blocked tubes and blood tests

mshandlebar · October 2014

AF arrived, so on to IUI #3. I was a huge mess yesterday, but I am managing to hold it together pretty well today. Thanks mostly to you ladies (and an epic foot rub MH gave me last night)!

So, currently I am seeing my OB for treatment. A little bit of back story on this decision because I know this isn't what most if anyone would recommend. We use known donor sperm, and it was difficult for us to find a place that would let us use our donor without loads of BS and ridiculous quarantine periods. Which is why we stuck with my OB because she is ok with our situation. We started our IF journey with her, and right off the bat she ordered a SA and HSG before jumping into treatment. She also does proper monitoring, and generally doesn't make me feel like she is just having fun playing at being an RE.

That being said, I have anxiety, and I am always paranoid that we should be seeing an RE and maybe she is missing something (although to be fair, I would probably feel this way regardless of who we were seeing). My baseline scan is going to be on Monday, and I have some concerns that I want to bring up with her. Before I do, I was hoping I could get your input. I want to make sure I ask the right questions. My HSG showed that one of my tubes is blocked. My doc isn't concerned with this at all. This makes me nervous, especially because I usually have follies on one side or the other. I know a few of the you also have blocked tubes, how do your RE's deal with it? My other concern is that I haven't had any blood work done except for mid LP progesterone. I am OOP, and she says why spend the money when the results wouldn't change my procedure. If I insisted she would do them, but I don't want to waste moolah. In general, I tend to be pretty wimpy whenever I meet with her, but this time I am determined to be fierce (not in a mean way, just in a super advocate way). Thanks, ladies! You help make me strong

mshandlebar · October 2014

@lemonliz thank you! That does help. In fact, I've pretty much decided to call our local RE and set up a consultation. It can't hurt to at least talk to them. Did your OB know that you were also going to try seeing an RE?

I am sorry to hear about the endo, but I am glad your RE took care of it. That is my worry. I think she is doing her best for me, but what if there is something she just doesn't know about or recognize. IVF isn't an option for us, and I want to make sure we aren't wasting our time or getting our hopes up. Thank you again.

edited because apparently my grammar has left the building

BunnyBerry · October 2014

I'm glad you're planning on having an RE consult. Your provider of fertility-related medical care should consider a blocked tube something important. Even if there's more red tape to get through with the donor sperm, I would feel like the key thing is to have the best chances of pregnancy. Good luck.

BandM14 · October 2014

I'm sorry about the blocked tube! I have a little bit of a different story from @lemonliz. When we weren't pregnant after 6 months, my OB/GYN ordered an SA which came back okay, so she said keep trying for 6 more. After a year she sent us right to an RE. At my first HSG, no dye went into the right tube but the results were "inconclusive" and my RE said it could have been a spasm. We repeated it, and same thing happened, so it's safe to say it's blocked.

I posted last week about whether or not I should push for a lap surgery to see why. My RE said he didn't feel comfortable operating on me since even if he found endo it wouldn't change our treatment plan, and that results after lap to remove endo vary greatly in success rates (apparently even if he found and removed it it might not up our chances with IUI that much). Due to my age (27), and the fact that all of our other tests came back okay, he wants to try some medicated cycles first. He said that if they don't work we can discuss the lap.

There's definitely a part of me that is super concerned about the tube, and would like to do the lap so I have some more clear answers. But at the same time, if I can get pregnant without having to go through surgery, I would obviously love that more. So after talking to MH we decided to go ahead with the RE's plan, try some medicated cycles, and see where we're at in a few months. However, my first cycle on letrozole only got me follies on the blocked side, so if that keeps happening I won't feel like we've given it a real shot.

I know all doctors are different, and it sounds like you have had a pretty good experience with your OB/Gyn so far. My RE basically had the same response to your OB/Gyn- he didn't seem to be overly concerned about the blocked tube. In fact, he told me that one blocked tube only reduces overall pregnancy rates by 7%. That being said, even if you go to an RE and get the exact same answer as your current doctor gave you and the game plan stays the same, it might be worth it if you will feel more comfortable/confident working with an RE overall. Good luck!!

dancerspose · October 2014

My experience was similar to @BandM14, but with the opposite result. My HSG showed a blocked tube. My RE said it could be a spasm, but my sono also showed an abnormal uterine lining and polyp. I'm 100% OOP for treatment, but all testing is covered. The lap would also be covered by insurance since it's considered diagnostic. After discussing it with the RE we decided to give ourselves the best chance of success with medicated cycles by having the surgery first. That way I'll also know up front if I am dealing with something more serious, like endo.

It is a more aggressive approach, and a lot of women on here do go through medicate cycles with one blocked tube. For us, given the cost of the cycles and the possibility of ectopic with the blocked tube, we decided to make sure we had a complete picture of what was going on internally before choosing a treatment plan.

Good luck!

SND1231 · October 2014

I'm in agreement with what the other ladies have said.. I think for your peace of mind go to the RE have the testing done and then decide what to do... Don't worry about what the OB feels.. it's her job to take care of you and as I have seen other ladies say RE are great at getting you pregnant and OB are great for keeping you pregnant.

mshandlebar · October 2014

Thank you all for the great advice. These are all things that I have been thinking in the back of my mind, but I suppose I just needed to hear it from someone else. I have been really worried if we see an RE we will just get more bad news. And, we went through 12 months of trying just to find out we hadn't really been trying at all, I am afraid that the same thing will happen all over. But, it's time to face my fears

I wish I had found 3T back in May when we first found out about the slimy bastard (IF).

@BunnyBerry you are exactly right. DH is really fantastic, but the donor sperm issue is so complicated for him that I was hoping we could make it as easy as possible.

@BandM14 we didn't even discuss surgery, which makes me even more certain I need to talk to someone else. At my CD12 u/s last round, I only had follies on the right side, and I couldn't quite remember what side was blocked so I asked my doc. She said she didn't remember either (ummm, ok, could you look in your file, perhaps?) and that it didn't matter because the other tube would pick up any strays. I've done some googling and it isn't as crazy as it sounds, but I would have liked a more comprehensive explanation. I hope you have good luck!

@shafwilson I see your Lap is scheduled for November. Good luck!

@rainbowbridge14 thanks for the input on bloodwork. I am going to insist on getting the whole panel. I'm glad she is concerned about our finances, but I would rather spend the money for some piece of mind.

@BlueFairy5 thank you for the moral support!

BandM14 · October 2014

@mshandlebar‌ haha, my doctor said the same thing about the opposite tube being able to pick up eggs from the other ovary, and I looked at him like he had 5 heads. He said its rare though, and that really our goal will be to get follicles on the unblocked side. When I went in for the u/s the nurse was pretty much like "see you next month" when she saw that I only had follicles on the blocked side... She said to still have sex, but the chances of the other tube getting it are small.

I would say it sounds like your OB/Gyn is trying to be helpful, but at the end of the day she just doesn't have the training or experience that an RE has. I think you're making the right move by setting up an appt with an RE- don't worry about hurting your OB/Gyn's feelings, first of all I'm sure she will understand, but most importantly you have to work with someone you trust and feel confident with. Good luck

mshandlebar · October 2014

This weekend sucked balls, but I just called and I have an RE appt. scheduled for November 11! I am ridiculously excited! The nurse was nice on the phone, and yayyyy! I am still going to go ahead with IUI #3 with my OB, but now at least I will know for sure that we are doing the right thing! Thank you ladies for all your support and fantastic advice!!

(Is it too early for this many exclamation points in one post?)

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