Results from Vitalab

We were allocated Dr Merwyn Jacobson as our fertility doctor and he had to discuss the test results with us. A short man with an awesome sense of humour. He made the waiting in the reception area bearable every time he went passed with his infectious warm energy. He first went through hubby’s results and said that there were no abnormalies. The sperm count was still good and mobility ok.

RIGHT….as if we expected anything different 🤷🏾‍♀️

Then the doctor moved on to me. Before he could start, I was calm, I had no ounce of worry. I was still banking on the fact that I had fallen pregnant before, never mind it was an ectopic pregnancy….

Oh Boy was I in for a surprise!

1. Bloodwork Results (some of the results 🤷🏾‍♀️)

Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH)

Although the result was low but it was still within the range, and there were no concerns except to ensure I started taking supplements to improve the levels.

Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH)

Although AMH levels are age dependent, for a 38 year old female Dr Jacobson expected levels to be atleast over 1mg/ml levels.

2. Hysterosalpingography (HSG) Results

From the results my right fallopian tube, the only tube which was standing between me conceiving naturally or not was blocked. Blocked with a fluid believed to be hydrosalpinx and required to be corrected via surgery. I thought by surgery the doctor meant draining or flushing out the fluid. However, he went on to say his advice would be to remove the tube 🤷🏾‍♀️🙆🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️, since the flushing of this liquid might come with scarring of the lining of the fallopian tube which could increase the risk of having another ectopic pregnancy.

Gutted …… ‘remove the tube’ what did that mean for me ever starting a family??????

When I thought that, it could not get any worse he went on to say also from the uterus scan I had a number of fibroids which were >2cm and would compromise on the pregnancy. And this also meant when they do go in to remove the blocked fallopian tube they would also need to take out the fibroids.

I kept hoping he would have some workable and quick solutions without me having to go under the knife again with nothing to show at the end. All these were a tough pill to swallow. Finding out at 38 that I had infertility problem was a rather confusing diagnosis.

His solution was to go for Invitro fertilization (IVF) treatment after a surgical procedure to remove the right fallopian tube and the uterine fibroids. ‘But, Dr wouldn’t this surgery have an impact on the little eggs I am left with?’ I was actually surprised I managed to ask a question after all that information overload…… and this is when he decided that we phase our IVF treatment i.e. egg retrieval then freeze the embryos, pause to do the surgery then after healing have the frozen embryo transfer.

A part of me was happy and relieved that we atleast knew what was wrong, but the other part of me was shattered, confused and sad…..

When we left the fertility clinic with those results, I did not just cry, but cried ugly in the car. Here we were, yet again getting more bad news when we thought because we had fallen pregnant before there was a simpler explanation why this time it was taking too long to conceive. I am normally not a crier; I tend to find solace in whatever circumstance comes my way and come up with a solution to the problem but this time around I felt so defeated. I knew I could not handle another ectopic pregnancy, but I was also so keen on starting a family soon.

My husband gave me time to cry, without echoing any word. And then he turned to me and said, “Thabiso, you are a strong person, so much stronger than all this, let us sleep over all this and start doing some research on the way forward.” My husband has always been my cheer leader and storm calmer, he is incredibly supportive and has always been right by my side.