I am 35 years old, living with stage IV Endometriosis, possibly adenomyosis and struggled with infertility for almost 4 years. I also struggled with PPD and now struggle with PMDD. I am a mother to a son that was born at 18 weeks and too precious for this earth; and now a mother to a son born in August 2011. By journaling here, I hope to benefit both for myself and for others that are dealing with this disease and fertility struggles. Thanks for visiting!





Saturday, June 13, 2009

The "Plan"

So, here's our tentative schedule for our next round of IVF:

Started on Aygestin 2 days ago to help keep the endo at bay
July 8th-Lupron Injections
July 11th-Stop Aygestin
July 16th-Baseline Ultrasound
July 17th-Start Stims
July 27th-Egg Retrieval
July 30th or August 1st-Transfer!
August 10th-BETA!!!!!


Looks like we *might* be able to squeeze in another round out of our insurance. The meds will definitely be covered. We've only used $3,600 of the $10K max. The fertility coverage is another issue. Looks like the adjusted cost charged to the insurance was around $6,400. I am pretty sure that includes ultrasounds, visits and blood work as well, which does NOT count against our $10K max. But, my hubby and I are assuming that's the total charged against our maximum. So, we may be about ~$5K out of pocket in the end. Time will be the judge of that, as things SLOWLY go through to the insurance company. I'm thinking it won't be nearly that much, but, that's what we are going to assume to be "safe".

We decided NOW was the best time though, because everything else is being covered 100% since I've met all my deductibles and co-insurance. So, it pretty much evens out IF we have to pay out of pocket. I dunno WHY they make insurance so difficult to understand!!! I've learned a lot during this process though.

If this round doesn't work, then I'll change insurances during the open enrollment period in October to my insurance at work. They have a $25K max for fertility!!!! A girl I work with got 3 rounds of IVF out of hers and only paid about $500 out of pocket each round! We'd change to that to do a frozen transfer. We've already discussed our maximum number of tries we are willing to endure. That MAY change, but, we've decided 3 is enough. The 3rd would be the frozen transfer. Not just physically, but, mentally I think that is about all we can take. So, we are really hopeful that this one will work and we won't have to worry about another round!!!

I'm eager to get started, but, we chose to wait until later July to see how everything would pan out with the insurance. And, we needed a little break!!! So, while we wait, we plan on enjoying fully our non-shot filled evenings. Although, we've run into a bit of a snag in our house...we've found more mold maybe, so, we are trying to get that taken care of and the new flooring laid down before July. Time will fly I'm sure.

I've been feeling "okay". Mornings are rough for me...as it usually is with my endo. Things had been fine since surgery, but, I think the IVF meds kicked things up a bit. I feel nauseated and just icky in my stomach every morning and in the evenings. Mid-day is usually pretty good. It's so strange that my endo symptoms are GI related during the whole month...then definitely girl part related during my period. I won't have another period (THANK GOODNESS) before the next IVF cycle since I am on the Aygestin. I do have random pains on that right ovary-it's back, I just don't know how big. I'm not sure I want to know!!!

6 comments:

Nic said...

I nam the same, have GI endo probs during the month and then terrible period pains etc. Plan sounds good. Hope it all works out. x

Nic said...

I had my 2nd lap a week and a half ago. I am not on anything but the shots. If my symptoms get worse I will ask to be put on hormonal supplements. i was told the shots for 6 months will calm my endo down, so they can go back in to remove it all. the risk of bleeding was too high this time round. I will discuss further when I go in for my check up in October (which seems ages away!)

Jeanne said...

I'm thinking of you!!

Jeanne

Anonymous said...

this will be the one i just know it!

Alex said...

Sounds like a great plan! Glad insurance is taking care of some of the burden, that's hard. Hopefully though, this round will work and you won't have to mess with anything else!!! Praying for ya! :)

Barefoot said...

Hooray for your plan! I'm hoping that all of the insurance stuff works out in the best way possible.