Ivf treatment

[Olivepearl]

Hi all,

I am starting my first IVF treatment in October. I was wondering if anyone has been through this process and can advise on how they have coped with the treatment and work at the same time? I have a really stressful job, managing a lot of risk and a large team. I’ve never had a sick day but I am really worried about the impact of my job on the success of my ivf. I’ve tried to talk to my manager but she doesn’t seem to have an understanding and keeps piling more tasks on to me when I can’t do my regular duties within my working week.

Has anyone else had a sick note for the first few weeks of treatment? I am not sure how to even ask for one. Any advise would be welcome

Hi thankfully my manager is very understanding and tries to keep things more manageable for me but there does come a time when sometimes you need time off. I managed to fit IVF around work by keeping my diary as flexible as possible but after the cycle failed (total fertilisation failure after everything was looking so good unfortunately) I was really impacted mentally and did phone the GP who gave me a sick note for a few weeks. I'd advise doing this if you need. Remember to prioritise your health and wellbeing over work. I'm not very good at that but I often think if I look back in 5 years, I'd regret prioritising work over trying to have children. I hope it all goes as well as it can for you!

Hi, I am actually a doctor and went with my first ivf round and egg retrieval on wednesday but due to ohss risk not going to transfer anything this month.
I agree with the post Above, although your work was until now very important if not the most important, now its time to focus on yourself.
You will/ can manage with shots during stims, it was actually the easiest thing in the world. Just get yourself a portable fridge bag and you are good to go! I oftend did the stims on my shifts. Nothing too bad.
The worse part for me was retrieval, you will just have to take few days. If needed use maybe your vacation days like annual leave or something like that (not a native speaker so sorry if this is incorrect). I had 3 follicle follow up ultrasounds, all lasted max od 5 mins so you can work around your job Im sure.

I had my IVF treatment without work knowing exactly what was happening. I decided not to tell them as I was being considered for a promotion and didn't want anything to go against me.

I told them I was scheduled in for some surgery on my abdomen (I was going to say cyst removal if they pushed) so I was able to book off the week between egg collection and transfer. I had a fresh transfer and got hospitalised with OHSS about 10 days later, so told them there were complications and I had to go back in. After that I felt really rough so had time off work whilst I suffered with side effects of medication.

Work knows I'm now pregnant, but still hasn't put 2 and 2 together.

Might be worth checking your work policy for IVF/ maternity leave, if I had told them I'd be entitled to have every day off for appointments, and the days off sick would be classed as pregnancy related sickness.

Hello,

I was very worried about work too as my work is quite stressful. I debated for a long time whether I was going to let them know why I needed time off or not but in the end decided to keep the reason private, as I thought it would add even more stress for them to know.
I just said I needed 2 procedures for which I needed 2 days off each, and that the day would be set at the last moment.
It was quite tricky going for scans during the stims as I don’t live close to the clinic and couldn’t really choose the appointments time, so I had to let work know as well that I needed medical appointments to prepare for the procedures. I just worked longer theses days to compensate.

I honestly could have gone back to work after my EC and transfer, but I am glad I took 2 sick days for each, as at least I was able to relax and rest without the stress.

I would advice you to prioritise your treatment, as you don’t want to regret prioritising work if things don’t go as planned.

I’m a teacher in a secondary school with senior whole school role in the pastoral side of things. I managed to stay in but once I had my embryo transfer I went off on my tww. Unfortunately it resulted in a CP. I’ve now started my second round and plan to do the same. My job is not conducive to resting (dealing with difficult parents, challenging teenagers, on my feet all day, talking all day) it’s not a job that can make adjustments and wfh and I didn’t want to look back and have regrets! The doctor I spoke to was wonderful and signed me off no problems. I’ve never been off on the sick before and did feel guilty but this is the time to put yourself first. Good luck xxx