Dr Henry Cheng's second opinion
If you have read my previous posts, you would have known that during my desperate attempt to save my second pregnancy, Dr Henry's nurse had advised me to set up an appointment to see the gynae as he could help prepare my body for another pregnancy. I agreed to it because Dr LC Cheng asked me to take it easy and was not keen to do any tests on me. I also checked online forums and Dr Henry's reviews were quite positive.
Dr Henry's clinic is at Bishan St 11. I arrived late for my appointment and had to wait for 2 hours plus to see him. Like I said, all the gynae visits involved a lot of waiting so I was immune to it. Dr LC Cheng looked like a businessman; Dr Henry looked like a father in his late forties.
He spent quite a long time with us and I was satisfied with the consultation because he was a doctor who would bother to take out diagrams and explain in detail with us despite a long queue waiting for him. Gynaes tan dua lui (make a lot of money). I explained to him about my irregular periods, PCO condition and 2 early miscarriages.
He felt that there was a need to do some testing for me as he felt that chromosome defects were be the least likely - the opposite view of Dr LC Cheng. He explained that chromosome effects usually involves the embryo to develop into a more mature fetus and would not end so early in the pregnancy twice.
He asked a question which was very applicable. He asked me whether I had put on a lot of weight for no reason. I told him so as I really did pile a lot of weight even though my food intake did not reflect so. He suspected that there could be a glucose issue and one of the test would be the glucose test. Glucose issue would affect the hormone balance.
After examining my womb and ovaries, the good news was that there were no cysts or abnormal growth. The structure of the womb was also healthy. The ovaries were mildly polycystic. My womb was not retroverted. Once a kk AnE doc commented that my womb was retroverted. I liked it that he printed copies of the scan and wrote comments for me in a card to bring home.
He asked about my family history as well and insights about my irregular periods. With 2 chemical pregnancies, it was worthwhile to seek out the underlying factors through blood tests. His course of action was similar to Dr LC Cheng - regulate my cycles in order to conceive. His explanation was way better! I was asking him why I needed to eat Clomid since I could conceive. He said that clomid ensures that when my egg is released to be fertilized, the lining is just right, not too thin and not too thick. Late ovulation doesn't mean unhealthy eggs but it might mean that the lining is already at the decaying stage and the embryo would not be able to grow. My previous two pregnancies were conceived out of super duper late ovulation. Maybe the lining was decaying. My poor embryos.
I asked him if my lining was decaying, could I get the progesterone jab to salvage the situation. Again, his explanation was like opening my eyes to enlightenment. He said that progesterone jabs are used to stabilize the pregnancy by calming the womb. Some wombs contracts while the embryo is trying to expand it. Progesterone helps to stabilize the womb and maintain the pregnancy. The lining of the womb is due to estrogen not progesterone.
He said that Dr LC Cheng has prescribed the correct medication and has done all he could to support the womb.
He told me that I had to look at it positively as it is good news that I could conceive. I could not resist asking him why it is a good news since i can't hold onto the pregnancy? Isn't it the same as infertility? He took out a diagram of the womb with the tubes and ovaries. He explained that in order for the sperm to actually come into contact with the egg, the conditions need to be right. The egg has to be in the right place. Sometimes the egg bursts out of the ovaries and might not travel properly in the tubes. The sperm also needs to travel a distance in the right conditions in order to reach the egg. He said that at least we know now that we don't have a problem getting the sperm to meet the egg.
Lastly, I told him I wanted to ask him for his opinion for a personal question.
I explained to him that I was a very young manager, managing some stuff. Should I not be a manager if it is stressing me ? Guess what is his reply?
Dr Henry Cheng nonchalantly, "Yes of course your should give up. Stress can cause your hormones to be in a mess. Why not resign? All your husband has to do is to work harder."
Dr Henry's clinic is at Bishan St 11. I arrived late for my appointment and had to wait for 2 hours plus to see him. Like I said, all the gynae visits involved a lot of waiting so I was immune to it. Dr LC Cheng looked like a businessman; Dr Henry looked like a father in his late forties.
He spent quite a long time with us and I was satisfied with the consultation because he was a doctor who would bother to take out diagrams and explain in detail with us despite a long queue waiting for him. Gynaes tan dua lui (make a lot of money). I explained to him about my irregular periods, PCO condition and 2 early miscarriages.
He felt that there was a need to do some testing for me as he felt that chromosome defects were be the least likely - the opposite view of Dr LC Cheng. He explained that chromosome effects usually involves the embryo to develop into a more mature fetus and would not end so early in the pregnancy twice.
He asked a question which was very applicable. He asked me whether I had put on a lot of weight for no reason. I told him so as I really did pile a lot of weight even though my food intake did not reflect so. He suspected that there could be a glucose issue and one of the test would be the glucose test. Glucose issue would affect the hormone balance.
After examining my womb and ovaries, the good news was that there were no cysts or abnormal growth. The structure of the womb was also healthy. The ovaries were mildly polycystic. My womb was not retroverted. Once a kk AnE doc commented that my womb was retroverted. I liked it that he printed copies of the scan and wrote comments for me in a card to bring home.
He asked about my family history as well and insights about my irregular periods. With 2 chemical pregnancies, it was worthwhile to seek out the underlying factors through blood tests. His course of action was similar to Dr LC Cheng - regulate my cycles in order to conceive. His explanation was way better! I was asking him why I needed to eat Clomid since I could conceive. He said that clomid ensures that when my egg is released to be fertilized, the lining is just right, not too thin and not too thick. Late ovulation doesn't mean unhealthy eggs but it might mean that the lining is already at the decaying stage and the embryo would not be able to grow. My previous two pregnancies were conceived out of super duper late ovulation. Maybe the lining was decaying. My poor embryos.
I asked him if my lining was decaying, could I get the progesterone jab to salvage the situation. Again, his explanation was like opening my eyes to enlightenment. He said that progesterone jabs are used to stabilize the pregnancy by calming the womb. Some wombs contracts while the embryo is trying to expand it. Progesterone helps to stabilize the womb and maintain the pregnancy. The lining of the womb is due to estrogen not progesterone.
He said that Dr LC Cheng has prescribed the correct medication and has done all he could to support the womb.
He told me that I had to look at it positively as it is good news that I could conceive. I could not resist asking him why it is a good news since i can't hold onto the pregnancy? Isn't it the same as infertility? He took out a diagram of the womb with the tubes and ovaries. He explained that in order for the sperm to actually come into contact with the egg, the conditions need to be right. The egg has to be in the right place. Sometimes the egg bursts out of the ovaries and might not travel properly in the tubes. The sperm also needs to travel a distance in the right conditions in order to reach the egg. He said that at least we know now that we don't have a problem getting the sperm to meet the egg.
Lastly, I told him I wanted to ask him for his opinion for a personal question.
I explained to him that I was a very young manager, managing some stuff. Should I not be a manager if it is stressing me ? Guess what is his reply?
Dr Henry Cheng nonchalantly, "Yes of course your should give up. Stress can cause your hormones to be in a mess. Why not resign? All your husband has to do is to work harder."
I have been reading up on chromosome abnormalities and am surprised Dr mentioned that chromosome effect involves the embryo to develop into a more mature fetus and would not end so early in the pregnancy. Cos in my IVF world the chromosome abnormalities is the reason why the embryos can't implant and why some ended in early miscarriages. Our embryo may not have 23 chromosome to grow into a healthy pregnancy which is why some of us do pre genetic implantation testing to ensure we transfer an embryo with normal chromosome.
ReplyDeleteBecause of my doc hopping, I realised that doctors do not agree with each other and they have their own judgement.
ReplyDelete