Issue with egg retrieval

[27012022]

Hi, I'm just looking for a bit advise .... I recent underwent my 2st round of icsi ivf Throughout my scan it was iidentified that my left ovary was positioned high, scan where very uncomfortable. Anyway they proceed with egg retrieval and where only able to collect 4 eggs from right ovary, 3 didn't make it, 1 didn't fertilise. However due to the extreme pain, I had to tap out and none where collected from the left ovary, on scan my left ovary contained more follicles, 11 approx. I feel so disheartened and felt like my chance have diminished because of the high sitting left ovary Has anyone else experienced this type of situation? I feel like there has been an error on the clinic part for not giving me other options of egg retrieval. I have a follow up consultation on the 17th and would like some questions to put to the consultant. Any help would be greatly received x

[JudithSS]

Hunny I’m so sorry that this has happened. My left ovary also sits high and at once scan I nearly passed out it was awful. My only advise is for another scan to push down on the left side to bring your ovary down. That’s what my consultant did on our scans and for egg collection, but they did say if they can’t reach the left ovary then that would be that, they wouldn’t try any other way xx

[27012022 in reply to JudithSS]

Thank you for you response xx I have never experienced pain like it. I'm hoping to have another go at ivf but this time I'm going to speak about trans abdominal retrieval as I don't want to experience another painful retrieval if my left ovary is in the same position xx I feel like because my left ovary contained more follicles, 11 in total with 7 mature, that I would of stood a far greater chance, I just feel so let down and upset x

[Bteeldla]

I was sedated when I had my egg retrieval. Can they not offer you that at your clinic?

[27012022 in reply to Bteeldla]

I was sedated, but unfortunately, I don't think they sedated me enough, so I couldn't withstand the pain, and therefore, they were unable to collect the 11 follicles from my left ovary diminishing my chances significantly x

[Bteeldla in reply to 27012022]

Gosh that sounds terrible. I was completely asleep for mine. Maybe sedated is the wrong word. Anaesthetised? Maybe you could ask for that next time. I just remember falling asleep in the room and waking up somewhere else 25 minutes later.

[l_nop in reply to 27012022]

I would query the sedation. I found out very recently that clinics do it different ways and there are variations in quite how deeply sedated you can be. Was there an anesthetist or just a nurse doing it?

[27012022 in reply to l_nop]

Hi, thank you for your response.....It was given to me by a nurse. Who then realised that when I became un significant pain, shoved the gas and air device into my mouth, which I refused. When the embryologist called me the following day with the bad news, she also mentioned that there was some "issue" with the egg retrieval.

[l_nop in reply to 27012022]

Ah similar thing happened to me. Old clinic had an anesthetist which meant I was totally out of it. New clinic didn't do that. The difference was less sedation and no Propofol. I ended up having an additional local anesthetic for EC. When we talked about it afterwards they explained that without an anesthestist present they can't let you go so deep.

I'm so sorry to hear you experienced so much pain and it impacted your outcome. I really feel for you.

[27012022 in reply to l_nop]

Thank you xx I've hit rock bottom xx

[JoyfulStar]

Hi thereReally sorry to hear about your experience and I can understand your disappointment.

I think the clinic made several errors and if I were you, I would raise it during your consultation

I also have an ovary that is awkward to get to. Like JudithSSS said, my clinic put pressure on my abdomen to bring it into view to retrieve the eggs

Your ovary that sits high should have been picked up in scans with a clear plan of action on how to retrieve the eggs.

Also your sedation clearly did not work. The anaesthetist should have ensured you were not fully awake. I did wake up during one of my egg retrievals but was put back to sleep

Therefore, some of the questions I would ask is why you were not put back to sleep when you woke up? If they have experience of getting to ovaries that sit up high and what was the plan of action on how to retrieve the eggs as it would have been clear on scans.

Is your cycle on the NHS? The reason I ask is that I have learned from personal experience that some clinics are better at retrieving eggs that are not easy to get to. My cycles were all private so I was able to pick and chose a clinic based on this.

All the best with the consultation and if you want to pm me with further questions, I will be happy to answer.

[27012022 in reply to JoyfulStar]

Hi, thank you for your response....on previous scans, they did put pressure on the left side, but not during the egg retrieval. I'm private, and I chose the clinic for its excellent reputation. No plan of action was put in place to my knowledge, I turned up at the clinic on the Monday for a baseline scan and was told that it would be on the Wednesday. No plan was discussed. Everything happened so quickly. I've read that some people get a laxative the night prior to help move any obstruction from the bowel but this was not offered. I feel like I have been treated as a normal case, without taking my left ovary issue into consideration x

[JoyfulStar in reply to 27012022]

I think you are right about the lack of consideration of your left ovary. Did a consultant familiar with your anatomy perform the egg retrieval? If not then what asking if there were clear notes saying pressure on the abdomen should be used.

I found that a doctor that knew my anatomy got better results with my egg retrieval procedures. This is because he scanned me on several occasions. Furthermore, my first embryo transfer was done by someone who was had never scanned me and it was a massive struggle to get the catheter in. On the other hand, when a doctor that did my scans did my embryo transfer, it was a breeze!

I’ve never heard about the laxative option before. Definitely worth asking.

Hope you get to the bottom of what went wrong.

[Saddoc]

My left ovary sits high also. My pain relief and the lorazepam weren’t given enough time to work this egg collection. I used a lot of the gas and air but it was painful as hell. Still getting pains 4 days later. The plan was to go through the uterus if they hadn’t been able to get at the ovary- thank God it didn’t come to that coz I’d have probably passed out. Going to speak to my consultant on Thursday and raise the issue of pain relief. My previous egg collection at another clinic I had IV midazolam and fentanyl and it worked a treat.

[27012022 in reply to Saddoc]

Hi, thank you for your response....I had the lorazepam as well x I have never felt pain like it, to the point I was pull away from the consultant and the nurses were shouting stop the procedure.. and I have a very high pain threshold, but that procedure was on another level.

[KiboXX]

Some clinics offer egg collection under general anaesthetic rather than sedation xx

[MrsOrangejuice]

Really sorry for what you've been through and that really does sound like were quite a few things not right or not anticipated properly. Things can go wrong in collection (on my first one my muscles broke the catheter and they had to retrieve bits of it...) but they should have warned you better about the difficult retrieval and planned for it to the extent they could. My left ovary is very high and at each scan I needed two nurses to press on my abdomen to see it which they said may mean they couldn't access it on collection. However when it came to the final scan they said it had enlarged and dropped down enough not to be a problem. I was on NHS for my first collection and although they said light sedation, I was 100% awake and felt every sensation - it was painful, quite long (catheter issue being one problem) and I bled and fainted a lot afterwards. They said they would not do it any other way even though I have a pain condition which means even smears can be agony. The next one was private and I was fully sedated - I was out cold from lying down to being sat up - didn't feel a thing, no bleeding or any side effects. I think you can react differently to different sedations but given how yours went and you're private, you'd hope they would be able to reassure you they can do something if you have another collection. But that doesn't help make what you've been through better or feeling you didn't get as many eggs as you could have. Maybe you could complain and see if there is anything they could do re their charges.