We had the post-op follow-up with Dr Swift on Friday. He ran through the photos he took, what he found, and what pathology told him. What he thought was a cyst on my left ovary was simply the blown follicle from when I had ovulated last. There was another small cyst behind my uterus that was benign. Several spots of endometrial cells. Lots of adhesions. Luckily, my fallopian tubes are clear, and there's nothing wrong with the inside of my uterus. The only thing that hasn't been looked at is my egg quality, but we won't get a chance to do that unless we do IVF. There's technically no reason why I can't get pregnant that they can see.
And yet, I'm still not. So he laid out our options:
IUI: Intra-uterine insemination, also known as artificial insemination. The less invasive and cheaper option: $1020 with about half back from Medicare. Basically, they stimulate my ovaries to make sure I ovulate, then when they are sure I've ovulated, they inject me with some of Dave's sperm. It's basically super-charged sex, and makes sure the sperm is in the right place at the right time. The success rate per cycle is around 10-15%, but about 40% of couples conceive after 4 cycles of IUI, after which the odds drop significantly.
IVF: In-viro fertilisation. Probably the most well-known infertility treatment. Much more invasive, and much more expensive: $7,251, with, again, around half back from Medicare. With IVF, my reproductive system is basically shut down and then rebooted with a super-charger: I'm given medication to make me produce many eggs, instead of the usual one. Then my eggs are extracted, they take a look at them and choose the best half-dozen or so, then they take Dave's best sperm and fertilise my eggs. Then, they choose the best embryos, implant one or two of them (it's against regulations to implant more than two in Australia except in very extenuating circumstances), and freeze the rest in case the first try fails. The success rate per cycle is about 40%.
It seems the best plan of attack will be to try 4 cycles of IUI, and then move on to IVF if that doesn't succeed. We still need to do some more research, and discuss the options with our parents and others who have been through similar situations. We can't do anything at all for another 6 weeks or so, to give my body time to heal from the surgery. So we have a bit of time to consider our options.
If you've been through fertility problems, I would love to hear from you!
I have a friend who has had a few rounds of IVF, would you mind if I linked her to this blog, so she may be able to tell you how she found it? She's an amazing person & someone I consider a good friend, she hadn't had an easy but it did pay off in the end. It's not my story to tell & I don't know many of the details, but I wanted to ask your permission before I linked her to this post.
ReplyDeleteSure, that would be fine Natalie :) It would be nice to hear from your friend, if she wants to talk about her experience. She might find the start of my journey interesting too :)
ReplyDeleteHi - I'm Natalie's friend.
ReplyDeleteWe did one round of IUI and 5 rounds of IVF before we were able to have a gorgeous little boy whos going to be 1 in a couple of months.
The IUI didn't really work well for me, and the Clomide that they put me on made me crazy. A lot of women i know who have been on Clomide don't do so well mentally when they've taken it. I spent most of the time on that stuff sitting on the floor in the corner crying. The IVF medication didn't affect me quite as bad though. We had a miscarriage on the first round of IVF which nearly broke me, but we tried again, and again until we managed to have a little success.
Hi, hardhatcat, and thanks for sharing your experience with me. I'm guessing it's Clomid I will be put on for IUI too, although I don't know for sure yet. I already have trouble with keeping balanced as my hormones cycle crazily, so it will be interesting to see how I react. Did you just do the 1 round of IUI because of the Clomid, or for some other reason?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your successful IVF baby, it's great to hear a story that ends in happiness, even if the road wasn't smooth.
Hola :)
ReplyDeleteOur story is a little same same but different. I had a massive ovarian cyst that damaged my tubes and so sent us to IVF. We're on our third attempt and I'm basically a shit hot mess. I hate the medication I go from being sane rational person to moody angry crying hell person. But I'm just lucky.
We're yet to experience a success, but just this minute someone I know on twitter just announced their success so I live in hope.
I have everything crossed for you! :)
Thanks gnomeangel, I've crossed everything back for you :)
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