Shut it Down

The shut down started October 11th.  I'm not sure if you are aware, but the Uterus is awfully noisy. I've actually been taking Ortho-tricyclen (Male translation: birth control pills) since I got my IUD out in July. Not sure if it's because the doctor's still don't believe me that Jim is my only partner or what. It seems contradictory, right? Birth control to prepare for the surrogacy. But I think the doctor's just want to be in control of my cycle.....And then wipe it out completely (insert dramatic music-Dun, dun, dunnnn). So then on October 11th I started taking Lupron (or the generic term: Leuprolide) via subcutaneous injection.  Which means that every evening I inject myself with an insulin type needle in the stomach with 10 international units of Lupron.

In order to learn the art of giving yourself injections, you have a "lesson" at the clinic. So Ben, Jessi and I headed on over to the Gynecology Outpatient Clinic (from now on we'll call it just, the clinic). Where Mo took us into a room to show us the medicine we would be taking and how to inject it.

 Jessi and I have very different purposes for these medications. Lupron is used to suppress the pituitary gland, which is responsible for ovulation. We want my ovulation to basically stop so that my body can react better to the embryo.
This is the only injection I have and I have to take until basically the day before "retrieval". The Vivelle you see in the picture is a patch. Stay tuned.


I have never injected myself with anything so I needed a real tutorial.  Mo pulled out her pretend arm bubble and let us have at it. We each had a turn filling up the syringe and injecting it into the arm bubble, which is filled with strange pretend medicine. Gross.  Mo described that we should inject in our stomach because it's best to inject into a place where there is a layer of fat....I know, can you believe it? I don't even have fat on my belly....probably. Ok maybe a little.

Once I started the Lupron, I stopped the Tricyclen and then on October 18th, I had a baseline ultrasound. Later that day, Jessi and I received an email from Mo that stated:

Maggie’s baseline ultrasound this morning was clear – which means that her uterine lining was thin and her ovaries had no signs of ovulation – and her estradiol level was low. As soon as we hear that Jessi’s started her period, Maggie can put on her first estrogen patch.
Woo-Hoo!

Jessi, Mo and I decided that I had shut it down like a boss and then we were to wait. Mo and Dr. Davenport reported that whilst I was on the Lupron, I may have Menopausal like symptoms. These could include, but were not limited to: Hot flashes, night sweats, headaches, acne and "mood changes". As I described this to my husband and co-workers, they were thrilled! As if my "mood changes" weren't erratic enough!

Sidenote: A shutdown, does not happen without great struggle between parties first. Ask the US Government. The week before receiving my medications via mail because apparently local pharmacies can't handle the annoying vendors that sell these medications I spent no less than one hour on the phone with Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS), Curascript, and Freedom Fertility Pharmacy EVERY DAY. That's right every f*%^$#ing day I had to call these places to try and get my medications sent to me on time and correctly.  

What I understand is that because these medications are "specialty medications" they cannot be retrieved in your local pharmacy.  Freedom Fertility does not sell the prescription strength of the Lupron that I needed, so we were trying to get it from Curascript. Who basically has the worst customer service policy in the world.  It was a no go. We couldn't even get them to follow through with the prescription. Further, all of these "specialty clinics" need pre-authorizations from BCBS. BCBS has a policy that the customer should not be the "go-between" with the pharmacies. The pharmacies do not have this policy. Ergo, once I was speaking with Freedom they were telling me that I needed to call my insurance policy to get my correct prescription ID, Rx ID #, Rx Bin #, etc. I can't even understand what they are saying to me and my blood is starting to boil.  My co-workers, who are in the office when I'm having to communicate with these mo-rons, are freaking psyched because they aren't the target of my "mood swings" however, they would agree with me that these conversations are mind-boggling infuriating. I call BCBS to get all of the various numbers I'm instructed to get and "Michael" from customer service says, "why isn't the pharmacy calling us directly?" Which obviously, I can't answer. I get what I need and Freedom then calls me. Did you hear that? They call me. And I answer.

Maggie, "Hello?"
Computer, "Hello this is, Freedom. Pharmacy. Calling for, Maggie Van Duyn." (remember this is a computer, so instead of saying my real name which is pronounced Van DINE, they say Van Dooyen, because it's a GD computer and it's not as smart as it thinks it is.) "We have an important message for you. Please hold and someone will be with you shortly." At this point I feel like I have no choice because I just want this to be over with so I painfully wait for 5 minutes. literally. and enjoy the elevator music that is supposed to make me feel calm, but it cuts in and out so it just annoys me and every 30 seconds or so a very serene woman tells me that all of her "customer service" representative are busy, but someone will be with me shortly. And then....

We'll call her Jan: "Hello this is Jan, what can I help you with?"
Maggie: "You called me. What can I help you with?"
Jan: "Ok, can I have your date of birth?" (Good answer!)
Maggie: "10. 30. 79." 
Jan: "Ok. It looks like we need some information from your insurance company."
Maggie (flatline): "Yep. I have that. Are you ready?" I go on to give her the information that she needs. She then tells me they will call me later to get my payment information.
Maggie: "Can't I just give that to you now instead of having to wait until you call me, wait on hold because there isn't a human available to talk with me and then have you ask me all the same questions again?"
Jan: "Oh, ok. I guess you can give us a credit card."
Maggie: "Ok. How much will it be?"
Jan: "Oh, I don't know. I don't have that information yet. I can tell you how much it will be without insurance." That price is approximately $1200. So no, I'm not going to give them my credit card number because based on this terrible experience, that is money that I'll never see again. So, naturally I went on to describe why I was so frustrated and how terrible my experience, AS A CUSTOMER, has been. I asked that when they do have someone call me for my credit card that they actually have a human call me.

A human does not call me later. And in the midst of giving them my credit card information, my call was dropped so I had to call back.  What I wanted to say was, "I will never use this company again." But the truth is, I can't say that.  Because I don't know if I will need them. It's like airlines. When you have a terrible experience on US Airways and you vow that you will never use them again, you can't really say that because if you are like me, you're looking for a good deal and if US Airways tickets are $100 less then JetBlue guess who I'm flying?

And the end result is the same. You get to your destination. My uterus is sufficiently shut down. We are ready for takeoff. I'm currently building my uterine wall with Vivelle estrogen patches in anticipation of "the transfer" in a week or two. And meanwhile, Jessi's getting jacked up on hormones. Game on!