The Missing Pieces

It's been a month since our disastrous frozen embryo cycle that resulted in our two remaining embryos being lost...one month...feels like it was just yesterday.


On Thursday, we had our follow up appointment with our RE and while I expected to get nothing out of this appointment (what really was there to talk about) I was wrong.  We finally have all of the missing pieces as to what likely happened with our embryo shipment and to say that I was heartbroken is an understatement.


Here are a set of pictures to help better understand why we lost our embryos...


Protective vial sitting in the cane.
These two pictures are what our shipment should have looked like when it arrived at the new clinic. You can see the loop/protective vial in the second slot at the top. This then hangs from the tank and is suspended in the liquid nitrogen.
The loop is inside the protective vial. The silver cap is magnetic that is supposed to hold the loop in the vial.


When they opened the tank, the loop had dislodged from the protective vial and was  sitting in the bottom of the tank. We now know that the embryos were dislodged from the loop either when it hit the bottom or when the loop broke.

This is a picture showing our broken loop at the top and what an intact loop should look like. So not only was the loop out of it's protective vial and sitting in the bottom of the tank, the loop was also broken. Our poor embryos never stood a chance.

How did this happen? It's most likely that the problem occurred in shipping. Adam and I, along with the doctor and embryologist played around with the loop/cane and discovered that with just a little shaking and turning it side to side...the loop very easily fell out of it's protective vial. All it took was one FedEx drivers carelessness with our precious cargo to destroy our dream...and that is just simply heartbreaking. 


Comments

  1. LunaApril 20, 2012 at 10:33 AM

    Oh Janet, this makes me so sad and so cross. How could this be allowed to happen. Will someone be held to account for this? I am so sorry you had to go through this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. waiting and wishingApril 20, 2012 at 11:20 AM

    I'm so sorry this happened. I'm glad you were able to get some answers, but I cannot agree with you more.... Heartbreaking.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JulesApril 20, 2012 at 11:47 AM

    This just dumbfounds me. Has anyone been reprimanded for this? The person who packed the box? I'm also shocked that such delicate cargo would be handled like a regular FedEx package. Does this sound insane to anyone else???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LunaApril 20, 2012 at 1:51 PM

      Yes. It really does.

      Delete
    2. ChickenpigApril 20, 2012 at 3:50 PM

      Sounds nuts to me! They take more care with the drugs that we receive, or frozen steaks for that matter. You would think that there would at least be a styrofoam pack around everything to keep it from shaking around.

      Delete
  4. caitlinApril 20, 2012 at 12:32 PM

    Janet I am so sorry. I am glad you have some answers though even though nobody will likely take responsibility. I am sure both clinics will now think twice about sending their embryos by anyway other than themselves or the patients. Ugh, so ridiculous, and nobody to pay for it but you and adam :(.
    Have you thought about where you will go from here? Or is it still too soon? I cannot believe it has been a month either, it feels like days.

    ReplyDelete
  5. JenApril 20, 2012 at 3:08 PM

    So disappointing. I can't imagine how you feel that this happened.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ChickenpigApril 20, 2012 at 3:51 PM

    I'm so sorry that this happened.

    ReplyDelete
  7. KCApril 20, 2012 at 7:10 PM

    This is so unfair and frustrating!! Thinking of you!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. DandelionBreezeApril 21, 2012 at 12:25 AM

    It must have been heartbreaking to hear what happened... such precious cargo. Thinking of you xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  9. AshleyApril 22, 2012 at 11:17 PM

    Oh god this is so frustrating. Fedex shouldn't be allowed to handle this type of precious cargo. There should be better options.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousApril 23, 2012 at 2:48 PM

    I am so sorry to hear this and hope that someone is held accountable.

    ReplyDelete

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