Lymphocyte Immunization Therapy (LIT) Thread 2

[newbeymum]

my LIT treatment is at st lukes under dr aleta. it was done in her clinic. just the blood tests were done at MEL pero next time pag recheck ko ng LAT sa iba na rin..

[lelaina17]

@sis abel823  why sis? ano issue with mel? kinabahan ako bigla coz i had all my LITs done there.  tapos sched ako for another round on july 21.  di na ba accurate dun ang LAT?  yung ANA ko di rin pinagawa dun ng immuno ko.  sa asian ako nagpa-ANA. another question, what do you mean by super sensitive ang ANA sa asian? possible pa na negative talaga ang ANA kahit sa asian positive yung result?  thanks sis!

[abel823]

Wala naman ako proof or something about mel.
Just that pagkatapos ko magpa ana test sa mel , pinag ana test ako asian hospital ulit.
Kasi normal result ko sa mel at sa asian ang hindi ok... I was advise to have ivig ni dra.
But di na ako bumalik sa kanya after 6 lit session kasi tumaas ng 4 yun
Lit ko.. At di ko naman kaya ang ivig nya.
After taichung positive ivf nag punta ako sa ob ko and pinakita ko mga immuno test ko.
Sabi ni ob ko category 1 lang ako. Also sa taichung normal din test ko. So 3x ako nagpa ana test and 2x na immuno test kasama na yun sa taichung to be sure wala ako other problem.
Yun result ko sa asian daw ay normal masyado lang sensitive result which mean kahit nasa avarage yun score mo sa kanila mag rereflec na abnormal base sa Ob ko.
Kaya sabi ng hubby ko bakit ganun paulit ulit sa iba kung hindi naman sya naniniwala?
Sana derectly sa asain na lang sya nag pa ana test.. Since super sensitive naman result ng ana test sa asian so madalas abnormal result natin mga sissy doon for sure. So additional treatment for us pag ang ana test natin may problem.
6 session of lit 3 donor and 3 husband total of 6 lit ... Mabigat talaga gastos.. May mga nagsasabi na eto ay isang malaking negosyo and tayo sumusunod lang sa result na binibigay .. And wala talaga proof na effective ginagawa natin for lit.. We just di this for our peace of mind baka makatulong at mag sisi tayo pag di natin ginawa.
Oo possible na negative ana mo pero positive sa asian.. SO you need to have it check sa other doc na may alam para sure.

[paradise11]

Mga sis, this is a personal experience I'd like to share about MEL. Back in 2010 when I first went to MEL nilalakad pa nila nun ang license nila. Actually when Dra. Aleta referred me to go there for my LIT, she just referred to it as the green house kase nga wala pa nun karatula or signage sila. Previously kase sa PGH talaga daw ginagawa kaya Lang ang sabi nila dumadami na daw patient and due to some (political) issues back then kaya inilabas na from PGH. Ang kontak ko pa nun is Reggie. Buti na lang my LAT was done at Hi-Precision. So to cut the story short, I did my 3 LITs every week with husband. Since inalok nila kami to conduct the LAT with them at 1 week lang out na result compared to HP na 2 weeks excluding Sat & Sun so we grabbed that offer Bukod pa sa mura compared to HP again where we took our first LAT. The result from MEL came out 0%. Syempre lungkot kami kase 3 LITs walang nangyari. But being the person that I am, I'd like to challenge the result. Parang di ako makapaniwala kase tandang tanda ko sabi ni Dra. Aleta when I asked her about yung mga marks na maiitim talaga at tagal nawala sabi Nya magandang indicator daw yun na nagwowork ang session. So after 3 sessions wala? So for my peace of mind, we went to HP to undergo another LAT kahit doble gastos. After 14 working days, HP result came out showing there was an increase in my level. Sorry nalimutan ko na yung level but I will try to download again my results from the HP online database and share with you later. Hindi man the desired result of 100% that we wanted both Cat I and Cat II to be but at least there was an increase in the percentage. May kunswelo at least dun sa 3 LIT. So sinabi namin yan ke Dra. Aleta. We informed her about the frustrating MEL result against HP. Imagine sa MEL 1 week after the LIT 0% na ang result pero sa HP na more than 2 weeks na after the LIT when the LAT was done pero may %age increase na result. And if we follow the logic na habang tumatagal bumababa ang leukocytes antibodies over a period of time until 6 months so meaning Kung talagang 0% ang level ko sa MEL why after more than 2 weeks since LIT may %age increase na nakuha ang HP? Hindi ba dapat 0% din ang magiging result ng HP? This baffled us and questioned MEL's result. Since then Hindi na kami nagpapatest sa kanila. When Dra. Aleta saw HP's result ininform Nya ang MEL about it. I just don't know ano exactly sinabi Nya sa kanila but she said to me na sa HP na Lang ako magpa LAT anyway dun naman ginawa ang baseline LAT ko. Come to think of it, it makes sense to have your test done not from the same lab that's treating you to have a check and balance at least. Please don't get me wrong. I'm not imputing any malice with MEL's testing. What I'm sharing is my own experience. Lesson learned for me is exactly what I just said. Put a check and balance by having the treatment done at MEL but testing if the treatment works should be done by another diagnostic lab. Kahit mas mahal ang HP ok na sa kin yun. Ang mahalaga nakakasiguro akong hindi pwedeng imanipulate ng HP ang result ko dahil wala naman silang magegain dahil hindi naman sa kanila ako nagpapaLIT.

Sorry for the long post mga sis. I just wanted to share what happened to me at Baka may mapulot din kayo from it. Again, let me put it straight that I don't intend to malign MEL or to impute anything because sa kanila pa din naman ako magpapaLIT but my LAT will not be done there.

Another thing that I'd also like to share is that I had my initial 3 LIT sessions done every week. Nothing much came out of it. So my husband looked for a donor. We brought his cousin as our donor to MEL after being screened. We did 1 session per month for 2 months and had our LAT done at HP still. In about 2 months, I reached 100%! Iniba namin ang pattern tutal sabi ni Dra. Aleta we can decide naman daw. Thank God we've graduated from LIT but within the 6 months I didn't get pregnant in IUIs. We went back for a LIT booster after 6 months and did IUIs again. Wala pa din. Now we've decided IVF would be the next ART. Thus, the LAT and possible LIT again. So there's my piece of story. Pasyensya na po haba ng post...

[ivlia]

hello mga sis, pajoin ako ha?

with 3 failed iui's natatakot ako na baka my immune disorder ako kasi pwede daw na indication yon ng immune issues, and i have read the cost ng mga immune therapy and mukhang mahihirapan kami ni hubby sa finances. ask ko lang sisses,, pwede kayang surrogacy nalng since baka sakaling mas afford ng mga ttc n kagaya ko, pwede kayang option yun mga sis? thanks in advance

sticky baby dust to all..

[newbeymum]

Hi sissies. just want to share my first LIT experience. I had my first LIT treat just last tuesday july 2 at st lukes medical center in quezon city. My doctor is no other than dr aleta. The husband and i arrived at dr aleta's clinic around 9am to have husbby's blood extracted by the medtech and in fairness shooter yun medtech kase si husband ko talagang matatakutin yun. then we were told to come around 3:30 for the LIT treatment. In the afternnon though it was raining so hard the husband and I arrived 1 hour earlier.. Then when dr aleta arrived we were the first called buti na lang maaga din kame dumating kase madami dami na rin mga mag papa LIT. Dr Aleta is so nice at nakaraos din i had 2 pricks and was told not to wet the affected area for 2 days. So now its friday already i guess pwede na diba? and i have few questions sa mga naka pag LIT na before. sobrang makati yun affeted area and di lang dun im having kati kati sa ibang parts din ng body ko.. and now 3 days after may makakati pa rin na area is this normal? and parang lalagnatin ako ngayon not feeling so good? pwede ba ako uminum ng gamot like paracetamol?  tia mga sissies..

[paradise11]

^ sis hindi ako nagkaganyang reaction sa LIT. ang itchy part lang is the arm where the injection was done pero hindi buong katawan tulad ng sa'yo. siguro inform dra. aleta about it.

syanga pala sis, how much ang binayaran mo sa LIT? before kase ang binabayaran ko sa kanya sa don santiago was 14K. jan ngayon sa st. luke's qc how much?

[newbeymum]

sis paradise 16k but i asked for discount kaya 14th na lang binayaran ko my nect LIT will be on July 17 hay bigat sa bulsa but im hoping this will work for me at di na ako n\kailangan pang umabot sa IVF..

[paradise11]

^ Sis, sa July 20 pa labas ng LAT ko e. Siguro mga July 23 or 25 ang first visit ko for 2012 ke Dra. Aleta. Tues and Thur sya sa St. Luke's di ba. Tanungin ko din sya Kung repeat ko yung mga APAS Panel, ANA tests at yung mga pinatest pa Nya sa kin before nung 2010. This is in prep for IVF.

Sis, san extraction mo sa MEL ba or St. Luke's lahat lahat, meaning extraction and injection? And yung discount as in hiningi mo ke Dra. Aleta mismo? Nagtataka ako bakit paiba-iba ata ang sinasabi na bayad ni Dra. Back in 2010, sabi nya sa kin pag sa St. Luke's, 28K but if sa Don Santiago gagawin, 14K. Then sa'yo ngayon sa St. Luke's QC, 16k if not for the discount. Tapos I also saw sis idaid's post sa LIT na sa kanya sa Don Santiago hiningan sya ng additional 3K aside from 14K. Sana naman 14K pa din pag nagpaLIT ako itong last week of July. Sa St. Luke's ko na Lang sya muna pupuntahan. But the extraction would definitely be in MEL. Naalala ko lang na tatawagan ko si Kuya Reggie of MEL. I have his number pa kaya siguro tawagan ko sya ulet one of these days para din magtanong ano na mga schedule.

Sis, every week ba ang LIT mo? When ka daw mag LAT? How many sessions pa bago LAT mo? Actually pwede ka naman magrequest ke Dra na every other week Kung mabigat sa iyo ang every week. Pwede ding once a month. Depende din kase sa'yo Kung gusto mong mabilisan. You just have to communicate to Dra. Aleta your plans para marecommend nya ano mas magandang strategy. Sana nga release na LAT result ko sis at Baka sakaling magkita pa tayo sa clinic ni Dra. Good luck sis!

[newbeymum]

Sis Paradise for the tests ofr my ANA, LAT ect i had it in MEL. For hubby's blood infectious screening I had it done at Mega Clinic 5th floor. Exyraction ng dugo ni hubby punta ng maaga nga sa clinic ni dr aleta sa st lukes's cathedral heights bldg 15th floor as in maaga like 8:30 at nandun yun medtech na si ms tonette at sya ang gagawa ng extraction tapos sa hapon pinabalik kame ng 3:30 para gawin na yun LIT same clinic in st lukes at si dr aleta na gagawa. yes, mykhang paiba iba nga ang pricing nya kase when i asked her for the discount sabi nya wait magkano ba sinabi ko sayo (haha kaloka meaning iba iba pricing diba) then nakita nya may nilagay sya sa records ko na 16th kaya sabi nya ok 14th kaya ok na rin. For my next LIT i was told na baka yun extrction di na sa clinic nya baka sa may katipunan na lang daw baka daw ilipat yun machine nya pero di pa sure need ko pa call the clinic. I will update na lang july 17 pa naman yun next LIT ko. I guess kaya mas mahal dati na 28 pag st lukes kase baka wala pa syang machine noon at mismong sa st lukes lab pa pinapasa pero sa clinic nya now may machine na eh kaso baka nga daw ilipat sa may katipunan katapat ng shell gasoline sa may Elizabeth Hall.. but that is not yet definite daw..

[paradise11]

^ Sis, baka magtatayo na si Dra. ng own endocrine lab    Natanong mo ba kung sa MEL pinoprocess yung pang LIT?  Kase para saan yung machine nya di ba?  Pero it makes sense na magtayo na nga si Dra kase dumadami na ngayon ang nagpapa LIT and it's a good business.

Ano nga ba ngayon ang schedule nya sa St. Luke's QC? Tues and Thurs pa din ba?  Si Melvy pa din ba ang secretary nya?

[lelaina17]

@paradise11  sis, i got myself tested again at hi-precision.  sa july27 pa yung result.  gusto ko lang i-compare yung result with the one from mel.

[paradise11]

Hi Sis Lelaina17! Good luck sa'yo. I finally got my LAT result. I thought I will have it ng July 20 pa but I checked online today and saw my score. Class I - Reaction Code: 6 (53%). Class II - Reaction Code: 2 (16%). I will visit Dra. Aleta this Tuesday at St. Luke's QC.

Anyone who knows if may Saturday LIT pa ba si Dra. sa Don Santiago? If may Saturday at least I don't need to be out of office ng Thursday which is her schedule at St. Luke's QC.

[paradise11]

Sis Newbeymum, kumusta ang LIT mo? Sa Elizabeth Hall na ba permanently nailipat ang lab ni Dra. Aleta?

[newbeymum]

Hi sis paradise11 sorry for the very late reply. I had my last LIT session last july mga first weeek then di pa ako bumabalik ulit. My mother passed away July 29 since then di pa ako nag start ulit with ttc kahit lit wala pa rin ngayon lang di ako nag open ng account ko dito. Got into depression since my mom passed away.. but now I am satrting to pick up the pieces of my life again. trying to cope... ikaw sis san kana nag pa LIT?

[Lei_Glee]

Hi everyone!
a. Sana grumaduate nako sa stressfull LIT sessions nato.
Another round of booster shots na naman ko.

b. Mga sis who are under the care of dra.aleta here? She will leave for trainings abroad this saturday na.3 weeks yun..hay sana ok reliever niya sa st.lukes..

Sis newbeymum & paradise,
Mga sis, its been a year kasi since my last lit. Magkano na ang mga blood tests ng donor prior to LIT sa manila endocrine lab? Doon pa rin ba sila sa same location nila?
Mas mura ba LAT exams sa hi precision than MEL?

[pretty_wife]

I had my 4 LIT sessions at Katipunan (Elizabeth Hall), 16k per sessions. 2 sessions from hubby and 2 from 2 male donors. Unfortunately, the LAT result after that is only a postive reaction - our target is strong positive reaction.  Depressing talaga. I'm having doubts if I will continue the LIT or just concentrate on APAS.

By the way, the LIT is at Katipunan while the LAT is at MEL. And, MEL increased the price for LAT. I had my LAT last september 20, 2012. The price is now P5,000.00. According to them the drug for testing has increased its price which is why they also did. PGH will also follow but as of now, not yet. LAT in katipunan is P5,500.00. Had I known the price difference, I would've done it in Katipunan.

[apple_08]

Hello mga sis! first time to post here sa LIT thread. hingi lang ako ng feedback.

Last Aug24, I had my FLOW PRA at SLGC (ito ata yung katumbas ng LAT sa St Lukes Global).  I scored 4.34% sa HLA Class 1. Had my first and second LIT (Husband donor) with Dra Aleta last Sept14 and Sept21. Then nag FLOW PRA ako ulit last friday October 5 as per Dra. Aleta's advise. I just got my results now, HLA Class 1 is now 5.13%.

Sisters, is this normal? Wala pang 1% ang tinaas after two LIT sessions? parang ang konti ata? On vacation leave kasi si Dra Aleta ngayon, next tuesday pa ang balik. Eh medyo naprapraning nako at parang di nako makakapaghintay ng nextweek! sana effective as a donor si hubby kasi ang mahal din ng per session ng LIT ha! According to Dra Aleta, sobrang bihira lang naman daw yung compatible yung donor. Sabi nya nabibilang pa nga daw nya sa daliri nya yung mga hindi nagiging compatible. Medyo naprapraning nako baka hindi kami compatible ni hubby and I need a donor.

Any inputs? What do you think? Thank you in advance =)

[happy_pomelo]

Hi sisses!

I am not sure if it's premature that I post here but after testing +1 sa ANA (1:40 dilution) and negative for anticardiolipin my immunologist requested additional lab works like PID1, Tissue Crossmatch, PTT, INR, DRVVT.  As it turned out my blood daw is on the thick side so nasa low end ang mga results ko and that is naka-aspirin pa ako per my OB's advise since week 5 of my pregnancy (am now 10 weeks pregnant and had 1 miscarriage last year when fetus was about 8 weeks).  Normal level of NK cells but hopefully it will go down for the duration of my pregnancy. The simple explanation is that the ANA is also a bad antibody (like anticardiolipin) and I do not have the good antibodies per tissue crossmatch results, hence negative crossmatch kami ni hubby.  Well, that's how I understood it.

So my Immunologist suggested the screening of my husband as donor at Asian Institute of Immunology and first LIT treatment next week.  The objective is for the tissue crossmatch to show antibodies in the recipient (me) to the donor's (my husband) antigen and for the NK cells to go down too.  Is it all too soon or sudden?  Dapat ba may additional tests pa?  He also prescribed heparin prefilled (Innohep) .35cc once a day.

I am not sure if there really is the urgency but I am thinking of consulting with my OB before we decide to have the LIT (my sched with my OB id 3rd wk of November pa) and also to check on how the fetus is developing through another TVS (previous TSV okay heartbeat and fetal growth).  Or possibly a second opinion with Dr. Aleta who is also recommended by a colleague and as her reputation precedes her here sa thread na 'to.  Can someone please post or PM her clinic schedules and where?  I would really appreciate it. 

Or maybe some words of wisdom that you can share?  I am not sure how to handle this as these tests are all new to me and we didn't encounter these concerns during my first pregnancy last 2009.

Thanks in advance!

[abel823]

i have  positive , 1+ speckled 1:40 dilution.. for my Ana test at asian hospital..
as per my immunologist before i need ivig for this and lit... i had lit session 6x.. i also had another immuno test in taichung normal lahat.
when i return from taichung after ivf nag positive ako... [textspeak!] ng high risk ob ko its normal yun 1+ speckled so okey pala yun ana test ko sensitive lang talaga result ng asian.. i had 3 ana test total.. another from mel negative din..
now im preparing for another ivf since no heartbeat si baby.... i had consultation with dra sua lao and she also told me na okey ana test ko wala ako problem with immuno base sa finding ng dati kung immuno.. she just told me to have another test th1 and th2  para malaman ang cause ng mc ko .. if need ko talaga pa ivig or not.  so better consult first sa ob mo with knowledge sa immuno para ma guide ka... dami kasi immuno doctor na pa lit ng pa lit sa patient.. sad to say madami sa kanila mukhang pera.. so ingat sa kukunin mo immunologist.  so far mga known na high risk ob are dra madamba, dra martinez , dra sua lao  and dra guinto... have 2nd opinion.. para di sayng mga test mo... lahat ng nasabi ko sayo are expert with immuno patient. goodluck