Bad Blood

On Friday I went to my primary care doc, to have some blood tests completed for the donor egg pre-cycle screening. Since I am completely out of fertility coverage through my insurance ($5000 doesn't get you very far when you've done 8 medicated cycles and 3 IVFs), I thought I'd try to see if insurance would cover it if done through my regular doctor.

Side note: I recently received a bill for over $700 for two measly ultrasounds. This is what happens when your insurance benefits for fertility run out. They don't TELL you, they just hit you with the bills later. This was particularly infuriating because I can see on my billing statement that my own insurance only pays $150 for ultrasounds. So why should I have to pay $350, as a self-pay patient? WTF. I called the hospital system to see about this, and why I should have to pay more than twice what my insurance would have to pay, and was told they will give me a 50% discount. To be honest, they should give more than that, since the insurance only pays $150, why should I pay $175? But, I am grateful to save $350 so I will take it. Still... WTF?

Okay, back to my doctor's visit. I went to the lab area to get my blood drawn for everything under the sun, thanks to the fact that all my bloodwork is one year and one month, and it has to be within one year. Sigh. So I roll up my sleeve and show the phlebotomist my one good vein, the only one that has ever been used, in my right elbow. Well, she wasn't able to get anything from it. Remember when I went to my fertility clinic for my pregnancy test three weeks ago, and they couldn't get anything (did I write about that? can't remember. it was awful)? Same story. Apparently my one good vein is covered in scar tissue due to the many, many blood draws that I have had in the past year. The needle goes in, but the scar tissue prevents blood from being accessible.

So, she tried other places, but I have really tiny veins. I must have been there for half an hour. Finally, she goes for my left hand and smacks it a few times (ouch!). At last, a vein pops up. But it's a hand vein and not an elbow vein, so it was slooooooow. She had to label the blood vials "special handling" so that the lab doesn't waste a single drop, since we didn't get as much as usual.

O.M.G. All I can say is, thank god I am doing donor egg, with a minimum of blood draws needed. IVF requires so many. From now on, I won't be able to donate blood, and any blood draws will need to come from my hand, which is way more of a pain than the crook of the elbow. My blood is slow and my veins suck, and it's just all really upsetting and reminds me of how much I have been through in the past year. Nobody tells you that your veins will be destroyed from IVF.

Sorry for so much complaining. I came home covered in bandaids and wraps on Friday, but the good news was that on my way home, the clinic in Atlanta called. I have a phone consult set up with the doctor on April 24th! I am very much looking forward to it- now I just need to spend the next 3 1/2 weeks gathering up all our medical records and writing down my questions. But, glad to be moving forward.