Coventry NK cells testing

[LisaSimpsonsbff]

I'm really sorry if this isn't really the appropriate place for this - I did ask on the miscarriage page and got no responses, and thought there might be some people here it applied to. I've had three miscarriages and am going to the Coventry miscarriage/implantation clinic tomorrow to have the NK test done, and was just wondering if anyone else had experiences of this they could share? I hate not knowing what will happen in advance - I'm a bit of a controller, which obviously isn't ideal, I know it would be better if I could be a bit more go with the flow but I can't - and I've also spent the evening getting myself worked up about whether it'll hurt (I don't know why - I'm not an amazingly stoic person, but I'm not particularly sensitive to pain either). Anyway, would be really interested to hear from others, whether good or bad.

Hi Lisa, sorry I didn't spot this on the Miscarriage boards. Very sorry to hear about your losses. I've had the endometrial biopsy twice at Coventry and have had a good experience there. The biopsy isn't as painful as I expected and the doctor who did mine each time was very gentle. She also counted down from 10 both times so that I knew how long the biopsy would last - less than 10 seconds. I had a little bit of cramping but nothing too awful.
Good luck today, what time is your appointment?

Thanks so much fern - that's exactly the sort of information I was hoping for and you've calmed me right down! Appointment not until late afternoon but Coventry's a trek for me so setting off soon. Did the tests give any useful information for you?

How did it go today Lisa? My NK cells were normal on my first biopsy and normal but very close to the line where high starts on my second biopsy. No answers for me yet unfortunately as I've since miscarried. Going back to see Prof Quenby next month. She's wonderful and really cares. Hope you got on okay today!

Thanks so much! I'm really sorry to hear that you've since had another miscarriage. It was fine - I found the biopsy quite painful, but they did the countdown from 10, just as you said, which helped a lot, and the doctor and nurse (I think?) were both lovely. I got quite bad cramps afterwards and then got weirdly dizzy and felt a bit sick, and they were really kind about looking after me (the nurse went and found me some biscuits!). The chat with Professor Bosens was really interesting and quite reassuring.

Very glad it went okay and hope you're recovered today. I really like Prof Brosens too. Glad he was able to reassure you. Did he encourage you to keep trying? Fingers crossed for your results!

Yes, he did. Though to be honest feeling a bit more despairing again today! I worry about the fact mine were all early - people (including Brosens) tell me that probably means they were genetically duff as if that's a good thing, but I just keep thinking - why am I only producing duff ones? I'm only 30, but have my eggs already gone to shit? Obviously I don't wish they were later - I know how much more difficult physically and emotionally that is - but the more I look into it the less comforting it seems that I've never seen a heartbeat.

Sorry for the stream of consciousness!

It's natural to worry but you have lots of time on your side. How many weeks have your losses been? Do you find it easy to fall pregnant? Prof Brosens & Prof Quenby have a very interesting theory of super-fertility for women who get pregnant every couple of months, that our womb lining lets abnormal embryos implant when in other women they'd be rejected. So that doesn't mean your eggs are bad, just that your womb is receptive to embryos that shouldn't implant. Hoping you get good results back from your biopsy. Have you had the other RM tests too, like blood clotting disorders?

I'm waiting on the results of all my other RM tests at my local hospital - had them done early July (except the ultrasound, which is scheduled for two weeks' time), but they said it would be October before I'd get a follow-up consultation where they'd give me the results.

It's that theory that worries me. It took me eight months to fall pregnant the first time, and then I fell pregnant three cycles in a row, miscarrying at 5.5 weeks, 5 weeks and then at 7 (the only one where there was an ultrasound - which confirmed embryo had stopped developing at 5 weeks). It also makes sense that they all happened in so short a time after a reasonably long wait with the Quenby/Brosens theory, as they think that your womb isn't always rubbish if you have this, it happens cyclically. Lets assume they were all crap embryos that should never have implanted, and that my womb lining entered a state that let them implant, after eight months of doing its job and stopping crap embryos. That means that I 'should' have never been pregnant - but that means I haven't produced a single good embryo in over a year of trying. In this alternative scenario where my womb didn't let bad ones implant I need to start infertility treatment, surely?

You definitely don't know that yet. It could have been something as simple as not DTD on the right day for a few months (I found out I'd been way off on the day I actually ovulated, once I started temperature charting on an app). All you need is one good egg. It's agonising having to wait so long for your results, I hope it goes fast and you get some answers. Prof Brosens told me that although patients usually want a diagnosis, you often have a better prognosis if no reason is found, which I'm clinging to for a bit of hope!
Wishing you lots of luck.

Thank you - and good luck to you, too. Sorry to moan at you: I know yours has been a longer and harder journey, and thank you for listening. Today ever having a baby feels impossible, but I'm sure this particularly gloomy phase will pass. When will you have your next meeting with Quenby? I really hope she can give you hope that your next pregnancy will be the successful one.

Thank you and don't worry at all, it's really good to talk to other women in a similar situation and swap notes. It's no surprise you're feeling gloomy. I'm due to go back for my biopsy in my next cycle (hopefully September, waiting for period after miscarriage). So much waiting in this game isn't there!

There really is, isn't there?! I remember when they first said October I was devastated because that seemed like such a horribly long time to wait (and I hated the thought that I wouldn't even be able to try to get pregnant again before my first due date) but I guess now we're halfway there.

Hi, this is my friend's blog post about it all
chasingourhappilyeverafter.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/13-professor-quenby-and-hope/

Good luck!

Thank you Misty

Yes, thanks misty - really nice to see other's experience, and pleased that she now has her son.