SIRM

I recently found the Sher Institute for Reproductive Medicine also known as SIRM. I first came across SIRM after my 2nd m/c. I read a book named "Is Your Body Baby Friendly?" that mentioned SIRM briefly. I never further investigated them at the time. Shortly there after I became pg for the 3rd time and then for the 4th time.

A dear "sister" of mine kindly returned some books that she had borrowed from me, right before my 4th m/c. Little did I know that I would yet again turn to "Is Your Body Baby Friendly?". It was one of my favorite m/c books that I've read. It explores all medical avenues. Now I do have to worn that it can be a bit over the top especially if you do not have any medical knowledge. I remember reading it the first time and skipping over parts because I had a hard time following it and I'm in the medical field. With that being said, it provides excellent material. The author, Dr. Beer was certainly ahead of his time in his field.

Anyways, my "sister" Amy and I met on a public chat board and later we became part of a private chat board. I believe I talked about her and shared her blog in a previous entry. I call her my "sister" because we are part of a family and consider all of the 150 posters on there to be my sisters. This has become a huge support system in my life. These women have helped me to grieve, listened to me when I needed an ear, reassured me that my feelings were/are normal, swapped information, talked about IRL (in real life) issues other then pregnancy loss and so forth. They have allowed me to vent and most importantly they understood me when the closest people (DH, family, co-workers) to me could not.

Getting back on track...I'm not quite sure how it came about. I don't think I really realized at the time Amy was going to SIRM. I recall asking her questions about what she thought of the books, etc and then she shared her story about going to SIRM. Shortly after I started investigating SIRM myself and what they were all about. I decided that this was something I wanted to pursue.

I filled out a Request a Consultation with a SIRM Physician. I also filled out a Patient Questionnaire. The very next day I got a call from SIRM and scheduled a FREE phone consultation with Dr. Corley. I faxed over my questionnaire and records. I couldn't believe how quick they were able to get me in and accommodate me.

I had my appt with Dr. Corley on April 21. The appt lasted about 45 minutes and was a little overwhelming with all the information he had given me. The nice thing is the next day he emailed me and reiterated all the information that he had covered the day before. He was very nice and the things that stick out in my mind is he was just as unhappy with the lack testing that my RE & Ob have performed (including NOT testing the tissue from my last D&E). He almost sounded shocked that no one has followed up with very simple blood tests.

In 2008, my RE, Dr. Dodson ordered some Coagulation panels; Factor V Leiden, Lupus Anticoagulant & DRVV. He ordered Homocysteine levels which were inconclusive and never repeated (most likely the lab messed up and never drew my blood for this particular test). He ordered some endocine testing; HbA1c, TSH and Free T4. He also ordered some rheumatology labs; AnticardA, CardiolipIgG, CardiolipIgM & B2Microglb. We also had a chromosome analysis of DH & I. All the tests at the time came back within normal limits, WNL.

Dr. Corley has ordered the following:

1) Cycle day #3 labs FSH, LH, Estradiol, TSH, T4, Antithyroid antibodies, Prolactin, (Fasting) Glucose and Insulin.

2) Immune testing APA and NKa. If Nka is positive we will check DQalpha when you are pregnant.

3) The rest of the Thrombophilia labs: Antithrombin III, Protein C &C activity, MTHFR, Homocysteine, Factor II.

After my quick trip to Holland recently, I came back and was able to complete most of the labs except the cycle day #3 FSH, LH, Estradiol & I did not have the immune testing done yet.

The immune testing, I have to call MILabs tomorrow and they should send me a kit. The kit will include everything I need including the tubes. All I have to do is find a phlebotomist and then fed-ex over night to MILabs, located in Chicago. These two tests will most likely be out of pocket (OOP) expenses (around $400 to be exact) because most insurance companies consider these "experimental tests". :::flicking off insurance company::: :-D What do you guys know anyway?! ;-)These immune tests are only performed at special laboratories across the US.

We also have a new issue. I am taking a new job for a few different reasons that I won't bore you with. Less then a month ago I found out at my current job that we would be going to a new insurance plan and have a family deductible of $4k. Did I stutter?! Yes I said...$4000! So this is one of the reasons I wanted to find a new job. We don't have the option of taking Mike's insurance because its over $1k OOP and $5k deductible. :::choke me::: So I took a new job and my insurance will not kick in until after 90 days. So cobra we go to. :::sigh::: But I will only have a $500 deductible with the new insurance plane. Remember there are many reasons I took this new job but it just throws a monkey wrench into the whole thing and puts many things on hold, including TTC any time soon.

So overall I am very pleased with where things are going except for the new monkey wrench. I have an appt schedule with Center for Women's Health, June 28th. I'm looking forward to hearing from Dr. Corley soon regarding my labs. Hopefully we will get some answers.