REACH in Charlotte NC

[REACH-AEJ]

Hi girls! Welcome Courtney!

I went to Atlanta this weekend to visit my girls and to have one last hoorah before I start the meds....now I'm ready to go!
I'm still spotting dark brown, but it has never progressed into anything. I am going to call the clinic tomorrow to see what they think ...hopefully it's not a big deal!

Sarah ~ I hope AF arrives soon!

Sonya - glad they called you back and gave you your protocol...you are on your way! I looks like this might be an Easter Baby!
I looks like we will be stimminig at the same time!

I'm open for lunch as well. Friday's are good for me. I usually travel most of the week and do "ofc days' on Friday. We could do while we're in the middle of our stimming...what are your thought?

[ckl]

Good luck AEJ I hope all goes well. good thinking on going to have a loast hoorah...i could definitely use a glass of wine about now!

As for lunch i like the idea of a Friday. my office starts to thin out after lunch so I won't be missed on an extra long lunch!

I am still awaiting info on the Affordable IVF clinic. my friend is going to try to stop by there this week to check them out. I will fill you all in when i hear more.

Gotta run...take care ladies!

[sokru8]

Hey Ladies!

Ashley: So awesome that we will be stimming together!!!

Fridays work great for me for lunch or a cocktail!
I have a pretty flexiable schedule!

These bcp's are killing my stomach!!! Only 11 more days

Sonya

[saralee]

ckl,
About shared risk, do you know if meds aren't allowed? What I mean is my DH takes meds for hypertension and high cholesterol. We're just getting started so no one has actually determined whether we actually qualify for shared risk or not. It suddenly occurred to me that this might be a no no. I'll be crushed but I'd rather hear it now and be prepared for that possibility than to be blindsided a few weeks from now. Any insight on the major disqualifiers?

Ladies,

Anyone ever go on Provera before to get their period started? I did 5 days on 10mg, last pill was Friday. No period yet. I took Provera a few years back for the same reason but I have no recollection as to when my cycle began. Trying not to fret. They told me to call on the first day of my cycle but no one told me how many days I should allow to lapse before calling if it doesn't start. I'll likely call Friday morning, seven days from the day of my last pill, if I'm not bleeding by then.

Scheduled DH's semen analysis for March 14. His response? Oh joy. Well, actually it was more like a grunt. Guys, he is really worrying me. Physically it's harder on me but he's behaving a bit detached, more so than I'd like. Anyone go through this? I think he has this "how come we can't just be like normal people?" running through his mind. I told him when we got married I rarely do things like normal people. Maybe he thought I was kidding?

Kindly,

saralee

[sokru8]

My dh was a little disconnected during the process. He never really knew what meds I was on or the protocol. And he absolutley hated the sperm test! He started to come around when we did the EC. So have patience sweetie he will come around!
XOXO
Sonya

[CMSAllen]

Hey girlies .... been gone for a few days, and have enjoyed catching up! ...Lunch on Fridays sounds great with me!!
I take my last bc pill tomorrow, then start stimming on the 12th.
Ugggh. this no smoking thing is killing me.
Much love,
Courtney

[REACH-AEJ]

Hi Courtney - I hopefully will start stimming by Monday as well. How great a few of us would be starting at the same time and could share the fabulous experience!

Saralee ~ It did take a while for my dh to come around and every time he has to go to the clinic for something it's like the biggest deal ever! It makes me laugh b/c, if the roles were reversed we wouldn't have a chance!
Do hang in there with him and try to make him feel he is a huge part. My dh sometimes says he feels like it all is happening to me (however, most of it is...but I can't say that ) and I forget he has feelings about it too. So, I try to share every step with him...but, they are different than us - plain and simple.

I never had to take Provera...but I would call and leave a message just asking how long you should wait before it's been "too" long. Don't even wait until Friday to ask...that will just cause you to worry. No extra anxiety is needed!

How are you Sonya? Do you know exactly when you start stims?

As for me, I started my estrogen patch today and I am very "motion sick." I forgot what this does to me...awful feeling with a migran headache from #@!#. Fabulous start!

[sokru8]

Ashley: Stimms should start on the 19th however.....
* Major trauma Sonya emotinal breakdown alert!*

So I just got a bill in the mail for $6200 from Reach due now. So lil recap. Because REACH made a major mistake during last cycle we met with Dr Whitesides and he said he would do whatever he did at a reduced/no charge and would talk with the other members of the team and see if he couldnt get the cost "greatly reduced" how the hell is that greatly reduced? It is not even half! Plus they sent us a bill for overcharges on the last IVF cycle! For the second EC! Oh Yeah I should have to pay for the 2nd EC since you f**k up the first one and had to do it again!!!!!!!Plus we get the bill now? Why didnt we get this freakin 2 months ago!!!

I called the financial officer and she is going to go talked to Dr Whitesides. We may have to cancel the cycle. There is no way we could come up with $6200 plus the cost of meds by the 19th.
Anyways, I know that I should be thankful that they are giving us anything but I am just not. The emotional toll on me and my dh from the mess up on the last cycle is worth them giving us another cycle free!! I know that you are all paying for this and I am sure you are like shut up you got a discount but I am just shocked and in tears.....sigh

Sorry to vent on you all
Sonya

[saralee]

Sonya,

First, don't ever be sorry for venting. If we can't understand, who the he!! would?

Second, I am angry for you and DH.

When do you expect to hear back from the financial officer? I hope you were clear as to when you expected a response.

I don't agree that you should be thankful for whatever they throw your way. And I don't think it's being ungrateful. A mistake was made and you and DH should be fairly compensated. Afterall, this is a business transaction, however emotional it might be and their reputation is at stake.

I am so incredibly sorry that this is happening to you right now. This is what frightens me about this process.

I sincerely hope that you and DH reach an amicable resolution with REACH and you don't have to scrap this cycle. At the least, it seems they should be offering you a payment plan.

It's not over yet honey. Many hugs to you both. I am so, so sorry.

Hugs,

saralee

[ckl]

WOW there is way too much to write here ladies...i missed checking for a day and all this stuff is going on! ok first of all Saralee...are we all married to the same person!???? I was just complaining about this today to my friend. DO NOT think that your DH is in anyway unusual...well at least compared to me. I feel the exact same way. It is my body and i am the one that has to go do all of this crap but you know...we are supposed to be in this together and when I ask, no wait, I tell you that the doctor requries you to do this or do that...i am not nagging, i am telling you that this is the way it is. Do you think that I like having to do all of this? you are soooo right that if the tables were turned we would all be out of luck! Wow now I am venting...sorry ladies this is just to close to home for me today! one thing that I did that you may want to try is that I gave him responsibility for certain things...in some cases it worked, it some it didn't. it is his "thing" to prep my needles for me - which has worked really well, he at least feels a bit involved there. we had also intened for him to deal with the financial side of this because it makes me want to vomit everytime I see a bill. that unfortunitely has not been so successful because reach has a ridiculous billing department. which transitions me into Sonya....

that is ridiculous...are you trying to get a hold of Chris Detter? i am sure that they can review it and if they know the urgency of getting it all sorted out maybe they will be a bit more leaneant (sp.?). i swear that their billing structure is pulled out of a magic hat (or somewhere else!)...it seems to be different everytime. i can not tell you how many times I have sat there crying while I am paying...i am not kidding. IN fact the day that they told me that I was terminated from shared risk i was crying and yelling...what is happeneing to us ladies??? i am not that person normally! I am laughing at myself even as I write this, but at the time it is so infuriating! anyways, sonya if they have the ability to knock off money from your total, then they have the ability to work with you on a solution to this. Ultimitaly they are not going to want to lose a patient for a cycle so keep pusing them. good luck and keep us posted.

Saralee - the shared risk application only included whatever information that you have given REACH. they submit the application for you so if you haven't told them anything about the meds that I don't think that you have anything to worry about. the main things that they look at are : FSH level, past attempts, age etc. and then of course the SA of your DH. my DH has asthma and that was never even brought up so I don't know that you need to worry about it...don't volunteer any info that they don't ask for. i am not sure how much you have looked into this yet but I believe that there is a different shared risk for DE patients. i thought that I remembered Dr. Teaff saying that it was also a 100% money back deal too...which would be nice.

pheww...i think that is all i have for now. As for me....last day of Stims is tomorrow...thank goodness!

Take Care everyone...

[CMSAllen]

Wow ... Okay, I am so totally out of the loop (and not in denial) ... can someone please take a few and just recap ??? Sonya......WHAT IN THE HELL DID REACH DO TO YOU????????
xoxo
Courtney

[sokru8]

Hey Ladies
Thanks for you impassioned response. It really makes me feel like I am not a total idiot. I was so sad. But I am trying to stay calm and deal with things one step at a time. I can't tell you how much it means to me.
Info on last IFV: For me and I am the exception to the rule.. the trigger shot that I took did not work for me. The blood levels you have a after the trigger should actually show that you are pregnant because of the injection. Mine was not checked and they did the ER without knowing. Unfortunately I was not ready. They tried to get eggs from one side and they couldn’t get anything. The DR knew something was wrong and stopped the surgery. Thank god. They then changed my shots and retried the ER and got 4 eggs. They did fertilize and they transplanted 3. They did not tell me the quality but I knew they were not the best and I had a bfn.
After the bfn we had a discussion with REACH and they were supposed to take care of us. They made a huge mistake! For whatever reason the trigger did not take but they should have known that. So here we are!

You all have come to mean so much to me. Thank You
XOXO
Sonya

[REACH-AEJ]

Sonya ~ wow I would be really upset and I would have taken my self right down there and insisted on answers. Hopefully, Dr. Whitesides did not communicate the information to the financial department correctly and it's a mistake. I have learned he is very much about science and not as much into the "other" details, but still..that's absolutely no excuse. Any reason to cause you any undue stress is unacceptable. Don't apologize for your reaction either ~ they really screwed things up for you the first time and this almost seems cause for legal action if they do not compensate for your loss and emotional distress. How about that!

On our last round, we asked that they NOT file with insurance b/c we only have 2 tries in a lifetime, we already had used one for only an ER (b/c nothing fertilized) and we didn't want to file again until b/c if it didn't work again and we had to do a more expensive procedure (donor), we wanted to have this insurance option. I even canceled my insurance with them all together and paid upfront for everything....guess what....they still filed it!!!!! Even after we already paid. My DH was livid - he canceled the payment (thank goodness for AMEX) and went down there and gave everyone a piece of his mind. Needless to say, it was done.

I hope you get this worked out before the 19th. You must insist!!!!
Hang in there and vent here any time!

[REACH-AEJ]

Oh meant to say something to Saralee ~ my dh was taking Lipitor...no one ever asked what drugs he was taking and I saw in some of the paperwork that we were to disclose all meds that we were taking, so I called my IVF nurse and told them what he was taking. No one ever said responded with any issues. While in a meeting with our RE, I mentioned it again and he said - oh, I had no idea, this could be a problem!!! As it turns out, Lipitor can have a negative effect on sperm that can not be detected in all of the tests that they run....it can cause them to NOT be able to penetrate the egg even when they appear normal! We had no idea and I was irritated that our IVF nurse obviously never passed along the info which could have lessened our chances if not ever discussed.

Once the RE found out that he had been on this, he asked him to stop taking the Lipitor and we needed to do ICSI b/c there was a possibility that this could be part of our problem. Interesting.

Point being, definitely disclose all meds (to RE!!!) b/c who knows what could be important!!!

OK, good night to all and I certainly hope tomorrow brings better news Sonya!

[sokru8]

I swear if you took Eric's (dh) blood pressure last night I would think it would be a record high! I am trying to handle the communication with REACH because Eric is so angry that he is not ready to be very nice. I think that staying calm for now is a better option!

It has been a hell of a night. My nephew got sick at school and my brother who is a single father could not get there in time to pick him up. So I went to pick up the pukey lil teenager! That poor lil guy. Since his dad was going to be so late we just had him stay here overnight..Why do I want to be a parent??

I am calling my attorney this morning. She is a good friend and she can give me the right advice. We told REACH after my bad IVF cycle that we would give them the opportunity to make things right and not sue. I am looking forward to hear from Chris this morning and will let you all know what the outcome is. My parents also said to let them know what the bill is and the will try to help us as much as possiable!
Well off work! Love to all
Sonya