3 replies to this topic

[ColdGold]

Hey All,

 

I'm pretty new to this whole experience (TTC 14 months.) We've only recently been referred to the Olive Fertility Centre and don't have our specialist appointment until the 20th of November. I've had a pile of blood work done already as well as an HSG test - everything is looking ok on my end. My husband has had 3 discouraging semen analyses done and he's in to see the urologist this Thursday. 

 

At this point we don't have any confirmed answers, but we're working towards them and a plan. My main question is about the timeline of everything. I really don't have any scope or frame of reference other than looking at the date stamps on people's posts about when they have things done and when they get their results. 

 

How long after your initial consultation do you make a plan? Let's pretend you were starting with IUI, how long for them to set that up? How long do you typically wait for your next appointment? for procedures? How long, roughly from your first appointment, do you start making forward progress? 

 

The waiting game is just so hard. When I first went into see my gyno here, it took 1 month to even get an appointment, then 2 months to wait for that appointment, just to get a blood test requested at which point he told me that "now that you're here we're not going to dawdle on any of this", then I had to wait another month and a half for the follow up appointment just to review the blood test results! (at this point my husband had been referred to Olive and we were now in that waiting period)

 

Is this normal? is this the typical time frame? months between appointments? If we end up needing IVF, are we talking months or  years for this process? Is the pace different with a for profit clinic than the standard provincial health care system?

 

appreciate any feedback!  

 

 

[irish.allyson]

Hello ColdGold,

 

I'm also with Olive as well, have been for a few years.  I think once you have your consult with a doctor you can formulate a plan right then and there.  They will likely provide their professional opinion as to what your best chances of success are and as long as everything has been tested and all results are in, you should be able to start as early as your next menstrual cycle.  If you want to an IUI it will be probably be faster to get everything organized, but with IVF you need to have a training session on the medications and injection instructions.  

 

Hope that helped.  Good luck with your journey!

[ColdGold]

Thank you for this!! It's nice to have a little perpective going into things!

[hopefuldadsomeday]

Our initial consult with Olive took a little longer than I had hoped (~2 months), but after that initial consult things went very smoothly.  Some basic bloodwork/semen analysis was ordered to get our basic history.  Once we decided to go ahead with IVF, we were able to start the following month. I'd like to post that our experience with Olive has been excellent.  If you read some older posts, there were some members complaining of poor communication from the staff, which made me a little nervous.  However, our experience has been the exact opposite.  Anytime we left a message on the phone for them, we received a reply within 30 minutes.  We've even e-mailed our doctor with specific questions and received a reply the next morning.  Wishing you good luck with your cycle.