Testing Testing

Oh you guys...Here's the latest.

I had a Rheum appointment on Monday and while the doctor was, how do I describe him...let's say, clinical, emotionless, and kind of a lump on a log, he took my 5 miscarriages seriously and ordered a boat load of lab work (12 vials) to check antibodies/lupus and who knows what else. I go back for those results in two weeks.  He also prescribed me a newish sleep med to help me heal by sleeping better.  My main reason for going to see him was to see if I had arthritis starting in my left hand.  He said he didn't think it was but that it was just my fibro acting up. Lovely.

Tuesday DH and I went to Birmingham for the new patient RE appt. It was hard. We were emotionally and I was physically drained by it.  The RE was incredibly detailed in taking my history and I did think she was thorough with me.  The only thing was that she will not refer me to Dr. B until all testing by her has been complete. She also brushed off my endo and said she believes it's my eggs causing problems and not an immunity issue.  I disagreed several times about that with her. While, yes, it could definitely be an egg quality issue, I really think there is something much bigger going on too, hence why I want to see Dr. B.  She finally agreed to getting me tested for CA-125.   It's almost like she didn't believe that I have endo or something. She said they no longer routinely do surgery for endo and that was it.  Well, Dr. B would not agree with her.  I've been reading (and the nurse practitioner I saw Tuesday agreed with me) that NK (natural killer) cells go down around 6 weeks post op, allowing for higher statistics of pregnancy within that time frame for endo patients.  Basically, if I have the surgery again, I have around 1-2 cycles of having the best chance at getting pregnant.  The RE's recommendation to me: Use donor eggs and/or use a surrogate. That was not exactly what I was thinking I was going to hear from her.  She also scheduled me for an HSG and while I tried very hard to get out of that one, I finally agreed to do it. She explained that if we did IVF, there would be a 40% higher chance of implantation failure if one or more of my tubes were blocked. Sigh.

I also had a vag u/s to check my uterine lining and follicle count. I was CD 7 and the NP was impressed with my follicles and saw a triple stripe in my uterus already.  She predicted I would ovulate in 4 days.  There were NO signs of diminishing egg count/quality.

A nurse from the RE's office called me on Wednesday and said my CA-125 level was 72.9 and that I needed a follow up with the RE about it. It's double the high end of the test. Yeah, google was NOT my friend when I looked up more about that. CA stands for Cancer Antigen.  It's a tumor biomarker test which shows tumor activity with higher concentration of cells in/around the ovaries. It's a test used for ovarian cancer (among others).  BUT, it's also used to show endo activity.  I had a minor (ok, maybe more than minor) freak out about seeing that, but I've since calmed down.  At least now my RE will believe me that I really do have endo. My AF this cycle was HORRIFIC. Like, fetal position on the floor, crying in pain horrible. It was a reminder that yes, while I can manage endo with diet, it never goes away. 

I had my HSG yesterday in Birmingham. I was a nervous wreck about it as it had been 10 years since my last one. The HSG is an x-ray test that involves a catheter through my cervix to my uterus. They put enough dye in my uterus to fill my tubes and see if it "spills" out.  It did.  Both my tubes were completely open and my uterus shape was "perfect" according to the RE. I cramped the rest of the day but I'm so very glad that is done. I'm sure the reason I haven't had it done in so long is that I've had lap surgery to look at my tubes twice now and both times they were fine.

Next step is a follow up with both my rheum and RE and a phone consult with Dr. B in June. While the RE is pushing IVF I will not do it until I speak to Dr. B and do his testing first.

Will you be praying for us?