Today I am thankful for the pharmacy, or my insurance, or some computer glitch... Actually, I'm not sure where to direct the thanks, but I am definitely appreciative. I had my baseline monitoring appointment this morning and will begin the Follistim tomorrow. They told me that everything was "boring, in a good way." No cysts. Nothing else that would contraindicate a "Go!".
This afternoon, I picked up the Follistim prescription along with the prescription of the Ovidril, and the progesterone suppositories (oh joy!). As the pharmacy tech rang up my order, I prepared for the worst. I had mentioned earlier that I was hopeful my insurance would be covering the prescriptions until the end of the year, but I never imagined this... the whole bill ran me $24! All of the injectable medications cost $0.00 and the only thing I was actually charged for was the progesterone. I made the tech double-check because I couldn't believe this. Even on covered meds, I'm still supposed to be paying a percentage. The tech told me not to question it, which I think is a good advice. I'm just so used to having everything possible go wrong (especially related to insurance coverage), that it doesn't make sense when something good happens.
So this injectible thing is confusing to me. First, I forgot to get the cartridge this morning from the doctor's office and then the pharmacist told me they didn't carry the cartridges and that I would have to get it from the doctor. So now I have to go back to the doctor's office but they close before I'm done with work so this means getting there bright and early tomorrow before work. I also realized, after leaving the pharmacy of course, that I need to get some alcohol swabs. I'll just plan on "borrowing" these from my floor at work. Do I need band-aids also? I noticed that the Follistim pack comes with 4 or 5 needles, but what happens when I run out and need more? Does it really not matter if I inject my abdomen vs my thigh or was the nurse just saying that to make me less anxious? And when when she told me inject around the same time each evening, are we talkin' within an hour, two-hours, or five minutes?
Aside from the confusion, I actually feel like a kid on Christmas eve. I'm super excited to open up my new package and play with what's inside. I get to put things together and measure stuff and read instructions. Sounds like great fun. Until we get to the part of the needle and actually having my nursing-student/husband give me a shot. I'm sure that part is going to get old real quick. Until then, I'm going to remain thankfused and exciteful. (Sorry, this mixture of emotions makes me really corny apparhently)
I love that feeling of excitement and your right it does feel just like Christmas Eve! I like "thank fused:)"! Wishing you the best!
ReplyDeleteWow! That is so great about the insurance coverage! One thing to note is that the cartridges always have some overfill, usually between 50 and 100 units (which is why I always buy 300unit cartridges because in the long run I get more "free" overfill). As to your specific injection questions, I never needed a band-aid. I just kept the alcohol swab handy and wiped away any stray blood with that (but I should note I'm Type 1 diabetic and was on injections for 16 years of my life, so am used to shots). I always did my injections in my thighs, as opposed to abdomen. As for the needles, I've never run out. That will all depend on what your doses are. The needles that the follistim pen uses, I believe, are the same needles used for insulin pens, so if needed, I think you could get a script for just needles. You'll want to do your injections within the same hour each night, at least that's what our RE told us.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the first injection. They're really not that bad.
Thanks for the helpful advise. It really was pretty anticlimactic and it gets easier every day.
DeleteHoly Early Xmas Present, Batman! Stopping by from ICLW and am dumbstruck with awe by your total med cost! I had 50% coverage for my IVF cycle (that wasn't even intended to be an IVF cycle) and still paid almost $2k for meds. Congrats!!
ReplyDeleteI was dumbstruck too! It cost less than my Clomid prescriptions! I've heard that were having some computer glitches and mom, with the same insurance, got some medication sent to her via home delivery for free that shouldn't have been, so I'm really nervous it was just a glitch and next time it's going to be a much larger bill.
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