Remember when I said at our last appointment that "all was quiet" -- and that was a good thing? Well, yesterday's appointment should have revealed a party going on in my ovaries. We should have seen tons of follicles getting ready to burst open with their eggs, an indication that I responded well to the medications and a go for the next step. Sadly, there was next to nothing.
I knew immediately when our doctor began the ultrasound. Robby and I have seen many of these, and we're getting pretty good at identifying the dark masses that indicate follicles. We were prepared to see a number of those follicles, but the screen remained blank. Our doctor finally broke the silence to ask me how old I was--never a good sign.
Finally we saw one mass, one decent-sized follicle, and three tiny masses, two of which will amount to nothing and one that may grow enough in time for ovulation. Something, yes, but not what we need to continue with IVF. It didn't take long for our doctor to tell us we would have to cancel this cycle's IVF.
Once again we were in a room feeling like all of our hopes were crumbling. There was more explanation and clarification, some of it new information, most of it old. They explained that my AMH level, the one that was a key indicator in diagnosing me with Diminished Ovarian Reserve, wasn't just low--it was undetectable. And my estradiol, which had been checked that morning through blood work, was low, as well (200), especially for having one follicle and three mini-follicles. I guess we knew that DOR would be an issue, but we didn't know it'd be this much of an issue.
"Poor responders" -- that's what they call women who don't respond to the medications. Ugh. Another negative term to break my heart.
Is all hopeless, you may ask? No, it's not. We will continue with an IUI this Monday, taking advantage of the one (and possibly two) follicles and the lovely uterine lining. I did one more day of injections and tonight I inject Ovidrel, which triggers ovulation.
As far as IVF, we will try again. There is a different protocol of medications that work with some women, so the doctor wants to put me on that treatment. We're not sure when we would do this, but sometime in the next few months. And who knows. Maybe the IUI will work and we won't even have to have an IVF. Wouldn't that be something?
We're trying to stay positive. We kept ourselves busy yesterday, me helping Camille with wedding plans (so fun) and Robby hanging out and chatting with my dad. But then night came, which is always the most difficult, and all our attempts to keep it together fell to pieces. It wasn't so bad, though. We needed to let go for a moment. Quite simply, we needed to cry.
This morning, we're up and the sun is shining. Thank God for our sunny weather! It really does help lift the spirits! Robby is talking about planting some flowers, and I will be planning some flowers -- wedding flowers for Camille, that is. (She can't make it to her appointment, so I'm filling in. How lucky am I?!)
We know you are heart-broken with us. We know we were all full of excitement over this new step. Thank you for your prayers and deep concern and true tears. You help us get through this, and we're so grateful.
Showing posts with label DOR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DOR. Show all posts
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
New bad news
Yesterday's appointment did not go as we had planned. We headed to the doctor around 3:30 expecting to hear that everything looked good and our IVF was an easy go. The news we received was disappointing. No, that's a nice way of saying it. It was devastating.
The doctor diagnosed me with something called Diminished Ovarian Reserve (DOR), sometimes known as Primary Ovarian Insufficiency. What this means is I have a reduced number of eggs left, a reduction that shouldn't be present for another ten years. All women begin to experience some form of "wear and tear" on their eggs in both quality and quantity as they age, but a significant drop doesn't usually happen until late 30's and early 40's. It's uncommon for women in their twenties and early thirties to have this. When they do, it's diagnosed as DOR.
Three tests were done to check this. Blood tests checked my levels of FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) and AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone), and the Saline Sonogram checked the development of follicles among other things. A woman with DOR with have high FSH and low AMH. Furthermore, there will often be a lesser amount of follicles present than with a normal woman. All three tests confirmed each other.
The doctor said that a healthy, fertile couple has about a 20 percent chance of conceiving every month. He guessed that we have -- are you ready for this?? -- a 1 percent chance.
One percent. My eyes filled with tears when he said those words. It was quiet in the room for a moment because neither Robby nor I really knew what to say. We weren't ready for news like that. How do we even continue talking about having a baby when our chances have just plummeted to be one in a hundred?
There was more. The saline sonogram showed something a bit abnormal with my uterus, something the doctor performing the procedure called a bicornuate uterus. My doctor didn't agree with the diagnosis, though. He said we would have seen this on our previous HSG done a few years ago. Who knows. Something's there, and it could be a problem. The options are to have surgery and fix it or to move on.
So, there we were hit with two huge bats of bad news. Somehow we started talking with all that and we actually had a really good appointment. IVF isn't out for us. Not all doctors will perform an IVF on a woman with DOR because the success rate does drop, but ours will. We just have to realize that we won't have the chances we thought we were going to have.
Still, a 30% chance is world's apart from a 1% chance, and we want to take it. In a way, it confirmed for us our desires to move toward IVF. The doctor also didn't think the surgery to correct whatever is up with my uterus was necessary. That was good to hear although I'm still not completely settled about it. Googling doesn't help, either.
We were positive on our way home, albeit completely shocked and shaken by the news. It's all settling in still, and unfortunately I usually feel worse before I feel better. But God's with us, and we hold to that truth.
The doctor diagnosed me with something called Diminished Ovarian Reserve (DOR), sometimes known as Primary Ovarian Insufficiency. What this means is I have a reduced number of eggs left, a reduction that shouldn't be present for another ten years. All women begin to experience some form of "wear and tear" on their eggs in both quality and quantity as they age, but a significant drop doesn't usually happen until late 30's and early 40's. It's uncommon for women in their twenties and early thirties to have this. When they do, it's diagnosed as DOR.
Three tests were done to check this. Blood tests checked my levels of FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) and AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone), and the Saline Sonogram checked the development of follicles among other things. A woman with DOR with have high FSH and low AMH. Furthermore, there will often be a lesser amount of follicles present than with a normal woman. All three tests confirmed each other.
The doctor said that a healthy, fertile couple has about a 20 percent chance of conceiving every month. He guessed that we have -- are you ready for this?? -- a 1 percent chance.
One percent. My eyes filled with tears when he said those words. It was quiet in the room for a moment because neither Robby nor I really knew what to say. We weren't ready for news like that. How do we even continue talking about having a baby when our chances have just plummeted to be one in a hundred?
There was more. The saline sonogram showed something a bit abnormal with my uterus, something the doctor performing the procedure called a bicornuate uterus. My doctor didn't agree with the diagnosis, though. He said we would have seen this on our previous HSG done a few years ago. Who knows. Something's there, and it could be a problem. The options are to have surgery and fix it or to move on.
So, there we were hit with two huge bats of bad news. Somehow we started talking with all that and we actually had a really good appointment. IVF isn't out for us. Not all doctors will perform an IVF on a woman with DOR because the success rate does drop, but ours will. We just have to realize that we won't have the chances we thought we were going to have.
Still, a 30% chance is world's apart from a 1% chance, and we want to take it. In a way, it confirmed for us our desires to move toward IVF. The doctor also didn't think the surgery to correct whatever is up with my uterus was necessary. That was good to hear although I'm still not completely settled about it. Googling doesn't help, either.
We were positive on our way home, albeit completely shocked and shaken by the news. It's all settling in still, and unfortunately I usually feel worse before I feel better. But God's with us, and we hold to that truth.
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