I am having this done on the 15th and I wondered if anyone else on here has experience with this surgery. My doctor said it would take around 45 minutes to do and that I should be okay to return to work the following Monday (thankfully I won't have to because it's Christmas break). If you have had this done, did it really take the full four days to recover? Longer?

If you haven't heard of ovarian drilling, this link explains the surgery really well.
http://www.obgyn.net/pcos/articles/lap_ovarian_cautery.htm

Thanks!
Kim

Kim,

Can I ask you a few questions about this? I am usually a lurker in your journal, but have not had a chance to get there lately. I am wondering why you had this done, I mean I know WHY, but what were your symptoms. I know that you have been TTC #2 for a while now, but why did they decide this for you? I am thinking that this may be a viable option for me, but I want to know the reasons this is done. Any help you could give would be great.

Also, I hope you have a speedy recovery and are able to conceive your next angel quickly. I was so happy when you got pg so quickly on Clomid last time. That gave me hope.

Kasie

Kasie,

First - delurk! I love new company! Thanks for your well wishes too. My recovery has acutally been awesome compared to what I thought it would be like. And, the pain pills help! :lol:

Since you lurk, you probably already know this, but I'll recap. We have now been ttc #2 for 19 months. Ali was 7 months old when I first went back to my OB and we started on clomid again. I did several cycles with him (2 at 50, 2 at 100 and 2 at 150) and nothing happened. I did the clomid/hcg combo with all those cycles - exactly what we did when we got pregnant with Ali. My OB is not technically an infertility specialist, so he recommended that we go elsewhere for treatment. There is an awesome reproductive center in Nashville, but Shane and I had already discussed how far we were willing to go before we started trying the second time. We both knew that IUI was as far as we would take it. If I didn't have Ali, I would go to the ends of the earth for a child, but I can't risk spending $15,000 a cycle on IVF with Ali to think about. Anyway, I got the recommendation for my new OB from a friend I work with. He does IUI's in his office, laproscopy (the drilling) and is more agressive with treatment than my old OB. When we went to see Dr. Stitt, he started me on avandamet and then we went through the rounds of clomid again with only the avandamet and no hcg shot. I think I did 4 rounds with him. He also had Shane do a sperm analysis and we found white blood cells in his semen so he had to do a course of antibiotics. Fast forward to the last cycle of clomid not working. Dr. Stitt thinks that clomid isn't going to do the trick for us and brings up some other options including the driling. I got some literature from him about it, researched the heck out of it on the net and we finally decided that since it was something that could both aid in getting us pregnant and help make me have normal cycles for the first time in my life, it was worth the shot. This website explains the procedure wonderfully:

http://www.obgyn.net/pcos/articles/lap_ovarian_cautery.htm

I know from your thread about metformin that you have PCOS and I think that this procedure would probably be something you would want to talk to your doctor about if the time comes to try something else.

The surgery was quick - Shane said that I was taken in and was back out in 45 minutes. The recovery has been fine - I'm still bruised but the soreness has pretty much gone away and I only have a few tiny stiches at the incision sights.

I hope this helps! And please - delurk! I'm off to find your journal.

Kim

Here are some pictures from my surgery in case anyone else is thinking of having this done. Don't look if you are easily grossed out!

Sorry these aren't the best quality, but I took pictures of the pictures with my digital camera.

This is before my doctor started drilling. My left ovary is the big white blob with the 2005 on it at the bottom right corner. Ovaries should not be this smooth and pearly looking - mine are because of the polycystic. The big pink blob in the middle is my uterus - which he said looked great.

http://images.snapfish.com/3427%3A97523232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E233%3A%3D96%3A%3D378 %3DXROQDF%3E232373%3A979757ot1lsi

My right ovary - same story... different ovary. It's in the middle this time.
http://images.snapfish.com/3427%3A97523232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E233%3A%3D96%3A%3D378 %3DXROQDF%3E232373%3A9774%3A8ot1lsi

Drilling my left ovary - he made a little over 30 holes in each ovary.
http://images.snapfish.com/3427%3A97523232%7Ffp7%3Enu%3D3249%3E879%3E287%3EWS NRCG%3D323282%3B8879%3A8nu0mrj

Drilling the right ovary.
http://images.snapfish.com/3427%3A97523232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E233%3A%3D96%3A%3D378 %3DXROQDF%3E232373%3A97%3A%3A%3C5ot1lsi

The big blue blob on the left is where the dye passed cleanly through my tubes. I thanked him repeatedly for doing this while I was knocked out!
http://images.snapfish.com/3427%3A97523232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E233%3A%3D96%3A%3D378 %3DXROQDF%3E232373%3A97%3B23%3Bot1lsi

The blue-ish blob next to the 2005 is one of the cysts he found. This one was on my left fallopian tube. He removed it and one other one.
http://images.snapfish.com/3427%3A97523232%7Ffp7%3Enu%3D3249%3E879%3E287%3EWS NRCG%3D323282%3B8883%3A6nu0mrj

End of the surgery - both ovaries drilled. His instrument is resting on my uterus in the middle. They definitely look different than when surgery started!
http://images.snapfish.com/3427%3A97523232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E233%3A%3D96%3A%3D378 %3DXROQDF%3E232373%3A97%3A545ot1lsi

hai kim,

i would like to know ur state now after the ovarain drilling is done.I m getting it done net week . i failed to produce fertile eggs with clomid,FSH.HMG and my doc advised to get drilling done.i would like to here the sucess story from you .were you able to concive?what was your tratment after the drilling was done?

thanks,
hema

Hi Hema! First, good luck with the surgery next week! I have not yet conceived again, but the surgery has made my cycles somewhat regular. I never had regular cycles at all before the surgery and now they are ranging from 32 - 35 days. After the drilling, I continued on the clomid - all the way up to 250mg. and I did ovulate on the 250, but we did not get pregnant. We are currently taking a year break from ttc and we will be going to an RE when the break is up. I think the surgery was definitely worth it and I am so glad that I did it. The recovery was not nearly as bad as I had imagined. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

thanks for the reply. i am getting it done tomorrow.neither i had regular periods and i m obese ,we tried clomid for 2 cycles -no response,then MG-FSH combinations again no response and my doc said ,it will be fine ,if we can do drilling.i tested for my harmone levels and the FSH:LH ratio was 1:1 whereas my doc advised that it should be 3:1 for ovulation . i hope it will have good response. will update once i am back after the drilling.
thanks anyway!!!