Care Fertility Chester - just been referred

[ChristmasJumpers]

Me and Dh have been referred to Care Fertility in Chester for IVF. I'm 30, DH 27 and we're diagnosed with unexplained infertility after completing all of our tests at RPH.

We don't have an appointment date yet but apparently should get an appointment within 6-8 weeks.

Has anyone else been referred for treatment recently or is at roughly the same stage of diagnosis/waiting to see a clinic? It would be really nice to start the journey with others who are in a similar situation.

I've been reading IVF boards but it is blowing my mind reading about down regs/stims/egg collection etc. while we're still waiting for our first appointment!

No lessons for the injections anymore. My DH does them for me and managed with you tube.

@curbsideprophet that makes much more sense and matches up to what I've seen from other people. I'm quite glad of it as it means my holiday will cause less problems as I can just take the tablets with me 😊

I'm a little bit relieved not to have to drive all that way down to Chester again if I can learn with YouTube just as well 😂 I'm just so eager to get started now!!

@ChristmasJumpers it's a slog of a drive to Chester for me too, though we had to go to Manchester once in December and although technically shorter in miles it was absolutely horrific - accidents and queuing traffic the entire way 😩 Not doing that again!
The little satellite clinic near Bolton is good for blood tests and lining scans, but they don't seem to want to tell anyone about it so I'm not sure why they set it up 🤔

Yes you get to a point where you just want to get on with it!

I moved just before my treatment started (I didn’t dare tell anyone because I was afraid it would affect my NHS funding!). 3 hours each way, worse if there was bad traffic. I also had a face-to-face lesson back in 2019 (6 hour round trip just for that and to be told my schedule). She could only pretend to show me rather than waste medication so I looked on YouTube in the end anyway. It's very simple fortunately 🙂

@Holskey 3 hours each way 😱 we're approx 1.5 hours each way and that is bad enough.

3 hours 😫 we're just under 1.5 hours each way and it was bearable with DH to pass the time with but the next few trips will just be me until egg collection. Thank god we both drive, can't imagine this process on public transport!!

It was worthwhile fortunately. I even went back for another FET (that we paid for) rather than move our embryos. Hopefully you'll both be feeling the same soon.

@ChristmasJumpers we might be neighbours if you're South Ribble / Chorley 😀 I don't think public transport would be possible from here. I feel like it would take days 😯

@Holskey how did you find communication and the nurses... I'm quite anxious about speaking to them as some are a lot nicer than others. I'm so emotional about the whole thing that I just can't take anyone being huffy or brusque with me. I end up crying and not remembering what they've actually said.
Dr Sephton is great though, it's a shame she's being promoted - for me anyway, great for her obviously!

@holskey I hope to be saying the same in a few months time 😊 so good to hear something positive

@curbsideprophet we're in Preston so not far away at all! I dread to think, especially with going between the wellness centre and the hospital!

@CurbsideProphet the nurse I met for my FET in October seemed quite unpleasant. Just generally and noticeably brusque. It's not what you need when vulnerable and nervous. And there was another one who met me at the doors (presumably a nurse) with no niceties whatsoever. I've only had to go in 3 times for my recent FET and only briefly so I've not had much to do with them lately. I did reflect that I met some lovely nurses there back in 2019. I'm sorry it's having such an effect on you, which is totally understandable during such an emotional and vulnerable process. That brusque nurse I met seems completely ill-suited to that line of work. I might give feedback actually.

Luckily I've always found the doctors and embryologists I've dealt with lovely, and I guess they must be good at what they do too, which is what matters most ultimately.

@Holskey please do give feedback if you feel able to. I do think that the nurses being kind and friendly is the least that we should expect from them.
The embryologist are amazing aren't they! This will be my 3rd embryo transfer (so far unsuccessful) and for the previous 2 I spoke the the embryologists quite a few times getting updates. They were all so kind and sensitive in giving the updates and explaining it all, very genuine. What a responsibility they have and how clever they must be. I'm in awe of them really!

For everyone starting soon I really want to recommend an app called Mindful IVF. The man who writes and records all different meditations is Gordon Mullins, an Irish acupuncturist who specialises in fertility. I find it so relaxing and not expensive to unock the different programmes ie the frozen embryo programme cost me something like £4. Just wanted to let you know in case you haven't heard of it!

I rang the clinic this morning after hearing that that other clinics are recommending a 1-3 month wait to start treatment after having covid. Care are not recommending this as there is no research to say covid causes any harm to eggs but I mentioned that I might be on holiday when meds need to be delivered. I've now been told that due to the holiday being in florida we will need to wait 3 months after getting back to start due to a low risk of Zika virus 😭

I spoke to a nurse months ago about this and she told me it wouldn't be an issue. Now the blood tests we had on Monday will be void and the trip down was pointless as we'll need to repeat them nearer to starting. I was so ready to get going 😥

I've not even began my treatment yet and I'm already noticing that every nurse you speak to goes a different story

Gives* a different story

@ChristmasJumpers yes unfortunately that does seem to be the case. I'm really sorry you're being messed around like this.

I would recommend calling the main Admin number and asking to arrange an appointment with whichever Consultant is in charge of your case, as you urgently need to discuss the mixed messages from the nurses about your holiday abroad and time scales. I find Admin really helpful on the phone.

@curbsideprophet I rang 01244 366 858, is that the admin number? I think I will ask to speak to the consultant, I didn't know I could do that! The nurse did say she was going to speak to Dr Wood and she then rang me back after speaking to him so I doubt I'll get a different answer but I'd feel better getting a definitive answer

@ChristmasJumpers Admin is 01244 677797. Good luck 🤞🏻

Did you get sorted @ChristmasJumpers ?

Hi all, I follow this thread briefly as I was with Chester for my first cycle. I'm now with Liverpool for my consultant and nurse appointments (I wasn't overly happy with the consultant sorting my treatment) but egg collections still at Chester.

I had my 3rd egg collection yesterday, had the same consultant as for the 2nd one, Mr Wood. Just to say to you that he is amazing! He finds eggs you didn't know existed!! And so lovely too! As are all the nurses in the hospital.

Both my final scans on stims suggested only 4-5 follicles at the right size which was slightly disappointing considering the high dose of stims and my decent AMH. Both times went in with not too much hope and he got 17 eggs last time and 15 yesterday! At my age I need as many as possible as the quality won't be there and he really worked his magic.

Hello.
I just found this thread and caught up doing a bit of reading. I am a little bit behind everyone on here but have had all my tests done, it’s took 18 months - so many times the receptionist just never answered the phone or called back. Then when they do it’s like ‘I was off sick’ and no one covers them. So frustrating! I thought it was because I was NHS but doesn’t seem to be the case from reading on here.

Anyway, finally just received funding for IVF and have first online appointment on the 8th Feb at Chester. Nervous to say the least as it is starting to feel real now. It seems to move sort of quickly looking at what has been written before.

Those of you who are in the thick of it, I hope it goes well. I am thinking of you all.

@curbsideprophet I spoke to the admin team and they checked my notes. Because the most recent nurse spoke to a consultant before calling me back, that's the final answer so unfortunately we are having to wait 3 months after the holiday before we can start.

I'm writing this from a sun lounger in Orlando and consoling myself with the fact that (all being well) this will mean we have a spring baby instead of winter 😂

@Ind1e04 all being well, things do move relatively quickly once you've had your first consultation 😊 our consult was October and had it not been for us having a Florida holiday booked (low risk of Zika virus), we'd be starting any day now, so around 3 months from consultation to beginning treatment!

@ChristmasJumpers hope you're having a great time 🍹

@Coops0406 are you with Prof Kingsland at Liverpool? We saw him privately before our IVF referral and really liked him. I've had Mr Wood for egg retrieval too and he was very nice. Hope the rest of your treatment goes well 🍀

@Ind1e04 best of luck with it all 🍀
Before your appointment I would recommend writing down some questions you might have. We still felt a bit deer in the headlights at our appointment. I also read some great advice recently that suggests asking the doctor why they are prescribing a particular treatment plan. I wish I had thought to ask this myself last year when we first started, as after the first round I wished I had questioned their decisions more.