Colorado is winning

I went into the call yesterday thinking that we would just get a second opinion about the fact that we should continue with IVF and even continue at SG. I even told the Dr. that I think I overreacted by contacting them right after our failure. He said he understood how emotional it can be and we have to make decisions that are right for us.

We reviewed all of my medical history and talked about the cancelled and failed IVFs. He disagreed with the fact that they used the first protocol at all on me based on age and antral follie count. He said he is not surprised we had to convert to an IUI. The protocol is for 20 and early 30 year olds. The second protocol he said was better, but still not the best for me. They use microdose lupron protocol for people with my counts. He hopes by doing this protocol we would get 10-12 mature eggs versus 7. We did talk about the estrogen protocol and he said that one was good but he doesn't feel based on our counts that it is the right one for us. We have too many eggs for that and it is better used for those people that only produce 3 or 4.

We talked about Sean's history as well. One area that might be an issue is the fact that Sean did environmental cleanup 12 years ago and worked with some chemicals that could cause sperm fragmantation if they were absorbed into the body. It a slight possibility that it is an issue, but Colorado would test for it just to be sure. They handle ICSI different if there is fragmentation. We did talk about this with SG when we started there but they felt because it was so long ago that there wouldn't be any lingering issues. They are most likely right, but lets rule it out.

We then talked about the statistics. We have a 30-35% at SG and a 50-60% chance at Colorado. It is just as simple as that. The 50-60% chance based on what he knows from our file for it working the first time. So why such a difference? First is the protocol. We re-do all of the testing to figure out which protocol is right for us. They also run a few more tests than SG to make sure there are no other issues. They use their own lab for testing all samples so they know the results are accurate based on their guidelines.

But the main reason is their embryo lab. It is just heads and shoulders above the rest. They have the best equipment and embryologists and have been doing IVF for almost 20 years - much longer than anyone else. Their lab is shut down twice a year for cleaning, equipment replacement/repair, and evaluation of embryos that went through during the past 6 months. Other labs don't go through the same scrutiny.

So there you have it. How can I say no to 50-60% even at the higher cost. We would most likely only have to do it once and we probably will have frozen embryos in the end so we could have another try at it in a year or two.

Sean and I talked after the call and I told him I needed him to make the decision because I felt like I couldn't because I felt to emotional about it all. He thinks Colorado is the right choice but wants to get some additional information before deciding. We want to talk to our Dr at SG to see how she feels about Colorado. She could give us the opposing view which might help us see through some of the statistics. We do have to make a decision though by next Tuesday because if we are doing this cycle at SG we have to order the meds.

We also discussed financing. It is much easier to come up with 15000 versus 24000 but I think we can do it. We have some options so we are going to explore this weekend and see what we can do. We also will tighten the belt around here. We are so wasteful sometimes.

If we did go with Colorado, here most likely would be our schedule. Go for one day testing around 5/28. Start cycle on 7/17 with ER around 7/26 and ET 7/29. I would be in Colorado for about 10 days and Sean for 3 or 4 depending on how much time he has.