Monday, March 1, 2010

Small Response - Big Money

As you can see from the title, We've not been getting the good response we'd hoped for...We only have 7 follies, and we were wanting more like 20. The idea was to do one BIG round and then coast for a few frozen cycles if need be.

I'm not sure if I'll even have anything to transfer - given that 2+ years ago with 13 eggs I only had a 20% fert rate... Makes me very sad, indeed.

I'm not sure when retrieval will be - I think they are going to give me some more time to "grow", since I had several 1.1 to 1.3 size on Sunday. The best guess is trigger Wed night or Thur night. Then I'm not really sure if we'll do a 3 day or 5 day turnaround.
Cycling makes planning for work REALLY fun, huh? I can hear it now, "Hey Boss. I might need Thursday or Friday off for a full day, or maybe work from home. Then I may need all day Monday or Wednesday off, but I'm not sure! Can I get back with you when my Dr. says what the plan is?"
Geesh.
OH - and the "Big Money" part of the title... I just found out that our prescription coverage ran out for fertility meds! YAY!!! I have Rx coverage, but this is considered a "speciality med" so it is under a different plan wherin I've hit the max. We are going to have to pay $ 740 per vial of the Folli.stim (I need 2 additional) and a couple hundred more for the Gani.relix. Trust me when I say I came near crying when I found out.
We have poured so much money down this fertility hole this cycle. I'd feel better if we were seeing a big response, but the low #'s of follies make me feel like I'm wasting money, and LOTS of it. We spent $4000 on the IVF deposit and $2000 on meds so far, now we are adding another $2000 to the meds cost.
$8000 to make 7eggs - and one of those eggs is going to overmature, due to it's large lead on the others. So... 6 eggs for $8000. I know some of you pay more, because you have NO coverage at all, but this is a first for me. I can't imagine how people come up with the $ for full-freight, which I'm guesstimating would have cost us $15000 for the procedure and another $6000+ for meds.
Tell me truly, how do you afford $21,000 for IVF? Really? I don't think we could, so I'm interested in what you've had to do to afford it, or if you have coverage.
Love and hugs to all of you for your support... I've loved getting your comments and the direct notes. Mwah!

4 comments:

MrsSpock said...

Oh, this really stinks!

We have coverage only for injectables/IUIs and lesser treatments. I can pay $55 for Follistim for an IUI- but have to pay 100% for anything related to IVF. One of the main reasons we are seriously considering adoption, is that blowing $21K on a crapshoot is more than we can stand.

BigP's Heather said...

I haven't done IVF but we are 100% out of pocket for everything...we spend over $2000 a month for meds and a IUI. That includes all the co-pays for my office visits.

Luckily, my clinic includes ultrasounds and the normal blood work to check hormone levels as part of the office visit. Otherwise we would pay a lot more.

It is a shock to pay so much for meds. I can totally understand how you feel.

Stacie said...

No coverage for IVF or meds. 50% coverage for IUIs and meds for IUIs. So how do we pay? The blunt answer: We don't do shit and I am tight with money.

The first three IVFs and three IUIs were payed with a second mortgage we got on the house (back in the real estate hay day). IVF #4 was paid with our tax return money. Apparently when you get to itemize $20,000+ of med bills, own a crappy home, two kids, and barely survive you get lots back! j.k. mostly.

I gotten creative with credit cards, too. I actively seek out 0% interest cards (once I've made sure the clinic takes them--long story, sigh) and use those for the meds. I can pay over time with no interest that way.

Sigh. Sorry that you are stuck paying for all of this, too. On my first cycle, I got 6 eggs and still got pregnant. Of course I m/ced, but that had nothing to do with the eggs...

just saying...

I haven't given up yet. I've got good feelings for you!

Stacie said...

Ugh. Bad grammar. Just fix the errors in your head and keep reading. Ahem.