I haven't posted in here about it for a long while but have had 5 early mcs after a successful pregnancy with my now nearly 4 year old. I have seen Prof Quenby who found normal nk cells but put me on progesterone to combat possible hyper fertility, which made no difference the next time. I have now seen Mr Shehata and had my follow up appointment to discuss results yesterday.
Between my 2 appointments with him, I had hormone levels checked through my go and found that my ovarian reserve is low enough for any future pregnancies to be extremely unlikely... Day 3 fsh was 14.3. I am 41.
The followup consultation was... I'm not sure. He has found things as a result of his tests, but I think I need to do some research myself to understand the results. I am a scientist at heart and I am very cynical because of the money involved and want to make sure that what he says could be problematic actually could be, if that makes sense? He found three things:
- A normal thyroid function but elevated thyroid antibodies,
- A normal number of natural killer cells but a high probability of them attacking a pregnancy, then he found that they responded well to steroids
- Elevated TNf alpha which he said is another type of killer cell. Only marginally above normal levels though.
He recommends the "complex treatment plan" which involves progesterone suppositories again (oh the unbridled joy of shoving those up my jacksie again...), prednisone and intralipid infusions every month, £300 a time. And 2-weekly scans for the first 12 weeks (if we make it that far) at £220 a time.
I thought I would feel relieved to have some explanations and a possible way forward, but it's really expensive, not scientifically proven, and involves a shedload of travel and time out on my part which is not easy in my job (I work in education and can't just ask for days off). And chances are it won't make a damn bit of difference due to the low ovarian reserve. (He didn't say this but it's my suspicion).
I wasn't expecting him to offer me a free, easy solution - but equally I don't want to suspect I might be being a mug. I must sound really ungrateful and entitled... I know he's an expert. I just don't completely trust it all - I'm not sure why, but something just feels off about it all. I feel like he's going to make money out of my situation just because he's offering me hope. It doesn't feel totally ethical. But then, it might result in an actual baby. I've almost totally given up hope that that might be in my future. But does he just trade on women's hopes? Is it ethical to be making money out of me just because my body isn't working?
Help, I need some clear thinking and straight talking. Am I being an idiot to be cynical? Would I be an idiot not to be? I'm so unsure. And so convinced that it's all pointless anyway due to age, hormones and history. Has anyone had these same worries and had them prove unfounded? Can anyone give me any reassurance or information that might help? Or maybe just a slap?