We had our first appointment with the actual RE today. Silly me thought that by seeing a woman doctor, I may get some of the warm fuzzies that I have been absent from my providers during this very long process. I will now refer to her as Dr. Professor. Both C and I felt like we were back in a college lecture and that we should be taking notes for a pop quiz somewhere down the road. Everything was very technical - as it needs to be I guess - lots of statistics and a step by clinical step explanation of IVF from suppression to stims to transfer. I have been doing lots of research and of course keeping up with blogs the best I can. C on the other hand left with his head in a bit of a spin. A lot of the information was review for me, but I did learn some very interesting things about ICSI. The only thing that I wasn't crazy about was that she always gave me statistics for the 40 year old age group.....I've got another year before I'm in that category. Ok, so maybe I'm a little sensitive.
The warm fuzzies finally came from the IVF nurse....let's see, let's call her Nurse Bubbly. She was awesome. We laughed and joked. She was a nurse for 21 years in the department where I will be starting in January, so I think there was a little sense of kindred spirits happening. The plan is for me to call Nurse Bubbly in February and we will schedule b/w and ultrasound (complete with a mock transfer) in March. Then we will start suppression with my April cycle and hopefully be looking at May for retrieval and transfer. At least that will give me a little time at the job to feel out if I will be able to take an hour out of my day to go for ultrasounds, etc. I don't like starting a new job and already anticipating taking time off.
I risked asking the question "Is there anything that I can do to improve my fertility?" Dr. Professor looked at me ever so briefly, then before she could answer I said "I need to lose weight don't I?" The response was a definite yes. Even though this blog is pretty anonymous, I still cannot bring myself to reveal my weight...let's just say that 15 pounds would be good start, more would be better. Both C and I have struggled with our weight for so many years. The good news is that even before this appointment, we have been taking steps to modify our diet and exercise. When we got to the car we agreed to go "hard core" in the diet department. If you raided my lunch box tonight, you would see carrots, celery, turkey sandwich, an apple, an orange and a yogurt....and yes I am already hungry.
Showing posts with label RE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RE. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
RE visit
Hmmmmm....where, oh where do I begin?
Today we went to the big scary (in)fertility clinic at the big scary teaching/research hospital. The long and short of it is: IVF is likely to be the only logical choice for our next step. We met with a very nice, very informative nurse practitioner. She laughed when I asked about BBTs and endometrial biopsies. She also said that I was "way beyond" clomid as treatment. She was nice enough not to use a biological clock analogy, but she echoed my concerns about my age. After all, my infertility problems are not going to get any better the older I get. So I have my order for cd 3 b/w which will be tomorrow, clomid challenge on days 5-9, then repeat b/w next Thursday. C will have an SA next week, then I think I have to have an u/s, but I'm not sure on what day. I left with my head spinning from all the information, some of the details are a little fuzzy right now. As long as my fsh is not too high (it was around 4 last fall), then she strongly recommends IVF. My big hesitation about IVF has always been the money. We met with the financial person and got the breakdown on costs: $7,950 for all office visits, ultrasounds, procedures and blood work. Then there is the a la carte choices like embryo freezing, ICSI, embryo storage fees. Medications are separate and run between $3,000 and $5,000. So when all is said and done - one cycle = about $13,000. Right now I am paying about $400 per IUI cycle as they have been billing my u/s as diagnostic. However, if we do IUI with injectables(because I am "way beyond" clomid) then costs for IUI would run about $5,000. The stinker part of the IUI is there would not be a guarantee that I will ovulate on the left, so that $5,000 might as well be flushed down the toilet. At least with IVF we would bypass the tubes (or tube, rather).
So how do we pay for this, if we decide to move forward? The nurse practitioner patted me on the leg at one point and told me that if I worked at the big scary teaching/research hospital then IVF treatments are covered up to $35,000. As soon as I got home I looked on the job postings, and there is a couple of positions open on their childbirth center. C (who right now owns his own business) really stepped up to the plate and said that he would look for full or part time work at the big scary hospital too. He said that I was shouldering enough of this burden, that it shouldn't all be on me to finance this too. I would marry him all over again! I also happen to look at IT postings and there are a couple of jobs that he would be suited for as well.
Now, there are quite a few positives about changing jobs for both of us, including opportunities for career advancement, increased pay, for me- access to state of the art medical technology and medical staff. The major negative is that the big scary hospital is an hour away. If C took a job there, we would lose our flexibility in scheduling daycare and quick getaways. If I took a job there, I would be away from home too much. Unless I worked there 20 hours per week (minimum hours for full benefits) and then worked per diem at my current hospital. There is so much to think about, I'm don't know how we will make this decision. I'm trying to just take this one step at a time. First we have to get through the lab work to see what we are dealing with. I'm guessing that we will not be really doing anything for at least a couple of months. There are some other options for creative financing, but I think that they would be a little irresponsible and potentially put us in the poor house.
Today we went to the big scary (in)fertility clinic at the big scary teaching/research hospital. The long and short of it is: IVF is likely to be the only logical choice for our next step. We met with a very nice, very informative nurse practitioner. She laughed when I asked about BBTs and endometrial biopsies. She also said that I was "way beyond" clomid as treatment. She was nice enough not to use a biological clock analogy, but she echoed my concerns about my age. After all, my infertility problems are not going to get any better the older I get. So I have my order for cd 3 b/w which will be tomorrow, clomid challenge on days 5-9, then repeat b/w next Thursday. C will have an SA next week, then I think I have to have an u/s, but I'm not sure on what day. I left with my head spinning from all the information, some of the details are a little fuzzy right now. As long as my fsh is not too high (it was around 4 last fall), then she strongly recommends IVF. My big hesitation about IVF has always been the money. We met with the financial person and got the breakdown on costs: $7,950 for all office visits, ultrasounds, procedures and blood work. Then there is the a la carte choices like embryo freezing, ICSI, embryo storage fees. Medications are separate and run between $3,000 and $5,000. So when all is said and done - one cycle = about $13,000. Right now I am paying about $400 per IUI cycle as they have been billing my u/s as diagnostic. However, if we do IUI with injectables(because I am "way beyond" clomid) then costs for IUI would run about $5,000. The stinker part of the IUI is there would not be a guarantee that I will ovulate on the left, so that $5,000 might as well be flushed down the toilet. At least with IVF we would bypass the tubes (or tube, rather).
So how do we pay for this, if we decide to move forward? The nurse practitioner patted me on the leg at one point and told me that if I worked at the big scary teaching/research hospital then IVF treatments are covered up to $35,000. As soon as I got home I looked on the job postings, and there is a couple of positions open on their childbirth center. C (who right now owns his own business) really stepped up to the plate and said that he would look for full or part time work at the big scary hospital too. He said that I was shouldering enough of this burden, that it shouldn't all be on me to finance this too. I would marry him all over again! I also happen to look at IT postings and there are a couple of jobs that he would be suited for as well.
Now, there are quite a few positives about changing jobs for both of us, including opportunities for career advancement, increased pay, for me- access to state of the art medical technology and medical staff. The major negative is that the big scary hospital is an hour away. If C took a job there, we would lose our flexibility in scheduling daycare and quick getaways. If I took a job there, I would be away from home too much. Unless I worked there 20 hours per week (minimum hours for full benefits) and then worked per diem at my current hospital. There is so much to think about, I'm don't know how we will make this decision. I'm trying to just take this one step at a time. First we have to get through the lab work to see what we are dealing with. I'm guessing that we will not be really doing anything for at least a couple of months. There are some other options for creative financing, but I think that they would be a little irresponsible and potentially put us in the poor house.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Advice needed
So it is the early morning of the 15th. Still no AF, temp came back up a little today (to 97.8) but I also only had 4 hours of sleep. Dr. O.T. said this was the day for the beta, but I don't know if this is too early. I am 15dpiui, I'm guessing 13dpo. I know I could still get a false negative if I POAS, but is this an appropriate time for b/w?
I have decided to not go back to this doctor for further treatment. As I have said, I work with him and I see how he treats his patients - without much regard usually. I have seen him cut an episiotomy on a women who was yelling "you're not going to cut me are you?" His latest shenanigans have involved a medical review of a case. He is so close to retirement he can smell it and I think he is mentally checked out. Now, he used to teach at Georgetown, and he has been an OB for 45 years - he's no slouch, and I actually really like him during casual conversation. I just think he has his own agenda when it comes to patient care and I no longer want to put the fate of my pregnancy in his hands. SO, my appointment with the RE is Sept 12. I think we will probably take this cycle off - but I am worried about not temping, worried that I would be losing some bit of vital information for our next step. For those of you who have done IUIs - what kind of importance does your RE place on bbt?
I have decided to not go back to this doctor for further treatment. As I have said, I work with him and I see how he treats his patients - without much regard usually. I have seen him cut an episiotomy on a women who was yelling "you're not going to cut me are you?" His latest shenanigans have involved a medical review of a case. He is so close to retirement he can smell it and I think he is mentally checked out. Now, he used to teach at Georgetown, and he has been an OB for 45 years - he's no slouch, and I actually really like him during casual conversation. I just think he has his own agenda when it comes to patient care and I no longer want to put the fate of my pregnancy in his hands. SO, my appointment with the RE is Sept 12. I think we will probably take this cycle off - but I am worried about not temping, worried that I would be losing some bit of vital information for our next step. For those of you who have done IUIs - what kind of importance does your RE place on bbt?
Friday, August 3, 2007
Phone Calls
I just did a scary thing. I made an appointment at the "big" hospital at an actual (in)fertility clinic. I am only 3dpiui, but I am anticipating the next step. My temperatures have not really elevated, so now I am questioning what really happened in the 36 hours between trigger and IUI. Knowing that sometimes it can be awhile to get an appointment, I decided to be proactive. The consultation is on September 12. Another reason for making the call is that I am beginning to trust my doctor less and less. It doesn't help that I work with him and I see how he treats other patients. He has done a couple of things this last week that I would consider negligent. That is not the kind of practitioner that I want mucking around with my innards, and holding the fate of a pregnancy in his hands. As I have said before, I don't think that he knows my case very well, and does not really listen to my concerns - so off I go to change doctors once again. I still have hope that I will need to cancel aforementioned appointment, but just in case I will start collecting all my records.
I've been quite busy on the phone today actually. The insurance company even gave me some good news - well, not bad news - for me to go to the big fancy teaching hospital will only cost me a $200 deductible plus 20%. Insurance should cover the consultation and anything that is diagnostic, but no treatments. I'll jump off that bridge if/when we get there. Speaking of jumping off of bridges, I also called my therapist - unfortunately she is out of town on a family emergency.....so I don't know when I'll hear back from her. I also called my acupuncturist - I haven't seen her in months. My final phone call was to the preschool that Z is starting in the fall to find out the schedule for the first couple of weeks. She will be going to "orientation" on Aug 30.
I've been quite busy on the phone today actually. The insurance company even gave me some good news - well, not bad news - for me to go to the big fancy teaching hospital will only cost me a $200 deductible plus 20%. Insurance should cover the consultation and anything that is diagnostic, but no treatments. I'll jump off that bridge if/when we get there. Speaking of jumping off of bridges, I also called my therapist - unfortunately she is out of town on a family emergency.....so I don't know when I'll hear back from her. I also called my acupuncturist - I haven't seen her in months. My final phone call was to the preschool that Z is starting in the fall to find out the schedule for the first couple of weeks. She will be going to "orientation" on Aug 30.
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