Apologies for lack of blogging activity.
Have been busy at work.
Sunday: 8 hours
Monday: 15 hours
Tuesday: 17 hours
Wednesday: ???
Working on a post that will be on here soon ... stay tuned.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Good News
My favorite IVF blog has a great headline today - congrats T! There is hope, and a hell of a lot of power in a positive attitude. I am sincerely happy for her and her husband.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Leather Chair
My wife and I, as you know, are trying to sell our house. We've had a great deal of showings but have yet to receive a bid. I've been contemplating buying a leather chair and rearranging some of our furniture to give the home a more elegant feel. Here's what I'm thinking:
This is how our family room is currently laid out. Pottery Barn couch and love seat combination with ottoman in between. Very comfortable and cozy, but makes the room feel closed off and sort of cramped. We have a living room that we never use in which a leather couch sits - a foolish decision I made shortly after graduating undergrad was to acquire a $3,000 leather couch. It's an awesome couch, but it's just sitting there unused ... we're thinking of moving it into the family room to both take advantage of this sweet piece of furniture while simultaneously staging our home to highlight the openness of the kitchen / family room.
Here's what I'm thinking this rearrangement would look. This would require us to buy a leather chair, move the couch, love seat and ottoman from the family room into the living room, replacing them with the leather couch and cherry wood coffee table from the living room. I think this would make the room look more open, and would help us to sell our house. Plus I would get the sweet leather chair I've always wanted (thinking Pottery Barn, unless anyone has some suggestions on where to get a nice man chair)
How's this relate to infertility? It doesn't really ... but the whole selling our house thing is sort of intertwined with starting a family. We're moving to be closer to in-laws, and so my wife can stay home with the baby, getting help from her Mom as needed while I'm traveling around the world for my job.
So, what do you think? Where should I get my (our) leather chair?
This is how our family room is currently laid out. Pottery Barn couch and love seat combination with ottoman in between. Very comfortable and cozy, but makes the room feel closed off and sort of cramped. We have a living room that we never use in which a leather couch sits - a foolish decision I made shortly after graduating undergrad was to acquire a $3,000 leather couch. It's an awesome couch, but it's just sitting there unused ... we're thinking of moving it into the family room to both take advantage of this sweet piece of furniture while simultaneously staging our home to highlight the openness of the kitchen / family room. 
Here's what I'm thinking this rearrangement would look. This would require us to buy a leather chair, move the couch, love seat and ottoman from the family room into the living room, replacing them with the leather couch and cherry wood coffee table from the living room. I think this would make the room look more open, and would help us to sell our house. Plus I would get the sweet leather chair I've always wanted (thinking Pottery Barn, unless anyone has some suggestions on where to get a nice man chair) How's this relate to infertility? It doesn't really ... but the whole selling our house thing is sort of intertwined with starting a family. We're moving to be closer to in-laws, and so my wife can stay home with the baby, getting help from her Mom as needed while I'm traveling around the world for my job.
So, what do you think? Where should I get my (our) leather chair?
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Trial Details
So my wife and I had our meeting with Dr. S. this afternoon regarding the Progesterone trial being conducted through IVF Michigan. We weren't welcomed into the Doctor's office until 45 minutes after our scheduled meeting time. Very aggravating, especially when you take off work with plans to make up for the lost time in the evening - for the record, this has happened every single time we've made an appointment at this clinic. Not good. I know Doctors are busy, but come on - they're still people and should be held to some set of common courtesy standards.
Dr. S. greeted us with our files in hand. He was wearing a funky green shirt, blue scrub pants and some strange looking boots ... not at all related to the point of this post, but it was worthy of note. He started out by saying that we might not be ideal candidates for this procedure since the tactics he hoped to employ in our second round of IVF would not meet the guidelines required of the trial. If he were not restricted by the requirements of this trial, Dr. S. would:
-Use a different form of the shot that triggers the ovary to release the egg(s)
-Allow the folicles to develop to 22 mm
-Perform retrieval at 37 hours after trigger injection instead of 36
He reminded us that the quality of eggs retrieved in round one were less than optimal, and that the tactics listed above could help overcome that issue - unfortunately, the first item on the list would not be allowed by the guidelines of the procedure. The second and third bullets, however, would be allowed. Conveniently, the first bullet is the least important of the three, so he gave us a strong urging to participate in the study - seemed sort of contradictory to his initial statement about us being less than ideal candidates.
If we felt comfortable with this recommendation we would likely be proceeding into the trial ... but we've had a really bad feeling about this whole thing ever since our first cycle failed. That same feeling was there throughout this consulation and it was even stronger this time. I tried asking a few questions, but was often cut off before I could finish by an answer that was laden with technical terms above and beyond my knowledge of medicine (I'm an engineer and am thus no stranger to technical jargon ... the answers we were getting often left us more confused than when we started - very similar to our post-failure consulation)
Anyhow, we left the office, got on the elevator, looked at each other and said "We're not doing this." My wife and I are perfectly in sync on this one - we just have a bad feeling about this whole thing, we feel much more comfortable with the second Doctor and want to explore all our options for getting pregnant without being forced into IVF as our only option. That's what this feels like - "Pass go and proceed directly to IVF". I know, we've already done IVF once and failed - perhaps that has left us a little jaded about the whole thing. Regardless of the reason, we regret not getting educated about the process prior to going through it the first time. This is something we have since remedied and has made us realize we were sort of rushed into IVF without exploring all options for achieving pregnancy. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
If we were to participate in this study it would be strictly for the sake of saving $4,000 (that's how much they're deducting from participants' bills) - in my opinion, that's not the right reason to proceed with something like this. There were red flags at every step of our first cycle and we ignored them. Those flags are getting bigger as we explore a second cycle with this clinic - this combined with a strong gut feeling that we should not do this is enough for my wife and I to throw in the towel on IVF Michigan. Nothing against their clinic or Dr. S. (he seems to be a great guy), but it just doesn't feel right to us. So, thanks for the opportunity, but no thanks.
So, we're going to proceed with our second Doctor, whom we have only met once, but feel very comfortable with. Since my wife was sick during her ovulation cycle this month we missed our opportunity to conduct the post coital test. So, we'll be waiting for several more weeks until she gets her next positive ovulation test to have a go at post coital testing. We will be dry on the news front until then.
FYI - I asked Dr. S. why he opted to bypass post coital testing in the build up to IVF cycle #1 and he responded by saying "It's not necessary - nobody does it. Besides, the sperm are misshapen and post coital testing would do nothing to change that situation" I'm sure the man knows what he is doing, but that answer sounds like one that would be given to a patient looking to do IVF. We're not looking to do IVF - we're looking to get pregnant.
Dr. S. greeted us with our files in hand. He was wearing a funky green shirt, blue scrub pants and some strange looking boots ... not at all related to the point of this post, but it was worthy of note. He started out by saying that we might not be ideal candidates for this procedure since the tactics he hoped to employ in our second round of IVF would not meet the guidelines required of the trial. If he were not restricted by the requirements of this trial, Dr. S. would:
-Use a different form of the shot that triggers the ovary to release the egg(s)
-Allow the folicles to develop to 22 mm
-Perform retrieval at 37 hours after trigger injection instead of 36
He reminded us that the quality of eggs retrieved in round one were less than optimal, and that the tactics listed above could help overcome that issue - unfortunately, the first item on the list would not be allowed by the guidelines of the procedure. The second and third bullets, however, would be allowed. Conveniently, the first bullet is the least important of the three, so he gave us a strong urging to participate in the study - seemed sort of contradictory to his initial statement about us being less than ideal candidates.
If we felt comfortable with this recommendation we would likely be proceeding into the trial ... but we've had a really bad feeling about this whole thing ever since our first cycle failed. That same feeling was there throughout this consulation and it was even stronger this time. I tried asking a few questions, but was often cut off before I could finish by an answer that was laden with technical terms above and beyond my knowledge of medicine (I'm an engineer and am thus no stranger to technical jargon ... the answers we were getting often left us more confused than when we started - very similar to our post-failure consulation)
Anyhow, we left the office, got on the elevator, looked at each other and said "We're not doing this." My wife and I are perfectly in sync on this one - we just have a bad feeling about this whole thing, we feel much more comfortable with the second Doctor and want to explore all our options for getting pregnant without being forced into IVF as our only option. That's what this feels like - "Pass go and proceed directly to IVF". I know, we've already done IVF once and failed - perhaps that has left us a little jaded about the whole thing. Regardless of the reason, we regret not getting educated about the process prior to going through it the first time. This is something we have since remedied and has made us realize we were sort of rushed into IVF without exploring all options for achieving pregnancy. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
If we were to participate in this study it would be strictly for the sake of saving $4,000 (that's how much they're deducting from participants' bills) - in my opinion, that's not the right reason to proceed with something like this. There were red flags at every step of our first cycle and we ignored them. Those flags are getting bigger as we explore a second cycle with this clinic - this combined with a strong gut feeling that we should not do this is enough for my wife and I to throw in the towel on IVF Michigan. Nothing against their clinic or Dr. S. (he seems to be a great guy), but it just doesn't feel right to us. So, thanks for the opportunity, but no thanks.
So, we're going to proceed with our second Doctor, whom we have only met once, but feel very comfortable with. Since my wife was sick during her ovulation cycle this month we missed our opportunity to conduct the post coital test. So, we'll be waiting for several more weeks until she gets her next positive ovulation test to have a go at post coital testing. We will be dry on the news front until then.
FYI - I asked Dr. S. why he opted to bypass post coital testing in the build up to IVF cycle #1 and he responded by saying "It's not necessary - nobody does it. Besides, the sperm are misshapen and post coital testing would do nothing to change that situation" I'm sure the man knows what he is doing, but that answer sounds like one that would be given to a patient looking to do IVF. We're not looking to do IVF - we're looking to get pregnant.
Today's the Day
We have an appointment with IVF Michigan this afternoon to discuss our eligibility for the Progesterone study they are participating in. We intend to ask some questions about what would be done differently in round 2, and how they feel about the conflicting advice from the other Doctor. More to come tomorrow ...
In the mean time, my wife has a cold, so is in bed with Cooper at home. I feel for her ... she had a bladder infection last week, which turned to a cold before the weekend, now it looks like it's turning into a stomach flu or some other diarrhea causing ailment. I've tried to leave work early (5:30 p.m.) the past few days to take care of her ... that's something that is frowned on in my line of work. I'm starting to feel the pressure of this job a little bit. The experience is great, I love the nature of what I'm doing, it's just the hours are treacherous. What's worse is the uncertainty of where you'll be from week to week. To think, I haven't even had to travel that much yet. When that kicks in, the stress and anxiety caused by this job will go to a whole new level. I'll cross that bridge when I get there ... for now, the mantra continues: Doing this for my family ... doing this for my family ... doing this for my family.
In the mean time, my wife has a cold, so is in bed with Cooper at home. I feel for her ... she had a bladder infection last week, which turned to a cold before the weekend, now it looks like it's turning into a stomach flu or some other diarrhea causing ailment. I've tried to leave work early (5:30 p.m.) the past few days to take care of her ... that's something that is frowned on in my line of work. I'm starting to feel the pressure of this job a little bit. The experience is great, I love the nature of what I'm doing, it's just the hours are treacherous. What's worse is the uncertainty of where you'll be from week to week. To think, I haven't even had to travel that much yet. When that kicks in, the stress and anxiety caused by this job will go to a whole new level. I'll cross that bridge when I get there ... for now, the mantra continues: Doing this for my family ... doing this for my family ... doing this for my family.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Update on Study
Just talked to the nurse regarding the study we've been invited to participate in. She didn't provide a lot of details, but she said she believes the study will assess two new forms of Progesterone: One is a vaginal ring, and the other is a suppository. She said they looked through their files and my wife appeared to be a good fit for participation in the study, but some further screening would be required. She believed there would be a $4,000 discount on the cost (not too shabby ...)
Anyhow, we have an appointment to meet with the Doctor next Tuesday. I'll provide an update afterwards. We're now in a bit of a pickle: We still have more traditional testing to explore with our second Doctor (i.e. those tests that we bypassed prior to our first round of IVF ... see prior posts), but have this discounted IVF #2 opportunity to explore as well. Do we once again "pass go" and proceed directly to IVF? Or, do we forgo this opportunity in favor of getting to the bottom of what is really preventing our pregnancy?
We're going to explore further and see if we actually are candidates before we debate this too much - $4k is a significant savings that we would be foolish to walk away from without at least exploring it some more. We feel pretty fortunate for even being considered for this trial ... it's a good opportunity that we will not take for granted. Just want to be sure we're doing what's right for us.
Stay tuned ...
Anyhow, we have an appointment to meet with the Doctor next Tuesday. I'll provide an update afterwards. We're now in a bit of a pickle: We still have more traditional testing to explore with our second Doctor (i.e. those tests that we bypassed prior to our first round of IVF ... see prior posts), but have this discounted IVF #2 opportunity to explore as well. Do we once again "pass go" and proceed directly to IVF? Or, do we forgo this opportunity in favor of getting to the bottom of what is really preventing our pregnancy?
We're going to explore further and see if we actually are candidates before we debate this too much - $4k is a significant savings that we would be foolish to walk away from without at least exploring it some more. We feel pretty fortunate for even being considered for this trial ... it's a good opportunity that we will not take for granted. Just want to be sure we're doing what's right for us.
Stay tuned ...
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Interesting Opportunity (I Hope)
My wife has a voicemail on her phone from the nurse at Dr. S.'s office asking if she wants to participate in a study ... no details provided on the study itself, but it instantly triggers thoughts of "FREE IN VITRO!" in my head. If you would have told me 10 years ago that such a thought would ever be generated by my brain, let alone that I would be excited by it, I wouldn't have believed it.
I will be calling them tomorrow to find out more details. Apparently we have to have a consultation to see if we qualify. Stay tuned ...
Perhaps this is an elaborate way for Dr. S's office to find out who is writing this blog ... maybe they came across it, found what could be deemed disparaging remarks about their clinic and wanted to smoke out the culprit. They entice us with an opportunity like I hope this study to be, fully expecting that if it is indeed the author of this blog to whom the offer was extended, a story such as the one I am currently writing would end up on it. I'm thinking that is not really the case, but sleuth activity such as this would definitely spice up the whole infertility thing.
I should make a disclaimer: I intend no disrespect to Dr. S. or IVF Michigan in my posts on this blog - they are a very successful clinic, and I'm sure that success is driven primarily by the capabilities and talents of their staff. We just wanted to explore other options. We haven't made any decisions yet as we feel more data needs to be collected to tell the full story. We may very well end up back with Dr. S. for a 2nd round (especially if it's free!)
I will be calling them tomorrow to find out more details. Apparently we have to have a consultation to see if we qualify. Stay tuned ...
Perhaps this is an elaborate way for Dr. S's office to find out who is writing this blog ... maybe they came across it, found what could be deemed disparaging remarks about their clinic and wanted to smoke out the culprit. They entice us with an opportunity like I hope this study to be, fully expecting that if it is indeed the author of this blog to whom the offer was extended, a story such as the one I am currently writing would end up on it. I'm thinking that is not really the case, but sleuth activity such as this would definitely spice up the whole infertility thing.
I should make a disclaimer: I intend no disrespect to Dr. S. or IVF Michigan in my posts on this blog - they are a very successful clinic, and I'm sure that success is driven primarily by the capabilities and talents of their staff. We just wanted to explore other options. We haven't made any decisions yet as we feel more data needs to be collected to tell the full story. We may very well end up back with Dr. S. for a 2nd round (especially if it's free!)
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