IUI: The Disasterous Beginning

So after years of trying, we're finally starting a process that just might work. Today I went in for my baseline ultrasound that gives the RE a starting point for my IUI. This was the hopefully beginning of the post that I wrote this morning before I went to my appointment. It's not the opening I would have chosen afterwards. That would probably go more like:

I went to my first IUI appointment today. The ultrasound went great but the latter half the day was a complete and utter disaster.

I got to the hospital on time, with the 15 minutes to check in I always seem to miss, and after circling a couple times I lucked into the best parking spot. 2 hours of free parking? Yes please! I thought this was a sign our IUI was off to a great start and gave myself a mental fist bump. 

I met a new OB/Gyn and some really sweet nurses who were great company while they checked me in. I couldn't pee right away for the pregnancy test we all knew would be negative, even though I'd guzzled water, so the nurse let me proceed and said I could pee later. The ultrasound itself was a little uncomfy (as if a wand going up your girly bits could ever be anything but uncomfortable) and I had 9 antral follicles! That is AMAZING for me,  I've never had more than 7 follies. I would have danced on the table but the OB still had the wand so I settled for telling her how pleased I was with my body and how acupuncture seems to be working. 2 extra antral follies after only 3 acupuncture sessions and a week and change of herbs? I'm sold.

(I love your comics Phoebe Potts)

The nurses have the routine down, so after my ultrasound I went over my treatment with the OB and discussed the massive amount of meds I'm going to be taking. She was nice, was familiar with my file and we joked about the insane prices of donor sperm. There is always a long line at the pharmacy, so the nurse had me go down and put in my prescriptions before getting my injection training. I went back up, watched the nurse mix pretend Menopur, she told me how easy it would be to inject myself and then sent me on my way to go pick up my meds. I still hadn't peed yet.

As predicted, that pharmacy line was LONG. It took me about 30 minutes to get through, standing behind a high school student hiding a pregnancy test against her leg and hoping no one would notice. I felt badly for her and hope she got the negative she wanted, she was clearly terrified and wishing to be anywhere else.  It's nice to know I'm not so dead inside that I would resent the fertility of a scared teenager, though I did resent the lazy father telling his 2 year old he was going to tie her up (stroller) if she didn't sit still and be quiet. She's 2 asshole. 2 year olds aren't designed to sit still and be quiet, with no entertainment, for 30 minutes.

Finally I get to the front of the line and the pharmacy assistant starts pulling out box after box of drugs. There's a crap ton of menopur, my ovidrel trigger shot, progesterone, needles, and syringes. She starts ringing them up:

Her: Wow, this is over 1000 just for this? 
Me: Yeah, fertility treatments are expensive :/
Her: This is expensive, over 2000!
Me: You mean before insurance? Cause we should have 100% coverage
Her: Uh, no...you pay 100% All of it. $2000 please.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCHHHHHHHHH

We are NOT supposed to pay 100% out of pocket! The whole reason we switched around insurances and paid a fortune to the union was so we would have infertility coverage! It's been confirmed numerous times by different people and now they're telling me to fork over $2,000 for a weeks worth of meds?????? I explain all this to the assistant, she enlists another assistant and freaking out, I head back upstairs to go pee in my cup and panic. 

I explained the whole thing to my nurse, and then to my doctor, who also insisted we should have coverage. When my nurse called for help, the pharmacy services insisted we had no coverage and hung up on her! I couldn't believe it and I kept trying to get ahold of E to ask if I should go back down and spend $2000 on the meds since we can't not have them. While I was doing that, the nurses were angels and scoured the office looking for donated Menopur for me. I was so thankful I almost cried, they found 4 boxes, which is 5 days for me, and told me to call back in the morning to see if we can fix things. If not, my doctor said she'd put in a prescription at a cheaper pharmacy for me and we'd just have to pay out of pocket. The nurses kept saying they hoped the donation would pay off with a baby, and I didn't have the heart to remind them there's a 50% chance I might have to terminate if it works. I almost cried again.

With donated Menopur in hand, I went back to the pharmacy and paid for my needles and syringes. They were really apologetic but I had to leave without the rest of my meds. I drove home somewhat shell shocked, where I met my mother who wanted to talk to me about my premutation. Apparently, although it's insanely rare, my premutation was passed down by my father, not my mother. She wanted to talk, discuss options, make me an appointment at UCLA and offer us money we're not sure we're comfortable taking. I wanted to scream that I've been over the options and back over them a million times, but it's not something we feel comfortable discussing with her. My defenses were low and I explained more than I wanted to, when I really just wanted to go cry in a corner.

Why are you so expensive???

I really hope we can get this prescription problem sorted out. I need enough Menopur to stimulate a large horse and it will be insanely expensive out of pocket.