Friday, July 18, 2014

Expert advise about IVF from an expert patient

This was a question a reader posed to Manju, our expert patient.

Question:
Need your advice - IVF . I have been on menopur 75 iu and gonal f multi dose 450 iu from 3/7/14 to date taking 225/0 in the morning and at night. I am 42 years old. Yesterday my scan and blood test showed estrogen level of 69 with 4 follicles. I have one ovary and the size of the follicles are 7.6, 6.4, 6.1 and 6.0 the nurse said they are not growing fast enough and we should cancel on Saturday I.e tomorrow if the estrogen level does not increase and if the follicles don't grow.  I need your advice.. I decided to give it my all and continue to take the meds ...I am also taking royal jelly,  maca powder, flax seed in order to improve my levels by tomorrow.  Any other suggestion.  I want to have a baby. I hope you will reply before my visit tomorrow.  I am off from work,  I am unable to focus had to leave work as I was crying too much. I don't want to loose hope this is my only chance.

Answer:

I understand your pain. Please calm down ! Getting tensed and crying will not help a bit. I understand it hurts, but you have to have realistic expectations about your situation. You are 42 years old. You want a baby badly and decided to try IVF. When they stimulated your ovaries they found that your ovaries are not growing any follicles even after giving lots of gonal F ( this is the highest dose anyone would use ). Now you are heartbroken that your dream is slipping out of your hand and you are desperate to find out whether you can do something to grow your follicles, isolate few eggs, get some embryos so that you can become pregnant. Your wish is very much justified BUT your body is not cooperating. Your heart yearns for something but the reality is different. You adamantly hoped that everything will go on well but now it is not so. Why not accept the reality A ? Then the pain gets lesser and you can think clearly of your next move.

A woman's ovary runs out of eggs as they age and that is what has happened in your case.Since your ovaries are not growing follicles even after using maximum dosage of gonal F, it is clear that your ovaries have no more eggs in them. A, I am really sorry to say this - there is nothing you can do to grow the follicles or to coax your ovaries to produce eggs; the present scientific development is not intelligent enough to help your ovaries to produce eggs. Just because you can't produce eggs it doesn't mean you can't enjoy a pregnancy or have a baby. You just have to embrace other treatment options that are available. Using eggs of a young woman will give you a very good opportunity to conceive and enjoy a pregnancy. If you ask me whether you would be able to love a baby which doesn't carry your genes - yes you will  ! Actually our genes are not that important as we might think. Just close your eyes and imagine what will happen 100 years from now -  none of us will be alive, NONE. Is it then worth worrying about your genes ? :) Any baby you love will be yours. So please do not lose heart. Do not get afraid and upset tomorrow if the doctor says that your estrogen did not rise as it should. Ask him what else you can do to have a baby?

I am sure you will not like my answer but this is the bitter truth. I wish you lots of good luck in your endeavor! May all your wish come true!

Be strong and happy!

Reply:

I appreciate your reply. I will ask about donor eggs.  I am trying to stop crying but it's hard.

Reply:

Thank you for setting me straight.  I just left the doctors office... the result was that we cancelled.  But I came to my senses and accepted it all and decided to continue with donor egg. I guess even though I don't know you....your email helped me a lot. Thanks again!





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 You can email Manju at [email protected]


Her blog is at www.myselfishgenes.blogspot.com

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