The First Appointment

Our first appointment with Dr. Kathleen Doody was in January of 2012. It was basically just a consultation where she was gathering as much information and history as she could from Justin and I. I had sent all of our medical records to their facility before our first appointment so that she could review our case prior to the appointment.

After discussing all of this information, she concluded that I most likely had a form of PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). PCOS is a condition that females can develop which can include an imbalance in sex hormones, cysts on the ovaries, trouble getting pregnant, and numerous other symptoms. She was not 100% sure if this was what I had, but she concluded that I had some mild form of this condition that was preventing me from ovulating correctly. She suggested that we have some more lab work just to rule out any other possibilities.

 After we had the lab work completed, she discussed our treatment options with us. One of our options was to resort back to IUI (Intrauterine Insemination). She said that she might try more aggressive medications than what my previous doctor had used to make it more effective. The chances for a successful IUI is about 10-15% per cycle. It would most likely take numerous cycles to be successful, which also means more time away from work. The cost of each cycle would be around $3000 when you include the medications I would be using. I must admit, I was very unhappy about the success rates, the time involved, and the cost of this particular option.

The next treatment option we discussed was a procedure called IVF (In Vitro Fertilization). With IVF, the female takes fertility drug injections for several weeks. She must be monitored this whole time by doing lab work and sonograms to check on the progress throughout the cycle. This would also require a significant amount of time away from work. After she completes the medications, she must undergo an egg retrieval. This is a surgery in which the physician inserts a catheter to extract eggs from the follicles of her ovaries. On the same day as the retrieval, the husband must produce a sample for which to fertilize the eggs. The lab puts the two together and basically "incubates" them for up to 5 days. Only the strongest embryos survive, and at the end of the 5 days the couple may choose how many embryos to transfer (in our case the max is 2 because of my age and condition). They then transfer that number of embryos back to the female's uterus in hopes that one or both will implant. The success rate in our case is about 50-60% per cycle. Each cycle costs about $8500 plus the cost of medication which can run an additional $2000. That means we are looking at $10,500 for one cycle of IVF.

After our appointment was over, the clinic called us on the way back home to let us know that Justin's lab work was normal and so was mine. I was still baffled at why we had these issues if everything appeared to be normal.

After being bombarded with all of this information, understandably I was an emotional wreck. I had a complete meltdown on the way home from the clinic. I even got upset with Justin on the way back because he couldn't make up his mind about what we should do. I had gone into the appointment with unrealistic expectations that we would have all the answers to our questions that day. I had made up my mind that I wanted to proceed with IVF because it had such a high success rate. I couldn't stand the thought of having to go through any more waiting. I wanted instant results. Justin is just the opposite. He is a thinker. He wanted time to weigh the options and make the most responsible decision possible. I  have to respect that he really balances me out when I become too emotionally involved in a situation. He has a way of bringing me back to reality.

Many hours of discussion, crying, prayer, and sleepless nights followed. We finally came to peace about moving forward with IVF. We were prepared to do at least one cycle.