Saturday, March 29, 2008

IVF #1 Cancelled

It’s not exactly unexpected, but disappointing none the less. My first attempt at IVF was canceled this morning. I’ve responded horribly to the medication. Again there wasn’t much to see, there was one decent sized follicle on my right and another on my left. One of those had “echoes” and the Dr. doing rounds in the office this morning said it probably wouldn’t contain an egg. So I really only have one follicle to speak of.

I’m frustrated because I’ve had better responses with Femara. I thought Follistim would be stronger or do more for me. I guess ovarian discomfort doesn’t correlate with ovarian production. If it did, I wouldn’t have only one freakin’ follicle. Gaahhhh!

As the nurse kindly pointed out, now they know more about how my body responds. I guess that’s a good thing.

I tried to pump her for information, you know, the where do we go from here sort of stuff. Unfortunately, she couldn’t really answer that for me, although she confirmed that I probably will go in for a second FINAL IVF CONSULT with Dr. B.

The nurse said she’d call me this afternoon with the results of my labs (as if it matters anymore) and I guess instructions. I have the option to convert this to an IUI but I’m not even optimistic about that. What’s the point of wasting more money and medication on one egg?

I know that sounds horrible, but I’ve already done 6 IUI’s with nothing to show for it. I don’t expect this to be any different. I just want to move on to the big IVF now that I’ve proven that mini-stim doesn’t work for me.

I’m going to go crawl back into bed with M, and give him the news. I feel bad telling him because he’ll be disappointed, he was so optimistic. I feel like I let him down, again.

9 comments:

Barb said...

I know that anything I'd have to say will sound lame, but I'm sorry. :(

I seem to have the same response problem... great to femara.. bad to injectibles and extra high doses. It's such a mystery isn't it? I just get so frustrated with not knowing WHY these things happen or not even trying to figure it out.

xoxoxoxo. I got your note. I'm just a dummy.. thought I checked that message I left in your comments, but apparently missed it. *smacks forehead*

I'll be sending you another note soon. :)

Soapchick said...

I'm so sorry Stephanie, but I'm hoping the doctor will get it right next time. Do you like the doctor? Do they have a good reputation? Did they do a CD3 ultrasound to see how many antral follicles you had this month? Just some questions. I'm sorry for your disappointment this month and the waste of money. Hang in there.

sara said...

I'm so sorry, I know how badly I felt when they threatened to cancel my cycle a couple of days before my retrieval...maybe the adjustment in medication next cycle will be all you need. But regardless...this sucks...and I'm so sorry. I'm thinking of you and sending you some kind thoughts. Hugs...

Optimistic said...

I'm so sorry. I know nothing I say will make you feel better, but know we are all thinking of you! HUGS

Kim said...

So hard to find the words, but sorry says it best I guess. Canceled cycles are almost as bad a bfn. From my experience, every cycle was different too. It just may have been a bad month. It happens even on the same amount of meds. I only had one good embryo out of a bunch of follicles and three eggs one IVF cycle and then 24 on another cycle with only a little tweak of meds. The mini stim didn't work for me either. (((HUGS)))

Lisa said...

I'm sorry, Stephanie. I've been there and know how hard it is when you're so geared up for a cycle. I hate to sound so blase because I'm definitely not saying this like that at all, but, the nurse is right - now you have more information and they can change your meds and/or dosages for the next cycle and hope for a better response. Good luck to you!

Rachel said...

As a poor responder myself, I know how crappy that is. I'm so sorry. It's like, you're doing all you can and pumping yourself with all of these drugs and doing that thing that infertile people are supposed to do to help them get pregnant and your body just won't cooperate. It just sucks. I'm really, really sorry. How awful.

Bec said...

That's really crappy hon :-( My first IVF cycle was cancelled too and it's a horrible feeling. Hope you are okay xxx

Ms Heathen said...

I read about your news on Lost & Found, and just came over to say how sorry I am. My first IVF cycle was cancelled a couple of months ago due to poor response, and so I can appreciate how frustrated and let down you must be feeling at the moment.

My clinic said much the same as yours - that they had learned some valuable lessons about how my body responded to the drugs, and that it wasn't the end of the road by any means (but it certainly felt that way to me).

My thoughts are with you. I hope that you will get a chance to talk things over with Dr B soon, and that you have a better response on a different protocol/dosage.