Kelli's Call

In the beginning of July my sister, who was doing her internship to become a Licensed Physicians Assistant, was completing a rotation with a Reproductive Endocrinologist. She was at an office in the same town as my RE, but it was a competing office. She had happened to see a pamphlet for a study that was being conducted on a new medication and this included free IVF. At the office we were currently frequenting it was going to cost us around $500 per IUI (if we even got to that point) and around $15k for IVF. So, obviously I had to consider this info.

I made the phone call to the Cooper Institute for InVitro Fertilization that day and left a message. Not an hour later I got a call back from the researching doctor herself. I was shocked that she was calling herself. She asked me a bunch of questions about my cycle, my sex life... you know, the usual probing questions I have gotten so accustomed to. She told me that I was likely to qualify for the study and to call her coordinator to set up an initial meeting. I called Eileen, who became a very dear friend over time, to set this meeting up. As it turned out, Dr. Choe was leaving the country for a couple of weeks so it looked like I would have to do some more waiting. I hung up the phone disappointed, but at least I had a new hope.

About 5 minutes later, the phone rings again and it is Eileen. She asks if I can come in the following day for the appointment, rather than waiting. Of course I said yes and cleared my schedule. I went in nervously and met with both women. I was expecting to hear all about this new medication and the FREE IVF that I would receive. Instead they described a study with a different medication and 3 rounds of IUI's. I was confused, disappointed and overwhelmed because all along I had this sneaking suspicion that I would need IVF. I thought this was my chance to bypass all the shit and get down to business, but that it wasn't.

Despite my disappointment I did realize that three round of free meds and IUI's would save me thousands of dollars that we would have spent at our previous RE's office (and remember, they had us in a holding pattern). Dr. Choe assured us that IUI's were likely to work for us, despite Bry's low counts. For those of you who don't know, an IUI -- intrauterine insemination -- is performed by threading a thin flexible catheter through the cervix and injecting washed sperm directly into the uterus. It is about as fun as it sounds. I knew that our chances were slim, but I tried to be optimistic.

The decision to participate led us through a whole host of more testing. We had to repeat all of the bloodwork, Bry's SA, ultrasounds, etc. Many, many, many hours were spent prepping for the IUI's. We were all set to start our first IUI cycle in July. Then, as usual, we experienced our first set back. A paperwork error in my pre-testing led to the postponement until my next cycle. So, again we waited...