Out with the Old, In with the New!

The nurse from the RE's office just called to give me the results of my pregnancy blood test, and I wasn't surprised to hear that it was negative. :( I have felt kind of crampy for days, like Aunt Flo is on her way and the only thing holding her back is the Prometrium I've been taking, which is designed to keep AF from coming.  The results of this - test mean that I will not take Prometrium tonight, and once discontinuing I can expect a new cycle to start within a couple of days...hopefully it won't take longer. It also means I'll be having myself a BIG FAT glass of wine by myself tonight. Hubby is traveling for four days, so pity party for one please! I haven't had a drop of alcohol in about a month, and my non-pregnant ass is going to partake in a few libations this week if I feel like it. Can't go wrong with some La Crema. Yum...

The hubby and I have been talking recently about our course of action with this RE; Should we stay with her? Should we switch to a different RE in the same practice? Should we switch practices altogether? This has come up for the simple fact I feel I'm always having to advocate SO HARD for myself in order to get the proper treatment. Small details are very important in this game, and stuff is just being missed on their side.

The first medicated cycle I did with this RE (Femara), she added Estrace into my treatment plan, which blocked my ovulation before I had the chance to take a trigger shot, and it ruined the whole cycle. I then had to convince her I did not ovulate, by demanding a blood test to prove it. Sure enough, I was right. After getting fed up pretty quickly, and a subsequent 9 month period of "going natural" unmedicated, I decide to clear the air with her and give her another chance. This second medicated cycle I just completed (Femara again), I found myself trying to convince her of my ovulation date in order to get the Prometrium script that I needed for my luteal phase.  I was told "You did not ovulate." Again, I finally proved my point through a second round of bloodwork showing I ovulated and was thus able to stick to the plan she wanted me to follow in the first place. Man, it just shouldn't be this hard!!!

Point is, this RE should be paying more attention to my chart and my situation and what I am telling her is going on, without me having to pull teeth to stick to her plan. Now that hubby is going to appointments and hearing my conversations with the nurse on speakerphone, he also sees how hard I'm working to try to stay the course with a dr. who, when it comes down to it, just isn't paying enough attention.

This weekend, we had the great fortune to speak with someone I know (also a health professional) who used to be a nurse in this fertility clinic. She has no ill will towards any of the doctors and is a very objective calm person, so I trust her opinion. She confirmed everything we felt about my current doctor, and suggested another RE in the practice who has MUCH more experience, like 25 years more. I have heard so many great things about him through word of mouth, online, and straight from his former nurse's mouth. She was in full agreement that I should switch RE's, and I was happy she had such an outstanding recommendation for a physician within the same practice.

This is fantastic, because I won't have to transfer all of my records from the slew of tests I've done, and it should be fairly simple. I am calling tomorrow to set up an appointment with the new RE. I feel working with a doctor with more experience who can call the shots, rather than me doing so, is what's needed now, especially if we plan to become more aggressive, which we are indeed open to.

As my friend told me, "These doctors are extremely rushed. When you have a case where a doctor is rushed, you need to make sure their experience is enough to compensate for the lack of time. Having a doctor with lack of time AND lack of experience is not what you want." From what she told me, this new RE is completely left brained, anal, never goes on vacation, dedicates his entire life to his work, and drives the nurses there nuts re-checking their file notes to make sure everything is 100% organized and on track. That is exactly what I'm looking for!

We are of course bummed that this cycle didn't pan out, but so excited and hopeful for better care from here on out. Onwards and upwards!