Night Before Retrieval
Interesting tidbit of information from the altar of reproductive immunology @ AEB:
Stop lovenox 48 hours before retrieval and start up again 12 hours after retrieval.
It keeps changing but this is the latest.
As for me? I'm feeling typical cramps...left arm hurts pretty good from last night's trigger. I'm getting a free acupuncture consult tomorrow before my retrieval - if I like him he'll do my acupuncture before/after transfer....of course that is if there is anything to transfer. (I always feel I need to throw that caveat in there).
I also got on the phone with Dr. Persian at Stanford and have a lap surgery ready to go if this cycle busts. Points at which it can bust?
- No eggs retrieved (Wednesday)
- Nothing fertilized (Wednesday)
- Nothing makes it to day 3 (Monday) or day 5(Monday)
So the earliest I'll know if I'm doing a lap is tomorrow - the latest, Monday. I'll call Dr. Persian by Thursday and schedule my surgery. You know me: I ALWAYS have a contingency plan.
Dr. Italian in NYC said he doesn't think I should do a lap and that it could ruin what I have left. He said one of his patients did a lap and her FSH went from 10 to 17. Well, OK. I'm willing to bet that she didn't see Dr. Persian though.
I don't know if I believe him. I just don't know. I weigh it in my mind as: "What benefit could it be to him if I do or don't do a lap?" Time spent healing from a lap is time I'm not doing an IVF...which is time I'm not spending money in the clinic. I have a hard time thinking any physician would be so shallow as that. But maybe he's right? Or maybe he's only familiar with hack-endo-surgeons that aren't on the same level as Dr. Persian? I wish I knew the basis of his beliefs.
At any rate, it warrants a flight to the SF Bay Area to meet with the god of endo laps and see what he has to say.
Stop lovenox 48 hours before retrieval and start up again 12 hours after retrieval.
It keeps changing but this is the latest.
As for me? I'm feeling typical cramps...left arm hurts pretty good from last night's trigger. I'm getting a free acupuncture consult tomorrow before my retrieval - if I like him he'll do my acupuncture before/after transfer....of course that is if there is anything to transfer. (I always feel I need to throw that caveat in there).
I also got on the phone with Dr. Persian at Stanford and have a lap surgery ready to go if this cycle busts. Points at which it can bust?
- No eggs retrieved (Wednesday)
- Nothing fertilized (Wednesday)
- Nothing makes it to day 3 (Monday) or day 5(Monday)
So the earliest I'll know if I'm doing a lap is tomorrow - the latest, Monday. I'll call Dr. Persian by Thursday and schedule my surgery. You know me: I ALWAYS have a contingency plan.
Dr. Italian in NYC said he doesn't think I should do a lap and that it could ruin what I have left. He said one of his patients did a lap and her FSH went from 10 to 17. Well, OK. I'm willing to bet that she didn't see Dr. Persian though.
I don't know if I believe him. I just don't know. I weigh it in my mind as: "What benefit could it be to him if I do or don't do a lap?" Time spent healing from a lap is time I'm not doing an IVF...which is time I'm not spending money in the clinic. I have a hard time thinking any physician would be so shallow as that. But maybe he's right? Or maybe he's only familiar with hack-endo-surgeons that aren't on the same level as Dr. Persian? I wish I knew the basis of his beliefs.
At any rate, it warrants a flight to the SF Bay Area to meet with the god of endo laps and see what he has to say.
Labels: IVF6, meds, Surgery, The Hell that IVF Is
posted by linda at 4:21 PM
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Comments on "Night Before Retrieval"
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Mad Hatter said ... (6:23 PM) :
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Julize said ... (7:06 PM) :
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linda said ... (9:00 PM) :
post a commentOh dear dear Linda...I am hoping and wishing and praying that this time round, you don't need your contingency plan. It is SO your time, my friend. Will be thinking of you tomorrow.
Love,
Maddy
Linda,
I've been following your blog for a while now with a lot of interest because you and I have such similar issues. I don't know what the outcome of your current cycle will be and I wish you nothing but the best, but when I saw today's post I just had to de-lurk and add my 2 cents worth.
I was told the same thing by my doctor that Dr. Italian told you--don't risk doing a lap at your age (39) and with your low follicle count (~8 at the time)--but I was at my wits end and when immune treatment didn't fix my problem, I felt like I had nothing left to lose.
Boy, was I wrong. My FSH skyrocketed from 5.6 the month before the surgery to 17.4 the month after, and my endo came back in the form of another big, juicy chocolate cyst less than **5 weeks** after the surgery was complete. No, I didn't go to Dr. Persian, but I did use a well-known and well-respected surgeon in a major metropolitan area.
If this cycle isn't successful, why about trying the Beta-3 Integrin test instead? I noticed that you researched it once before back in 2006 but did you ever take the test? Or what about the EFT? Yes they're controversial, but no more so than immune treatments like LIT and IVIG (both of which I've tried multiple times, BTW).
Five months after my lap I decided to take the Beta-3 Integrin test and, lo and behold, I failed. Now I can't help but question if this was the answer all along. What if I'd skipped the lap and done 2 months of Lupron instead back when my FSH was still 5?
I'm sorry for dumping all this on you--I know it seems out of the blue. The bottom line is I just hate to see anyone else make the same terrible mistake I did!
Best of luck with your cycle. Here's hoping success makes this entire discussion moot!
Julie
Hi Julie!
I'm glad you delurked and commented. It's good to get some validation on Dr. Italian's fear about my FSH skyrocketing. The one thing that worries me, though, is that my right ovary aches (it's the one that's not producing now) and I'm worried that it may have twisted or something. It's a constant dull ache and worse now that I'm about to retrieve.
I asked Dr. Italian if I could do a doppler ultrasound or an MRI to try to visualize what is wrong with it and he said they wouldn't help figure it out.
Maybe it's me, but he just seems so pessimistic. :-S
I've heard that with the beta-integrin/EFT tests they have tested the same patients month ver month and have noticed that they have wildly different results on a monthly basis....so that worried me a bit. The cure of a positive test is a few months on lupron depot and that's one thing that Dr. Persian is totally against (I'm not sure exactly why though - I will ask him though).
Don't worry about dumping anything on me...I love to hear other people's experiences and what worked (or didn't) for them. Stabbing around in the dark by myself is the worst, so each comment I get is a little ray of light.
You tried LIT? Well, there aren't many doctors that recommend that so you and I may have crossed trails at some point! Either in MX or at the infusion center? I did LIT in Mexico twice and have done maybe 4 or 5 infusions at AEB.