My One Day WU. (LONG!)

chucktgirl · November 2013

SHORT RECAP:

I was sick to my stomach for a week before this appointment, for many reasons. I was dreading the procedures, scared of the cost of this trip & more to come/spend, afraid that the whole darn process probably won’t even work again, and also scared that it will!

The OD WU is long… at least it was for me, with all the meetings, plus bloodwork, hysteroscopy, and HSG. It is emotionally, physically, and monetarily draining. It takes fortitude to get through. Thankfully my DH & I managed to remain supportive of each other the whole day (minus one small lash-out that was probably due to hunger.) It was harder in some aspects (the overwhelming-ness of it all) and easier in others (procedures were MUCH better than I expected.)

The outcome is that all tests done that day came back great. We are now awaiting blood and test results, while working on a whole new list of things that need to be done in the meantime.

DETAILED RECAP:

Leading up to our trip out of state: We got our OD WU date relatively quickly… only a couple weeks out, so things moved along swiftly. I was trying to quickly cycle before the end of the year, so I did everything possible to move things along: I got a mammogram the next day, scheduled an annual exam/pap with my PCP, begged them to write me a lab request for Day 3 blood draw (so I wouldn’t have to waste a month by doing it after my OD WU and the clinic will not issue any scripts or lab requests until after you are their official patient), and then bribed my phlebotomist to let me take my blood with me, against their rules. Painfully, we booked our airfare, which was almost $600 each, I bid on Priceline for a hotel and got the Hyatt for about $60, and booked a car through Dollar that turned out to be $60 with tolls and fees for a 24 hour rental. OUCH. I was nauseous every day and could barely eat for about a week leading up to the trip. Not cool. I just could not settle my mind or my stomach.

Day before OD WU: At the airport I was nervous about carrying on my own blood, since it is a (frozen) fluid with (frozen) ice packs. I had previously called the TSA and they told me I’d be fine as long as I notified the security TSA before it went through the x-ray. I announced I had medical ice packs to all TSA around me. They just said okay and slid it through the machine. No biggie at all. The cooler wasn’t even opened on the other side of screening! That was a relief. The flight was long (middle seat) and I was tired. We only carried on, so we didn’t have to wait for luggage. The shuttle to the rental car was long. The process took about half hour. We were unprepared for the toll roads, and ended up just purchasing a toll pass from Dollar. We had no problem finding our hotel and arrived there in just over half an hour. We checked in and were given a room with two double beds because I had used Priceline. The man in front of me was offered the option of two doubles or one king. That bothered me a bit, since I knew that meant that DH and I would be sleeping in different beds. We got settled in (nice room) then headed down the street to the big Mall. We wandered around a bit, but neither of us was very interested in shopping. We ate a little food then went back to our room. I set everything up for the morning, since I had to be up before dawn and just watched TV until I was tired.

The big day- OD WU!: I again had a nervous stomach, so I only had a swig of OJ and a tablespoon of oatmeal. I don’t recommend this. In hindsight, I would have eaten more to have more food in my stomach for the long day. It was about a five minute drive to the clinic.
6:55 We were among the first to arrive, ten minutes late. The building was smaller than I expected. It was clean and average in décor. Upon checking in, we were informed that due to surgery changes, our schedule was switched around a bit. They handed us a new schedule, no biggie. I handed them my frozen Day 3 blood serum. Here is how our day was spent:
7:05 Orientation began, taught by a nurse. There were two other couples in the class, both young and local. We were also the only overly-experienced IVFers. We felt like odd man out. A lot of what was covered was old hat, but I did gain some anatomical knowledge and also was introduced to this clinic’s slant on things (each RE has their own!). We were given a massive folder- encyclopedia thick! She went over several key pages, but mostly said we need to read it all on our own. What I liked: The nurse was nice, the class was not boring, there were two waters for us, she passed out med coupons, saying there are few on the market right now, but usually more are issued in January, and two $5 lunch gift certificates to be used at their pantry. (BTW, it looked like all salads and sandwiches were only $5 each!) What I did NOT like: The nurse/speaker could not answer the questions I had, and said I had to ask someone else later in the day, even though I needed the answers to determine if I wanted to go through with the rest of the day! She stressed a lot of things like there will be a $25 fee for every after hours call we make to them that they don’t deem necessary. She stated that the staff have lives, too! At one point, my DH mouthed, “It’s not about YOU!” Worst, she twice referred to us as “failing,” as in, “Since YOU failed at your last clinic…”. Not cool. Afterwards, I took her aside and asked her in the future to say, “since YOUR CYCLE failed” instead of putting the blame on the couple. We blame ourselves enough for our IF issues.
8:35 DH checked in at front desk for semen analysis. They insisted on payment upfront. He was called back to give a sample at 8:35 and was out by 8:55. (Is that tattling private info?) He said the room was basic, clean and fine, nothing special. There was a chair, tv on a stand, and a sink. They offered magazines and movies. He did not elaborate further.
9:05 We checked in at the front desk again and were taken right back by “E” to go over the papers in the maroon folder they had mailed me ahead of time. These were mostly the contracts of understanding of the process and risks involved. It was mainly standard stuff, having already done this with two other REs. At this meeting, we were informed that copies of our paperwork would be available to us via our “Patient Portal” which I knew nothing about, since I first signed up with them almost a year ago! I will have to figure out my sign in password. There was a lot to go over, with all the signatures, initials, and the lady, “E” notarizing them. If this had been our first time, we would have torn our hair out here, since she had NO answers to our questions. For the second time, we were told to ask someone else during the course of the day. There was a research study release with the paperwork that I knew we would not qualify for, but be aware of it. Even with our prior experience with these forms, we still did not get out of there until 9:55.
10:00 After checking in for our Nurse consultation, we were called right back by “L”. This meeting was the best part of our day, hands down. “L” was awesome! She explained everything easily, was incredibly knowledgeable, personable, and SO empathetic! We finally took our first deep breaths of the day. She went over everything we still have to do and acquire before proceeding (getting them copies of mamm, pap & physical, which tests we want to proceed with, etc.) She gave a general outline of what happens next, but nothing concrete, as everything depends on our protocol, as yet to be determined. There were still some questions I had about the price and necessity of some testing. She referred us to talk to the business counselor. Again. We finished at 11:15.
11:15 As we walked out of the nurse’s office, I was snagged by another nurse for my Baseline Ultrasound. This part moved very quickly. I didn’t even get her name, but she was nice. She took many measurements, told me she saw 6 follicles and was about to ovulate from my left ovary. She also mapped out the blood flow from multiple veins. This process took much longer than my previous baselines. She also asked me if they told me to avoid caffeine. They hadn’t, but I didn’t have any anyways. So I’m guessing that’s another test I didn’t expect to be charged for. (These were adding up!) She finished around 11:35.
11:40 We checked in for our Business Consult and again were quickly called back by “T”. “T” was not so warm and fuzzy. Basically, she was there to bluntly present the fees. She could answer NO questions, and in fact gave us incorrect information on a couple things (mostly charges for out of office charges) we found out later. This was a frustrating meeting and not helpful at all. I had expected that she would address possible methods of payment, or steer us in various directions we could go to for help. Our previous RE’s offices were very helpful with that. Not here. Her attitude was, “I don’t set the prices, but you owe this much, and I don’t care how you procure it. And it’s due before you start.” We finished with her, fairly dumbstruck at the costs – much more than we had been led to believe, and plodded out in a daze at 12:05. DH was fuming. I thought he was going to insist we leave that very minute.
12:10 We signed in at the other desk, on the right side of the atrium, for our Dr. Consultation. We were called back at 12:15 to get my vitals (bp 104/72. Not bad for my stress level!) We were then led to a small room with a desk, three chairs, and some print outs of articles to wait for the doctor, as he was on a phone call.
12:30 The Dr. finally came in, putting us behind schedule. This was not a good meeting. This was a horrible conversation and we zombie-walked out of his office at 1:15 in total stunned shock. We had missed our lunch time, and I was totally woozy (from no food, altitude, and the experience we just had.) I felt no better informed than when we entered. **NOTE, I have omitted details. If you want them, PM me. If I "know" you on here, I will send you the missing paragraph.
1:15 We quickly rushed to the little food pantry to get some food. I had a couple sips of DH’s Pepsi and he gave me his little soufflé cup of pasta salad to take with me into the next appointment. The lady working the pantry was super nice and offered to hold my salad in her cooler, since she was closing and I had no time to eat it.
1:30 To save time, as we were by then behind schedule, DH went off to do his blood lab draws without me, while I headed back to the desk with my thimble of pasta. I was called back right away to give a urine sample for a pregnancy test prior to the HSG. This had not been mentioned to me prior. I was then taken right to the room for my hysteroscopy, around 1:45, by a nice girl “S” who asked me questions and said she was putting me on an antibiotic for the procedures. I was bummed because you’re not supposed to have sex for a week or so afterwards, but I was about to ovulate any second. I reasoned, if the only reason you can’t have sex is to prevent infection, and I’m on an anti-biotic to prevent infection, why not have sex? No good response to that one, other than, well, you’re just not supposed to. <sigh. We didn’t.> “S” gave me two pills of Doxy, since we couldn’t make it to a pharmacy until the next day.
1:45 I still hadn’t had time to eat the pasta. I was half naked, lying on the table because I felt a little faint, waiting for the Dr. to come in (he was on another phone call). The Dr. came in at 1:52 and started right up, no comforting words to me at all. I even tried to lighten him up by asking if he ever had any funny moments. He scowled at me and said, “No; my patients don’t find this experience very funny.” Give me a break. What I liked: He was finished at 1:55. Three minutes. Whew! Also, everything looked great. What I did NOT like: The worst part was that he did not say what he was doing as he did it, so when he forced the camera through my cervix, I jumped, with a “moon river” moment (a la Chevy Chase.) His bedside manner is… well, he has no bedside manner. He got up and left the room without saying anything else. “S” told me to continue laying on my back for five minutes because he had inserted CO2 in my uterus, which can travel up through the body and cause you shoulder pain. When I sat up, I had moderate chest pains. It was uncomfortable. I thought I was having an anxiety attack or something, even though I felt such relief that the procedure had been so quick. “S” explained that was due to the CO2. It sucked. I had chest pains into the next day. I exited at 2:00, nervous because we still had two appointments scheduled that we were late for, and a plane to catch at 5:30!
2:05 I was taken immediately back to another room by “V” for my HSG. She insisted I eat my pasta that I was clutching in my fist while we talked. She went over the procedure with me and had me change my clothes, bottoms off, top covered by a gown over my shirt. She, assisted by “S”, began the HSG at 2:15. She explained everything as she did it, and I experienced no pain. Unfortunately my uterus was tilted and she couldn’t get her balloon blocker to stay inflated, so my dye kept leaking out. She kept syringing more and more in. “S” took x-rays, and showed me on the screen where the dye was filling my uterus and heading up both tubes! While it was painless, the procedure didn’t end until 2:30, so my lower half was irritated and ready for people to be done messing with it! I was sent to clean myself up with a washcloth and pads, and was clothed and done at 2:40. She also went and got me a Tylenol, since my chest still hurt and so did my head. Good news: No blockages! I couldn’t find DH and was told he was still in the lab, so I headed over there, stopping to sign myself in back at the desk on the left side of the atrium.
2:50 There was some confusion about the blood draws and fees. DH went to sort out the charges. Nurse “L” had given us the tip to ask for the eligible blood to be sent out to Quest Diagnostics, since they would submit it to insurance, and anything that wasn’t deemed IF related could be covered. But there were many more blood tests ordered than we had first set out with. I didn’t get her name, but the phleb was awesome. Eleven vials, no pain, and I was done at 3:05.
3:10 Quickly we rushed out to the waiting area to sign paperwork that Nurse “L” had given us to look over in our “spare time” that day that had to be signed and turned in. Ha! I never even had a lunch break, let alone time to go over paperwork. Again, we were familiar with most of these (determining what to do with frozen embryos, etc.) so we rushed through all the initialing and signatures. If this was our first time seeing these, it would have taken us a long time to go through them, particularly to determine what to do with frozen embryos, and the like. I packed up my salad to eat in the car on the way to the airport.
3:30 We handed in the paperwork. There was not one person left in the waiting room. It seemed we were the last of the day. We rushed to car and off to the airport. It was tight, with the drive back, having to stop and refill the gas, check the car back in, take the shuttle back to the airport, etc. Thankfully we did not check luggage, because we would not have made our 5:30 flight. The security screening line was obnoxiously long and slow. They literally had TWO lanes open. I brought back my cooler and ice packs, in case I have to use them again, and alerted security to them. This time, they tore the lid off my cooler, which was Styrofoam, so it crumbled and went everywhere, and caused a small delay. But they let me keep it all. We made it on our flight and had a very long flight, with plane change, home. We made it back home around 2AM. I called in “late” to work the next day. I have spotted for a week!

It was all overwhelming, and I was so damn glad to be home. We have a LOT of decisions to make.

liz4paws · November 2013

Wow, that's a lot to do in one day! I hope you get some answers even though your day was less than perfect. I'll bet you are really relieved to have that behind you. FX for a good plan to be made from all of this!

hmz819 · November 2013

Wow that is quite the day! Glad it is over and hopefully overall it was a positive experience. Also, you have a PM

J&D2007 · November 2013

That was long;-). But I'm glad you made it through it all! Different experience form me from the sounds of it. I never heard them say there was a $25 fee for calling if unnecessary. That must be new and I don't like it. In my initial group meeting, there must have been 8 couples or so. No one said a word. No one asked any questions or the nurse never addressed us personally. I am so sorry your consult didn't go well. I'd like to hear the juicy details so I'll PM you. I hear you about the co2, too. I found that very uncomfortable for about 24 hours. I had a gas bubble lodged up under my right shoulder blade and it hurt every time I took a step. I may follow your lead and try Priceline, too. My 10 day stay is really adding up in cost. We also went around the toll roads to save a little extra cash and it wasn't that much longer. I do hope you got some answers, but I'll PM you.

Mrs.McIrish · November 2013

I'm sorry the experience wasn't that great. I hope you can make whatever decisions you need to make. If only this stuff were easier..... I also sent a pm.

luvboston · November 2013

Glad it's over fx for some good decisions

beachy6 · November 2013

Oh my! This makes me want to cancel my od.wu! The stress of reading about your day makes me stress about my day that's not until the end of December!

If you have the dr I assume you have just from reading your post, I've heard that he has no bedside manner. That's one reason we picked someone else! But, he's the best of the best, so if you can overlook it, hopefully you get some answers with all the bloodwork and tests and this all turns out to be well worth it in the end! What a relief to have this behind you now!

J&D2007 · November 2013

beachy6 said:

Oh my! This makes me want to cancel my od.wu! The stress of reading about your day makes me stress about my day that's not until the end of December!
If you have the dr I assume you have just from reading your post, I've heard that he has no bedside manner. That's one reason we picked someone else! But, he's the best of the best, so if you can overlook it, hopefully you get some answers with all the bloodwork and tests and this all turns out to be well worth it in the end! What a relief to have this behind you now!

Don't worry, beachy! I think mine was pretty low key and what I was expecting. DH and I actually had fun. I think you should def stay until the next day though. We made plans for the night of the o.dwu and had a nice dinner and stayed at a cute hotel downtown denver. It was something to look forward to and we had a good time, it really helped knowing exactly what to expect. There weren't any surprises for me.

Lacyj67 · November 2013

Glad you got it done! Now that's it's over you can look forward to what they suggest and get things going!

PrettyAccountant · November 2013

Wow - you had quite the day! Glad it is behind you and hope your work up leads to bigger and better things!

rockpaperlove · November 2013

I am sorry you had such a whirlwind of a day! That was not the experience I had. Yes, it was a busy day of one "appointment" to the next, but overall - I was really pleased with my doctor (Doctor Schoolcraft) and all of my interactions, the general efficiency and professionalism, the facility and state of the art equipment and my (slightly uncomfortable, but quick) procedures. Wishing you luck moving forward!

chucktgirl · November 2013

Hi Ladies, thanks for taking the time to read my novel.

I wrote that for me, to save in my records. It took so much out of me that I couldn't write another version, so I just copy & pasted it on here. To clarify, it was NOT a horrible experience. Exhausting and overwhelming, absolutely. I just wanted to document and share MY experience, in case people wondered what to expect. This was my take. Obviously other people have had other experiences.
Beachy6, do not cancel based on my experience. Instead, use it to your advantage and to better prepare for it. I fear I'm giving the wrong impression. At this stage of the game, through my experiences and research, I feel that this is my final and best chance of getting PG. I am willing to do all in my power to make it work. But it is not easy, and I want to share that with others. Please keep in mind that I am 42. Healthy as a horse, but with geriatric eggs. There's just not a lot that can be done about it, so most people's situation's do not mirror mine. I want every woman with IF to get her THB, so that's why I'm sharing. I'm happy to answer any other questions. Oh, and I plan to start a spreadsheet with costs, too, that I'll share when I get it together. Good luck to one and all, and THANK YOU for the support! I love this board!

chucktgirl · November 2013

Oh, and I PMed every one back!

J&D2007 · November 2013

chucktgirl said:

Oh, and I PMed every one back!

Back at ya!

JSM0801 · November 2013

I'm so sorry your experience was so stressful! It definitely is overwhelming and a lot to take in, but hopefully it is the start of a successful path for you. Keep us posted on your next steps. GL!!!

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