Of tests and perspectives

Oh, I have not posted here in a while. Here are some updates:

Since my last post, I have been to a European Gyn. I am so glad, I did that. It was really good to get a second opinion. The European Gyn cannot perform any IUIs or IVFs on me, because helping single women get pregnant is illegal in my home country. But she helped me understand a lot of the process that my American RE never talked about with me. Since my European Gyn had no financial gain in this situation, I really trusted her.

First of all, I think the Euro Doc was really excited to learn about my entire SMC journey. She has never had a patient like me before and asked me all kinds of questions about US sperm banks and doctors etc. It was a really pleasant chat and I think we immediately liked each other. It is nice to see what it is like when you "click" with your doctor.

However, she was also concerned about what I told her about my American RE, especially the fact that I only saw or spoke to her a few times in the 8 months that I was her patient. She said that is simply unthinkable in Europe and I believe her because it reflects my experience with European doctors as well.

I told her that the American Doc said she saw something like a polyp and wanted me to do an hysteroscopy exam before proceeding with further treatment. During a hysteroscopy they inspect the uterine cavity and the test costs several hundreds of dollars which my insurance would not cover. If there is a polyp or cyst that needs to be removed that would cost several thousands of dollars which my insurance also would not cover. The European Doc said that hysteroscopy exams are also commonly done in Europe but that there are also certain risks involved and one has to weigh the benefits against the risks. She first wanted to do an ultrasound to see if it is really necessary to do an hysteroscopy exam.  I really liked that she was so honest about it since my US RE had never mentioned any risks.

During the ultrasound, everything looked fine, the ovaries etc. She saw a tiny spot which she said might be the polyp that my US RE had seen, but she said it might as well just be a tiny piece of skin that is just a little thicker in that spot. She repeatedly told me to absolutely not worry about this at all and that the hysteroscopy is absolutely not necessary. It would present more risks than benefits and that tiny polyp would not hinder me in getting pregnant.

Wow! What a relieve!!!

My US Doc also wanted me to do an HSG exam to see if my tubes are free. Again this exam would cost several hundreds of dollars that my insurance company would not cover. So, I asked the European Doc about that exam as well.
My European Doc said that this exam is also standard in Europe. I asked her about how many women have blocked tubes and she said that is actually only a small percentage. Of this small percentage, a lot of women have blocked tubes because they had some procedure done, either a sterilization or polyps or cysts removed which caused scarring that blocked the tubes. Since I had neither done, these risk factors fall away for me. She also said that the most common reason for blocked tubes are bacterial infections. I asked her how the bacteria can get into the tubes and she said through sexual intercourse. So, when I told her that that risk factor also does not apply to me, she said that an HSG exam would also not be necessary. Blocked tubes do not just happen for no reason or because you get older. There are reasons why tubes get blocked and none of them apply to me. Couples who are trying to get pregnant would also not just run to a doctor to get an HSG done after sleeping with each other for four months - and they would have some of these risk factors. So, I decided not to get the test done and my European Doc also said she does not see any good reason why I should have blocked tubes or should get that test done.

So, now I am still trying to figure out what I am going to do next. Dr. Stork, my American RE would not continue treatment unless I did all the tests she wanted me to do and to be honest, I do not trust her anymore. I could look for a new RE to do IUIs here in the states or figure out something else. We'll see...