Dealing with azoospermia?

[deafgal01]

CM- still praying for good news for your cycle tomorrow. I can't believe a body can change so much in 5 years that you could be fertile and then struggle.

 

[Shellvz]

End of my first 2ww with no hope of bfp. Af arrived on schedule this morning - so punctual as per usual.

I knew I wouldn't conceive this cycle yet still disappointed by the reality.

I feel I have deep layer of grief trying to get out. So far I have refused to let myself grieve or cry properly. Find myself teary about everything else instead...

Maybe I should just get aside and have a good cry!

 

[deafgal01]

Shell- that would be just what the dr orders... Let yourself have a good cry about it. It is a hard journey and keeping it "hidden away" inside won't help you deal/cope with this.

 

[CanadianMaple]

Shell- I was the same as you. I think the shock of it all held me from crying, I kept thinking and hoping it was a mistake and we would get pregnant and surprise everyone. It really does take some grieving and you will go through a lot of those stages of grief. I hope you can get some answers coming in, it helps to start understanding why this is happening.

AFM- I go in for my CD11 blood work and ultrasound in the morning. I think they are probably going to cancel my cycle, but am holding out a bit of hope.

 

[CanadianMaple]

I went for my cd11 check and the nurse told me my LH was way too high on Friday...17!! (Had to stay under 10) She told me that my cycle was likely canceled and I would have to be put on injections or IVF after having a formal meeting with the head RE.

I went back to the waiting room with DH and got teary-eyed while waiting for my follicle check. The RE there, I had never met her before, told me I had not ovulated even through the LH was so high and I had 3, 13mm follicles. They want me to come back in 2 days and said they would see what my bloodwork from today says before they discuss my case with the head guy.

So, they really didn't do a great job at explaining what's going on. I think it's still on? Maybe? I have no idea.

 

[Chickadeedee]

Hello all...
I believe I posted on this board waaaayyy back when we first received our Azoo diagnosis... I am currently going through all the past posts and have made it to page 171.. Phew!
So a little history:
My DH had testicular cancer about 25 years ago - one testicle removed, and treated with radiation. All clear since.
We have been together for 17 years and decided to start trying last year. Out went all the pills and in came all the OPK's & PG tests! After 6 mos I started worrying about our ages - I was 36 and he was 53. So I went to see my OBGYN. She wanted DH to do a SA just in case.. He dragged his feet for a month and finally did it... When she called with the results, she said it showed 75,000 sperm and we would definitely need IVF... I was ok with that....
We got into the FS rather quickly and they wanted another SA. No problem, so we did one. I made a follow up appt. to get the ball rolling with IVF.
I never in a million years thought we would sit down and be told that this SA had ZERO sperm.. the doctor immediately said "donor sperm is your only option. You have no sperm most likely because of the cancer".
My DH was not having any of that! He wanted to do another SA....
This one came back zero as well. There must have been a mistake on the very first one...
His normal, local urologist referred us to one of the best in the country, which happened to be 4 hours away. After our initial meeting, the new urologist wanted two more SA's just to be sure...obviously those came back with zero sperm as well.
Well, to make a long story a little shorter, he just underwent mTESE and it was found that he did have a blockage. Tissue was sent to the FS and frozen just in case. The doctor fixed the blockage and now we are back in limbo.
Has anyone else had any success with fixing a blockage and becoming pregnant naturally?
Part of me wants to just say screw it and head right to IVF anyway.. I am turning 38 soon and just want to get on with it!!!!
I just called the FS to see exactly what was frozen and all they could tell me was something about 4 vials with tissue and then she muttered something about 8 sperm and that is plenty for IVF????!!!!! Now I am really worried

I just want to say that all of your stories (so far) have moved me tremendously and have helped me deal with the ANGER and OUTRAGE I have been feeling since the diagnosis...

 

[Soili]

CanadianMaple, what is the concern with high LH? That you'll ovulate before the follies grow mature eggs? I don't think 17 is that high for 3 follies that are actively growing... In the paper that came with my blood test results it says it's supposed to be 2-12 in follicular phase and 9-76 mid cycle (the higher - the closer to ovulation I presume). Will they continue monitoring the progress? Maybe your follies will catch up in a few days, despite LH?

 

[CanadianMaple]

I think that's the concern. The LH does something to how they mature and today I found out that my progesterone is getting too high too. It's 6.1.

The RE on call today gave me the option to cancel or to wait two more days to see how things look. I opted to wait the two days to know I gave it my everything. They are definitely wanting me to meet with the head RE in the coming weeks to discuss injectables and possibly IVF.

 

[Stinas]

Chickadeedee - Sorry you are still struggling with this. I had 2 vials of tissue from DH TESE...which they said was good for 2 rounds of IVF. Our first round was not successful(transfered a perfect hatching 5AA and stage 1 blast), but we managed to get one frozen embryo which we should be transferring within a week or so.
I would not worry about what they said about 8 sperm....I dont know how they would know that there is 8 sperm in the vials when the embryologist picks them out the day of your ER. Maybe they found 8 sperm(non tissue sperm) while doing the TESE (during my dh's TESE they found 3).
rdleela dh just got the surgery...i would pm her and she will be more than happy to explain everything to you.

 

[Deb111]

Chickadeedee - we had the mTese and they found about 40 sperm. I only had 8 mature eggs so they used 8 sperm to inject the eggs using ICSI rather than IVF. I imagine that is what they will do with you. We got 3 blastocysts, had 2 put back which didnt work and one which we froze, had transfered on valentines day and is now due in 17 days! Numbers really dont need to be high for ICSI (and im 38 and hubby is 46 by the way )

 

[Chickadeedee]

Stinas & Deb - thank you so much! I was soo confused... My experience with this particular FS hasn't been the best - I was so surprised that the doctor never suggested SSR or mTESE - just automatically focused on donor sperm.... ESPECIALLY since the FS doctor did his residency WITH THE VERY SAME UROLOGIST that we ended up with!!???
Since there was a blockage that was causing the Azoo, and the blockage was repaired, I am assuming we will try naturally for a bit, before moving towards IVF w/ ICSI as nothing is covered under insurance and it is all out of pocket. Ugh, so MORE waiting

 

[Chickadeedee]

Oh, and CONGRATS Deb!! Reading this thread from the beginning, I feel like I have sort of been with you since the beginning

 

[Stinas]

Deb - 17 more days?! WOW yay! How exciting! Im hanging on to your story because I am hoping my one will be my miracle baby too!
I should be transferring within a week, if you want to change the front page.

 

[Deb111]

Chick - the NHS told us our only 2 options were donor sperm or adoption. Unfortunately we had to pay to do all of this privately but it was worth every penny.

Also had a similar experience at the start of our investigations - the NHS told us first SA was normal so to be told second was zero was one hell of a shock! Turns out both were zero but someone has pressed the wrong button on the pc and sent us the 'everythings normal' letter by mistake!

Stinas - will update for you when im on pc instead of phone. Remember frosties are lucky for us azoo girls - not just me but MJ too x x

 

[MoBaby]

That brings me hope!! I have 4 frosties left to bring us our BFP!! Me and Stinas are next!! Our azo babies

Deb: Cant believe your baby is due in a little over 2 weeks! I remember when you got your BFP!!! OMG!! Congrats

 

[SunUp]

Yay Deb, SO CLOSE NOW!!!

Oh when you're on the PC you can update my status as well on the first page

Stinas- Hoping for this to be your time for a BFP!

 

[BettiS]

Well hello girls

DH's urologist visit was yesterday.

The doctor did a scrotal exam and could find nothing out of the ordinary; testicular size and prostate are fine.

He also did a doppler test and couldn't find anything wrong.

They took some blood and did all the necessary testing and the doc just phoned him and said that his bloodwork had all come back 100% normal. EDIT: Doctor phoned me later the same day and said that his TESTOSTERONE was normal but his LH and FSH were both slightly elevated.

He didn't do a follow-up semen analysis, he wants DH to go for that in December (3 months after previous one - that means new sperm production before then, if there is any production taking place).

He also tested DH's urine and could find nothing wrong there, and no sperm in it.

I had thought that there would be a sign from the blood tests of what was wrong, but now everything has come back normal. What is causing the problem then?

The doc said that microsurgery to fix possible problems with his vas deferens would likely be ineffective and an unnecessary expense and that most likely we would have to do TESE and ICSI anyway. Could there have been any other signs of vas deferens problems in the tests done?

I'm confused

 

[Deb111]

Yay Deb, SO CLOSE NOW!!!

Oh when you're on the PC you can update my status as well on the first page

Stinas- Hoping for this to be your time for a BFP!

Will do - not sure if ive said it but HUGE CONGRATS TO YOU BOTH x x

 

[Deb111]

Betti - the fact that all tests have come back normal MAY suggest that he is producing sperm but that there is a blockage. If there was a problem with his actual production, his body would have recognised that and would be trying to fix things by increasing the fsh and lh. A problem with the vas deferens would prevent the sperm from coming out but from what ive read, that kind of surgery can be very tricky and not very successful and often sperm retrieval is easier and a better option. However rdleela will be able to give you more infi on surgery to bypass a blockage. I dont want to get your hopes up falsely, but normal blood tests can be a positive sign xx

 

[BettiS]

Thanks Deb

Everyone, please note the EDIT on my previous post. Men really don't remember important things about this stuff...