Crowdfunding for Adoptions, Fertility Treatments

E brought this article, Crowdfunding for Adoptions, Fertility Treatments, to my attention and I thought it was very interesting:

Hopeful parents to be are turning to crowdfunding sites to raise thousands of dollars from friends, family and even complete strangers.

This just brings to the forefront that insurance companies need to get their act together.  ART techniques including IUI and IVF, should be covered by ALL insurance plans.  People should not have to use up their entire life savings to have a child.  Not everyone can naturally have a child and it is not fair that they should be punished for this.  I understand that there would most likely need to be a monetary limit put on these techniques, but to not even cover one cycle is absolutely absurd!

Vent Over!  

T-3 weeks until the start of our next cycle!

Our Final Meeting with the Urologist

E has been Clomid since the beginning of April.  Last week, he provided a sperm sample and then we patiently awaited the results.

I tried not to get my hopes up as the last SA was unsuccessful, but I had heard of many men having success with Clomid so I was optimistic.  Unfortunately, this was not the case for us.  E's SA still showed azoospermia - no sperm.  The urologist said that E should remain on the Clomid until we are done TTC.  

So as of now, we will be using E's frozen sperm that he banked before chemotherapy.  Not the best case scenario, but at least we have something to work with.

The urologist described the journey as a roller coaster.  He said with each infertility treatment there is hope, but then there are downs that (may) come with it.  So true....  The question becomes when do you get off?

 

And the Results are in!

The doctor called me within a week to inform me of the results - CIN1 cells.

Okay - so what does CIN1 mean?

A CIN1 diagnosis represents the least risky type of abnormal cell growth commonly referred to as mild dysplasia.  This means that the abnormal cells are confined to the basal 1/3 of the epithelium. Typically, it will be cleared by the immune response in a year or so, though can take several years to clear.

Where does this leave us in our IVF journey?  

After contacting our IVF coordinator, she said that since the abnormal cells were only CIN1 that we would be able to move forward with the IVF cycle at the end of July!!

Bad Blogger - Colposcopy Update!

I am the worst blogger!  No updates in 6 weeks - are you kidding me?

Well, here you go.

At the end of May, I had a colposcopy.  I was SO nervous about the outcome of the procedure.  If the biopsy came back with CN2 or CN3 abnormal cells, then there would be no IVF...

So the Friday before Memorial Day, I went to my regular ObGyn office.  Two weeks earlier,  I made an appointment with the first available doctor - a man I had never met before - oh well - I wanted to get this procedure done ASAP. 

So the procedure....

First, you lay down on a table and they invert it.  They place acetic acid (more or less vinegar) into your vagina so it can reach your cervix and then you wait for 5 minutes.  I will not lie - it burned!  The doctor then shared the good news - no cervical cancer! Yay!  The bad news is that he needed to do a biopsy since he could not tell how bad the abnormal cells were.  When he took the cervical tissue for the biopsy, I literally felt nothing.  Once he finished up, I was able to go to work - lucky me!

He said he would contact me in a week with results.  Let the waiting begin!!!!

BFFs with the Urologist

I think we can officially say that E and I are BFFs with the urologist.  Today, we had yet another appointment with him to get an update of E's testosterone levels.  It has been 8 long months of appointments, surgeries, and follow-ups.  Urologists appointments are awesome because I feel like over 50% of the appointment is devoted to you and your husband talking about your sex life - fun times!

The Good News: E's levels have increased by 100 and is now at 470.

The Bad News: We will not have a SA until July because it takes 3 months for sperm to mature.  We were really hoping to start a fresh cycle in July (assuming my colposcopy goes well next Friday).  It now looks as though we will need to push it back to August - the same month that my sister is due with her first child.  

I am really hoping that the third time is a charm for us - fingers crossed!

Abnormal Pap - Just Our Luck!

So over the course of the last month, I have had to go for a lot of preliminary testing so that we can start a fresh cycle in end of June, beginning of July.  I had blood work done, a saline sonogram, and then a bunch of tests to check for STDs.

Everything came back fine except for my pap.  I have been getting pap smears done consistently for the last 15 years and everything has always come back normal.  Of course the one time I NEED a normal pap, I get abnormal results. 

Side note:  I was not even up for a pap until July 2014 (according to the new guidelines).  My advice ladies - do not follow these guidelines - go EVERY year.

 My obgyn's office at first says the first appointment for a colposcopy is not until June since one of the doctors is going on vacation - Are you kidding me?  After talking to the nurse, they were able to fit me in in 3 weeks instead of 5.

So, now we wait.  My IF clinic said that if everything comes back normal after the colposcopy then we can still cycle this summer.  Fingers crossed!

How Fertile Friendly is Your State?

Can we all move to Massachusetts?

Look at the coverage they are required to provide people dealing with infertility:

Mandate Information

•All insurers providing pregnancy-related benefits shall provide for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility including the following: artificial insemination; IVF; GIFT; sperm, egg and/or inseminated egg procurement and processing, and banking of sperm or inseminated eggs, to the extent such costs are not covered by the donor’s insurer, if any; ICSI; ZIFT;
•Insurers shall not impose any exclusions, limitations or other restrictions on coverage of infertility drugs that are different from those imposed on any other prescription drugs;
•Insurers are not required to cover (but are not prohibited from covering) experimental infertility procedures, surrogacy, reversal or voluntary sterilization or cryopreservation of eggs;
•Employers who self-insure are exempt from the requirements of the law;
•No lifetime cap on coverage;
•No maximum IVF cycles.

My state ranks in the top 10, but I am still super jealous of what the residents of MA are able to get.  When will people start viewing infertility as a disease/disorder and provide adequate coverage for it.