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laurenAZ » I don't think I'm ready for this
I don't think I'm ready for this

So today I had my first appointment with the RE.  And I feel 100 times worse after the appointment than I did before.  Sigh.  For a few brief moments, I thought my insurance might cover infertility diagnostics.  I found some documentation online that implied it might, but Cigna is saying no, no, no.  And I'm facing $2,000 in diagnostics ALONE.  Not treatment.  This is just the crap they want me to do before I even get treatment to help me have a baby!

I guess I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this.  How on earth do people afford this stuff?  I had finally come to terms with the fact that an IUI would cost us around $1000.  I figured I'd do Clomid + IUI, be out $1000 but have a decent shot at getting pregnant.  Instead I'm looking at $2,000 in diagnostics, God knows how much for injectibles (the RE wants to go there and not Clomid), $1000 for the IUI itself, and $300 per ultrasound and they say there's likely to be 3-4.  Call me naive, but I had no clue I was looking at that kind of money.  And logistically, I have no idea how as a teacher I'm going to manage to get to all these doctor's appointments, but that's a whole other issue.

The thing is, in August I actually got pregnant on Clomid alone.  So it's rather difficult to suddenly jump into thousands of dollars of IF treatment when it's so soon after my miscarriage.  But the problem is that my OBGYN is only allowing me one more cycle of Clomid.  That's why I decided to go see the RE in the first place - because I knew my OBGYN was going to send me there next month anyway.  I think what I really want to do before shelling out thousands of dollars for IF diagnostics and treatment is give Clomid a few more tries.  I really don't think I can get pregnant on my own, but I can't have unlimited rounds of Clomid either.  I just don't want to spend thousands and thousands of dollars if I DO have the ability to get PG on my own.  Am I just being impatient?  Or am I just being cheap!

Maybe someone reading this can tell me... how much of a say do I have in my IF treatment?  If I refuse all this testing, will they still treat me?  What if I agree to the testing but tell them I want to do Clomid + IUI rather than injectibles?  Does it even make sense to go against the advice of an expert?

I just feel so low right now.  I mean really low.  The kind of low where I just want to go to bed and not wake up.  This is such an uphill battle.  And it's all so damned unfair.  It's unfair I have to struggle with IF in the first place.  It's unfair that when I finally did get pregnant, I had a miscarriage.  It's unfair that insurance won't cover any of this.  Forgive me for sounding like a seven-year-old child, but it's.  just.  not.  fair.

My DH came to the appointment with me but we actually haven't had a conversation about it yet.  When we go to bed tonight I'm going to ask him what his thoughts are and explain everything I just tried to express here.  I just don't know what the right thing to do is.  Maybe someone reading this can tell me...

Ugh... I'm exhausted and I have to pack to fly out to spend Thanksgiving with the in-laws tomorrow. 

Before I go, let me just put this out there in the universe.  It would be GREAT if I could just be pregnant right now before I have to make all these decisions.  I'm 3DPO on a Clomid cycle and my world would be a whole lot brighter if I could just be blessed with a semi-natural BFP and never have to deal with all of this....  Just putting that out there in case anyone's listening upstairs...

 

Posted 11-24-2009 1:09 PM by laurenAZ

Comments

LunarBug wrote re: I don't think I'm ready for this
on 11-25-2009 8:49 AM

Lauren I'm so sorry to hear that you are feeling terrible about your appointment.  Is there any way that this RE would mind coding the diagnostics as something your insurance would be able to cover?  

If Clomid has worked for you, I say give it a go again (and again if needed).  You don't have to jump right into IF treatments (the really costly ones) if you don't want to.  If you can, talk to the RE about finances and see what options you have.  I'd also be honest about trying Clomid a few more times before moving onto injects.

Lots of hugs to you!

laurenAZ wrote re: I don't think I'm ready for this
on 11-30-2009 7:44 PM

Thanks LunarBug!  I think my first step is calling my OBGYN to find out how these tests were coded when they did them because I've had a few done before (testosterone, FSH, TSH, etc) and they were all covered.  Maybe I can go there to get them done and not have it coded as infertility.  Then I think I'm going to ask for Clomid + IUI before we try injectables.  The doc seemed game to work together, so hopefully I'll have some say in my treatment.  I just don't think our fertility problems are severe enough to jump right into injectables.  And I REALLY don't want multiples.  So hopefully Clomid + IUI is an option, and I can figure out some way to deal with all these diagnostic fees.  Sigh.

hailey1312 wrote re: I don't think I'm ready for this
on 12-05-2009 6:43 PM

I work at an obgyn clinic and alot of times they code them as "annovulation" (meaning abscense of ovulation) I don't know if that would work or not. Another thing, what kind of tests have you already had done? Maybe you can get copies of those results and take them with you to your RE so he doesn't have to repeat things you've already had done, just another idea.

laurenAZ wrote re: I don't think I'm ready for this
on 12-05-2009 8:06 PM

Thanks for the suggestions Hailey!  I called and they coded them as "contraceptive management" (whatever that means).  At the time I actually was anovulatory, and they were testing to see if we could find out why.  Anyway, I asked if they could have my OBGYN order CD3 bloodwork for me, and hopefully I'll hear back on Monday that the answer is yes (especially since that IS CD3 for me).

The tests that I had done before were done on random days, so my RE says they don't really mean anything if they weren't done on CD3.  Therefore she's asking me to repeat them.  I've had TSH, FSH, Prolactin, testosterone, glucose, triglicerides, a couple others.  I never had a full infertility work-up.  So I understand why she wants to do these all over again, I'm just so frustrated that I'm paying out of pocket for all of it just because the word "infertility" has been brought into the mix.  If I walked in and said, "I'd like to regulate my cycles so I can practice NFP to avoid pregnancy," the bloodwork would all be covered.  If I say, "I'd like to regulate my cycles so I can get pregnant," now it's out of pocket!  AUGH!!!   So annoying!!!!

Thanks again for your help. : )

jbizzy wrote re: I don't think I'm ready for this
on 12-06-2009 12:36 PM

It's the same for us, cost wise, and honestly, IUI's do not have that great of success rate.  We tried it twice and I will never do it again.  It's such an emotional roller coaster.  Our RE is just pushing for IVF, they don't care why we are not pregnant, they just want to shoot right from the hip and do the one thing that has the best success rate.  Because we are against it, my RE actually did nothing different than my gyno could do and yet I ended up paying through the nose for it.

Finally I am back with my gyno and getting more procedures done at no cost because he is able to write them up as medically related, not IF related!

Basically I am just adding to your experience here... wish I could be more positive about the whole situation.  Maybe it helps to know you are not alone?

laurenAZ wrote re: I don't think I'm ready for this
on 12-06-2009 4:22 PM

Thanks jbizzy - it does help to know I'm not alone and that I'm not being ridiculous for feeling so frustrated over the finances of it all.  I really am hopeful that IUI will work for us though.  It just seems like we both have such borderline IF issues, and we DID get PG once before on Clomid alone!  I think IUI is just the extra little help we'll need.  I just need to stop stressing the details and move ahead with all of this.

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