Sunday, June 12, 2011

Good news, bad news IVF #3, first appointment

The good news…

We had the first appointment yesterday for IVF #3. The nurse we met with is one of my favorite people at the clinic. She did the blood work for my first beta with Kate, and is super, super sweet. The ultrasound showed that my body was ready, so last night I started Gonal-F, Luveris, and Heparin.

evening cocktail


The bad news….

I was given a bag of meds, and when I brought them home, I discovered that the HCG trigger had not been stored in the refrigerator, so I’m not comfortable using it, and the Gonal F is expired. I have enough new Gonal F to get me through to the next appointment (when I’ll discuss the possibility of still using the expired meds with the RE), but ugh, it looks like we might have to buy more Gonal F.

donated meds

meds I purchased (most of this is leftover from the FET)


As for the blood work, the nurse drew the standard hormone panel, then looked at my chart and said I’d need to redo the EU bloods. Bah, I JUST had them done in the middle of May, but since it’ll have been just over a month when I have egg retrieval, I had to have them redone. My husband had to have his done as well. There goes another $617. For the readers in the U.S., this is infectious disease blood work that’s required by law in all EU countries, to be repeated EVERY month you are in treatment. Dr. Spectacular (the American superstar) has commented about this several times and thinks it’s absurd, I agree. The other day he actually said that it’s more likely a person would get hit with a meteor than get an infectious disease at an IVF clinic, but whatever, we have to follow the law.

My second appointment is in a few days, and egg retrieval will likely/ hopefully happen June 23 or 24. Now I'm off to start working on the 50 bazillion pages of consents and legal forms.

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4 comments:

  1. JustHeatherJune 12, 2011 at 6:39 AM

    That's a LOT of meds!! I've never had to take that many different types at one time. Talk about a lot to deal with. How do you keep it straight what you need to take and when?

    Being in Finland (EU), we don't have to do an infectious disease blood draw each month. Here it is once a year. I wonder if it has to do with you being a US expat? I mean, I'm an expat also, but I also have Finnish citizenship and I'm living here permanently. I wonder if that could make a difference? In any case, sorry you have to get that test done each time and that it costs so much.

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  2. FranJune 12, 2011 at 10:00 AM

    I think the EU profile has to be done every time you cycle fresh or once a year, so I suspect you had to do it in May as it was over a year since the last one and now again since you go fresh.
    Personally I would not be concerned about the meds at all, sure it's better to have them properly stored and in date, but they will be fine, I can promise you that!
    My offer on gestone is still valid, so let me know!

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  3. marilynJune 12, 2011 at 10:40 AM

    that is a lot of meds!!! good luck with this cycle. That is great that you donated your meds:) You little is so cute! Where is the sun though? Here in San Francisco it is so foggy!:(

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  4. CJune 15, 2011 at 5:36 AM

    Ah, that makes sense, Fran. I know we had to do them twice in 2009. Probably the first time because we were new patients, then again the following month for IVF. It had been over a year since we were tested, so that's why they did them again this time, and now we're doing another fresh cycle, so more bloods. Apparently the law is from 2006, EU Cell & Tissue Directive.

    Heather, I actually don't find it difficult to keep the meds straight. Heparin shot and thyroid pill in the morning, all of the other pills at noon, the remaining 3-4 shots in the evening. Or maybe I'm just used to it now ;)

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