Holy Big Pharma...To Infertility and Beyond!

This morning's mail brought our IVF plan with a complete list of meds (for now at least). Take a gander at this whopper of a list...

-Leuprolide Microdose (Lupron 40 mcg/0.1cc) 40 syringes
-Gonal-F (900IU) 4 Pens, 6 refills
-Gonal-F (300IU) 2 Pens, 6 refills
-Menopur (75 IU) 12 needles, 24 count, 1 refill
-Estradiol (2mg) 90 tablets, 3 refills
-Norco 5 (for pain) 20 tablets, 1 refill
-Doxycycline (100 mg) 8 tablets
-Medrol (4 mg) 16 count
-Ovidrel (250 mcg) 1 refill
-Crinone (8% gel) 18 applicators, 3 refills
-Dexamethasone ( 0.5 mg) 30 count
Sharps package (disposal unit, alcohol wipes, gauze, etc.)
-DHEA (25 mg/day) 3x/day
-CoQ10 (600 mg) daily

I feel like I've got enough fertility meds on order to fill up a spaceship and fly to the moon! No idea why, but when I saw this list I immediately got a picture of Buzz Lightyear in my head and couldn't help but think of him lifting off full speed ahead proclaiming, "To infinity and beyond!"

Except I guess in my case it's more like "To infertility and beyond!" If the world ends tomorrow, you can bet your sweet britches I'm taking my fertility meds with me. This stuff is like liquid gold I tell you! Once I saw the list it kind of hit home why they are so damn expensive. The meds alone for our IVF cycle will cost around $6000 thanks to my low AMH and DOR diagnosis.

The actual IVF procedure itself will cost another $10-11K (min.), although that number could easily grow if we end up needing ICSI (Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection), assisted hatching, or any other "add-ons."  If there is one thing I've learned about fertility medicine, it's that is ALWAYS ends up being more than the low ball figure they give you. There will always be an extra ultrasound, or an extra vial of meds, or an extra blood test needed. When you have zero fertility insurance coverage and are paying completely OOP, you pay attention to every dollar spent (at least I do) and so you know exactly how easily it can climb. Realistically, we know we'll spend $15K-$20K for this one cycle of IVF, which equates to a 40-50% shot at conception. 

Sound like A LOT of money for still having no guarantee of a baby? Well, it is. However, without IVF we have only about 1-2% chance at conceiving on our own. It's been 4+ years since I stopped taking the pill and almost 2 years since we started actively TTC with the help of specialists. We've experienced 2 pregnancy losses and have uncovered quite a laundry list of issues on my end, which are presenting a multitude of reasons we aren't having success the good old fashioned way. We would rather not assume the definition of insanity by doing the same thing over and over again for the next year or 5 years, only to be stuck in the same place we are now. Btw, I'm totally sporting this T-shirt once I'm pregnant...

Sure I could just start smoking crack (seems to work so well!) or there could always be a miracle sometime this decade if we kept trying on our own. Everyone knows someone who miraculously became pregnant in their 40's after years of trying. I mean, look at Sarah and Abraham from the Bible who became pregnant at age 90 or something! Well, waiting until I'm 90 is a road neither hubby nor I am willing to take, as I'm sure most of you aren't either. lol

I was kind of surprised to see that my RE has me doing the Micro-Dose Lupron Flare Protocol with BCP for the IVF. I thought I'd be doing the traditional Long Lupron protocol, but apparently after viewing my entire file he feels I am better off with a Micro-Dose protocol. I can't say I object to be honest. Ever since I learned about IVF protocols, I've been a little scared of being overly suppressed on the Long Lupron protocol, due to my DOR (diminished ovarian reserve) diagnosis and some other factors.

Even though I had my AMH re-tested recently at 1.8, it was 0.88 when taken 6 months ago, so they still consider me to be DOR based on my lowest measurable number. I also exhibit quite a few other signs of poor response. If you've followed my blog a while, you already know how super duper low all of my hormones have always been and how slow and late I seem to respond to other fertility meds, even though fertility meds in pill form aren't the best determinant in ovarian response. I'm guessing he looked more closely at ALL the pieces to this crazy puzzle and chose Micro-Dose for me based on everything put together.  He does not base protocol for any of his patients on AFC (antral follicle count) either. I did ask nurse Jamie for the rationale on this decision to switch to the Micro-Dose protocol just to be clear on his reasoning. I'll let you know what he says. At the end of the day, I totally respect Dr. Vaughn's opinion 100% and will just follow dr.'s orders.

I put together a rough draft of our IVF cycle and created a new tab at the top of this page titled "IVF Calendar" which will stay there permanently. (Click on each calendar to enlargen.) There are a few extraneous meds not listed there believe it or not, but all the key players are there for now. It will also change as we modify dosages and monitoring along the way. Now if I can backtrack for a moment...I realize I was just complaining about being on BCP's in my last blog post, but after seeing this big fat scary list of meds, BCP's aren't seeming so bad anymore!