As we walked back to the exam room my hands were shaking! Eventually we were taken back into the RE's office. The game plan for the day was an ultrasound and pelvic exam and depending on what we found with that would determine what our next move was. The ultrasound showed that I have some cysts on my cervix, but they said that is completely normal and a lot of people have them, it should have no bearing on trying to conceive. He said my uterus looked great. When we got to my ovaries he said they had the classic "string of pearls" appearance that Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). He also said that I have plenty of eggs/follicles in each of my ovaries.
I am glad I did plenty of research on PCOS and I had pretty much diagnosed myself with it-so I wasn't really shocked or anything. The RE said he wasn't 100% sure that it was PCOS but it was a great possibility. He went ahead and prescribed me Provera once a day for 12 days to kick start my cycle (I was on day 72 (!!!) at this appointment). He was going to give me Clomid but we are going to do a hysterosalphingogram or HSG before that... There is no since in inducing ovulation if your tubes or in my case tube isn't even open.
So I have to wait for the first day of my cycle to call and schedule the HSG. I am on the 5th pill today, I think. So about another week and a half and I can schedule it. Also, since my husband had an undescended testicle that was corrected when he was an infant, the doctor is concerned about male factor infertility. He has an appointment for a semen analysis this coming up Wednesday. He is nervous that his count may be low- or non-existent. We have been talking about what we will do if that is the case... donor sperm I guess but we are not going to think too much about this until we have some solid answers.
The RE we have is amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. He made us feel important, like he really cared about our situation and is going to do whatever it takes to solve this puzzle. He is very sweet.
When we were leaving the office we were handed a price list. As many of you know, most insurance companies in this country do not cover any type of fertility treatment. We are lucky in that our insurance company covers 1 office visit, 1 HSG, 1 round of blood work, 1 post coital test, 1 semen analysis and something else that I can't think of at the moment. 15 states have mandates concerning infertility. Arkansas has a mandate that states insurance companies must cover testing to diagnose fertility (the one of each list that I put above) and one round of IVF, medications not included. Medications for an IVF cycle can be around $6,000 once it is all said and done. People think that these mandates are great.. I think it is crappy. They will pay part of the fee to diagnose you with something and then kick you to the curb when it comes for treatment.
The down side is we are on our own for the rest. The office visit charge is anywhere from $150-$350, just for the visit. This fee does not include any procedure or test performed during the visit. Also, an intrauterine insemination is only $190 (a great price). For 12 pills ( a months supply) is only $3 for me. A months supply for Clomid (about 5 pills) will be around $15. I guess it is a lot better than we were expecting. This we can afford. We are going to be in trouble though if the Clomid or trigger shots don't work and we have to do invitro fertilization or IVF.
If anyone that is having to go through treatment wants a copy of my price list, just let me know and I will send one to you.
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