Anyone recently referred to Hammersmith?

[Azahar8]

Hi,
I would be really grateful for any information on current waiting times for initial appointment at Hammersmith hospital. We already know that we'll get referred there due to male factor but we still need to finish my blood tests before our GP can send the referral. And it's taking ages because my cycles are really long :( So I just want to prepare myself for the waiting afterwards...

Hey,

We were referred there at the beginning ofJuly, the appointment was given to us for the start of October. I phoned them (about a 100 times as it was impossible to get hold of anyone!) to change the appointment as I was unable to make it and felt very lucky to be given the 4th of August. Unfortunately that was cancelled at the last minute and I am now awaiting another one. So I think the waiting time for an initial appointment is about 3 months, and they seem to be doing these over the phone at the moment.

Hopefully you dont have to wait too long!

Hi @orchid10, many thanks for replying and sorry to hear that your appointment got cancelled. Hope you get a new one very soon!

@Azahar8 - Hi :)

We were referred in Jan from a fertility clinic to hammersmith and recieved our first consultation for March, which was cancelled due to covid. Finally it was rebooked to July, so 4months later. The last conversation i had with the doctor last week was thst they have cleared the covid backlog more or less, but there is now a short waiting list for treatment... a month or 2.. but she was vague.

Once you have your first consultation, I'm sure they would do a transvag scan for AFC and blood test to check your AMH, with a followup booked for the following month. Then you have consent appt and coordination appt which can take just over a month i say...

Covid really has made things longer, precovid there was no waiting list here...

But once things start, appts do come through.. so hang in there xx

Hi @fullyloadednachoes :) Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It's very helpful to know what to expect and be realistic.. Best of luck with your treatment! Hopefully you won't have to wait too long for it to start xx

Hi @Azahar8 just to let you know we received another initial appointment for the end of September. My husband phoned them a few times to ask for earlier cancellations and luckily they had one for today. So we had our initial appointment on zoom this morning, I've already had most of the tests done so have been referred for the final one which is HyCoSy, which I was initially told i'd have to wait until next month but again was lucky enough to get a cancellation for next week!
The consultant this morning said there is no current wait for IVF so once everything is sorted it is a quick process after that (I guess depending on if you need any other treatment).
I would recommend ringing up for cancellations as it seems being persistent pests have sped up our process by a few months!

Hi @orchid10, that's very good news, I am so happy for you! I will definitely phone them to ask for cancellations once we have been referred and received our letter. I am hoping that I won't have to do a HyCoSy test given that we'll need IVF for sure due to male factor, I don't know what added value it would have, but maybe it is a standard procedure. Fingers crossed that all goes well for you! Thanks again for the update.

Hi @fullyloadednachoes and @orchid10,
I was wondering how you were getting on :) Have you started your treatment already?

Hi @Azahar8, I have had my HyCoSy which picked up a couple of small polyps so I am now on the waiting list (apparently about 12 weeks) to have a hysteroscopy to remove these before we start IVF. My consultant didn't seem to think they would be a cause of our infertility but they like to remove them before starting IVF. I feel like I am just on one long waiting list the whole time! But glad that the ball is moving in the right direction. How about you, did you get an appointment yet?

Hi @orchid10, so sorry that you have to wait! Hopefully you'll get a cancellation appointment again!
We got referred a month ago and my DH is booked in for an ultrasound the week after next. He'll then have a consultation with urologist, but we don't know when as the letter hasn't arrived yet. I rang the hospital the other day and they said I'll have a consultation with a gynaecologist and it shouldn't be too long before I get a letter too... So it seems that DH and I will be seen separately for the time being. As you say, it's reassuring that things are moving in the right direction!

Hi @Azahar8 @fullyloadednachoes just wondering how you guys were getting on at Hammersmith? We were due to start IVF but lockdown happened 🙁 so hoping to start soon!

Hi @orchid10 :)

So we had a failed fresh cycle in Nov, unfortunately. We were due to start buserilin first week of Jan for the FET cycle but we got cancelled again too because of lockdown :(

So we had our embryos transported to a private clinic, but its a long process again, unfortunately haven't been able to start straight away, cannot start this cycle, hopefully can start end of next month🤞🙏got everything crossed at this stage.

Very eager to start, but this eagerness is hard to manage over a long wait.. so I've switched off IVF mode for now 🤷‍♀️trying to absorb myself in other stuff, to kill time :)
Its tough, but we gotta just go with it, nothing more that we can do.. I've left it to fate now, i tried pushing for it all to happen quickly, but it didn't help get the outcome we were looking for. So this time I'm hoping our time comes soon 🤞

How you all getting on?
X

Hi @orchid10, @fullyloadednachoes, good to hear from you though I am sorry your cycles got cancelled We had a video consultation in early December and I was due to have a saline scan and blood tests when the lockdown happened.. I hope I will manage to book them in March. The wait has been very long and I felt really low at some point so like @fullyloadednachoes I have been trying to change my attitude and value the things I already have in my life instead of focusing on those that I don't. But there isn't much we can do now to distract ourselves so it is quite hard.

@fullyloadednachoes really sorry to hear about your previous cycle. I hope you can restart your treatment soon.
Ive also been trying not to think too much about it and distract myself with other things but I’m starting to lose patience with waiting! Hopefully not too much longer.

@Azahar8 @orchid10
Any updates from the wolfson clinic about when they will start back up again?
The last time i spoke to them in Jan, they said it would take at least 2 months?
I have ups&downs tbh, had a few days of down last week.. i found myself binging on crisps and chocolate 😬 i just let it be!!! Needed the comfort food to snap me out of my low mood! I find going fir long walks as soon as i feel low, helps snap me out too, its probably the guilt from binging on junk food. This sunny weather defo changes my perspective for this year.. hope you guys are feeling it too 🧡
Lets hope this month flies by :)

Hi @fullyloadednachoes, don't be too hard on yourself, we do need chocolate to survive all this The sunny weather definitely helps too!

Last time I had contact with the clinic (early Feb) they were planning for a March reopening but said this was not a promise.

Our Consultant mentioned back in December that if everything was fine with my scan we could start IVF the following month but I wonder how many appointments we can expect to have between the scan and starting treatment. Is it just a follow up appointment and coordination appointment with a nurse? Or are they the same thing?

Thanks! x

@Azahar8 once you've had you initial video consultation with the doctor, you have you tests and blood tests, then you have a follow up with the doctor to decide what protocol you should have depending on your results. You mentioned saline scan earlier? Ive not had that, but i had the standards trans vag scan and AFC done. After thus followup, you would have consent forms appt with the doctor, we had ours online. Then you have a coordination appt with a nurse at the clinic where you sign the forms and discuss potential dates.
So our initial consultation was early July last year, and we started treatment in mid/end October.

Thanks @fullyloadednachoes, sounds like there is still a long road ahead of us.

From what I've read, a saline scan is similar to HyCoSy, but they use a saline solution instead of dye. And they'll do the AFC at the same time.

@fullyloadednachoes we all need chocolate to get us through sometimes!! Sunny weather has definitely helped me too recently.

@Azahar8 we had a follow up with consultant after my scan and then we just had one appointment for consent forms and talking about treatment. We were then supposed to start on my next cycle (which was cancelled in January).

I called wolfson 2 weeks ago and they said hopefully reopen in March but not for definite. So I emailed again this week and they said they are looking to get everything back up and running by mid to late March. But no info about how long a waiting list might be! I will contact them again in a week or two. I’m very impatient!!

Thank you for the update @orchid10, I need to contact them on my next period in two weeks, I really hope they can book me in this time. Fingers crossed you can start your treatment soon too!

Hi ladies @orchid10 @Azahar8

Thought I'd update you, if you didn't already know. Wolfson called me today to restart treatment, so they starting to get things moving.. hoping you guys get a call soon xxx

Hi @fullyloadednachoes, thanks so much for the helpful update. I am due to contact the clinic tomorrow and I've been wondering if they are open. Best of luck with your treatment! :)

@Azahar8 thanks for wishing me luck.. I'd already had them transported to a private clinic lastmonth so I won't be continuing with wolfson.

🤞hoping i made the an ok decision having them transported. We start in a few weeks for FET. So its all just a long waiting game , filled with a roller coaster of emotions...

🙏sending you all positive vibes, really good news to hear the clinic starting up again xx

I am sorry @fullyloadednachoes, I thought you'd decided to return to wolfson for some reason. It was impossible to know when they would open, so I am sure you chose what was right for you and the most important thing is that you will have your FET soon! Sending you positive vibes too! xx

Hi all,
anyone is doing IVF with Wolfson CLinic in 2025?

@Misia1985 I am starting soon, have you started? How are you finding it?