November 18, 2010 19:15

I managed to arrange some blood tests via my doctor (all results fine) and some blood tests via the path lab at the hospital via my midwife.  The later tests had to be done 6 weeks after the mc.  These last tests came back with a high natural killer cell count.  My midwife said that this means I’m very likely to miscarry again because of this and will need to go on medication.  I was apparently referred to a specialist yesterday, but I’ve not heard from the specialist yet (only got the call from my midwife on Friday) and I’ve done a lot of research on the internet – mostly inconclusive (no surprise when it come to miscarriage hey?).

What I’ve found out is this:

1. We all have natural killer cells in our bodies, apparently they’re the cells that kill cancer growths and developing embryos have a similar growth pattern to cancer tumors, so effectively it’s your immune system working TOO well.
2. The uterus has different natural killer cells to the rest of the body, called Uterine Natural Killer cells, the full function of uterine NK cells are still unknown.
3. Treatment to reduce NK cells involve taking steriods, which has side effects that include weight gain, hair loss/growth, headaches and trace elements are transferred to your baby.
4. Treatment to reduce NK cells are aimed at regular NK cells, not uterine NK cells.
5. There have been a few tests to ascertain whether treatment is effective, but they are inconclusive and the tests were on small numbers of participants.
6. There is no guarantee that you will NOT miscarry again even after/during treatment.

It may sound from the above that it’s not a good idea to go for treatment, and I have found a tiny bit of positive info about this on the net, but they’re usually from clinics/institutions that provide the treatment so of course they’ll say it’s a better chance.

So I’m sitting in the frightening predicament where I need to decide whether I should start ‘treatment’ or risk another pregnancy with the all too likely chance that I may miscarry again.  I know that I’m not alone in recurring miscarriages and I know that it’s super hard for many to deal with even a single miscarriage and I know that every woman feels alone, scared and uninformed so I suppose it goes without saying when I write that I’m wondering if anyone else out there has been in a similar situation?  Any advice?