CARE Fertility Bulletin Board

MollyImms · 21 Mar 2009

Hello Ladies!!

Really sorry I've been so patchy on here - sometimes with work I find it very difficult to log on.

Lori - welcome to the UK!! How are things going??? Hope you're doing ok.

Roz - how are you getting on???

And welcome impossible Smile

Just a quick update from me. I started downregging yesterday - so here we go again. Re the appointments Lori - I must say it's a bit of a nightmare for me. My Husband and I drive up to Nottingham each time and it's a 3 hour drive each way. Rather tiring. Having said that I commute to Oxford 4 days a week which is also 3 hours each way, so I'm getting used to being in a moving vehicle for large portions of the day. I did look into getting my scans done in Oxford, but they didn't do them till later in the day and CARE like to get the results back pretty pronto. How did it work with you Lori getting your scans done locally and then them sending the results to CARE?

Lori - you must be coming up to egg collection time. GOOD LUCK!!!!!! I hope it all goes really well for you Smile

Well I hope you're all ok. I'll try and log on a bit more often. I'd love to know how you're all doing.

Molly
x

MollyImms · 21 Mar 2009

Hello again,

Lori - just been thinking - were you advised to keep taking you DHEA all the way through?

Molly
x

Roz · 07 Mar 2001

Hi, I'm still here too! Smile

Molly wow you've started! Sounds like a bit of a nightmare travelling for you, you must have to be up horrendously early to make the scans etc, poor you - I don't envy you at all. I'm about an hour from Nottingham and I thought that was bad enough!

Lori hope you are getting on ok.

I've got a couple more weeks before downregging starts so just lurking around trying not to think about things too much really because I get really panicky and worried if I do .. one step at a time!

Hi to everyone else - I keep hoping a few more ladies will be going through this too so we can all support each other!

Night night, Roz x

MollyImms · 21 Mar 2009

Hi Roz,

I'm like you - not trying to think about it too much. I'm trying to focus on other things which seems to be working as I nearly forgot to do my injection last night!!

Hope you're having a good w/e.

Molly
x

Helen W · 27 Jun 2002

Hi Molly

Like you I only pop on here every now and again but in doing so I'm delighted to see you are 'going for it' again.

Time has flown since that traumatic time we both had in March and I have to admit I'm a teensy bit envious of you, I think if money was no object I'd be tempted to have another go too.

So I just want to wish you (and Roz and Lori and Impossible and anybody I might have missed) all the very best and it goes without saying I will be keeping everything very tightly crossed for a happy outcome.

Is everybody on this thread doing Array CGH?

Very best wishes

Helen Very Happy

xxx

Roz · 07 Mar 2001

Thanks Helen, I followed your cycle in March with interest and was so sorry at the outcome. It's certainly my intention to do Array CGH but so much depends on numbers. Will you try again do you think? This is our last go, so whatever the outcome I'll be moving on. All the best, Roz

MollyImms · 21 Mar 2009

Hi Helen and Roz,

Thanks so much for your good wishes Helen. I hope all is well with you.

It only seems like yesterday when we went through that horrible time in March doesn't it.

Yes we'll be going for CGH provided - like Roz - we have enough eggs/embryos. I'm trying not to think about it too much - I just hope and pray we can get one normal embryo. If we don't at least we can say we tried.

Bye for now.

Molly
x

Helen W · 27 Jun 2002

Hi Roz and Molly

How nice to hear from you both.

Roz, I really do not think we'll be having another go. I now have 8 cycles under my belt and am very fortunate to have a wonderful 4 year old son as the result of cycle no 6 (with all the immune drugs) who means the world to us. If we didn't have him then I think yes, we would just keep going and going.

I would love to see some more stories about cycles with Array CGH on here - preferably successful ones!

Do either of you know anything about numbers of patients, success rates etc? Although I suppose I'm trying to put it all behind me now I am still interested in it.

Lots of luck to you, I am thinking about you and hoping you will be the ones who will buck the trend.

My very best wishes

Helen
xxx

Roz · 07 Mar 2001

Hi Molly & Helen and anyone else who's lurking!

Got my drugs now and ready to go ... the box was HUGE (and scarey), deep breath and take it one step at a time.

Helen - I don't know anything about statistics for Array CGH - I have asked the question but I don't think there have actually been that many people who have made it to the transfer stage. I would have loved more information before we cycled but for various reasons we want to do this now and not in a year's time so we've bitten the bullet.

Molly you're a week into your stimms now arn't you? How're you feeling? I start next week so I'm not too far behind.

Have a good weekend ladies,

Roz x

MollyImms · 21 Mar 2009

Hi Helen and Roz,

Like Roz I haven't seen any stats on CGH yet - I think it may be fairly early on maybe.

So you have your drugs Roz! Yes the box is scary isn't it - especially when you look at them all and think that you're going to be taking them all! I'm still only downregging at the mo - I need to ring CARE on Monday and book my downreg scan and then I guess it'll be onto the stimms. I feel fine thanks. What day next week are you starting?

Has anyone heard from Lori? I wonder how she got on.

Have a lovely w/e. I'm off to see the latest Terminator film now - DH has been going about it for ages, so to keep him quiet... Wink

Molly
x

astra · 04 Oct 2003

Hi ladies
Hope its ok to join you. I may also be doing CGH array but it depends on how many eggs I manage to produce. I'm already stimming but have to say am finding this cycle quite hard, lots of headaches and have sore throat and cough. On Monday am due to have intralipids for the first time and am quite nervous about that too.

Good luck to all

luv astra x

Roz · 07 Mar 2001

Hi Molly and welcome Astra. Astra - sorry you're feeling rough, I'm sure you'll be ok with the intralipids, I had IVig when having my son and really it's just a bit boring having to do nothing for however long it takes to go in. I can understand you being apprehensive though.

Molly - I've not seen any posts from Lori, it would have been nice to know how she's getting on. Good luck with your downreg scan on Monday. I start down-regs on Thursday .. eeek! Did you start on Day 21 too? I've never done a D21 start before, only D1 so that's all new.

Going to put my feet up in a minute and wade through the pot of ice cream I've been saving (saddo) Razz

Roz x

MollyImms · 21 Mar 2009

Hi Ladies and welcome Astra!

Sorry to hear you're having a tough time Astra. Don't worry about the intralipds though - like Roz said it's just a bit boring while you sit and wait for it all to go in. It's not painful and I didn't feel any different at all afterwards.

Yes I started on Day 21 Roz too. Good luck for Thursday!

Bye for now.

Molly
x

Helen W · 27 Jun 2002

Morning everyone

Just popping in to keep any eye on you all and make sure you are all OK! Very Happy

Roz - looking at your various posts our stories are remarkably similar. I've been down the whole multiple failed cycles/IVIg route and was so frightened about egg collection I had GA at The Park every time! On my last cycle at the new CARE place in Nottingham there was no option and I had to have heavy sedation. I never felt a thing and now I'm kicking myself we could have saved all that money by having sedation before! Don't worry. By the way, know what you mean about the box of drugs Shocked

My heart sank when I first saw it but as you plough through it will soon go down!

Astra - good to see you are stimming, I hope you start to feel a bit better soon. I had a lot of headaches last time around too and felt v tired. Hope your intralipids goes well, I had it last time and it was no trouble. Boring but no trouble! It felt a lot better too knowing that it only cost a couple of hundred pounds rather than more than a thousand too! (Although it still all came to nothing Sad

)

Molly - hope your down reg scan goes well. Thinking of you.

lots of love and positive vibes

Helen Very Happy

xxx

Roz · 07 Mar 2001

Hi,

Molly - how did your down-reg scan go? Are you stimming now? I did my first injection for down-reg yesterday, had to chut myself away in the bedroom for 15 mins to psych myself up, could very easily have bottled it, but the thought that we'd already spent £800 + on drugs and more on tests kept me going Wink

Helen, thanks for your thoughts, that's the good thing about this BB isn't it - you can usually find someone who's doing or been through what you're doing, or feeling the way you are. I lost the person who I thought was my best friend as a result of having fertility treatment, she was totally unsupportive/disinterested and it makes me very wary of trusting people in the 'real world' with what we're going through. I'm sure the whole sedation thing will be fine, seems a long way off at this stage!

Astra - I saw your post on the other forum - hope the increased dose of stimms does the trick for you, mine have always been late bloomers and by EC they've usually increased a fair bit, will be keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Hope you all have a good weekend,

Roz x

Lori09 · 02 May 2009

Hi All!!! I'm still here!

I'm so sorry, but I've been without an internet connection. I've been here for 2 1/2 weeks now and I guess I have a lot to catch you up on!

So, here's the update...

My follicles decided to grow a bit slower than normal, so they kept delaying the HCG shot hoping some others would catch up. I was having to go into the clinic almost every day to check the progress, (I don't know how those of you coming from so far do it!) But a couple of the smaller ones finally caught up. Yeah! So, I had my HCG shot on Thurs. June 19th (stim day 14).

My egg collection on Saturday, June 20th - and they collected 5 follicles and all 5 contained eggs.

Day 1 results:
All 5 were mature, all 5 fertilised. So far, so good.

On day 3 (Tues., June 23rd):
2 embryos had 5-cells, 1 had 4-cells and 2 had 3-cells (which was not quite up to day-3 results). We got the CGH results Tuesday night and 2 of the eggs were considered "normal" and 2 "abnormal" and 1 "no result".
The 2 normal ones were one of the 5-cells and the other was one of the 3-cells. The other 5-cell was the "no result". I am so glad that I did the CGH because the 4-cell had a trisomy 21. The other one had absnormalities with chromosome 18 (the embryologist said this was associated Edward's Syndrome-which I still have to look up). At this point, I was keeping my fingers crossed for good news on the remaining "normal" embryos for a day-5 transfer.

By day 5, I had the following results:
All the embryos were slow developing and some had arrested development altogether.
1. Compacted embryo (more of a day 4 stage) - CGH "no result"
2. 6 cell embryo - CGH "normal egg"
3. 4 cell embryo - CGH "abnormal egg" (no change since day 3)
4. 3 cell embryo - CGH "normal egg" (no change since day 3)
5. 3 cell embryo - CGH "abnormal egg" (no change since day 3)

The 2 abnormal eggs were obviously out. So, this left me with 1 "no result" and 2 "normal" embryos, both of which were developing slowly or not at all. Maha was convinced that the "normal" 3-cell would not grow any further and said that my best chance was to transfer back the 6-cell "normal" and the compacted "no result". So, that's what we did. I finally had my transfer on Thursday, June 25th!!! Maha ended up being right about the 3-cell. I asked them to keep it one more day (just for knowledge) and they phoned me today (day 6) and said that it still hadn't changed. So, I have 2 slow growing embryos inside me hopefully picking up the pace.

I admit had some concerns with transfering back the "no result" embryo. Statistically, I should have only had 1 "normal" egg out of 5, but I had 2. The odds of having 3 "normal" eggs (ie: the "no result" one) seemed a little too lucky to take chances with. Maha told me that if it ended up not being a normal egg, then there was a 90% chance that it would just stop developing on it's own, but it was developing the best so it was worth a try. On the other side, 1 of the "abnormal" eggs had trisomy 21 and the likelihood of having 2 of those was not very likely either. So, here I am, 2 embryos, hoping for the best.

I do plan to follow up with George and hopefully get his opinion on what he feels about the DHEA and my results. My initial results were very good. They all told me that it was not common for all 5 eggs to have been mature and for all 5 eggs to fertilise. Also, having 2 normal eggs was a bit above the odds as well. I realise that my statistics are not outstanding enough to draw any true conclusions, but I am curious as to his thoughts. Hopefully, he'll offer some feedback. If so, then I will pass it on.

So, Ill be homeward bound tomorrow back across the seas and on to my lovely 2 week wait. I have to say that I have been so impressed with the staff at CARE Notts. Every nurse I dealt with on the IVF treatment team was beyond wonderful. I wanted to give each one a big hug when I left. Despite the ups & downs of the treatment, I've had a wonderful 2 1/2 week trip here in England. I'm so sorry that I couldn't keep up with my posts during the process though!
Staying in Matlock was about a 45 minute drive in to the clinic, but it was so close to all the things to see in the Peak District. What a beautiful country this is!

Now, I need to go back and catch up on all your posts and see how you all have been coming along. I'm wishing good things for you!!!

Currently, I know my odds aren't the greatest, but I feel good and definitely feel good about the decision to have the aCGH done!

Cheers & please keep me up your progress as well.
Lori

Roz · 07 Mar 2001

Lori! Wow, you've had quite a journey haven't you (and not just in terms of miles!)

I'm so pleased for you that you've made it to the dreaded 2 week wait, I hope you have a safe trip home and thanks for updating us - I've been wondering how things were going for you.

I think you've done really well and I'm sending you lots of lucky babydust across the ocean Smile

Roz x

Helen W · 27 Jun 2002

Hello ladies Smile

Lori - I've been following your story. Firstly a huge congratulations to you. You have done remarkably well just to get this far and I'm delighted you have two embryos on board. I know you must be a little concerned about the 'slow-growing' and 'inconclusive' aspects but hopefully they will both be nestling down nicely. Very Happy

You sound as though you have dealt with the various ups and downs very well indeed - you need to be made of pretty tough stuff don't you?! Very well done to you.

I'm glad you enjoyed your visit to the UK - maybe you will be able to have another visit under slightly less stressful circumstances - and with one or two little ones in tow! Wink

Hope you had a safe journey home and will be praying very hard indeed for you at Mass in the morning.

My very best wishes to you.

Astra, MollyImms, Roz - how are you all doing? Prayers for you too.

love

Helen
xxx

MollyImms · 21 Mar 2009

Hello Everyone!

Lori so great to hear from you - we were all wondering how you had got on.
You have done soooooo well and are an inspiration to us!! That's absolutely fantastic that you got to embryo transfer and I'm keeping everything crossed for you that the TWW will fly by and that you get a positive result at the end of it. I'm really pleased that you found your treatment with CARE a pleasant one - that makes all the difference doesn't it, and also gives you confidence in the team that are treating you. I hope your journey home was a good one and that you will get to put your feet up for a bit now Smile

Hi Roz - hope you're getting on with your injections ok.

Astra - I hope you're feeling a bit better and that the stimming is moving along for you now.

Helen - thanks so much for you kind words and thoughts.

My downreg scan was fine on Thursday and I also started stimming on Thursday. I have been suffering a bit with extreme tiredness due to all the travel I've been doing, but there's nothing I can do about that apart from get on with it and hope that it doesn't affect things too much. I'm due back on Thursday for my next scan. Hope there are some follies Confused

Enjoy your weekend.

Molly
x

Helen W · 27 Jun 2002

Hello again everyone

Just as I finished my post yesterday I realised I forgot to ask Lori and MollyImms about DHEA.

Am I correct in thinking it's a drug you can take to boost your ovaries? Is it intended to improve egg quantity or quality - or both?

And can you self-prescribe it? I assume you would have to get the go-ahead of your consultant first? And what format is it - a tablet?

The reason I'm asking is for my friend who is 43 - nearly 44 - and has been desperately trying for a baby for about 5 years. She has one blocked fallopian tube. Despite that she has conceived naturally twice - both ended in m/c - at about 6 wks and 9wks. Three cycles of IVF have since failed.

She's very down at the moment after her third failure just last week and
I'd really like to be able to give her some renewed hope.

Can anyone suggest the best website re DHEA I can recommend to her?

Many thanks.

H
xxx

astra · 04 Oct 2003

Hi ladies

Roz, Hope down reg is going well, once you start the injections it all becomes very real.

Molly glad your down reg scan went well and hope stimming is going smoothly too.

Can I ask you both which stims drugs you have been prescribed, I still don't really follow who gets the gonal f or menopur or both - any ideas? I'm on both.

Hi Helen good to hear from you and many thanks for your support, prayers and vibes.

Lori what an amazing story, thanks for posting all the details and congrats on your lovely embryos. So glad that CGH has been a positive experience for you. Take care and fingers crossed.

As for me I have had a couple of stims scans now, not many follies but they are growing bigger and boy don't I know it coz I am feeling big, heavy and bloated so really hoping I will be done with stims soon. I have another scan tomorrow so will know more then. Am beginning to wonder about how many eggs makes CGH worthwhile. What do you ladies think?

Anyway hope you enjoying the sunshine

bye for now luv astra x

Brandy · 16 Jun 2009

Hi All,
Please can I ask you all a question ?
I had my first IVF/ICSI cycle at CARE Nottingham recently.
My OTD was today, a BFP however I have also started bleeding fresh blood this afternoon, so reckon I have a "chemical pregnancy" scenario, which is gutting.
Anyway we went to Nottingham especially to do CGH as I am 40 so we wanted the best possible chance by only using viable eggs. I did well and got 20 eggs, 16 fertilised, 4 looked dodgy so we decided to only test 12 with CGH .... the lab apparently had a complication and were unable to test any of the eggs, with the result we needed to wait till they were blastocysts as a 3 day transfer was too late at this stage, we got 4 Blastocysts, 2 transferred and 2 now frozen.
Now I am bleeding, possibly an early miscarriage, were the eggs transferred abnormal, is this why ??
Do you think we should request our money back ?
I am so worried, confused, scared and upset that we seemed to have been failed.
Thanks for listening.
Love to all,
Nicole xx

Roz · 07 Mar 2001

Hi,

Nicole - firstly I'm feeling for you that you've had all this extra worry. A couple of thoughts - firstly it's not over for you yet ... lots of people have bleeds and go on to have healthy pregnancies and babies, I will keep everything crossed that this is the case for you.

As regards the CGH part of your treatment - I would have thought if you have paid for this on top of the normal IVF/ICSI cost then you should be entitled to this money back at least, I would contact CARE regardless of the outcome of your cycle to discuss with them. Do you know what the problem was at the Lab? I hope things turn around for you.

Astra - good luck for your scan tomorrow, if you're feeling bloated that should be a good sign Smile

I've been prescribed Menopur only, I've had this in the past and usually got about 12 eggs, but that was 6 + years ago so hoping it still works for me! I'm not sure about the number of eggs to make CGH viable, I think the loss through the process itself is minimal from what I've read. I think I'd be guided by the clinic, the egg and embryo quality. TBH even if we get 2 or 3 I think we'd still have the test done if it's possible. Good luck hun x

Molly - good luck for your scan on Thursday too, you must be shattered! I'm soooo not looking forward to that part (or any part being honest!) I've not booked any time off work either which I'll probably live to regret Sad

Ugh, nearly Monday again. Roz x

astra · 04 Oct 2003

Hi ladies

Hi Nicole keeping fingers crossed for you, how are you doing today?

Roz I was on menopur also 6 years ago and got 19 eggs but this time the gonal f and menopur mix doesn't seem to be as effective but then again age has kicked in too. Gonal f is flipping expensive too. Anyway it looks like there are 3 decent sized follies and one smaller one. Ec will be on wednesday so have to do the pregnyl jab tonight. So we won't really know how many mature eggs there are until ec and will just make the decision there and then about whether to proceed with CGH.

Molly Good luck with your stims scan, do you mind if I ask which stims drug you are on?

luv astra x

MollyImms · 21 Mar 2009

Hello Everyone,

Helen - re the DHEA I bought mine from Biovea on the internet - they are in the UK, and I take 50mg a day. There hasn't been alot of study into yet, but one of the big clinics in the USA use it regularly and they say they see a higher number of eggs produced in women with prematurely aging ovaries, and also a higher number of euploid (normal no. of chromosomes) eggs. Whether the higher number of euploid eggs is because these ladies are simply producing more eggs is unclear. So if your friend is going to have another cycle of ivf it may be something to consider, but she should probably mention it to her consultant first.

Nicole - how are you today? I hope you're ok. Re asking for your money back with the DHEA, I think you need to find out exactly why the lab didn't get a result. If it was an error on their behalf then yes, I would've thought you would be entitled to ask for a refund.

Astra - glad your follies are growing. Good luck with the pregnyl jab and EC on Wednesday!!! BTW the way I am on the same as you - Gonal/Menopur, and you're right about the cost of the Gonal!!! Blimey it's expensive.

Roz - how are you getting on with the downregging? Everything ok?

Molly
x