Phone Consultation with CCRM

Our phone consultation with Dr. Surrey at CCRM went great. Adam and I have been to several "consultations" with doctors over the years and this one was by far the most informative. He was so easy to talk to. He looked over our history and since all of our tests always come out "perfect" he is chalking our problems up to a chromosome problem with our embryos. He also wants to do a biopsy of my uterine lining to see if I am missing the "sticky" protein needed for an emrbyo to stick. He also wants to run a whole battery of other tests as well. So, Adam and I will be flying to Denver in the next couple of weeks. Here is the breakdown:

Fly out to Denver for a full work-up....including the following:

• A Hysteroscopy which is basically looking inside my uterus...again...and I'm sure everything will be "perfect" as usual. I should probably warn him that if the word "perfect" is used to describe any of our test results, I'm allowed to punch him in the face.
• Adam gets to supply a "sample" which he has become an expert at...I'm so proud...and they will do a test to see how many "abnormal" swimmers he has...basically the ones with 2 heads, 3 tails, swimming around like they're drunk......his tests have always been great in the past so this will be an interesting one. I guess they have a way of getting rid of the abnormal ones when it comes time to fertilize my eggs after the egg retrieval. This test will give them an idea of what to look for.
• We both will have bloodwork done....big surprise. My veins are actually going through needle withdrawal since we've been on a break for a few months.
• They want to test my ovarian age.
• We will also meet with the financial office to discuss payment....I'll be sure to pack a brown paper bag for Adam since we will be paying out of pocket for several thousand dollars plus traveling to Denver 3 times.
• I also have to have a biopsy of my uterine lining which Dr. Surrey described as a "30 second ouch." He also said I could have that done here in Chicago so I can't hold him accountable for the pain and can't yell at him. Gee, can't wait for that!
• We fly home.
• This visit has to take place sometime between days 5-13 of my cycle which will basically be between December 18th through December 26th. My body hates me....seriously, I don't think the timing could be worse. We'll figure something out.....

Once the test results all come back, we start my stims. I have no idea what my protocol will be yet though. If my biopsy shows I am missing the protein, I will be on lupron injections to develop it for up to 2 months. Lupron makes me crazy....seriously, crazy. Please pray I have the "sticky" protein....for everyone's sake, but especially Adam's. ...poor guy. I will be monitored here with the regular ultrasounds and daily bloodwork until it's getting close to trigger. We will fly out to Denver for the last few monitoring appointments and the egg retrieval. They will grow our embryos to day 5 and freeze all of them. They will be sent off to be genetically tested. This testing is different from PGD, as it tests all 23 chromosomes. Since PGD only tests 9 of the 23, this test is much more accurate in choosing healthy embryos that have the best chance to implant. Chromosome abnormalities are the leading cause of miscarriage and failure to implant. I should be the poster child for this test.

It will take 4 weeks to get the results back. While we are waiting for the test results, I will start my PIO injections and endometrin to build up my lining for the transfer. We will fly out to Denver again for the transfer....have 2 days of bedrest and fly home.

That's when the hardest part of the whole process begins, not the tests, not the injections and bloodwork, not the retrieval...it's the "two week wait" until the pregnancy test that's the hardest part everytime. We are always SO hopeful during all of this, but when you get a BFN (big fat negative) you feel more crushed than you could ever have imagined you could. The thing that's different about this time is it's our last try. We are to the point where we just want to be parents......if this doesn't work, we will be very excited to start the adoption process and we will know in our hearts, it's what we were meant to do.

So that's where we're at in a nutshell.....I will be updating my blog with more updates as we progress. This will be a 4 month process with all the test results we have to wait for. For those of you who have gone through this or who are going through this......you understand that we do a lot of waiting...waiting and more waiting. So that's where we are....we wait for my period to start and we fly to Denver. Thanks for joining us on this journey! Stay tuned!