A man with a plan

So it's been way too long (again) since I blogged.  And you're all probably wondering what happened with my new specialist?  Thing is, I've been so excited about it all, I totally forgot to write about it.

My new specialist is not only through a completely different fertility centre, he's also based in a completely different hospital.  So day of my appointment, after only sleeping three or four hours out of pure anticipation, I rang his office to double-check ALL the details; where exactly I go, can I get bloods taken there, what should I bring, etc etc.  Luckily, the warm and friendly receptionist, Phillipa recognised how frazzled I was and calmed me down.  Whatever I didn't bring and he needed I could either courier/email over and he'd make do.  Already I felt so much better.

I arrived early, once again not able to contain my excitement, and sat in his lounge for about 20 minutes listening to the numerous calls made to follow-up with patients and between staff.  All so friendly and helpful, I knew straight away I would be much better off here.  Finally the doc called me in, shaking my hand enthusiastically and stroking my arm as he sat me down.  We went over our history, our previous plans, what we wanted next and what he thought he could do for us.  He explained how a number of my results and symptoms could be attributed to Endometriosis as well as PCOS and asked if I'd ever been scanned for this - I hadn't.  We talked through my options for care, and in depth about my dislike for Clomid, and came up with a plan that suited us.

THE NEW PLAN:  
On August 18th I will have an Exploratory Laparoscopy to review my uterus and ovaries.  From there he'll determine if I have Endo or just PCOS.  He'll do some Ovary Drilling and Hysterosalpingogram (HSG).  The aim of all this to break down any effects of the PCOS scaring and restore normal hormone secretion.  He believes this, with the help of low dose ovulation stimulation drugs, could give us six to 12 months of increased fertility. He even went as far as to say we'd have our first baby by Christmas 2012!!

Throughout my whole appointment, which took a total of two hours, I felt so calm and at ease.  He never pushed ideas onto me, he never criticised old doctor, though I could tell he surprised none of this had been offered to us before.  On my way out the door he gave me a big, friendly hug and wished us good luck.

I walked to Phillipa's desk in a bit of a blur.  She went through my operation booking form and consent forms.  She fully explained all the costs involved and how our current health insurer had recently taken ALL assisted reproductive services off their schedule and so we'd be paying almost 100% of the hospital and out-patient fees.  She recommended several different insurance companies who could cover us for up to 80%, and then even went as far as the download their information packages for us to take home.  What service!!

Suffice it to say, I LOVE our new specialist!!  Everything about him and his team are amazing and professional and so importantly, friendly!!  This process is all hard enough without having to fight to see your doctor and then feeling like a fool when you're there.  I am so grateful for such an awesome recommendation by my gorgeous friend Chrissy!  Everything looks just a little bit brighter now!