A Whole Lot of Hocus Pocus?

At least that's Doc's opinion on the whole thing. Our new doctor, Dr. Zed, comes with rave reviews and accolades from many women, including those who have been unsuccessful with IVF elsewhere, but I guess some of his methods are slightly unconventional. He tends to test for a whole lot of stuff that Doc and other fertility clinics think are way over the top.

For example, he tested me for MTHFR (which is not uncommon) but he also tested me for NK assay, TH1/TH2 Intracellular Cytokines, Anti-phospholipid Antibodies, Anti-thyrobglobulin Antibodies, and Anti-microsomal Antibodies. So far, I've tested negative for most of them and we're waiting for the results on the rest. All of these tests are immunology related and I guess (based on what Doc has told me) it's very rare for people to have these issues. Hence, his doubt on the necessity of these tests and his skepticism regarding Dr. Zed's medical philosophy. In other words, he thinks that Dr. Zed is using a machine gun to hunt a rabbit.

Now, my thought is that obviously something is going right with Dr. Zed's practice because a lot of women who have been unsuccessful have gotten pregnant with Dr. Zed. And if it's because of his hocus-pocus medical practices, then fine, I'm all up for a bit of magic if that's what it takes. The downside of all of this though is that his hocus-pocus is not for free nor is it included in the price of the IVF. It's all extra and it starts to add up.

Dr. Zed is recommending that I do an intralipid infusion even though I tested negative for NK cells. I think it's mainly because he believes something is going on with implantation and that an intralipid infusion may be able to help and at the very least it won't do any damage. But, that costs an additional $700. Seven hundred bucks is a lot of money to spend on something that may help but probably won't.

So, right now, I'm putting all my money on Dr. Zed and hoping that he'll work his magic and all his hocus-pocus will pay off in the end.