A Small Village on Ice

Had our regroup with the doc and we are moving forward with the D&C. The doc didn't seem to think waiting to see if it resolved on its own would do much good. He didn't see the point of trying to move ahead with another cycle, checking the lining and risk another irregularity. Plus, with the shared risk program we are in, another cancellation would still count towards our allowed 3 frozen cycles and we'd be down to 1 left before having to move to another fresh cycle (and having to go through another round of stimulation medications and a retrieval).

We were told that studies have shown success rates increase after D&C's and that some clinics have even begun to include them in their standard protocols for IVF patients. I thought that was a little nuts, but what do I know?

They will also send the tissue to pathology to see if they can determine the cause of the irregular lining as they cannot tell what it is from the ultrasounds. Going ahead with the D&C was a no brainer for us given these two factors (increased success rates and diagnostic testing). Also, insurance will actually cover this procedure (even with us doing it at the CCRM surgery center instead of the hospital), which is a first for us! It's about time those bi-weekly premiums started paying for something. Of course, we will likely still hit our out-of-pocket max this year, but at least there is a max in our plan.

We scheduled the D&C for December 10th (with pre-op appointment on the 7th). I wish we could have gotten it out of the way sooner, but the doc didn't have an opening until the 4th and I will be too busy at work that week to fit it in. The doctor confirmed that recovery is pretty simple and that most people are able to go back to normal activity the next day. I'll reserve judgement for December 11th as they say the same thing about retrievals and that certainly wasn't the case for me.

Once we do the D&C, we wait for AF to arrive and then start another FET cycle. So we are definitely looking at early 2008 for our next shot at this. I know in the grand scheme of things, waiting another couple of months isn't a big deal, but every set back is hard to take and the waiting is miserable. I've never been a very patient person, so this process has been a true growing experience for me. It is hard to live your life and make plans when you are waiting for a cycle to start and can't predict when it will occur.

I thought I'd go out on a limb and ask the doc what his thoughts were about mandated insurance coverage for infertility treatments and why Colorado wasn't one of the 15 states that mandates this. He wasn't at all interested in discussing that topic, has no interest in politics, and no time for it. Not surprising I guess, but I found that a little disappointing. I guess there is no incentive for the doctors to care whether or not insurance covers the procedures they perform. It's not like he has a lack of patients because of it--his schedule is always booked.

The doc did think that thawing 9 instead of 6 probably makes sense. He said "we have a small village on ice, we've got to do something with them!" Then he made some comment about the embryos getting antsy, making noise, rattling the cages, and disturbing the other embryos. Apparently he thinks our kids are trouble makers, even at the embryo stage! Strange man.