Why can't people get things right?

It's been another one of those days! I was just getting ready to go to work, when the phone rang this morning. It was my doctors surgery calling to inform me that the blood tests that I went to have done a few weeks ago have come back with a note that says I have to go back an do them again.

No explanation as to why, just that I have to do it again. So I pushed them to find out why (as I like to know everything as everything has a reason!) so she came back to me and said it's down to the vials that they collected the bloods in (they took 3 samples in 3 different coloured vials!) so someone screwed up.

So I asked to sort out an appointment for today - which they couldn't do, turns out they also don't have the right vial that I needed so I was told to go to the hospital and get it done there.

So I go to the hospital, wait my turn and go into the phlebotomists room to have yet another needle stuck in me. When I sat down I made sure that the phlebotomist was aware that this was a chromosome test for Antiphospholipid - and to make sure that they had the right vial to collect blood in - turns out they did, but that I had the wrong coloured form from my GP!! (nothing is ever simple).

So after a few phone calls, I got it all sorted. New bloods taken and tests should be on their way. I don't know how long the results will take to come back, but I hope soon as this test will tell me if I have any auto-immume problems that could cause recurrent miscarriage.

For those who want to know more - the antiphospholipid test is for something called Hughes Syndrome (antiphospholipid syndrome), which is known to be a cause of pregnancy problems - here is some info I found on a website:

We now know that Hughes Syndrome is the most common treatable cause of recurrent miscarriage: depending on which study you quote, the figure is up to 1 in 5. Furthermore, late pregnancy loss, fortunately an unusual problem in pregnancy, is very strongly associated with Hughes Syndrome as is pre-eclampsia, placental abruption and intra-uterine growth restriction.

For the sake of a simple blood test, patients with miscarriage or late pregnancy loss can be tested for Hughes Syndrome. Treatment of these patients has proved one of the true successes of modern medicine, the successful pregnancy rate rising from a previous low of fewer than 20% to figures now in the region of 75-80% success rate. Treatment is with low-dose aspirin and/or heparin.

So - I've now had the test for this because it was just a simple blood test (well it was meant to be!) and it was FREE on the NHS (makes a change!) - so I have nothing to lose by testing for it - at least if it comes back positive I can fix it and lessen my chances of losing another baby.

Here is a useful link on Hughes Syndrome