Surgery Consult Done

Funny story about my apt Thursday at Conceptions. I arrived 20 mins early (yes EARLY - i know that is shocking!) so I found a nearby Starbucks and indulged myself in a decaf, no fat, pumpkin spice latte , delish! I made my way to the office and walked up to the second level to check in. As I turned the corner, sitting in the waiting room directly in front of me was a guy I had gone to high school with - gulp! Not only had I gone to high school with him but we went out on just a couple of dates. Just my luck to run into a briefly dated guy at the reproductive office. He looked up as I walked around the corner and of course I smiled and gave an enthusiastic "Hi". I took my time checking in and then had the awkward introduction to his wife which was followed by the awkward what are you doing nowadays, where do you live conversation. Which of course would have been perfectly unawkward had it been taking place in a bar. Oh well, it gives me something to laugh at now. But onto my apt. It went great! They did a quick u/s and Dr. S said it all looked good but that he can not tell 100% by u/s if there is any endo. After the u/s I was escorted back to his office and we talked for about 1/2 hour. At first he kept talking about IVF and I listened for a little bit but them I told him that I am not sure that IVF is an option for us. And it definitely is not an option right now for us. With this news - he proceeded to tell me that with that being the case he felt I should have the Laparoscopy and that he wants Jason to do another SA (unfortunately, Jason was out of town and couldn't make the appointment with me).  He did say that depending on the results from those we might be put in the IVF category and at that time can reevaluate "our priorities".  I guess that means we will stop spending money on the lavish lifestyle we lead so we can pay for IVF - yes, I am being sarcastic here!  Anyhow,  my lap will be on Oct 6th or Oct 13th.  I am waiting for the office to call me back with a definite date.  Dr. S does surgeries on Mondays so I will have to take more time off of work than I had hoped.  But what the heck - I could use a good 4 days catching up on all of the trashy magazines.  So that is where we are at.  Moving forward once again.

Surgery Consult Scheduled

I finally was able to talk to Suzie on Friday - we played a major game of phone tag! She spoke to Dr. S and the outcome is basically that if I feel it is important and it is something I want to pursue then Dr. S is willing to do a laparoscopy but he wants to do a surgery consult beforehand to make sure I understand everything. So I called this morning and made my consult for Thursday morning at 8:30am. Phew! I feel like I am on the train again. Of course I can decide to either have the lap or not once I talk with Dr. S. I have an acupuncture appointment this afternoon which I am looking forward to - they are always SO relaxing. So that is where we are at today. I will give an update Thursday after my appt.

Monday, Monday

I am trying to be a good blogger. I don't have a lot to report on the IF side of my life. We are hoping for a miracle BFP this cycle since we are doing no meds. I am also counting down the days until Wednesday - I am anxious to find out what Dr. S thinks about the Lap. An interesting side note: i talked to my cousin a couple weeks ago and she was shocked at the price of IVF in Colorado. She told me I should call the Cleveland Clinic and get prices. I did and interestingly enough the whole package there (including 5 day transfers and ICSI - which is more here in Colorado) is $15,000. Wow - a savings of at least $5,000. So yet another option on our plate of what-to-do. Don't get me wrong, we love having options, it's just that my mind swirls over them constantly. Another option is to find a job that offers IF coverage in their insurance and stay here in Colorado. But in a perfect world we won't have to get to that point. I have noticed that I have a terrible habit of putting the cart before the horse and I have to remind myself to take things one step at a time.

What's New?

Okay, I have been a terrible blogger lately. I do apologize. There has been so much going on I am not sure where to start....
Jason & I have decided to hold off this month on our IUI's. Yes, I know, time is not on our side and we should be aggressive with our "treatment" but we are concerned about spending money on "treatments" if they are not going to work. We have requested that our Dr. do a laparoscopy. I am not sure how far this request will fly as it is surgery but we just want to have ALL of the answers before we continue to spend so much money. Unfortunately, Dr. Swanson is at a conference until Wednesday so we won't get a follow up call until then. Suzie, Dr. Swanson's nurse, was very nice and open to our request - so we will see where that ends up. If for some reason Conceptions does not think it is necessary I might go to my OB and see what he thinks.
I have been researching the benefits of wheatgrass and fertility on the Internet. It seems to be the hot thing lately on the boards I visit. Seems fairly simple and if it can't hurt it is worth a try - the downside is that I either go to Jamba Juice everyday and spend $1.50 for a shot of it or I get it in pill form and take 14 to 21 pills of it everyday - ugh! However; at this point, I could be told that running backwards everyday at precisely 8:30pm with no clothes on could help & I would do that if it would remotely increase our chances of a baby.
I am continuing with my acupuncture and my aspirin. Of course taking my vitamins. I have successfully cut out artificial sweeteners (no more Diet Dr. Pepper or Splenda) and have cut back significantly on caffeine (one iced tea with no sugar/sweetener a day). I enjoy a cup of raspberry herbal tea (caffeine free) every morning - which is supposed to help with "female issues" and I try to eat as healthy as I can while still eating what I enjoy. I no longer have a glass of wine every night with dinner and I have cut out ibuprofen (it can "interfere" with implantation. I am not sure what else I can do that is within my control but trust me - If I hear of it I will do it!
Of course the IVF scenario has been on our minds and that is stressful enough. It's not the procedure itself or the meds - I would go through all of that in a heardbeat to increase our chances of a baby - I would start tomorrow if I could but here in Colorado we are looking at anywhere between $20,000 and $23,000 for IVF. OMG! Which leads me to my insurance rant. Our insurance covers 70% of diagnostic procedures for IF up to $2,000 and that is it. It will not cover any meds or treatment procedures. Wouldn't it be a lot less expensive for insurance companies if they were to cover IVF since you and your Doctor have control over how many embryo's are put back. The risk of HOM (high order multiples) with IVF is SIGNIFICANTLY less than with IUI. So insurance should pay for IVF procedures instead of paying millions for babies that are in the NICU for months at a time because they are quads, quints or even more. I mean really!?! It makes no sense to me. And it probably will not make any sense to anyone who has not faced IF before. Jason and I have a right to have a family as much as anyone else in this world. Unfortunately we have to have procedures that are "medically necessary" in order for that to happen. Of course insurance deems these procedures and "unnecessary". BLAH!
It is just so unfair. Okay - rant over.