Saturday, June 9, 2012

IVF #2 consult

We had a meeting with Dr. D-W yesterday to discuss IVF #2 yesterday.  Our meeting further reinforced the fact I was a dumbass to have moved practices for IVF #1 due to anesthesia issues.  Thankfully, this will not be an issue for this IVF as she has gotten the anesthesiologists to change their rules about knocking people out with a BMI of over 40.  Like Dr. D-W said, if there was any true danger she wouldn't do it, but since I have no medical issues (other than obesity) & have been knocked out twice before (once for oral surgery, once for an exploratory lap) with no issues, the rule was just really stupid not just for me but for several of her patients.

She was really curious about my protocol for IVF #1 & why my result was so shitty.  I had requested records be sent before we went on vacation but of course, the other practice hadn't sent them.  I told her what I knew & she was unfortunately not shocked when I told her they were "meh" on a protocol change; she had seen 2 new patients this week already who were running from the other practice because of the same issue.  Dr. D-W said that not changing a protocol was stupid for 2 reasons: 1. it would've meant another likely failed IVF which would suck for me & 2. it would've meant another likely failed IVF which would've sucked for the other practice's success rates.  Exactly!  

Our plan for IVF #2 is as follows: when AF comes to town again (due around 7/2) I will be put on BCPs for ~3 weeks (she may tweak this if needed) but no Lupron this time.  She thinks it may have oversuppressed me & with me being on Zoloft she doesn't want to make me any more crazy than I am already; fine by me.  We'll start with Follistim for 3 days & then add Ganirelix to address my immaturity problem & prevent premature ovulation; she thinks my overall stimming time should be 7-10 days. 

She's going to trigger me with HCG versus Ovidrel this time because in her experience women with higher BMIs tend to do better with HCG.  She also really wonders if there was an issue with empty follicles versus my having ovulated some eggs before we even got to retrieval since my ER was ~40 hrs after trigger & she aims for ~36 hrs after trigger.  ER & ET will likely be the 1st week of August.  She's going to try & do a 5dt for this cycle.  Although she can't guarantee anything she says she's aiming for a dozen egss from me & we'll transfer 1 or 2 depending on quality & quantity fertilized. 

I feel so much better having talked to Dr. D-W.  Again, I think her having been through infertility herself plays a huge role in my liking her.  She's not "warm & fuzzy" (neither am I really) which turns some people off I know but I really appreciate her not talking to patients like they're idiots.  While I'm sure there are some truly clueless infertiles out there I think the vast majority of us are not & regardless, we all deserve to know what we're injecting into our bodies & why.




5 comments:

Kate said...

Sounds like a good plan. I always tell people, you aren't looking for a soulmate you just need someone good enough to knock you up. ;). I really hope you have better luck this time. It really sucks that there is so much trial and error involved and it's not more straightforward and easy. Wouldn't that be nice?

ADSchill said...

I'm glad you are with someone you trust and who seems to value your opinion. Changing up something that isn't working as always the smart option. I wish you much more luck this time around and some big healthy embies!

Rebecca said...

I have really good vibes about this new approach. You and I had similar issues and had I not begged to not use the full dose lupron but to change it they wouldn't have for me. Instead it was just microdose Lupron but still it was too much. I also ovulate early and it caused issues with both IVF cycles. I really hope this one works for you.

meggola said...

This new protocol sounds really promising! I hope it works out well!

Hogard said...

IVF if a good treatment for those people who can not conceive naturally but it cost is too much and everybody can not afford it. I think its cost should be reduced.

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