June 2009 Update: OHSU

We ended up going to going to OHSU last Thursday; just to follow-up and either “close the file” or discuss next steps. Joe and I met with Dr. Patton and discussed quite a few items (miscarriages, adoption, etc…) He is still trying to determine root cause issues with regard to my situation. After talking through things he wants to look at a couple of items.

1) Clotting issues
2) boy miscarriages sometimes are associated with immune system issues
3) checking my uterus again (odd shape)

I put the clotting issue details below – sort of interesting. Both my mom and grandmother had clotting issues, so he wants to explore that, as well as the fact my miscarriage was a boy. So I had to give 6 vials of blood… The worst part of it was that the phlebotomist got 5 and took everything out of my arm, and then realized he needed one more. Ugh! L I HATE getting blood taken.

Cardiolipin antibodies and Infertility
Because of the high numbers of infertile women suffering from increased cardiolipin antibodies, it is now thought that immune system antibodies might play a major role in preventing conception. Though studies conflict on the subject, many reports indicate that women with cardiolipin antibodies have a harder time getting pregnant and carrying their pregnancies to term. This may be because anti-cardiolipin antibodies can cause tiny blood clots, preventing blood from flowing to the reproductive organs or placenta.