Wed., June 15th at 10am we traveled to Dr. Larry King's office for our follow up appointment.
As soon as I walked in, Dr. Larry King asked me how I was truly doing. He really is a nice guy. I told him that I had my days. He said that we were average straight down the line as far as response to medicine and number of follicles. I finished his statement by stating that we just "fell on the wrong side of average when it came to the results." He agreed. The Doc pointed out that this happens all the time in the real world and people don't even know. He said that there could have been something wrong with the 2 embryos that stopped them from implanting...or it could have been nothing. There just isn't an answer.
As far as next steps, he said we could either do a frozen cycle with our 1 frozen embryo, or we could start all over with a fresh cycle. He said that the frozen cycle would be a lot easier on me, require less medicine and trips to his office (an hour away), and be significantly less expensive (around $2,500). Our other option would be to start all over with a fresh cycle, which would be the whole process all over again and another $8,700. In either case, we could begin the process as early as July, but he suggested waiting until at least August to let me heal mentally and physically.
The downside to a frozen cycle is that we only have 1 embryo. Doc pointed out that it would not be classified as a Grade 1 blast because it grew late, which diminishes our chances. Also, the process of freezing and thawing is hard on the embryo and there is a possibility that I get totally ready for the cycle, get on the table, and the 1 embryo doesn't make it through the thaw.
The downside to the fresh cycle is that it's hard on my body, there are no better chances for a 2nd time, and it is very expensive. The Doc did point out that if we don't end up with enough embryos with a fresh cycle, we could put the frozen one with the fresh ones. If we end up with too many to use during this next cycle, we could freeze them to put with the one we already have frozen to make for another cycle.
We asked the Dr if there was anything that he'd do differently if we tried another fresh cycle. He said that he had plenty of room to play with medicine dosage, so he'd probably increase the dose of Bravelle.
He told Hubby and I to think it over and take some time to figure out what we want to do.
What's your vote?
Hmmm, tough call. If it were me, I would go for another fresh cycle. There is obviously more time and $$ involved with this option, but I just seems like your chances might be higher. Ultimately it all depends on how you’re feeling and what’s in your heart. Good luck with this decision!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you have a good feeling about your doc. That's very important.
ReplyDeleteI don't really have advice on what to do, it depends on so many factors. Just wanted to let you know that the FET we did was with just one embryo, and it did survive both freeze and thaw, and is now thriving in my uterus... so it is possible!
The chance factor (or statistics, however you look at it) is definitely one of the hardest parts of going through IVF. Good luck with everything. You're in my thoughts.
Ugh, I am so sorry you have to go through this. If you had a Money Tree in the back, I would say go for a fresh cycle, but I know how expensive it will be. On the other hand, you only have one frozen snowbaby to work with. While all it takes is one, I hate for you to still spend a couple grand on just one. If it were two, I would say go go go. This is such a tough one. I am so sorry, I wish I had better advice or some ingenious way to make money to pay for all of it. I would just do what feels right for you and your DH, and is a decision you are both emotionally, mentally, physically and financially ready for. Wishing you all the best. (Hugs)
ReplyDeleteThats a tough one!!! If it were me I would probably go with another fresh if I could physically handle it, but since I haven't done my first one yet I can't say for sure. On a bit of the bright side, your fresh cycle cost is lower than most I have seen anywhere in the US. We have a nearly $15k price tag on IVF-ICSI.
ReplyDeleteOh God it's so hard to decide girl. It sounds like pregnancy chance will be better with another fresh cycle but that involves so much more...so it's a rough call.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with deciding.
Im sorry, but I cannot even try to work out what you should do. What a decision. Looks like a freshy gives you the best chance of a baby. And possibly babies... If you did a FET, then its going to work or its not. At the end of the day, there will be no frosties, baby or no baby. And also deciding whether to tough it out now whilst you are that bit younger, than if you do it later in the year. I dont know if that makes much sense. You might be able to save more cash if its later on too.
ReplyDeleteIm sorry, but Ive been no help, and probably confused you more!!
Thanks for stopping by my blog. This IF sucks and I don't know what are next IF step is. So we are deciding to do another (final) FET or just skip it for now and continue on with adoption. Best of luck with your decision!
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