Failed IVF and Prosthetic Needs
Donation protected
This past year has been extremely rough on my husband and I, from having a failed IVF cycle to my husband losing three of his fingers, just within two months from each other.
Andrew (24) and I (24) first started dating in high school and knew from the very beginning we wanted a family. For our first date we even went house shopping (not that we could afford it) but it was fun to imagine. Of course, we waited to start a family until we finished college, we got our first full-time jobs and we were engaged. After a year of trying we decided to go to the doctor. Two failed intrauterine insemination’s (IUI) later, our doctor recommended in-vitro-fertilization (IVF) which is extremely expensive and costs a minimum of about $20,000. As our insurance was not able to cover this expense, we needed to take out a loan. Needless to say, since we live in the Bay Area, this put our dreams of owning a home on hold. But starting a family is more important to us, so we were excited to start treatment.
After two weeks of hormone injections I went into surgery and came out with 25 eggs, 22 of them had great potential for fertilization and of the 22 only 16 were actually fertilized. We were so happy. We were going to have a chance to have a baby and maybe even 2. As the days passed, however, my symptoms for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) got worse. My stomach area was filled with liquid and it was extremely hard to breathe. I was sent to the ER. Blood tests were done and the D-dimer test was not negative, so I had to do a CT scan to ensure I did not have a blood clot in my lungs. My doctor said it would be very risky to continue with the fresh cycle as planned. We were upset at first, but I needed to put my health first. We stayed positive because we were still very fortunate to have had 16 eggs fertilized. However, as the days passed, that number slowly started diminishing. By day 6, our doctors told us they were only able to freeze one egg. Our doctor said he was very disappointed with the results and that he was not sure why not more survived since we were so young. We were devastated but tried to stay positive because we still had a chance; this would be our one perfect baby.
We waited until my symptoms for OHSS cleared and started the medication for the frozen cycle. It was a long 2 months. Finally, on November 19th, 2017, the day came to transfer the embryo into my uterus. We sat in the room waiting for our doctor to come in and when he finally came in, he said, “I’m sorry, but your last embryo has died.” He said it was “just bad luck.” He said embryos rarely, if ever, do not make it through the thawing process and for that matter, those as young as us rarely, if ever, only get one embryo.
On January 29th, 2018, just 2 months later, our lives would drastically change again. My husband was involved in a work accident losing three of his fingers. He was checking the repairs to a mixing plant when his fingers got caught on one of the chain drives. His right hand was immediately pulled into the sprocket and severed three of his fingers, two of them below the first joint. His co-workers immediately rushed him to the ER. It was horrible seeing him lying there with three missing fingers and the blood dripping down his hand. He needed to have surgery, due to the severity of the injury, where the surgeon needed to perform an amputation to get to the “good tissue” to cover what is remaining of his fingers. Luckily, there were able to close it without infection but they were not able to reattach his fingers.
As we continue to embark on our life changing journey and research potential prosthetics, we realize the financial burden.
We cannot thank you enough for your donation, every penny helps more than we can ever thank you for!
Andrew (24) and I (24) first started dating in high school and knew from the very beginning we wanted a family. For our first date we even went house shopping (not that we could afford it) but it was fun to imagine. Of course, we waited to start a family until we finished college, we got our first full-time jobs and we were engaged. After a year of trying we decided to go to the doctor. Two failed intrauterine insemination’s (IUI) later, our doctor recommended in-vitro-fertilization (IVF) which is extremely expensive and costs a minimum of about $20,000. As our insurance was not able to cover this expense, we needed to take out a loan. Needless to say, since we live in the Bay Area, this put our dreams of owning a home on hold. But starting a family is more important to us, so we were excited to start treatment.
After two weeks of hormone injections I went into surgery and came out with 25 eggs, 22 of them had great potential for fertilization and of the 22 only 16 were actually fertilized. We were so happy. We were going to have a chance to have a baby and maybe even 2. As the days passed, however, my symptoms for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) got worse. My stomach area was filled with liquid and it was extremely hard to breathe. I was sent to the ER. Blood tests were done and the D-dimer test was not negative, so I had to do a CT scan to ensure I did not have a blood clot in my lungs. My doctor said it would be very risky to continue with the fresh cycle as planned. We were upset at first, but I needed to put my health first. We stayed positive because we were still very fortunate to have had 16 eggs fertilized. However, as the days passed, that number slowly started diminishing. By day 6, our doctors told us they were only able to freeze one egg. Our doctor said he was very disappointed with the results and that he was not sure why not more survived since we were so young. We were devastated but tried to stay positive because we still had a chance; this would be our one perfect baby.
We waited until my symptoms for OHSS cleared and started the medication for the frozen cycle. It was a long 2 months. Finally, on November 19th, 2017, the day came to transfer the embryo into my uterus. We sat in the room waiting for our doctor to come in and when he finally came in, he said, “I’m sorry, but your last embryo has died.” He said it was “just bad luck.” He said embryos rarely, if ever, do not make it through the thawing process and for that matter, those as young as us rarely, if ever, only get one embryo.
On January 29th, 2018, just 2 months later, our lives would drastically change again. My husband was involved in a work accident losing three of his fingers. He was checking the repairs to a mixing plant when his fingers got caught on one of the chain drives. His right hand was immediately pulled into the sprocket and severed three of his fingers, two of them below the first joint. His co-workers immediately rushed him to the ER. It was horrible seeing him lying there with three missing fingers and the blood dripping down his hand. He needed to have surgery, due to the severity of the injury, where the surgeon needed to perform an amputation to get to the “good tissue” to cover what is remaining of his fingers. Luckily, there were able to close it without infection but they were not able to reattach his fingers.
As we continue to embark on our life changing journey and research potential prosthetics, we realize the financial burden.
We cannot thank you enough for your donation, every penny helps more than we can ever thank you for!
Organizer
Emilie Silva
Organizer
Fremont, CA
