I’m glad the news you received is helping you. I’ll be thinking of you while you wait for your results. I hope this is all due to your husbands neck girth!
@thunderberry I'm sorry that the testing is so expensive, but it sounds like you guys have a really good plan and I am glad that they said the concerns were overstated. FX for good results.
I wanted to chim in and say that you should contact the company sequenom that processes maternit21 if your insurance doesn’t cover the test. They will give you a rate to pay oop that is usually around $250 or less. After all you’ve been through, you shouldn’t have to pay $1000 for that test! Good luck!
@holli0801 I think it's weird too, but apparently the logic is that since I am at a high enough risk to be offered an invasive test, they aren't going to cover a test that doesn't rule out all the potential causes of the increased NT. Apparently if I was lower risk, like screened based on hormones only, they potentially could cover it. It kind of sucks but these are the trade offs of socialized health care I guess.
@createillumination I will look into that, thanks! Although I don't know if they do that since I'm Canadian and it almost never would be covered by insurance here. Part of the reason it's so expensive is I have to pay the exchange rate and a fee for the clinic in Canada to run the test and send it off.
Honestly I can't really complain about the cost because my parents have offered to help us out with it, since it's partly my mom who really pushed for us not to risk the invasive test. But I do feel bad the cost is so high for them.
It's only Tuesday and I'm going insane!! 1/28 isn't that bad, right??!?!
@thunderberry I'm glad you received comforting news. Please look into financing options from the maker of the test. I know that Natera waives nearly all of the costs if insurance doesn't cover their Panorama scan (comparable to the test you had). My insurance covered it, but my hubs insurance didn't cover his (genetic screen portion, since I was am a Fanconi Anemia carrier). We received a bill for a few grand for his test months after our daughter was born. With one quick call, they waived all but $100.
@Julesby@createillumination Thanks for the suggestion to call. I did and it turns out that when doing it through a Canadian clinic they already include the cash discount in the price. But the good news is our clinic had outdated info about the price because it changed on Sept 1, so it will actually be $449USD instead of $665USD. So that works out to about $750CAD all told instead of $1000. A definite improvement anyway.
@thunderberry - Lurking from June18. I know the stress you're going through. My second son's heart defect was discovered during our anatomy scan. We had the Panorama blood test done instead of an amnio. I agree with @Julesby that when you get the bill you need to call them right away. Explain that it wasn't covered and ask for assistance. They should lower the costs. Most labs do this when they realize insurance isn't paying. My Panorama test went from $5000 to about $220. Insurance "covered it" but the lab was "out of network" so it all hit my deductible. It's definitely worth a call. I was on the phone literally less than 10 minutes.
I hope everything turns out for you! The waiting and not knowing is excruciating.
First Son - born 2013
Second Son - born 2014 - Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) and Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV). First open heart surgery at 5 days old. He's had 3 open heart surgeries and several other procedures and is currently doing amazing. Third Son - due June 9, 2018
I hope everything goes well for you, my prayers are wuth you. I have a simikar issue..My NT measurement was fine my bloods not so much. HCG was slightly high. I think as I am 34 they placed me at an increased risk. They offered CVS and amnio. I have a phobia of needles and have heard there is a risk to baby in invasive testing. Thinking of Harmony testing, would love to know people's experience.
Well it's now 4:05, and the clinic closes at 4, so I guess it's fair to say we're not getting our results today ugh, I can't believe I have to suffer through the weekend like this!
Well it's now 4:05, and the clinic closes at 4, so I guess it's fair to say we're not getting our results today ugh, I can't believe I have to suffer through the weekend like this!
Ugh... so very sorry mama. I’ll be thinking about you over the weekend and keeping fingers crossed for good news Monday.
@superparanoidpreggo well I'm still waiting to hear back but I have to say, for me given the level of precision the NIPT seems well worth any cost! it's not 100% accurate but will give a much better idea of if doing something invasive is worth the risk.
@nanifrog we did the MaterniT21, which is through Sequenon. They don't have an online place to view results unfortunately so I have to wait for my doctor to call.
So sorry!! It’s so hard to feel helpless. Thoughts and prayers for you. Glad your family is supportive and hopefully they can continue to help you in these stressful times.
@thunderberry who do they run their labs through? I had Informaseq and my OB uses Labcorp. I was able to call Labcorp and they gave me the estimated day the lab results would be sent to the physician (the day was correct). Just thought I’d throw this out there in case!
Do you request to have this scan done, or is it automatically done if you’re having an ultra sound around that gestation? I had a scan on my 12w 6d which is within the time frame that this scan is done. They did all the other measurements, but I was not informed that this was the type of scan it was. I figured my was for my sch. I’m in Canada, and I did not have a ultra sound until my 20 week point.
@alisonhadley what province are you in? Did you do bloodwork as well? I’m in Alberta and the NT scan and coordinating bloodwork is standard here. With DD we had someone come in after the scan to discuss all of our potential risks based on the scan and bloodwork results. They gave me a full printed report. For this pregnancy, I just did the bloodwork last week and have the NT scan in another week.
@thunderberry I hope you get your results tomorrow. I’m sorry you’re going through this!
@alisonhadley I'm in Canada as well and I think it does depend on the province. Here they do it if you're over 35, or considered high risk for some other reason ie IVF, other genetic disorders in your family, etc. In my case they did it because we did IVF. It takes special training of the ultrasound tech and a very high quality machine to be able to measure it properly so a normal 12 week scan isn't going to be able to do it typically.
@rachelg777 I'm not sure I totally get what you mean? It was drawn at the fertility clinic in town and they shipped it directly to Sequenom. Do you mean I should call Sequenom?
@alisonhadley I am also in canada, and had an early ultrasound (at 7 weeks 3 days) but this is def. not the standard. The doctor needed a dating scan done
POSSIBLE TW:
Because I had just had a miscarriage and never had a period following that before getting pregnant. It was also to make sure that it was "viable" (doctors words). Most people at least where I am are not offered this NT scan unless they are considered high risk. Most people don't have an ultrasound until 20 weeks where I am.
@thunderberry yes call them directly and they should be able to give you an update on when it will be done. That way if they say likely "Wednesday" you don't sit around waiting for a call every 2 minutes on Monday/Tuesday? Just a thought!
doraleigh35 I’m in manitoba. I had blood work done when I was just over 8 weeks. I’m 29. I meant to put in my original question that I did not have an ultra sound until my 20th week with my first child. I’ve had three total this time around. One at week 7 and one at week 8 for a SCH and now this one one Halloween, but now I’m not sure what it was for.... because she spent an awful long time shoving that damn thing around my abdomin.
The results came back and it was low risk on all counts! Thank god. Now there is just the risk of one of the smaller micro-deletions, or some sort of structural issue, but the risks of that are much lower. We can breathe a bit until the 16 week ultrasound.
And now there is an envelope waiting for me at the hospital showing the sex of the baby! Dying for lunch now. Yay!
Re: Bad news at NT scan (update #3 in comments!)
Dating since: 11/17/2001
Married: 9/26/2009
TTC: June 2016
EDD: 5/14/2018
I wanted to chim in and say that you should contact the company sequenom that processes maternit21 if your insurance doesn’t cover the test. They will give you a rate to pay oop that is usually around $250 or less. After all you’ve been through, you shouldn’t have to pay $1000 for that test! Good luck!
@holli0801 I think it's weird too, but apparently the logic is that since I am at a high enough risk to be offered an invasive test, they aren't going to cover a test that doesn't rule out all the potential causes of the increased NT. Apparently if I was lower risk, like screened based on hormones only, they potentially could cover it. It kind of sucks but these are the trade offs of socialized health care I guess.
@createillumination I will look into that, thanks! Although I don't know if they do that since I'm Canadian and it almost never would be covered by insurance here. Part of the reason it's so expensive is I have to pay the exchange rate and a fee for the clinic in Canada to run the test and send it off.
Honestly I can't really complain about the cost because my parents have offered to help us out with it, since it's partly my mom who really pushed for us not to risk the invasive test. But I do feel bad the cost is so high for them.
It's only Tuesday and I'm going insane!! 1/28 isn't that bad, right??!?!
I hope everything turns out for you! The waiting and not knowing is excruciating.
First Son - born 2013
Third Son - due June 9, 2018
Well it's now 4:05, and the clinic closes at 4, so I guess it's fair to say we're not getting our results today
ugh, I can't believe I have to suffer through the weekend like this!
@thunderberry I hope you get your results tomorrow. I’m sorry you’re going through this!
@rachelg777 I'm not sure I totally get what you mean? It was drawn at the fertility clinic in town and they shipped it directly to Sequenom. Do you mean I should call Sequenom?
One more daaaaaay (hopefully).
POSSIBLE TW:
Because I had just had a miscarriage and never had a period following that before getting pregnant. It was also to make sure that it was "viable" (doctors words). Most people at least where I am are not offered this NT scan unless they are considered high risk. Most people don't have an ultrasound until 20 weeks where I am.
The results came back and it was low risk on all counts! Thank god. Now there is just the risk of one of the smaller micro-deletions, or some sort of structural issue, but the risks of that are much lower. We can breathe a bit until the 16 week ultrasound.
And now there is an envelope waiting for me at the hospital showing the sex of the baby! Dying for lunch now. Yay!