At long last, I’m going to give you a TTC treatment update. Sort of. I’m currently in the middle of five days of Provera, with the intention of bringing on a period as soon as possible. Dr. Hot wants me to go through this cycle, and then, when I get my next period, I can start on the Letrozole. Assuming I don’t get my period naturally and have to wait to take Provera, I figure my next treatment cycle will be in February. Of course, that all depends on how long it takes my uterus to figure out it should be bleeding. M is trying to plan some business trips in February, which is difficult, because I have absolutely no idea when I need him to be at home. And I really don’t want to miss our chance this first cycle! Depending on the day, I’m either really positive about my chances of getting pregnant in 1-3 cycles, or I’m absolutely convinced there’s no way we can be as lucky with Letrozole the second time as we were the first time, and I won’t even be able to ovulate.
We had a bit of a scare the other day. After I came home from work, I opened an envelope from the insurance company and discovered they weren’t paying for my delivery, D&C, hospital stay—basically everything that happened from Nov. 6-8—because I had a “disability not covered under my plan.” I was rather concerned. No, scratch that—I was hysterical. Forget saving money for a future IVF, I told M—instead, we were going to have to spend all our savings on delivering a dead baby. Between my sobs, M reminded me that my induction had been delayed because the peri’s office was checking on my insurance (after all, it’s as much in their interest as it is in mine that my insurance company pays for the delivery), but I was sure the bloodsucking insurance company had figured out a way not to pay my bill.
The next morning, M called the insurance company. Within one call, the issue was resolved: There had been a computer error, and we will receive a corrected statement within two weeks. How can they do that to people? If I had been 80, I may have had a heart attack and died! We were both incredibly relieved, and M reveled in the opportunity to say “I told you so.” My mother, whom I had called in the middle of all the mess, thinks I’m emotionally unstable and fatally pessimistic. Hmmm—you think?????
One thing I did take note of was the difference in my mood between my arrival home and my discovery of the insurance error. It was huge. I went from rather good to terrible in milliseconds. I didn’t really notice my rather good mood until it wasn’t there anymore. In other words…I’m doing OK. A bit of progress, no?
There are still many, many things that make me very sad (like seeing pictures of people’s cute kids in Christmas cards or trying on clothes that make me remember my bump), and going to bed at night is still a rather teary event, but in general, I’m able to go through life these days in a reasonably good mood. I’m not embarrassed to admit that I sang along to “My Favorite Things” on the radio at the top of my lungs on my drive home yesterday.
So the cliché appears to be true—it does get a little bit easier every day.
I’d like to reiterate that I’m very, very sorry I can’t be active on the blogs of those who were due around the same time I was (you know who you are). It’s just too painful to hear you talking about your active little fetuses and the process of picking out nursery decorations. That doesn’t mean, of course, that you shouldn’t talk about those things; I just need to shield myself, as much as possible, from thinking about the “what ifs” and the way things “should have been.”
A tale of PCOS, infertility, love, life and trying to adapt to the curveballs life throws at us
Friday, December 14, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
15 comments:
What a scare! Insurance companies do suck...don't even get me started!
If your hubby will be traveling in February have you thought about doing an IUI with frozen sperm as a back-up if he's gone when you O? It might make a good Plan B to save you a little worry at least.
Oh and I think that you are smart to shield yourself from things that you know will trigger pain. I think we try to be too strong sometimes and it always backfires.
Insurances companies, man, they should send all of their high-ranking employees statements like that if they have surgery or some sort of medical emergency, and see how they like it!
I don't think your insurance reaction was at all inappropriate for the amount of money that was at stake. But I've had my mom say similar things, when I was looking for a reason for our misacrriage rather than jut accepting that it happened (I think she said I was trying to find something random wrong with me).
What you're doing with the blogs is TOTALLY RIGHT. Honestly, you've gone through so much heartbreak already. Naturally those who are now where you want to be... those hurt a ton. I've done the same thing, for bloggers who got pregnant with IVF the same month I did it... Somehow the fact that they're still pregnant when I'm not and getting lovely ultrasounds just drives a long spike deep in my heart. And I bleed all over again.
Ann, your wound is still so very new. Guard and protect your heart. Healing does come, it sounds like it is coming to you in pieces. But normal may never come back totally. If I were one of your pregnant blogger friends, I wouldn't blame you at all. And I'm sure they understand and are so very sorry their joy could be a pain for you.
Screw that insurance company. You think they'd process such a sad claim with a little mroe in teh fact checking before nasty letters department.
SHeesh.
Oh, and fwiw, you beta may take a while to decrease to the level where you'll ovulate. It took me about six weeks.
J
more
the
I get so cross at that sort of nasty business that I don't even type good!
I'm glad to hear you're feeling even a tiny bit better!
Every insurance letter makes me freak out that something wasn't covered, even when it's just my confirmation that they handled my metformin co-pay. They don't care anything about patients other than making sure we pay!
I know how you feel about the insurance company. They denied my daughters stay in the hospital at birth because it wasn't pre-approved. I was like, "How can we pre-approve something that couldn't be predicted." Apparently the insurance company doesn't mind after the fact approvals though.
Then they did it again with a surgery and I saw the denial and a 10,000 bill!? Apparently the hospital didn't send the correct stuff over as proof that the surgery was needed. But why did I get a bill especially since they said I didn't need to worry that the hospital would send the correct stuff? Are they purposely trying to freak people out? Gees!
I'm glad you can see that you're making progress even by looking backwards from your angry mood! I know that feeling!
I also understand the hope/despair swings. It's a funny business.
I have bowed out of reading the blogs of people who got pregnant alongside me this time too (I didn't blog when I had my second tri m/c) I understand completely, I am so happy they are where they are but it adds to my feelings of failure. I just can't make this journey any more difficult than it already is. I wish I could still support them and hear their news but it is too hard, way too hard.
Ann- your attitude continues to amaze me. Although the insurance screw up was shitty (and your subsequent meltdown totally understandable), I'm happy to see that it allowed you some perspective to see that you are "doing alright" sometimes.
Your prospect of cycling is exciting. Best of luck with your Provera-period. And with the Letrozole (it's good stuff, and if it worked before, I have hopes for you this time too.) I had the same thought as Jennifer- would it be feasable to freeze some sperm?
And last- I just want you to know that I think of you often and am here to support you. I totally understand you staying away...
I'm thinking I would have had a major freak out too. So, um, yeah.
I'm with ms. c - you're amazing. The fact that you're having any good moods right now is absolutely great, even if they're short-lived and end in milliseconds. I can't imagine how hard this all is, and adding the insurance stuff on top is just like GIVE A GIRL A BREAK, but hang in there and comment/avoid whatever you need in blogland.
I understand completely about the not reading blogs thing.
I am going to say though, that like Geohde, I think you might not ovulate for another few months after a loss like this.
Your body is still in the recovery stage, so please don't be surprised if your cycles are strange or too short or too long. And definitely don't be shocked if your ovulation times are off.
Take care, and remember to take prenatals, and or at least extra folic acid right now. Your body needs all the help it can get sweetie.
((Hugs))
Insurance companies suck!! You should see the mountain of bills i have piling up from the ectopic rupture last month. It's like, on top of everything else, they have to get you one last time... I'm glad that they found that yours was just an error.
I still get teary when I see babies or PG ladies. I always have to compare myself to them. Unfortunately there are so many people around me that either are PG or are new mommies that it makes it rather difficult to avoid. I hope that it gets better, for both of us.
Good luck honey, I am sending you a virtual hug!
I'm convinced that any and all insurance company 'mistakes' are in fact done on purpose on the off chance that you'll just pay them money they don't deserve. It makes me so mad. Especially given your situation...you don't need anything extra to deal with.
You really don't need to apologize for avoiding the blogs of those who are due around the same time you would've been. I'm sure nobody thinks any less of you for it, or if they do then they aren't worthy of being called a friend. You need to put your healing first.
My insurance company reduced me to tears when I was just trying to find out my IF coverage. When my husband broke his hand and required extra hand therapy they constantly denies his claims and it took some nasty fighting. They truly are evil.
Post a Comment