First ICSI Appointments - Confused

[FeelingForSnow]

I know it is all bit different for every one of us but I have been having problems with appointments at our chosen clinic. We are self funding and had huge problems to receive the first appointment with the doctor which will be on the 9th March.

I have now been told that we also need an initial nurse appointment but the nearest date available was on 15th April.

Is that what normally happens when there are such gaps in between appointments?

I was told by the dr that there will be some tests that need doing nearer the start (we have done loads of blood tests already, dp - sperm test and I have done AMH).

Hi there - I know how you feel, it can seem like you're never going to get started. I also had a gap of a month between consultation & nurse appt. I think one of the reasons it's like this is that once treatment starts they need to make absolutely sure they can see their patients at just the right times & be able to accommodate changes in protocol - so they can't have too many people cycling at once or it jeopardises patients' treatment. I imagine it's a scheduling nightmare.

Once you've had the nurse consultation, though, things will go quite quickly - in my experience that's when they give you your prescription & you start taking meds. My experience is you need to do a bit of chasing for the initial appts, but once you're actively in treatment everything is scheduled for you quickly and strictly, with no waits. (Except sometimes when appointments are running late... my clinic's not bad at all for this but some will keep you waiting an hour or more).

The blood tests you'll need right before you start will probably be the ones they legally require before IVF, checking for various infectious diseases. This needs to be done within a certain amount of time before treatment. They will also need to do an antral follicle scan right before your cycle.

Good luck!

Thank you very much for your reply Bip! Sorry for my late replying. This is very calming. It really stressed me out. If there are such gaps how they're going to make all the other appointments when the timing is crucial? Its been such a long time since our very first appointment with NHS to address the problem. M

Where are you snow? Our NHS clinic were an absolute joke, when our funding ran out (well, actuary before, because we got so pissed off with them delaying) we moved to a smaller private clinic and they are administratively (and in pretty much every other way so far) much much better.

Hi Chris,

I am down in the south. The doctors in the clinic are very nice and good but the admin is a nightmare. We have had our first consultation now and the doctor has brought nurse appointment forward and it will be now on the 1st April.