IVF #2 (Cycle 8): Sticker Shock + Cyst

I had my "sign my life away" meeting with my RE this morning. I was there for over an hour since there was a lot to cover, including:

1. Ultrasound and Bloodwork 
2. Go over medications, IVF documents, sign-sign-sign consent forms 
3. Pay my Bill 

Ultrasound and Bloodwork 

Not the best news, but the cysts is STILL there. There's a possibility that we may have to delay my IVF cycle until March. It all depends on how my blood work comes back and how my follow-up ultrasound goes. We scheduled another monitoring appointment for next Tuesday (2/2) to have another ultrasound and see if it gets smaller. The good news is, it did get smaller from my baseline monitoring appointment on 1/4. The bad news is, it should have went away by now. It's been there since December. So, I guess we'll see what happens.

Signing Forms 

It's a bit tedious having to go over the exact same forms that I went over with them just last cycle. I had to re-sign every single document and go through every single step of the process. I guess I shouldn't complain, I'm glad they're thorough - but it was time consuming. Better more info than less, right?

Pay My Bill 

This was totally unexpected. I just switched insurance providers. Before I switched, I checked to make sure that my clinic was covered under the new insurance provider. They are. The problem is: their laboratory is NOT covered by my insurance......... <sigh>

That means I have to pay out of pocket fees for the laboratory fees, then submit receipts to the insurance for "out of network" benefits..... <sigh>

Also, they're having issues getting the approvals for my cryo preservation, which should be covered.... <sigh>

So, instead of paying $2-3,000. I had to pay closer to $5,000..... Ugh. Here's the cost breakdown:

Breakdown	Cost	Notes
Lab Fees	$3,965.00	Lab not contracted through new insurance. Will need to submit reimbursement at the end.
ICSI	$1,525.00
Cryo Preservation	$500.00	Received letter from insurance that this should be covered. Need to provide copy to RE.
Deductible	$500.00
Co-Insurance	$700.00
Total IVF #2 Costs	$7,190.00
Credit with Clinic	$1,607.24	Credit Might be Higher Later, still waiting for 2015 insurance to settle my claim.
Owe	$5,582.76
3% CC Charge	$167.48
Total Due	$5,750.24

This will eventually get worked out and I should be able to get some of the money back. Since the lab is not covered, that means the funds going towards that will go towards the "out of pocket - out of network" bucket, instead of the "in network" bucket. That has a higher rate. So, instead of meeting my deductible and the insurance covering 80/20, I have to pay 100% for some of the stuff. It's so annoying and lame and frustrating.

It also made me really worried. If this cycle doesn't work, I'm not going to be able to afford another full cycle for at least a few months. It just feels like a lot is now riding on whether this cycle works or not. There are just too many moving pieces to feel confident that the cycle will work, it almost feels like this cycle is doomed for failure (as much as I hate to type that).

There's that nasty cyst that doesn't want to go away. What happens if it doesn't go away? 

Will I respond to the meds this time? 

Will they be able to retrieve enough eggs? 

Will any of these eggs be mature? 

Will the eggs fertilize? 

Will the embryos develop to make it to transfer? 

Blah. This process doesn't get easier. It just doesn't. It feels like it's one obstacle after the next after the next. 

I had a friend tell me, "You have to think positive!" It's so hard to think positive all the time. Nothing seems to be going right with trying to have this baby. Infertility is no joke. It's been a year of disappointments.

Do you get your hopes up for success - just to fall right back down if you're not pregnant? 
If you expect it to be negative, are you putting bad juju out there to make it turn into a true negative? 

Ugh. It would just be nice if things went smoothly for once and if the endless Infertility hole stopped sucking up my money. Really, I'm supposed to be on the Dave Ramsey plan! Ugh. You know what he'd say, "Don't do it until you can pay cash." I wish I could stop, but that darn biological clock is ticking slowly away and my infertility problems aren't going to get any better if I wait longer... 

Next Steps: 

1. Tuesday, February 2 @ 3:00 p.m. Follow-up Ultrasound. IF I get the green light, then: 
2. Thursday, February 4: Start Lupron 
3. Saturday, February 6: Start Stims 

For more details on my IVF process, see my IVF Calendar/Timeline.