The Doctor Fiasco

Since Scott and Bev had always done fresh IVF cycles, they had thirty-something embryos in the freezer. We would use these embryos to try to achieve a pregnancy in me. Their reproductive endocrinologist (aka infertility dr.) was located in Houston, as were all of their embryos. For me, this meant 4 hours of driving time and 2 hours of flying time every time I needed to see the dr. Arrangements were made for my first visit to their dr. in Houston. Merritt went with me on that first flight and all went well. The dr. examined me and did blood work. He told me that, before he did an IVF cycle, he wanted to do an office hysteroscopy to check out my uterus. We scheduled the hysteroscopy for the next week.

He gave me a prescription to fill. I can't remember what it was for, but, it was to help me relax. He told me to take one of the pills about an hour before my appt, which I did. Unfortunately, he was running late and I ended up in the waiting room for 2 hours, so the effect of the pill had pretty much worn off, by then. I was told by many of my surrogate friends who had had a hysteroscopy that it was not bad at all, so I wasn't really that worried. However, for me, the hysteroscopy was terribly painful! He kept saying that there was something blocking the camera's way in. I felt incredible pressure with every movement he made, and, after about 10 minutes, I was in tears. He finally stopped and told me that I would need another hysteroscopy...this time in the hospital, to find out what was blocking the entry into my uterus and remove it. He said it was probably a polyp or a fibroid. I was in shock and very upset and worst of all, I didn't have time to really talk to him about it because I had to rush out of there to catch my plane.

Later, on the phone, he told me that we couldn't proceed with IVF until whatever was blocking entry to my uterus was removed. He said that, even if I was not going to be a surrogate, I would be better off having it removed because it could cause problems later on with my menstrual cycle. I talked to my husband and my family about it. They all told me to get a second opinion before going ahead with the surgery. So, that is what I decided to do. I would get a second opinion and, if they said that I needed the surgery, I would have it done locally. But, when I tried to schedule an appointment with an RE in my area, I was told that it would be over a month before I could get an appt. I felt a tremendous amount of pressure because I knew how much Scott and Bev wanted to get started and I felt like I was holding everything up. In addition, the doctor in Houston expressed that he *really* wanted to be the one to do the surgery, since he would be doing the transfer. Hesitantly, I decided to go ahead and have the surgery in Houston with their doctor without the 2nd opinion. Because it was supposedly something that I would need anyway, the medical costs for the surgery would be my responsibility, but, since I didn't really need to go all the way to Houston to have it done, Scott and Bev agreed to pay for our travel expenses.

It was all set. Joey would have to miss a day of work and Justin would miss a day of school so that we could all go. I wanted Joey to be there, so that I would have someone to speak for me if a medical decision needed to be made, plus I knew I would be uncomfortable and need someone to take care of me. We left on Thursday afternoon to drive to Houston. It was about a 5 hour trip. When we arrived, we checked into a hotel and were up early the next morning to go to the hospital. We checked in and I was "prepped". I was given general anesthesia and the next thing I knew, I woke up with 2 doctors standing over me. The surgery was complete and everything had gone very well. My couple's dr. went on to tell me that there had actually been NOTHING blocking my uterus. NO POLYP! NO FIBROID! Nothing! My uterus simply turns to the left. He made it seem like such a rare occurrence and told me that in the 2000 or so uterus' he had seen, he had never seen one like mine. But, other than the fact that it turned, it was perfectly healthy. I was groggy and confused, but, not so much that it didn't dawn on me...all of this was for nothing! My family and I went through all of this travel, expense, discomfort, inconvenience for nothing?!?!? I had many, many questions about why the doctor couldn't tell that my uterus turned during the first hysteroscopy. I called him on Monday morning to talk to him about it and he avoided me for a week before ever calling back. When he did call back, I had had time to think about what had occurred and had my questions all lined up for him. He was VERY defensive and by this time, I was seriously questioning his competence. I thought about that first hysteroscopy. Since there had never been a blockage, he must have actually been pressing against my uterine wall all that time! Geez, no wonder it hurt so much!!! Could he have done any damage? Oh no, there was NO WAY that I was going back to this guy!

This was a difficult time for my couple and I. They had been with this doctor for 4 years and trusted him immensely! However, when he didn't call me back until a week after my surgery, questions about his competence and sincerity arose in their minds too. Still, I think they felt a certain loyalty to him. However, after talking it over with Joey, I decided for certain that I could not see this doctor any more. I did not trust him! I called Scott and Bev and told them how I felt. They were very understanding. We talked about it and decided to move the embryos to Dallas and let Merritt help us find another doctor.