My Exhaustive To Do List!

#1...I could kill blogger. Don't these idiots know not to mess with emotional infertile women?! I mean...really? Another issue with blogger so soon? I've tried to leave so many comments in the past few days and I am ready to throw my computer out the window!! I'm not ignoring all you lovelies, I just can't comment until blogger gets this patch in to fix the problem!

#2....Why does this upcoming FET seem so much more complicated than the last one? I mean, the treatment isn’t THAT much different, and I should be an old pro at this by now! But, for some reason…my “to do” list this time actually had to be written down so that I wouldn’t forget anything, and the list ended up being nearly a page long, and I'm feeling totally out of control over the entire cycle!

It all started at my hysteroscopy appointment on the 10th. After the procedure was complete and I less high from the anesthesia, I met with one of the IVF nurses (Kim) to go over my FET protocol. I took one look at that spreadsheet and knew there was some differences. First of all….the dreaded PIO shots instead of the less dreaded suppositories. Great! I realized quickly that DH was going to be out of town for the first few days I start my PIO shots. So, the nurse helped me with some tips on giving myself shots in my ass muscle. Super duper fun!! If anyone wants to volunteer to come over and do this...I'd welcome it! We then talked for awhile…..she told me that they are now getting all of the drugs through a different pharmacy. I got my fresh cycle and FET cycle drugs from Walgreens specialty pharmacy…which I liked. But, she told me that this new pharmacy seems to have better prices, so I was all for it! We talked about how many embryos we want to transfer (2 or 3?,) maybe I should do acupuncture at least right before and right after my transfer….more and more things to consider and think about! After about an hour, my brain is now fried and I am still slightly high from the anesthesia!

So, after we go over the protocol she walks me to the front desk to schedule my lining check in June. I get that scheduled and am happy to see that they’ve opened up a new office close to downtown Denver so that I can go there for my lining check and blood draws. It’s not super convenient because I do ride the bus each day into downtown Denver, so on the days I’ll do my blood draws I’ll have to drive in, which isn’t really different then driving to the north or south office, but I do think it is going to save me a bit of time. Then, she casually reminds that “Oop I am due for my annual female exam!!” Wonderful! So, I need to get that scheduled through Kaiser which is always a treat. Oh, and by the way, she says…you and DH will also need to sign the FET consent form AGAIN, so you either need to drag his ass to one of the offices to sign it in front of one of our employees or get it notarized and bring it to us. Okay Krista…are you remembering all of this?

So, I get back to the office and call Kaiser to make my appointment for my annual female exam, they tell me that the doctor now requires blood work 3 days prior to the appointment AND I’ll have to fast before the blood work. Ugh! Getting blood work done at Kaiser is awful…the wait is always an hour or so! One more hoop to jump through!!

Soon, the new pharmacy calls me and says that my nurse has called in my FET drugs for me. They tell me the total is $500! Now, wasn’t my last FET drugs $500?! Yep, I am sure of that. Doesn’t seem any cheaper through here, but whatevs, let’s just get it ordered. She then goes on to tell me that in order to deliver the drugs they need a signature at delivery. Another ugh!! My husband and I work…we aren’t home Monday-Friday between 6:30am and 6:00pm. She comes up with this great idea that they can deliver the package to my work! Okay, let’s do that. The front desk can sign it and then I’ll run to our main building across the street to pick it up. This seems like a great idea. But, after I got off the phone and the more I think about it...the more paranoid I am getting. What if the front desk loses the box!? What if they try to send it over to me through interoffice mail and someone misplaces it?! I tell myself to calm down, I will get in touch with the girls at the front desk and tell them to IMMEDIATELY call me when the box is delivered.

So, I go about my day and I'm creating my "to do" list, since it seems I have a lot to remember....and more and more questions start coming to me. The new pharmacy didn’t say anything about baby aspirin, it’s on my protocol but wasn’t ordered. Walgreens sent it me last time…OMG…did it not get ordered?! I am supposed to take birth control for 24 days, but I only have 21 active pills…OMG…this will mess up when my cycle starts!!! OMG, I am going to be out of town for one of the scheduled blood draws!! Do I need to cancel my vacation?!!?!

So, after stewing about all this overnight I decide to call my nurse….now, I really try hard not to call them too much because I know they are busy and I don't want to be "that" patient. Also, when I leave them messages, I try my hardest not to sound too frantic. So, I calmly leave my message about my concerns. Claudia calls me back and asks what my concerns are about the protocol (they must think…what the heck could she possibly have an issue with?!) So, I tell her and she agrees that my concerns are valid…phew! She tells me that I can pick up my own aspirin at the drug store….okay, didn’t know that. She tells me that Kim should have given me more BC pills to get me through the last few days. Grrrrr….. but, she says she will send some over to the Denver office for me to pick up…great one more errand I have to freaking run! Then, says it is fine to wait two days for the blood draw I am scheduled for over the weekend…but that means a blood draw on a Monday and then again on a Wednesday…..but at least I don’t have to cancel my vacation!

So, my list so far:
-Make appointment for female exam at Kaiser
-Get blood work done at Kaiser
-Pick up baby aspirin and prenatals at drug store.
-Get my meds ordered and then let the girls at the front desk know when they are going to be delivered so I can pick them up before they get lost.
-Figure out how to get both hubby and I to sign the consent form and then get it to clinic.
-Get the female appointment done at Kaiser
-Once I get my results from Kaiser, send them to the clinic.
-Make massage appointments
-Make acupuncture appointments
-Pick up extra birth control pills from Denver office
-Wait on results from hysteroscopy
-Wait on results from blood work from WTF appointment, call if they don’t call within a week with results.
-Figure out how to get more insulin needle for the lupron, because I realize I only have 10 left!

Girls, I am exhausted just writing that!!! As I was working through this exhaustive to do list over the next few weeks…..doing pretty well if I do say so myself, the only hiccup I had was when the meds were delivered to my office. I had warned the front desk girls that I had a very important package being delivered that day and wanted to know immediately when it arrived.  So when it was delivered they sent me an email saying that it had arrived. When I got to the front desk across the street to pick it up…the box had been opened! I demanded to know why the box was opened and they said that there was tape all over it that said “do not accept until all contents are inspected!” Oh great! So these chicks at the front desk are rummaging through my box of goods! Grumble grumble. Then, last Tuesday I got the first part of my blood tests back which revealed the MTHFR mutation (no Ms.Tee...that's NOT a bad word, silly girl!,) which means I will need to take more folic acid and B vitamins. So, I ordered a gigantic bottle of Super B vitamins which include B6, B12 and folic acid.

Last Friday after having my female exam in the morning and running errands all day…I got a call from my nurse. And, let me just say that I DID feel in control before that, and then all of the sudden…totally out of control! As you all know, I found out that I have a clotting disorder caused by my immune system. The treatment is giving myself a blood thinning injection each day starting at the time of transfer and then for 12 weeks. The problem with this? Each injection is $30! Ummmm…yeah…. that is $2500!!! So, I’m totally freaking out! We just paid $2500 for the immune blood tests and hysteroscopy from my WTF appointment! So, I decide to take a chance and ask my doctor at Kaiser….is there ANY WAY I could get the treatment through Kaiser? She tells me that she’d be willing to help out, but she needs to talk to Dr. B to get his recommendations on treatment and she does NOT want to give me lovenox…she says it is dangerous!? So, now I am waiting to see if these two can get in touch with the other, then come to some kind of agreement on treatment, and if my PCP will still be willing to do my treatment through Kaiser. This, of course means double the blood tests…double the appointments….getting treatment from two different clinics. The thought makes me want to cry!!! But, if I can get the treatment through Kaiser...we MIGHT be able to keep our home from going into foreclosure! (that's a joke....I do that sometimes.)

On top of that, my nurse called back later on Friday to tell me that the rules have changes at the clinic, that they now require the husbands to get the communicable disease blood tests done too! It doesn’t matter if it’s a fresh transfer or frozen…all of the men have to get the tests done. DH is of course not happy about this, and getting him to do the tests is like pulling teeth! I told him to make a yearly physical appointment at Kaiser and then ask his doctor if she’d be willing to add on the extra blood tests. It took 4 days of bugging him to FINALLY make the appointment! Then we found out that his usual PCP is on a leave of absence, so we had to talk some strange PCP into ordering the tests for us. Kaiser does NOT cover anything for IVF, so I had to put together this sly email to this strange PCP about why we need communicable disease blood tests for my husband. Luckily, he ordered them with no push back...thank the lord!!! 

We also managed to get over to the Denver office on Tuesday (in torrential downpour,) to pick up the extra birth control, more insulin needles and sign the consent. At least I can check those things off my list! I've also contacted an acupuncturist that came recommended to me from nurse Kim. Hopefully, I can get the acupuncture scheduled for the day of transfer now!

My current list of things we need to get done before transfer:

-Make appointment for female exam at Kaiser
-Get blood work done at Kaiser
-Pick up baby aspirin and prenatals at drug store
-Get my meds ordered and then let the girls at the front desk know when they are going to be delivered so I can pick them up before they get lost.
-Figure out how to get both hubby and I to sign the consent form and then get it to clinic.
-Get my female appointment done at Kaiser
-Once I get my results from Kaiser, fax them to the clinic
-Make massage appointments
-Make acupuncture appointments
-Pick up extra birth control pills from Denver office
-Wait on results from hysteroscopy
-Wait on results from blood work from WTF appointment, call if they don’t call within a week with results.
-Figure out how to get more insulin needle for the lupron, because I realize I only have 10 left!
-Figure out how to get Dr. B and PCP to communicate and figure out a plan for treatment.
-Get them to tell me what the plan is and start the treatment...i.e. more blood tests.
-Get the blood thinning injections in my hot little hands without having to file bankruptcy.
-Get DH's physical scheduled at Kaiser
-Talk DH's PCP into doing the communicable disease tests.
-Get DH to do his blood tests and physical.
-Fax results of DH's blood tests to clinic.

No, this is not a joke.  Krista is not a happy Krista right now. WHY does this all have to be so damn difficult?! Yes, you are free to feel sorry for me...because I feel sorry for myself! Loopy Lupron starts tomorrow and my last day of birth control is Tuesday...yep, we're already back on the rollercoaster!

The UP side to my life right now is that DH and I are leaving for Telluride in the morning. We have a suite waiting for us, as well as FREE WINE, a swedish massage and lots of much needed romance. Be back Tuesday! XOXO!!!!