I was away all day yesterday at a track meet, sitting in the blazing hot sun, and yes, I got burnt. I didn't read most of the comments until late last night on my previous post. Sorry!
My correction, which I'm adding to my previous post as well, I did NOT wake up during the laparoscopy I had 2 years ago, I woke up immediately afterwards in the recovery room minus painkiller. I wasn't supposed to wake up so quickly and like that, so it was definitely a mistake and a nightmare that has caused me trauma, but it wasn't on the table while they were cutting. (Some patients have had these surgeries with epidurals and been awake, but since they feel zero pain, it's not so bad, just a slight creep factor.)
General aneasthesia has a couple of components, that are supposed to work together to deal with this. Pain medication, to prevent pain during in the patient, sleep medication, to put you out, and a paralytic, to prevent us from moving, even involuntarily (like we do while in some stages of dream sleep) during surgery. Many of them now add hypnotics to induce amnesia, just in case we end up as one of the patients who is awake but paralyzed and in pain during surgery.
Problem is that many pain medications can stop us from breathing or at least lower our respiration rate, so it's a delicate balancing act. And the butthead Doc failed! So now I'm nervous about any aneasthesia, beyond dental freezing. I'll only think about the c-word when I have another therapist in place to help me work through procedure. It's not urgent, so I'm not going to overthink this just yet.
Anyway, this is a very good article by a journalist I just love! I helped her research this article, and she is really amazing. (She's writing my article next, I hope.) They talk about IVM and non-drug ways of doing fertility treatment like IVF. And of course, they cite my favourite stat, that most eggs gathered by IVF the usual way are damaged, regardless of age, so really maybe this is a better way, hmmm?
And why aren't REs doing IVM everywhere in Canada and the US? (It's been around since 1999) and it's safer since there is no risk of OHSS. I think it's because the drug companies hate it, and it has a lower miscarriage rate, and it costs less, and donor egg is rarely needed, and there are less multiple births, and RE's might not get to have Bentleys....*eyeroll*
It's perfect for women with PCOS and OHSS, and even good for women who are poor responders to drugs, or have high FSH like me, or endometriosis.
And yes, I laughed at Leroy's comment about socialized medicine! No, unfortunately, it doesn't fix every problem, there are idiot Doctors in every system. I have to admit, I like the way ours is constructed in that I can go to any Dr. I choose without financial restrictions. But no guarantees of brains unfortunately. Idiot Docs exist in every country. One thing I would change in a heartbeat though, is that public hospitals here receive lump sums from the government regardless of how many services they perform. Kind of a holdover from the older pre-public funding, and related to the problem we have with rural vs. urban health care. Which means that they have no incentive to do more procedures, and in fact, spend outrageous sums of money on administration. (A note: Americans would not find these amounts outrageous by comparison....most money in US healthcare is spent on administration) I just think that we should spend almost all of our money on nursing and cleaning and food and social workers and well, you get the idea...
Dr.J will call me on the phone next week and let me know what's up, I also have her email, so that's what she meant, and by the way, I'm 38, but my failing ovaries are the reason I have such bad bone density.
Off to drink soy milk now....and next visit with your REs, ask them if they know about IVM and why they don't use it. Are they employed by drug companies or you guys? Whose really paying the bills?
Thanks for answering every question I asked Aurelia. I do think socialized medicine in some form will occur in the U.S. but it will have to have incentives built into it. I think the next administration will have that as one of its top priorities as well as the energy crisis. I also agree that administration is overpriced and they need to put nearly every dollar into direct practice as well as supportive services. When my father-in-law was alive and hospitialized, I called to speak to the social work department. They didn't have one. I was pretty surprised! Don't know who arranges discharge planning and all the services necessary to keep people at home - must be self-help like at the gas pumps these days.
ReplyDeleteThirty eight and probably on hormone therapy as well I imagine if ovaries are failing. I am so sorry you got dealt a bad pair and pregnancy/carrying to term is so difficult.
So you got your vitiman D yesterday in the sun and now you are going to chug down some soy milk -- ewww...My kids will only drink soy milk. One does it for health reasons and the other because she is lacto intolerent. I understand it is healthier and I suppose it is an acquired taste like anything else.
Keep us posted on your progress and stay in one piece please :)
I am so confused about IVM. My clinic told me that it was only for women with PCOS, and would be a waste of my time. Is this something that's good for all women? I loved the article too. Very well written.
ReplyDeleteI am very suspicious about fertility doctors in this country. That's what I like about McGill--it says it writing that IT IS NOT FOR PROFIT. Refreshing, isn't it? I know doctors in the States, make a good profit, but I feel that there is also some drive to succeed. I feel like the fertility clinics here, just go on cycle after cycle, until they succeed--and if they don't, oh well. I might be totally off base here, or maybe it's my own personal experience coming through?
You seem quite intelligent. Perhaps if you applied your energies to the world at large eg. third world health inequalities, you might have something to be proud of in the world. You're only a liberal while it applies to your own situation. All this wasted cash on your fertility? Accept the inevitable. Why not donate the cash to the third world, or use it in relieving REAL distress.
ReplyDeleteSelfish, self-absorbed, self-important, overall quite useless.
You must have spend hours wittering about your boring fertility details. Get a life. You think you have some sort of huge influence in politics. No-one's interested, do you think politicians listen to you - you have little to say of interest?
Get a life instead of posting on the net.
Well Anonymous you must think I'm pretty interesting if you came over here and sat on my blog for 29 minutes and 35 seconds reading every word. *smirk*
ReplyDeletePathetic...
that anonymous comment is interesting...not very.
ReplyDeleteRe IVM one of the reasons that it has not been taken up is that the eggs which result have higher levels of aneuploidy than those taken during IVF, and implantation results are lower than with IVF (try approx 12% versus 24% across all age groups). The latest from the british assoc of fertility specialists recommends further research and development of the technique, with a focus on specific situations where iVM is likely to be beneficial, esp PCOS and preservation of fertility in cancer survivors.
I do appreciate your effort to understand what really goes on in healthcare systems, but I also feel tht sometimes your cynicism carries you away. Most of the UK iVF facilities are not profit-making and are certainly not driven by the drug companies. Now they may well not have the money to do lots of studies, but they are constantly striving to develop and get better at key techniques, eg the development of the antagonist protocol as a reasonable alternative to the agonist protocol over the last five years. Occasionally, we need to cut our doctors some slack!
The article about IVM is fascinating - thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteWow, your very own troll. I always find it amusing how trolls are able to channel their "selfish, self-absorbed, self-important, and overall quite useless behavior" by posting their anonymous pined suggestions and name-calling. *eye roll*
ReplyDelete