Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Vampires with Wands...


Tomorrow morning will start with an Ultrasound and Bloodwork, Oh JOY!!!


I can feel my veins closing up as I write!! Ugh!

I am going in tomorrow for the suppression check. If all is well, I start on stims Thursday. If not, well, I'm not really sure what happens. I forgot to ask... :)

I have had several miscarriages throughout my life, but most were not certified by a Dr., just with POAS. I've had a hard time convincing OB/GYNs to take these seriously, since they weren't "documented" by a Dr. My official medical record shows only 1, but I've had 3.

Durring our IVF consult with the RE nurse, I said " I want a "recurrent miscarriage blood panel" to see if there are any obvious miscarriage reasons lurking in my body." I ASKED for extra bloodwork, and I thought my Hubby eyes were gonna bug out! LOL

My RE nurse blinked kind-of hard and said, "I'm sure the Dr. wouldn't mind, but your insurance might not cover it. My retort was "If I am going to spend $ 15,000 on trying to get PG, I don't mind spending $1500 to make sure I can stay that way." She laughed and said that sounded like a good plan!

Today I had her fax me the list of tests, so I could check on coverage with my insurance... Well, someone smack me, because I didn't know what I was asking for... The miscarriage blood panel consists of 15 different tests!!! OMG!!!!

How many of you remember these classic posts Spearing Olives and CD9 Bloodwork? I looked and looked for the post on my personal best, an 8-tries day, but it doesn't seem to be saved... not sure what happened to it. I'll have to remember to re-post it.

Let's just summarize by saying my veins suck and I am big chicken about needles!!!!!!!!!!!

I love my RE nurse, I really do!! She has ALWAYS been wonderful, and I am grateful to have her. I think I would have given up a long time ago if she hadn't been there for me.

In addition to being great, she just finished her CNP training. I think she goes for her boards sometime soon.

On top of all that she is newly pregnant. I think she is nervous about it, because of her job. I wish she didn't have to be insecure about it. Everyone loves her so much, and she already has to be terrified given how much she knows about the process. I just hope she is happy, the baby is healthy and that her patients support her throughout.

I ALSO hope with all my might that she will be the one doing the blood draw tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes!

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Note: I have a list of all the blood panel tests, if anyone is interested in getting this kind of work-up done. Not every RE does this kind of bloodwork, but these are standard tests most labs can do. Just send me your email me and I'll send the list along!

7 comments:

Topcat said...

Good luck for tomorrow! Here's hoping for a seamless blood draw.

Mary Ellen and Steve said...

Good luck tomorrow!

projgen said...

Oh poo, you might not see this in time. I, too, have ultra-sucky veins and one of the nurses came up with a brilliant idea that worked beautifully. About 5 or 10 minutes before my blood draw, she filled a sink tub with super hot water (just tolerable) and had me soak my hands in the tub.

By the time they called me for my blood draw, the veins in my hands were popping and the blood draw was nearly effortless.

I hope all is well and you can get to start Thursday!

Unknown said...

I think you getting all the tests you want is VERY WISE. I was talking to a coworker of mine today regarding IVF. Him and his wife went through 5 freaking rounds of it and then she was diagnosed with subcinical hypothyroidism. After a few months of synthyroid, guess what happened naturally. Yup, you got it. Apparantly they had both suspected she had a thyroid issue but because her TSH kept coming back in the normal range (even though it varied widely within the normal range), the doctors insisted she was fine and did not conduct further tests. Thats 100K and a priceless set of emotions down the drain. So definitely get every single test that you want, and if you have to pay 1500+ for it, peace of mind in the procedure is best.

Anonymous said...

I'll have the list if you dont mind send ing it to me at artblog06@yahoo.fr.

I think I had something simiar done and am curious to compare tests between europe and the US.

Thanks in advance :)

Samantha said...

Good luck with the blood draws and I hope everything is set to move forward!

Gil said...

I'd be interested in seeing a list of those tests. I suspect a possible thyroid problem as well, but my tests always come back in the normal range. *sighs*

Send it to me if you would? I am at Jiliana2@gmail.com. Thanks! And good luck with the bloodwork. My veins are like yours so I definitely "get it!"