Fertility Friends Support Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Anyone having treatment at James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough

93K views 766 replies 26 participants last post by  rjmett 
Hi girls, I had treatment at JC in sept/oct so might be able to help with questions etc  :)

Mandy the trial cannulation is a breeze, it hurts less than a smear which is nothing really. They pass a fine canula thru ur cervix into your uterus to make sure it is an easy enough route, in prep for when the embryos go back in. My actual embryo transfer was awful, sorry to say it. I was so swollen from treatment that it was not as easy as my trial run!

X
 
Mandy I used to have problems actually speaking to someone when I was going thru treatment as they are so mega busy.
If my calculations are correct gemma is on maternity leave, she was always super organised.
I left several msgs on answer machines and they never got back to me, your beat bet is to keep ringing. I'd stick with the Gemma phone number as she (or whoever is covering) was the only one with access to the waiting list as she manages it. Just keep ringing tomorrow and you'll get someone eventually, I wouldn't bother with leaving msgs.

Becca.
 
Hi girls, hope you're all well.

Mandy congrats on the weight loss, especially over Christmas. I've put a serious amount of weight on since getting pregnant, it's like something has taken over my appetite and I have no control  ???

Beady your follicle count is excellent, it means that if this was an ivf cycle, the drugs would encourage all of those follicles to grow into eggs so you'd have an excellent response. It's called an Antral follicle count, the higher the better. If you were having a 'normal' ovulatory cycle just one off those follicles would grow into an egg.

Becca x
 
Oh Nicky that's rubbish. When you're at the top of the list you think that's it don't you... but more waiting is rotten. I think Mariams idea sounds good, then at least you'll get seen before things flair up again?

Nice to see you again Mariam, how are things? It's been a while since you've been on  ^hugme^

Becca
 
Aww good luck Tess B. In response to your question it is definately more about the quality of the eggs than the quantity. A nice lady called Sheila who posts on the NE board had few eggs collected and has a beautiful baby girl now. You must stay positive  :) and try not to go too  ^idiot^ during your 2 week wait!
 
Morning Lisa - it's completely natural to worry about absolutely everything when you're jumping on this rollercoaster. Maybe your follicle count was low but you still had follicles present which is a good sign. At my scans there were less follicles seen than the eggs that i evetually got - if you get me. It does differ each month, that scan is just a guide. I think they'll start you on a higher dose of the stimmulation drugs to get the follicles growing - and the most important thing is quality as opposed to quantity, after all it only takes one. Sheila who posts on the NE board did not produce many eggs - 4 i think - only 1 fertilised and she has a beautiful baby girl! When we had our treatment i didn't respond well to begin with so they increased my dose and i got 22 eggs! There was no where near that many follicles on my initial scan. Most fertilised but when it came down to the transfer there was only a few that had done as they should so quantity is not always the best. The hospital will aim to get a few really good quality eggs from you rather than lots that may not be mature/suitable. Keep your chin up hun  :)
 
I see things haven't changed then, they were the same with me and my treatment. There's one in particular whonis terribly blunt and not sympathetic, it's probably her who you are talking about Loza. I felt exactly the same as you, very vulnerable  :-[ and they didn't do a lot to make me feel better. I honestly believe that because they work with emotional ladies each and every day they become immune to it all and forget how to be sympathetic.
I would personally never leave a message and expect them to get back to me, they're so understaffed and over stretched for what they need to do. They like to put as much money into treating people as they can and that does mean less staff. If you do need to speak to nurses keep ringing and ringing til you get someone. I found lunch times to be best.

Loza don't worry about the period thing too much. They want your lining to be shed so if you're bleedinging it's disappearing. I was bleeding when I had a scan but my lining was thin enough to start treatment. Once you start the drugs the bleeding will stop :)

Mandy I'd give it til the endo of the month for your letter as they said within January. If it hasn't arrived by 1st of Feb then give them another ring. Sometimes you have to be pushy  :)

Good luck to you all, try to keep positive  ^hugme^
 
Aww Mandy hun  ^hugme^
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but that will effect your eligibility to funded treatment. Do they already know he has a son already?
To be honest they should have brought this up with you earlier than this.
Don't sit and worry about it, give them a ring to sort things out and you'll then be able to take the next steps if needs be xxx
 
Hi girls,

Mandy fab news on getting your letter. Despite it being a few weeks away it's still something to focus on and look forward to  :)

Beady I'm a teacher too, do u do primary or secondary? I know how you feel about wanting treatment to fall during the hols. I started just as we went back in Sept so had to have quite a bit of time off here and there. I told my school I was going to have treatment & they said they'd fully support me so it worked out ok.

When u get to the top of the list there is a bit ofva wait for an appt as the 2 docs are always busy and booked up. Once you have ur appt u can book ur treatment but there will be approx a 2 month wait for ur EC as they have to take into account ur cycle and the weeks it takes to down reg before you start ur stimms. To be honest it all goes very quickly once u get to the top of the list  :)

Hope everyone else is well x
 
Hi beady and foofy  :)

I guess everyones experiences are different but I can tell you about how it was for me.

First of all I think it's important to put things into perspective. To begin with I was worried about inconveniencing school by being off but then just thought to myself that this is my life, it's more important than work. It may be my only chance of getting pregnant so I need to put myself first. You will miss quite a bit of time off school and I found it quite stressful arranging cover work but it was all ok in the end.

Beady you reach top at the same time as I reached top of the list last year. My cons appt was beginning of aug I think. I then started pill end of Aug to regulate my non existent cycle. I had a scan and blood test early sept so missed half a day. Then once I was on the stimms you have to go for bloods mon, wed and fri so missed period 1 on those days for about 2 weeks. Also had a scan to check follies to schedule EC. When you have your EC you will need at least a week off, I had 2. Doctor was happy to give me a sick note. After that I went back.

So you will needs time off here and there and lots of time off after EC to let ur body recover and to let the envies settle in once you have ET. It is very important that HR at least know what's going on so they are understanding of why you're off.

Any more questions then please ask :)
 
Afternoon Beady

I told the HR lady, the cover supervisor person, my head of department & my very close friend who works in the same department. I would avoid telling anyone else as they'll keep asking you questions each step of the way and you wont feel like answering them. I made this mistake with a cousin, we don't speak so much now  :-\

I was paid for all of my absences. All of my appointments were just classed as personal health appointments and then the first week off after EC was self certified as you can do that for a week. The 2nd week was sickness, signed off by my GP, as i had a little OHSS due to the large number of eggs.

There's not a second that goes by where i don't count my blessings. I thought there was zero hope for us due to our issues. Never in a million years did i think i would be in this position. I feel like i want it to work for every one of you too, so am more than happy to help :)
 
I am very much into my job and really work hard but i just kept reminding myself that you 'work to live' and not 'live to work'  ;D so you have to take a step back and let other people help you out. I just kept thinking to myself that i'd do it for them if they were in my situation and also if i don't relax and igve the IVF a good go then i would always regret putting my job first. It's amazing how quickly your perspective changes. I taught many a lesson from my chair (lazy bum!) in the early days but nobody has suffered for it so it all works out in the end  ;)
 
Yay TESS!!! Welcome to the JCUH BFP club  ;D For all you girls waiting to start, this is definitely a boost of positivity isn't it! They do have high success rates at James Cook so when you're having moments of doubt it's important to remember that they know what they're doing.

You have an early scan at 8 weeks but you won't get the date for this until the week before as they slot you in at last minute. Exciting times thought  :)

Hope everyone else it well!

Happy 1st birthday to Shelia's precious little Hannah  ^birthday^ xx
 
Tess - fab fertility friends due date calculator here...

http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/component/option,com_ivfcalculate

It's strange how they calculate pregnancy. If it was a natural conception then they count right back from your last period. So if you ovulate on day 14 of your cycle and test on day 28 and get a BFP - you're classed as being 4 weeks pregnant! So your due date is usually calculated 2 weeks prior to egg collection which would be ovulation in a normal cycle. It's not always exact though, at my scan he measured a few days bigger so they give you an accurate due date at 12 week scan.

Foofy i'm unexplained to. Unless you've had some kind of op or known issue in the past they generally class you as unexplained. If a few months on clomid hasn't worked it's usually on to IVF. I disagree with the HSG being after clomid, it should be before really. The hsg will check if you hve blocked tubes. They should do this before clomid as you could be ovulating but the eggs cant go anywhere cos of blocked tubes. Chances are if your tubes are ok you may do IUI then onto IVF should that not be successful. My tubes were fine but we went straight to IVF.

Becca x
 
Hi Michelle - after having our fertility treatment at JCUH it made sense to go there for our antenatal care too. They can be a little disorganised at times but i think we made the right choice  :)

Foofy we did 3 rounds of clomid before hsg. It never worked for me - i didn't ovulate on it at all. I was a bit of a mystery to them with not having periods and they tried different meds, again nothing worked.
I'm not sure where this 3 year rule has come from? The time you wait depends on the time between appointments i guess. If they've tried you on clomid and you've had no luck then next time you go back they'll arrange for you to have a hsg to see if tubes are blocked. If they're clear then it's more than likely you'll get put on list for IVF/IUI. If they're blocked then it'll be a case of going straight to IVF. This is why i don't understand the point of the hsg cos for most people the next step is IVF despite the result. Have you been ovulating on the clomid?
I guess everyone is different and they'll assess each situation seperately but based on my own experience and that of others this does seem to be the pathway they take  :)

Anything else just ask  ^hugme^
 
Hi Lisa, yes a hsg is to check for tube problems. They basically 'squirt' fluorescent dye into your tubes and then X-ray you to see if the dye has passed through your tubes. Not a very pleasant proceedure so it's good that you haven't had one! How exciting that you're collecting your drugs etc. I remember feeling very relieved to finally get started  :)
 
Bless u Loza, I felt like that too. Tummy was huge and was really uncomfy. We got 22 eggs so the big tummy is a good sign - even though you might feel like a hen  ;D

Good luck for this week. You'll probably find out tomorrow which day your EC will be

Xx
 
Evening all  :) just waiting for one born every minute, it's a bit of a guilty pleasure  ???

Lisa it is my understanding that short protocol Eliminates the down regulation stage with the buserelin. So you just start the menopur injections in the first half of your cycle to make your follies grow. Long and short are the same apart from the down reg stage.

I'm full of pizza and ice cream factory  :-[ was nice at the time!

Xx
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top