Merry Christmas to Me

My meds are here. I'm surprised that they made it on time with this being the busiest time of year for shipping and all. Anyway, here they are... all $1,596.34 worth...

Oh wait, the BCP's and over the counter prenatal vitamins don't count in that total... now, we just wait til Jan 12th to start Lupron. DH got all excited last nite when I told him that he would be doing some of the shots. His eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning... hahaha! It's kinda scary, he was a little too eager to poke me in the butt with a big AZZ needle and cause me pain - OUCH!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

IVF Start Date

Ok, it's official... my IVF start appt. is set for January 17, 2008.

Here's a timeline...

01/12/08 - take last BCP & start Lupron
01/17/08 - IVF start appt. - begin Bravelle & Menopur - baseline b/w & u/s
01/28 - 02/02 - Egg Retrieval
02/03 - 02/07 - Embryo Transfer

This schedule is two weeks later than it was initially supposed to be, but oh well,,, what's two weeks when we've been waiting for years.

Now, I'm off to order meds. Fun, fun...

Oh, and about the BCP's... since we are postponing two weeks, I get to stop the BCP's and have a period and then start again on day 2.

The Ugly Pill

I remember now why I hate the pill. Actually, when I was on the pill before I had no idea. It was only after I had quit taking it that I realized what it was doing. It's not that I am all hormonal or anything, it's that AF is dragging on and on and on. For some reason it makes me have a long bleed (eew, yuck i know). I had always thought it was normal. I mean, I was a naive 20 something year old. But when I quit taking them, my bleed went from a light day 1, heavy day 2, medium-light day 3, then spot day 4 and gone! Now, I'm on day 4 and still medium-heavy with no end in sight. Helloooo, don't you know the weekend's here and that's our sex time??? (I say to my body)

Slight Change in Plans

The RE's office called to reschedule my IVF nurse consult, sono HSG and trial transfer. It is now scheduled for Thurs 12/13 at 9:30. It's one more day to wait, but at least I won't have to get up nearly as early to get there.

Some Good News

I just got a phone call from the Anesthesiologist's office. They reviewed my hardship letter and decided to give me a 50% discount on my balance. WooHoo! Wow, it does pay to "work the system." I've always been one of those that just pays without any question. Next, I am going to talk to my dentist when I go for my cleaning next week. I've never had dental insurance and have just always been too proud to ask for a discount. I mean, dang, I pay out of pocket right then and there, so they need to do something. Ok, bye for now.

Day 1

Ok, AF showed up a day early so I get to start BCP's tomorrow (day 2)... WooHoo! Also, I called the RE's office and scheduled the IVF nurse consult, sono HSG and trial transfer for next Wednesday, Dec. 12th at 8:30 am. I live 2 hours away so that means I'll be up at about 4:30 am and must leave the house around 5:30. I know the math doesn't quite add up, but I have to account for the morning rush hour traffic and then getting there a little early too. Now, I've just got to decide whether to take an extra week of BCP's so that I won't be starting stims/injections somewhere between Christmas Day and New Year's Day. I know this may sound a little, um, trivial, but we are going to be out of town during that time. And while I hate to keep waiting and waiting, I also would hate to have to carry it all with me and try to do injections in a strange place. We could cancel the trip, but hopefully it will be the last one for a while b/c we would have our own reason to stay home... see?

Will post more later...

Countdown

Well... it's getting closer to IVF time! Oh boy! I'm ready, but I'm not ready (if you know what I mean). I called the nurse at the RE's office and asked her if I should be taking a vitamin of some sort. She just told me to take a multi-vitamin like 1 A Day. Anyway, AF is due to show up next Wednesday, Dec. 5th and then I will start BCP the next day and call to set up the 1st appointment... yeaaaaa!!!

Oh, on a lighter note... my husband told me the other night that if we do have kids, he doesn't want me to cook while he's not here... HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA... he thinks I'm gonna burn the house down. It's just that I multi-task so much and get side tracked. I'm not that bad really, and I CAN cook. It's just that I would think that while he's standing there in the kitchen drinking a beer looking at the pot about to boil over, it might cross his mind to turn it down... HELLO. He's the one who cooks everything on wide-azz-open. You know how you're supposed to test your smoke detectors when the time changes? Well, ours gets tested everytime he cooks. People think I'm joking about that, but I'm not. Anyway, it pleases me when he talks about the possibility that we will have kids. I just completely ignored the rest about my cooking.

"Hardship Letter"

As if I don't already feel like a bottom of the barrel, can't seem to get to the top ... um, whatever. I got another bill for my LAP from the anesthesiologist. I thought (or was hoping) that his fee may have been included in the hospital bill. Although I really didn't think so, but I had just not gotten a bill yet. So anyway, it wasn't too bad... $984.00. But I decided to suck it up and call to see if they would reduce it some if I paid right then and there over the phone. The lady was very nice on the phone. I gave a brief pitch of what I wanted, and she explained that if I would write a hardship letter to the doctor and explain my situation, i.e. unemployed, no insurance, etc., etc., and include other doctor bills showing where they had given discounts that the doctor(s) there would then meet and review my case and decide whether or not to allow a discount. She said (with confidence) that they usually do (if you ask). So what the hell... I'm off to write a hardship letter. Google, and google and yahoo... search, search, search for ideas and sample letters... with no good luck (at least not for medical hardship letters). Oh, I found plenty for if you couldn't pay your bills or your mortgage. So, I finally just start... and here it is (if anybody needs a sample - not that I'm a writer or anything)...

Dear Dr. B----,

The purpose of this letter is to explain my circumstance of financial hardship. I am currently self-employed and have an individual insurance policy with an “Infertility Rider” attached to it. It will not pay for any procedure of any kind connected to my condition. I have tubal factor infertility and had a laparoscopy to have my tubes removed. You administered anesthesia for my procedure. This is the beginning of my IVF journey, all of which will be out of pocket. I am lucky enough to have family members who are pitching in to help my husband and I attempt to make our dreams of having a family of our own come true. Therefore I am trying to save money where ever I can. I asked Dr. W---- and B---- Medical Center ahead of time for a discount. I did not know who the anesthesiologist would be in order to make arrangements up front. Dr. W----’s fee was $2,400, and he gave me a $400 discount for prompt payment. Also, BMC gave me a discount for paying approximately 15% upfront and then paying the balance within 120 days. I have enclosed receipts and documents to support all of this. While you review my account, please keep in mind the enormous expenses I am about to incur during my IVF endeavor.

Sincerely,


------------------------

So, there!... Simple, honest and straight to the point. Maybe it can be of some help for someone else.

Hospital Bill

So I got the bill from the hospital the other day. It has taken me a few days to believe it... it says... total charges $7811.89... total adjustments $7108.62... balance due $703.27... WOOHOOOO....OMG, i'm definitely NOT going to call and question this bill. I'm still waiting on the anesthesiologist's bill, but surely it would have come by now, right?... So, I'm thinking it may be included in this bill. I kinda would like an itemized bill (I'm just like that - I like to see details). Anyway, my SIL said, "pay that bill quick and don't ask any questions". So in total my surgery cost... 4035.81 + 703.27 = 4739.08 (hospital bill) + 2000.00 (dr. surgeon bill) + 135.00 (pathology reports - what is this??)... anyway, grand total of...... 6,874.08.... woohoo,, i'll take that any day over the original quote of $13 thousand.

So, we've decided that January sounds good for our IVF cycle. Actually, I guess this would start really in December w/ bcp's and then suppresion starting right before the new year (if AF stays on course). That way we can get through all the holidays and birthdays and hunting seasons, etc, etc, etc, but I may have a screwed up New Year's Eve if that's when I would start suppression. We'll just have to wait and see. Anyway, January, February and March are pretty slow so I won't have any other worries and can have full concentration on cycling and hopefully something sticking...

Post Lap Uck

So, my laparoscopy went good. The anesthesia made me soooo nauseous, OMG! It's funny too, the anesthesiologist told me before the surgery that it usually does make older people sick. "OLDER PEOPLE" as if I needed to hear this. He said I was right on the threshold of "OLDER". Again, I didn't need to hear this,,, helloooo?! So, ok, after the procedure I'm in recovery, and they give me everything they could to try to stop the dry heaves, and phenergan made me so sleepy that I couldn't even hold my head up. Every time they would come mess with me, I would start again... Oh Boy!... and after I realized that it had been three hours, I said I'm ready to go home. So, I got home (2 hour drive for my Mom, seemed like 10 min nap for me) and hubby was there to put me to bed and put a bucket by me for the .... well, you know. And it's been three weeks and all is well. Now, I'm just waiting to move on to IVF. It's scary but I'm ready.

The day before my 2nd LAP

So, I'm wondering through the grocery store getting last minute things so I won't have to worry about it post-op. Things like... milk, eggs, sugar... beer. Oh yeah, can't forget the beer. My husband would have a caniption fit. So anyway, I had been talking on the phone back and forth with the RE's office and the hospital people trying to nail down how much $ this surgery was gonna be. And since I would be a "self pay" then hopefully I could get a discount. Well the girl at the RE's office kept wanting to run it thru the insurance even though I told her that my insurance, after finding out about my 1st LAP and my IF, put a big fat Rider of Infertility on my policy. Anyway, the girl from the hospital finally called (the day before the big event - can't back out now) and told me it would cost $13 thousand... something, something and 52 cent (i've lost the little piece of paper that i had written this on)... and this was with the 40% dicount for being self-pay. And this didn't include the Anesthesiologist or my Dr.'s fee. So after I pick myself up off the grocery store floor, I ask her what I needed to do, how much do I need to put down on this. She told me 15% and that I could put it on a credit card. So, I frantically dig in my purse for the card and read her the numbers and all and we hung up and all was ok. But at that point I had to beeline it out of there (oh wait, had to get beer)... got to my car and just lost it pretty much. I gathered myself up (i'm getting pretty good at this) and drove home, took valium and a nap. When I woke up, I felt much better and figured, "well, it's too late to back out now. We'll just figure it out later."

The Beginning (Sort of)... The "Official" Beginning

Today... Sept 19th... first post. I will start with today and tell more history later. I went to my pre-op for my second lap. I am having my tubes removed because of bilateral hydrosalpinx. The surgery is set for next thursday, Sept 27th. It has been 2 1/2 years since my first lap and the bilateral hydros were first discovered. My docter opened them and drained the fluid, but an HSG a couple of weeks ago confirmed that they had reclosed and again filled with fluid. I am glad to finally be moving on to the next step. I have been living my life in 2 week increments for the last 4 years and can finally think about sex as sex and not as,,, "am i ovulating, is this maybe gonna be the one, the month, the time that i will finally get pg???" Anyway, I am kinda feeling a sigh of relief. Don't get me wrong, I do have anxiety as to the surgery and then moving on to ivf, but finally some sort of progress.

Ok, more later... any comments or thoughts and ideas would be appreciated. (not too much baby dust or woowoo and gaagaa, i'm not that kind of person)... It has been a long and drawn out 4 years of month after month dissapointment.