Follow up with Dr. Surrey RE: day three blood results

Before I get too much into what the good doc said, here is information regarding my hormone levels, more specifically compared to my levels in 2011.

FSH levels (determines egg quality and ovarian reserve)

Normal: below 10, Mine in 2011: 9.7, Mine now: 14.4

Estradiol (estrogen levels)

Normal: below 50, Mine in 2011: 78, Mine now: 48

AMH (determines egg quantity)

Normal: 1.8, Mine in 2011: 0.9, Mine now: 0.8

Okay, so the biggest difference is my FSH level. It has risen quite significantly. According to the doc, this obviously isn’t great, but the good news is that my estrogen levels dropped to a normal range. He said something about how the FSH levels and estrogen levels work together and if one is high, you want the other to be low and vice versa…I didn’t really follow and the more research that I do online the more confused I get. From what I can tell, low estrogen levels aren’t a good thing and it just means I’m closer to menopause, but I suppose I’ll trust the doc for now and ask more questions when the time is right. My AMH levels haven’t changed much, which is good, although they are very definitely in a not so great range. Dr. Surrey said that from what he’s looking at right now, I’m not in the range where he’s going to say no way, no how. But, he’s also not fully confident in my chance of success. He said that considering in my last cycle, while it is obviously considered a success, it still wasn’t a great outcome in that I only retrieved 7 eggs, only 5 of those eggs fertilized, and of those 5, only 1 made it. And while we are glad for that 1, it doesn’t necessarily predict great success for another IVF 4 years later.

He then went on to say that there are two more pieces to the puzzle that will really give us a clear picture of what we’re working with: an antral follicle count and a glimpse into my uterus. Both require an ultrasound that they want to perform in Colorado. So then came the news I’ve been waiting for: he wants us to come out for the one day work up. I’m totally okay with that (even kind of excited). I remember feeling so informed after going for the ODWU last time, and I really feel like it would give me peace of mind.

Ryan and I did have a conversation last night about all of this and I shared what we discussed with Dr. Surrey. We are both pretty adamant that we don’t want to go through multiple IVFs to achieve our goal. I simply don’t want to put all those hormones into my body. It’s been shown that they increase chances of ovarian and breast cancer, among other things like making you crazy and fat!! That’s not saying we don’t desperately want another baby, but we’re just more willing to use other means to achieve that goal this time, like using donor eggs. When I mentioned that to Dr. Surrey, he said that using donor eggs would give me about an 80% chance of success, and could even end up being the most cost effective. However, he made it clear that he doesn’t want me to rule out using my own eggs just yet, at least not until we get the missing pieces to the puzzle at the ODWU. He did say that he would make sure we had meetings set up to discuss the donor egg process while we’re out there. It will be much easier to discuss all of these possibilities in person instead of over the phone.

So anyway, now I just wait for the nurse to call and we’ll schedule to go out there. I’m thinking it will end up being towards the beginning of February. It has to be done between cycle days 5-14, so that either means next weekend (eek!) or February. I just don’t think I can get my act together in time for next  weekend. Especially since this go around I have to figure out child care. So, now it’s just the waiting game. In the meantime, I’ll try to get healthy and prepare my body to be poked and prodded. I need to eat healthier, drink less wine at night, and drink lots more water! New year resolutions!!

Test results

I received some of my results from the day 3 blood work. We’re still waiting on the AMH levels, which will indicate my egg quantity – the reserve that I have left. The results that we do have we’re given over a voicemail, so I really don’t have any further information other than what Julie the nurse gave me on the message. We have a follow up phone consult with Dr. Surrey tomorrow, so we’ll get the AMH level and more info about what all this means.  So, what we do know… my estradiol level looks normal. I’m not really sure what that tells us, but I like the word “normal”. My FSH level, which indicates egg quality, is high. She said the top of normal range is 10 and mine is 14.4. NOT GOOD! Again, I don’t really know anything further than that information, and there may be something more to it, but from where I’m sitting with the information given to me so far, things aren’t looking real good. Ryan had been pretty silent through this whole process so far, so I don’t really know what he’s thinking. I guess I’ve been the same way. We don’t really have the time to talk about our feelings regarding IVF like we did before Anadine. Ha! I think we’re both waiting for the final declaration of “we can’t do this with your eggs” before we start discussing other options. I guess we’ll know more tomorrow. I’ll be sure to post then.

Surgery

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, so there are several things to report. First of all we got some of my blood test results back. Everything was normal as far as my thyroid levels and immunities go. I have a slight vitamin D deficiency, which is easily cured with a supplement. My AMH, which determines egg quality, was 0.9. Normal for my age is 1.0-2.0 so I’m a little bit low there, but it wasn’t so much that they are very concerned about it. We’re still waiting to hear back about the Fragil X test to find out if I’m a carrier of the gene, and I still have to send my Cycle Day 3 blood work (I have to have it done here, freeze it, and ship it) but for that I have to wait for my next cycle to start.

In other news we have decided to proceed with the surgery to remove my tubes. After lots of battling with the clinic, it is now scheduled for March 16. I really wanted to have it done during our Mardi Gras break so that I wouldn’t have to miss more work, but Dr. Surrey is going to be overseas that week. They wanted to wait until my April cycle to do it because the procedure is supposed to happen between cycle days 5-15 so that they can be sure you’re not pregnant. I just didn’t like that idea because that was going to end up pushing everything back. Finally they agreed to let me do it March 16 even though it won’t be during the correct cycle days – they just told me I need to avoid pregnancy. (Um, no problem?!?)

So that’s where we stand. My mom is going out to Denver with me this time. I think she’s pretty excited about seeing the facilities and meeting the doctor. Not to mention she gets to play “mom”! We have our follow up consult with the doctor on March 11. That’s when we’ll review our blood test results and discuss our protocol.

In completely different news, we find out in a week if Ryan got a residency in Jackson! We are so excited about that prospect! Especially since my boss has been pretty mean about this whole ordeal. I’m ready to be out of here!