# Urgent - Do you know any clinics that can send ultrasound pics abroad?



## podbean (Jan 16, 2008)

Hi everybody

I urgently need a London based clinic that can scan my womb, measure the fibroids and womb lining and produce a _*picture*_ (not a report) which I can send via email to Isida.

I'm due to go for DE IVF at Isida, Kiev, June 23 - 28th. I have been having my scans at The Birth Company, London. They produce a short report of the scan but not the actual picture. 

The last scan I had there on Tuesday last week, Dr Gibb told me that my womb was in such a dreadful state that I will never get pregnant, and worse, the fibroids that I have are now larger than they were on April 2nd. (This is after 2 Decap injections).

This caused unbelievable upset to me and DP.  

DP and I have decided to get another scan done on Monday or Tuesday and send this to Isida before they start stimming our donor. Dr Oleg believes that everything should be fine (and we trust him) but we really want him to see the picture before we fork out approx £2600 for flights, hotels and treatment.

Can anyone help?

Podbean
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## three_stars (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi Podbean,  sorry to not give you positive news but if you uterus lining is not in a good state then I would not go ahead with a transfer until it is.. that has been part of my fertility battles.  A fibroid can be ok if not inside of the lining.. I have one outside that is not a problem. ANy ultrasound you had would have / should have printed a picture of the scan they did for the records and if they did not and on top of it did not give you your own copy are crXp if you ask me.  Sorry I am not in Uk so can not advise you were to have one done although I am sure you will get others who will reply or do a search on here as well as on google. 
In central London there is the LFC for instance that should be able to do this for you. 

My advise to you is that you have a hysterscopy exam done of you uterus if you have not done already.  The lining needs to be smooth and healthy with no polyps, thick area, etc. or it is less likely for the embryos to implant and stay.  
I hope this helps and others will give you addresses for scans.  

B


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## podbean (Jan 16, 2008)

Hi B  

Thank you for the information and the advice.  Gosh 16 cycles!  I just read your signature. I hope your twins are well and you are having lots of fun with them.  I can't imagine what it must be like to have twins.  Thank you for sharing a little bit about your experience with me, and the importance of getting the lining right. 

I'm really unclear as to why we can't have the copy of the picture.  I think Dr Gibb, isn't that technically minded, and I know they had one admin staff away this week.  I do feel  hurt and let down, as we are still awaiting an electronic version of the report to email over to Isida, and I am being charged £180 per scan, when we had agreed £50.00 for 2nd and 3rd scans.  I was happy to pay £180 for the first one obviously - but this is now turning out to be a lot more expensive than we had first agreed.  Hey ho. 

When I called the Birth Company on Wednesday to chase them for the report, they said the earliest they could get the report to me would be next week - which is of course far too late. I am cross as we had agreed that they would mail both me and Isida a PDF of the report on Tuesday afternoon.  I did get a paper version, so I typed up my own and sent it to Isida.  But for £180, when we had agreed £50.00, I think it's poor and not what I had expected at all. 

I do have names and numbers of other clinics from when I did the research in March but the ones I spoke to said they only send the report, not the picture.  

Thank you for responding though and giving me some more information on what is's needed for implantation.  I'll google some more and get on the blower on Monday am and see if somebody else can do it.  

Best wishes and lots of love
Podbean
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## daisyg (Jan 7, 2004)

Hi Podbean,

I'd just like to second what has been said.  You are really wasting time and money and emotion going ahead with a cycle if you have fibroids which have not been properly assessed preferably via hysteroscopy.  I can't understand why this hasn't been done before and the fibroids removed?

I personally have seen so many women with fibroids continue to fail and miscarry until they did this and either had the fibroids removed or double checked they were not impacting on implantation.

Sorry to be so negative, but I have seen so many failures that I wanted to say something.


The LFC does do scans but charges £200.  You might try the London Women's Centre or the Fetal Medicine Centre in Harley Street.

Best of luck,

Daisy
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## podbean (Jan 16, 2008)

Hi Daisy   

Thank you for responding. I do appreciate the feedback.

It really does seem pointless to continue with DE IVF, if my womb is in the the bad condition that The Birth Company diagnosed.

I did have a hysteroscopy in March but they couldn't remove all the fibroids as there were too many!  Dr Oleg at Isida did remove as many as he could during the hysteroscopy, and then gave me 3 Decap injections to take to shrink the rest. Apparently they have grown, not shrunk.  

Daisy do you know if the LFC, London Women's Centre or the Fetal Medicine Centre provide the scan pictures electronically?  If they can't provide the pictures, do they provide detailed reports?  (The Birth Company reports are not detailed enough for Dr Oleg)

Perhaps it is a good time to go and see Adrian Lower, The London Fibroid Specialist.  

At this stage £200 is a small amount to pay.  The rest of the cycle will cost us £2,600, time off work for DP and like you say, the emotional cost - that's the biggest one for us.  

Lots of love
Podbean
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## roze (Mar 20, 2004)

Hi, Podbean.

I am sorry you are having such a difficult time.  Like you, I am at ISIDA and also go to the Birth Company for my scans, and I am due to go out to Kiev the same time as you.  Unlike the London Womens Clinic the Birth Company do not issue a photo however I have never found a photo to be useful unless there are,a s you say, something which is going on which needs to be seen by a specialist.  Like the others have said, it is not worth going for tx if the fibroids are still there; it will cause you too much pain emotionally.

The Birth Company also charge me £70 for the scans but once I was persuaded to see a consultant at which point the cost can go up to £180. I think you are being overcharged for this if this is regular thing.

Seeing a fibroid specialist is probably a good idea.  When I had a cyst that prevented me from having tx for months I went to see a Dr at UCH ACU- there is an older , I think Iranian woman who was wonderful. That may be an option.

Either way, I am sure that this will get resolved one way or the other, and that you will soon be on a plane to Kiev to realise your dream.

I'm happy to discuss further by PM if you want,

best wishes,


roze  x


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## roze (Mar 20, 2004)

PS  I also meant to say that if and when you get a picture you could buy a cheap scanner and email it yourself, ( I did this once with Spain), or go to a photo lab in the West End? However I suspect that sending it electronically and directly from the machine would probably produce a better result. I am not sure whether this is possible to do on the machines that clinics usually use.

all the best

roze xx


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## podbean (Jan 16, 2008)

Hi Rose

Thank you.  We are going to call the clinics that Daisy suggested and also Adrian Lower.

I need to speak to The Birth Company and express my disappointment with their service.  I am sure it's down to staffing issues and perhaps because my womb is so bad, Dr Gibb has to do the scans - and that's why it is now £180 per scan and not £50.  Whatever it is I need to speak to them directly to explain it's not really cricket to charge that amount and then not send the report when you have previously promised to do that.  

The more important thing though is to focus on the fibroids and get these sorted.  

Thank you Rose for your suggestions.  We do have a scanner here at home so perhaps I could DP to send them to Dr Oleg for me too - that could be an option. 

When are you flying out to Isida?  

I would love to pm you and wish you all the very best of luck with baby no 2.

Lots of love
Podbean
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## Plip (Mar 12, 2007)

Hiya, I had my scans at this place in Harley St, I thought they were brilliant, they may be able to help even if they can't do it themselves.  They did print outs for me.

Ultrasound Diagnostic Services	
115 Harley Street, London W1G 6AP 
tel: 020 7935 2243

Good luck with everything
lots of love
Plip


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## podbean (Jan 16, 2008)

Cheers Plip. 

Did they give you print outs of the pictures/scans?  I think Rose's idea is good - we could scan them over to ISIDA, even if we get the hard copies.  Admittedly, it would be better if they could send the pics directly but at this point anything is better than nothing at all.

I'll give them a call on Monday  - I think I may have walked past them on my way to The Birth Company. 

This time DP is coming with me.  I tend to get emotional and can't think straight or ask the right questions when "bad" news is being delivered.  He's Mr Logic and just seems to know what to ask. 

We have decided to see Adrian Lower too -as he is so highly recommended here and on other boards.  It seems from b's, Daisy's, and Roze's comments that there is little point continuing until my fibroids are sorted.  

Thank you ladies for taking the time to respond.  

Roze - apologies - I mis-spelt your name before. 

Off for lunch now - I just made homemade cottage pie, red cabbage apple and raisins, with rhubarb crumble and cream for dessert.  Carbs are comforting!  (I hope they're not contributing to the fibroids' growth!)

Out of interest, if there are foods I should be avoiding or eating, I'm always interested to hear.  After all, "You are what you eat."  Not eating any more nuts then. 

Podbean
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## three_stars (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi Podbean,

Glad you got some help here.  I remember now the Ultrasound place... You are FAR better off doing it yourself and sending the picture after you scan it.. I always did this with all my scans, photos, lab reports etc.  the quality is perfect... they are not sending it out through a machine... just scanning and doing the same and it is taking them days or a week to get round to it whereas you are doing it ASAP as you need it.
I guess I am lucky over here in France as they always give you a copy of all labs, scans, xrays etc.. in fact some do not even keep the files it is up to you to do so.. that is different then the way things are done here in UK I have found and it can be very frustrating not to mention don right infuriating at times.  I mean you paid for them and it is your data.  Also you UKI ladies just get ripped off... A scan even in best place in Paris, very thorough, with full report before you leave is from 60-120 euros.
I think that you will find if doing IVF abroad it is best to do as much as you can in terms of labs, scans, hysteroscopies, etc, etc.. while abroad at your foreign clinic as it will be cheaper and better to be done with your clinic.  I was so unlucky .  Of course not everything can be done this way so best to find a place now locally that gives you the service you need and priced well.  

I know you will be disappointed to wait right now but I promise you it is best to see a specialist for fibroids and get this sorted before doing an IVF..  fibroids can cause the tx to fail be not implanting or by miscarriage later and you want to avoid this.  So think of it as saving time not losing time, OK?

Good luck,
B

PS  my twins are wonderful!!!


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## podbean (Jan 16, 2008)

Hi everybody 

Thank you all for your help and assistance.    

I have now decided to see Adrian Lower, The London Fibroid Specialist, for a full consultation and for new scans and reports.  This was after phoning the other clinics.  It just seemed like the right thing to do.  

Since doing that, I opened the envelope that Dr Gibb, The Birth Company,  gave me and 5 photographs fell out - the scans he did for me last week.  I now feel very embarassed and stupid.  I could swear that these weren't there last week.  I had to type everything up and when I went through the contents of the envelope I never saw them.  Clearly they must have been in the envelope all along and I just didn't see them.    

As an update to everybody, here's the latest prices:

The London Fertility Centre - 020 7224 0707 - £250.00 
London Women's Ultrasound cetre - 020 7636 6765 - £190.00 - need a referral letter though
The Fertility and Gynaecology Academy - £120.00 (Dr Gorgy - really lovely)
Adrian Lower, The Fibroid Specialist 0207486 2440 - £215 initial consultation, then £225 for full scan and report

B123 - you are very lucky to get scans done so cheaply. Thank you for your advice.  We will follow it. 

Thank you to all of you for your comments and advice.  It really has helped me and DP get our heads around the next step. 

Lots of love
Podbean
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## Bewley (Oct 14, 2007)

Hi Podbean,

So sorry to hear all you've been through   It sounds like you have taken charge though and done all you can and made the best decision to give you the best chance when you do start your cycle. There is nothing worse than looking back with regret if a cycle fails thinking if only I'd done that instead so as hard as the delay is it will make a differenc in the long term. 

I've just got back from holiday, had a great time. It was desperately needed and made a big difference, feeling more relaxed and able to deal with things. Otherwise I would have posted sooner. I have my scans at the London Womens Clinic and I can highly recommend Janet Brown, when we came back devastated from Dr Oleg's comments she scanned me for free and did a really comprehensive scan pointing everything out and describing it. She has always given us about four ultrasound pictures with her report which DH has then scanned and emailed. If have a high definition scanner they come out really well. 

Just to add I've only ever paid £110 per scan, so they've either increased their prices massively or the price you've been given is maybe a consultant doing the scan.

I hope you're doing ok, I know how hard it is to keep the positivity going. It won't be long for you now

Love Bewley


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## podbean (Jan 16, 2008)

Hi Bewley

I'm pleased you had a great holiday.  I know you needed a break away from all of this and the other stuff that happened.  Thanks for the info on Janet.  It can be quite confusing and exhausting when you feel you get conflicting diagnoses and advice from the different clinics.  

I am delighted with Adrian Lower.  He reflected what both Dr Oleg and Dr Gibb had said but it didn't seem as hopeless after talking to him.  I know he can remove the fibroids and I know I have to have them removed.  It is clear that I would miscarry if I got pregnant. 

I'll definitely contact Janet closer to the time for the scans. 

Thank you for kind wishes.  

Speak soon
Podbean
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