Misdiagnosed with Tubal blockage. Hope this helps someone.

[Taracaldwell]

Hello Ladies,

This is long but please read. I'd love to hear your thoughts. You will be floored when you read this! I'm a newbie here and would love to make new friends Basically I spent the last 9 months thinking my tubes were 100% completely blocked and IVF was my only option.

I just joined this website yesterday. I have had a terrible last 9 months. I want to share my story with all of you so no one else goes through what I did.

November 08-Jan 09 and June 2009-Oct 2009 we tried on our own (There was Feb-May 08 that we couldnt try on our own due to another long story). So basically we had tried around 7 months on our own. 4 of those months were trying really hard (Fertility monitor and 2 rounds of clomid). I was just anxious to get pregnant. We had no real reasons at this point to think we were infertile. I'm the type that wants what I want yesterday, lol.

So anyway.. November 2009 I went to see my OBGYN because we had always been concerned I had ENDO. Basically because alot of my family members had it and I was always worried I had it because of terrible period cramps. With me being 27 I was concerned also. My gyno sent me to a reproductive endocrinoligist (internal referral at the same hospital). I see Dr. A (that's what we will call him even though I want to curse) late November 09. He does a 2 second pelvic exam and tells me he thinks I have endo. ***Keep in mind we already had a sperm analysis before this consult that was 220billion sperm count, decent motility, and low morphology. So I went to see Dr. A with a male factor infertility diagnosis in my head. So I of course start crying when he tells me I have endo. He schedules a laparoscopic surgery and hysteroscopy for December 5th. Post surgery he tells me that I have a BILATERAL proximal tubal occlusion meaning both tubes are blocked. He also tells me that I have Stage II endo and that he lasered what he could out. He said it was superficial on both ovaries and behind my rectum. My world is crushed. I am soo sooooo sad. I ask him bedside after surgery if we could schedule an HSG (I had already read all the clinical trials and knew that a abnormal tube finding during LAP/hystero should be followed up with an HSG. HSG should have been done in case I spasmed during surgery OR my lining was thick at the time and covered the tubes. He tells me that an HSG is NOT neccesary in my case because we know they are blocked. I again ask in the post op visit 2 weeks later if we could do an HSG. He again blows me off. I ask him if my tubes look normal from the outside during surgery. He says yes. And I said "so if they aren't hydrosalpinx how do we know they are blocked for sure without doing an HSG?" He says "In your case it could have been a congenital birth defect and they are just BLOCKED" He tells me IVF is our only option to get a baby. So we go on into IVF in Feb/March. Fresh cycle goes great. We get 14 eggs and 6 make it to really great graded embryos. We put 3 in on our 1st IVF with a negative pregnancy test. 2nd IVF is an FET in May 2010 and we again get a negative pregnancy test. He was a terrible IVF doc. He never did any baseline tests on hormones OR lining. I kept asking over and over and was continually treated like one of the cows in the herd. For the first IVF cycle I was on Lupron from Jan 20th to March 10th. WAY too long to be on LUPRON! My poor lil eggs were probabably fried and never had much of a chance even though they fertilized. So anywho.. over the course of our terrible IVF cycles I started getting suspicious and refused to do another fresh cycle with this Dr. A. So I got a second opinion in a town about 80 miles from where I live in July 2010. I go in thinking I'm gonna do IVF with this new doc. we will call new doc Dr. N. Because at this time I still thought my tubes were blocked. I just got a second opinion because I knew Dr. A's methods with IVF were terrible. I take all of my records to Dr. N. He spent about 3 hours with me in a consult. Very nice and thorough. He spent more time with me that day than Dr. A has adding up all the time total I've ever spent with dr. A. So... Dr. N is looking through my records and says "I dont think your tubes are blocked. I see nothing in this operative report that tells me I think your tubes are blocked.". I about fell out of my **** chair. Dr. N continues "In the LAP findings it says your tubes appear normal from the outside but they couldnt get the dye to go through them". He said "there is a 90% chance your tubes arent blocked". So he scheduled an HSG for the 13th and a pending LAP for the 20th depending on HSG results. Here are the results:
Aug 13th 2010-HSG-Normal results. Dye goes through both tubes (so definatley not a proximal blockage). One tube looks slightly suspicious on the distal end so we continue with the scheduled lap
Aug 20th- LAP with Divenchi robot- OPEN TUBES (PRAISE MY ALMIGHTY GOD) and NO ENDOmeteriosis!!

***********I just wanted to share my story on as many boards as possible to help others. Infertility and especially tube blockage is almost NEVER black and white. There are alot of gray areas. And unfortunatley some doctors take advantage of us. Always get a seconds opinion if you question your diagnosis/doctor at all**************

I think this doctor really thought I wiould get pregnant with IVF and would never question him. But his methods for IVF suck! His success rates on the CDC.gov which were released AFTER I had already done the two cycles with him are 15%!!!!!!!!!! That is freaking pitiful!

******Our Plan now is to try on our own for a couple cycles and possibly do an IUI next month to increase our chances.
Does anyone have any suggestions for us? Should I try IUI natural or do hormones too? we have money on our FSA we need to use before the end of the year so I am open to just about anything. I also have a box of 300IU Follistim left in the fridge (never opened). Wonder if I can use that?

[carebears2]

Hi Tara!

Welcome to Fertile Thoughts! Sorry to hear all that you have been through, but I am soo happy for you that you got a 2nd opinion. I really hope and pray for a sucessful natural cycle for u so you will not have to go on to IUI's. Please keep us posted!

Carla

[alisou21]

OMG! I am so sorry for all of this... I am also not really happy with my R.E. First I had an HSG that showed possible hidrosalpinx in one tube and the other one was totally blocked. Then I had a laparoscopy and the tubes seemed clear although I had endometriosis s. II outside the left tube with some scar tissue..
How can a blocked tube suddenly appear normal?
How can the doctors play with our lives like this?
I gave up on them, and started alternative treatment for a while...