The IVF Club

A Personal Blog About IVF Treatment & Infertility

Natural Killer Cells and Cycle Number 14

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Just saw my new Fertility Specialist today to find out my new treatment protocol now that I have been diagnosed with Natural Killer Cells. I arrived with my box of tissues  in tow – not because I was sad but because I have a cold. It was hard to concentrate but the Doctor seemed to think that being diagnosed with natural killer cells a good thing as it gives him (or maybe me) hope that I might become a mother.

In any case, because Aunt Flow arrived yesterday and I am now in day 2 of my cycle, I have discovered that I need to start taking two Dexmethasone tablets from today, see my new nurse tomorrow and get booked in for an “infusion” Thursday week (5th August).  Sounds like a lethal cocktail to me.

For those wondering, dexamethasone is classed as a steroid drug that acts as an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant. Mmm – I wonder if this will hinder my recovery from my cold….

The “infusion” on the other hand refers to Intralipid.  This involves intravenously feeding me with a syringe in the arm for half a day with the Intralipid Treatment.

Treatment is at the clinic and so I will need to take some time off work. The Intralipid is used to down regulate the Natural Killer Cells. The substance is synthetic and is cheaper than the natual IVIG which is not available in Australia. It apparently has no side effects and is therefore safe to use.

This time I get off lightly. Not a lot of drugs considering that I am just doing a simple embryo transfer and not full blown IVF where my ovaries are stimulated. Perhaps this is a good way to be introduced to the treatment.

In any case, all my and my partners blood tests came back normal and the blood tests worked. Thank goodness for this as I really didn’t want to sit through another blood test again. The last two have not been fun at all.  The first blood test didn’t work and the second one took ages (even with three separate needles).

IVF Cycle #11

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Well another day, another transfer. I am now up to cycle number 11. I thought it would never happen to me but it has. I can’t believe I am up in the double digits now. I don’t have a good feeling about this one either.

I have a feeling that I ovulated a day later than what my clinic thinks I did.  I noticed a stronger LH surge on my ovulation test strip a day after my blood test at the clinic.  Which means I think the clinic has put a Day 5 embryo, four days after ovulation instead of 5. Somehow I do not think this is a good thing. Next time I am going to insist on having a trigger injection so at least the clinic can be sure of when I am ovulating.

On top of that when I went to the clinic and spoke to the Embryologist, the scientist told me that the Embryo survived the thaw but was only 80% okay.  Apparently this is not a bad thing as the cells are amazing in rejuvenating themselves and the clinic sets a limit on what is and isn’t acceptable.  After 10 cycles, it was the first I had heard of it.

My next piece of evidence is that I don’t think the clinic tests the lining of my uterus.  They must evaluate when they do they transfer but I can’t say I have ever seen them measuring the lining.  In talking with a friend of mine who got pregnant after her second attempt at IVF, she tells me that she had a different protocol. They measure her lining before they proceed with the transfer and they don’t give her a blood test! All I ever seem to have are blood tests. The clinician at my last test was unable to find a decent vein (mine have gone into hising now) and left me in the seat while she went for help to find it. Trouble is she left me with with a strap on my arm for nearly 10 minutes – apparently that is not a good thing and makes the veins even harder to find.

And don’t let me get started about the blood test I had before that.  This was just a simple little test for lupus etc which I have had before but they thought they might just do again.  I think they extracted eight vials of blood that day and I recently received a letter informing me that they were unable to get any results from my blood and I have to go in again so they can redo the test.

One might think after reading this blog that I am over IVF.  I think I nearly am. I think I might do one more stimulated cycle before giving myself a well deserved break.

IVF: Over $40K and Counting

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A quick calculation of all my medical costs for IVF over the past few years reveals that we have spent over $40,000 in medical treatments in our attempt to have a baby. The costs include 6 fully stimulated cycles and 4 frozen embryo cycles and we still don’t have a little baby to hold, love and cherish.

Of course, I have been quite fortunate in that I have private health insurance. This, in combination with the fact that the Australian government reimburses some of the costs of IVF treatment, means our true out of pocket costs have only been around $13.5K dollars over the past few years. Of course, this is still a lot of money when you are on a tight budget. When I compare this to the costs in some other countries the cost is quite low so I have been quite lucky (or unlucky to have done this so many times).  Of course, the level of funding will be reduced this year so my costs will increase.

So at the moment, the total cost has been just over $13.5 thousand but if I added in the cost of acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine treatments and multi-vitamins (such as folate, omega 3, CoQ10 and Vitamin C) that my husband and I have consumed, then the cost could easily be another ten thousand dollars. In fact, I am sure my husband would have the amount listed somewhere in his MYOB accounting software. It might be a bit odd but yes my husband he likes to keep track of every single dollar we spend.  Fortunately, he doesn’t complain about how much we spend on IVF.

Other costs that can not be measured in pure financial terms include:

  • The cost of retail therapy after experiencing an IVF failure
  • The emotional impact of repeated failures
  • The impact of your social life and putting aspects of your life on hold
  • The impact it has on friendships and the working environment (I confess my career has been on standy since we decided to go down the IVF route)

IVF Cycle Ten

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This month I really thought that there was a possibility I could be pregnant even though I had been negative about it happening this time.  My negativity stemmed from the fact that this month I ovulated later than normal and then somehow my hormones surged for 3 whole days before I actually ovulated.  As my body was behaving differently to normal, I decided to change the number of embryos transferred from two to one. The logic being not to waste the embryos I had.  I really felt that my body was conspiring against me for this cycle to get pregnant.

However, some positive things occurred which lead me to think this time could be different. My period was 3 days late – a pretty rare event. I didn’t develop acne. I didn’t feel bloated.  I’ve been making some positive changes to my lifestyle – getting more sleep, having regular acupuncture and taking Chinese herbal medicines twice daily.  It also seemed quite plausible and after 10 IVF attempts, surely it was my turn to fall pregnant. I also made a big personal decision and decided not to put my life and career on hold until I got pregnant.

Unfortunately, Aunt Flo decided to arrive yesterday. So its now back to the drawing board again!  As much as I was filled with anticipation, I have learned not to get excited or upset about the possibility of getting or not getting pregnant.  Its funny but my initial failures have been quite disappointing.  Each subsequent failure seems to have gotten harder and harder to bear.  But now it is less difficult.  Whilst I would still dearly love to have a little baby and am upset at the thought of never having a baby of my own, I can’t let it control me.  IVF has almost become this thing that just happens to me.  I have no control over it.  Maybe it is just surrendering to life as it happens moment by moment.