorry for asking you athousand questions. i am genuinely happy for you but a little sad for us. he had the V done long before we met and even though he told me straight up I cannot help but feel so sad about the whole thing.
Briggsy, I don't think your age has much to do with it. Like MelP said earlier she is 39 and her DH is 42. My DH had his V done 13 years ago after having 4 children in a previous marriage - so that was difficult too.
We chose IVF because the doctor at the time told us it would be a better option, but now I'm not so sure about that. It depends on so many things really. Anyway, we went through the IVF and they do all the initial BT's and scans- so that takes one monthly cylce. Then depending on your age and if you have any other implications the fertility specialist chooses a plan for you.
We went the IVF Australia and their website explains everything really well. The plan that we did cost about $6000 but the first cycle we got 4000 back and the second we got 5000 back. Most things are covered under the medicare safety net. I think there is also higher success rates for women over 35 because they are more likely to use a much more aggressive plan (for want of a better term). With me, because I am 26 and have PCOS, they used a very softly, softly approach. Having said that I went in for BT's and scans at least 3 times a week (before work) and felt comfortable with how planned it was :) I definately knew what was going on all the time and the doctors, nurses and scientist were happy to explain things. The most exciting part was getting a phone call every day after fertilisation to tell us how our emby's were growing and then seeing our ice-baby on the screen before it was put into my uterus!
Some people may think it is not 'natural' but it's actually an amazing experience getting to see what most people take for granted. The only thing is, instead of thinking each month "have I conceived a baby?" it's more "can I keep this baby?" after they put a living embryo inside you.
Hi All
Just letting you know that DH had his sperm test done yesterday and hoping to have some positive news in the next few days. Must admit that i'm not feeling very positive as I'm not pregnant again this month, that's my forth cycle now.
Will let you know results in the next couple of days.
Jotana,
Hope it goes well. I did some research of my own and spoke to a few specialists who have advised me that it can take upto 12 months for sperm to show after a VR. So hang in there. We have decided to try IVF as the waiting list and time for VR is a little daunting. have an appointment net month with a specialist.
Hi Jotana - I hope you had good results :) As I said in earlier posts, we went through IVF and it worked - but now we are thinking of getting the reversal done so that by the time we ttc again, it should all be in working order :lol: I think we would go through Dr Woolcott as we are not is QLD.
We got the results back today and as I expected it was zero again. The Dr said he went over DH's file and everything was good before the op he could see sperm and his V was only done 15 months before his VR he said he spoke to Professor Owen about it and he said sometimes the ones you expect to take along time to get sperm back (like ones that had their V done 10 years earlier) get it back fast and ones you expect to get it back fast (DH) take longer.
He told DH to come back and have a scan to see if it is blocked but the earliest he can get that done is September 7. That's still 6 weeks away, again waiting and not knowing it is so upsetting. I know people say don't give up but it is hard. I think I'm more devastated about it because Dr Lekich was so confident and told us DH was in the best situation to have it done and that we had 95% chance success rate.
DH is telling me not to be negative and to wait and see the scan but to me if he could see sperm before the op how can there still be none there 6 months after.
mum2bxx I might have to look into ivf as im 34 and can't afford to waste much more time. So did you fall pregnant on your second round?
Oh no Jotana :hug:
I know exactly how you feel - that's how I felt after my first failed ivf cycle. It is really frustrating! But maybe you could do IVF in the meantime, we did 2 cycles and then a frozen embryo transfer with the embryo left over from our second cycle. It's funny, I was all positive for the first two cycles, but then really negative for the FET because it had used frozen sperm and then been frozen as an embryo - but it worked.
Like I said, DH and I are now looking at the VR, as we are not in a hurry to get pregnant again for a while. But I think IVF is the quicker option and I take it you have reached your medicare safety net? If that is the case, you will get almost 80% back, although medication is not covered and nor is the operation (or needle) to get your DH's sperm.
Thanks mum2bxx We did reach or safety net last financial year but have now started a new year. So how long was the wait from when you made your first appointment to when you started the process?
Well, we first made our appointment around January and the fertility specialist was away. Once you get in, they do an bt's to test your immunisations and if your DH has sperm antibodies. They also do an ultrasound to check your uterus and ovaries - this is when I found out I had polycystic ovaries.
Depending on what cycle the fs decides to put you on, it will either be day 2 or day 21 of your cycle that you begin. So your first monthly cycle is counted out because of BT's and scan. It all depends on what time of the month you see fs and when you start your monthly cycle. Also, I had to have a break between my cycle is April and May ie. I couldn't start straight away in April on Day 2 of my cycle, I had wait until Day 2 in May. So all up, it took 6 months - although it officially started at the end of March (doing injections etc.) and we had a break between April/May - so it was 3 months of actually 'trying' iykwim.
Hi girls,
Congratulations mum2BXX, this is such good news. I'm so happy everything has worked out for you and Hubby! Dr. Woolcott really is a fantastic surgeon, we know people from Tassie and QLD, who's GP's have referred them to him. (my hubby works in a male orientated workforce and it is amazing how many men are on there second marriage and are thinking about VR or have had one done). He really knows his work and in the end we were only out of pocket by $2800.00 once all the claims were made.
jotana, I'm so sorry to hear this news, especially after your Dr's initial positive response. Hang in there though as the sperm count can take some time to come back. Having the choice of IVF is a great idea, that is exactly what my DH and I were going to do if the VR didn't take. I have my fingers crossed for you both and I feel positive you will have a positive outcome. I know just where you are with head space right now and it seems a terribly long wait but believe me once you are pg with your little babe all the anguish will seem a world away. As hard as it is try to stay positive as you haven't run out of choices yet, and 34yrs, well you still have plenty of time left. I have five years on you and believe me I could hear that biological clock ticking loud and clear.
I'll keep following the posts on here and good luck,
Mel.
It's nice to hear mum2BXX, it took both of us the same length of time to fall pg, I fell 6 months after DH's VR but we only had 3 months of trying as well. It's a fickle world this baby making business! :)
mum2BXX
My DH and I are talking about IVF now as we think the VR has failed (will find out this weekend when DH has his scan, feeling sick with worry). But DH is not very happy about the needle to get to the sperm did your DH have any pain when he had that done?
Hi,
MelP - thanks for the congrats - we are very happy but I will be driving myself insane until the 12wk mark :lol: I told the nurse how I did 7 HPT's before my blood test and she said "oh this is going to be a loonng pregnancy!"
Jotana - our clinic (ivf Australia) only does it using general aneasthetic (sp?), although some clinics do it using local and my DH was pretty keen just to use local. Also, afterwards he was fine, although they did give him a presciption for pain killers.
Although we went through IVF Austalia, after our 3rd attempt (well, 2 ICSI and 1 FET) I had decided we would change to Sydney IVF, as I know they have a higher success rate, although they are also more expensive. Anyway, that was during my two week wait and in the end I got my :bfp: Next time we might go through Sydney IVF though, just because I like the sound of some of their procedures better. For example, when you do the Egg Pick Up, your partner can be in the room with you and you can have local with sedation I think. I was in a surgery room with about 5 doctors and nurses and had a general aneasthetic - a bit daunting the first time.
Having said that, other clinics will allow for 2 embryo transfers and have a higher rate of twins - a concept that I was really keen on - but changed my mind just before doing IVF :lol:
Anyway, good luck :)
Hi All
DH had his scan yesterday and am happy as his vas is not blocked, Dr Lekich said sometimes it just takes some men longer for their sperm to return so hoping it does soon. We gave a sample while we were there and Dr Lekich could see a few dead ones he showed us too, last night we bought a microscope 400x so that we can keep a eye out for them too.
Hi
Have you got the details of this doctor?
Can anyone else recommend a doctor for Brisbane?
Does anyone know what the out of pocket expenses are with no private medical?
Hi my docotr reffered me to a specialist who has an ofice in the sunnybank private medical suites, he has years of experience and is very friendly, i just need to save some more money before i go ahead, to save costs he uses a public hospital theatre.
he is about $3500
due to changes in governement initiatives medicare doesn not allocate a number for reversals, and will not consider helping towards these costs, private health funds only pay on items that have a medicare number, so it is not a refund, but given your chances after initial consultation it may be allot cheaper than IVF.[/QUOTE]