You guys. I don’t think I can survive this period before transfer. I can’t. Not with stupid people around every corner. I want to be positive and upbeat about this transfer, but the truth is, I keep getting hit with roadblock after roadblock. It’s always something. There’s always an issue.
If an owl could look pissed off, this would be the face. Also, if I was an owl, this is how I would look right now… as an owl.
I Need Birth Control Pills On A Sunday
Take this weekend. I needed a refill on my birth control because my doctor wanted me to only take the active pills, meaning this month I’m not supposed to get a period. Last Friday afternoon, the thought suddenly occurred to me: What if I wasn’t supposed to take the sugar pills in my BCP pack? I grabbed my phone, logged into my patient portal and found his instructions. “Active pills only,” he said. So I had a moment of panic, wondering if I had already started the sugar pills and then breathed a sigh of relief when I checked my pills, and no, the sugar pills week started Sunday. But now I needed a stat refill in order to start the new pack in two days. I put a refill request into the pharmacy.
Sunday afternoon, Chris and I were preparing to head out for date night and my parents were due to our house in fifteen minutes. I called my pharmacy because I hadn’t been notified my script was ready yet. I’ve never had a problem with the staff, and they’ve always been helpful. The pharmacist last time didn’t have my BCP in stock so she sent it to another pharmacy and I got it taken care of. This time, I got the dude with the God-complex. The man with the penis who clearly couldn’t be bothered by my panic of screwing up thousands of dollars in fertility treatments because of an issue with my pills.
Me: Hi, I’m calling to check on the status of my prescription.
Penis: OK, so it says here we aren’t able to fill it because it’s too early for a refill. You’ll have to call back tomorrow.
Me: Um, OK but I actually have to start them tonight and the script had said ‘active pills only.’ Tonight is when I would start the second month of pills.
Penis, sighing at the thought of dealing with another hysterical female: Well it’s too early for a refill. It says you can’t fill it until tomorrow.
Me, becoming hysterical female: I don’t think you understand. This is for a fertility treatment. I need to start the medication tonight and I’m not getting my period and risking screwing everything up. I’m not sure why it’s too early, but—
Penis: Look, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do.
I could feeeeel the mansplaining wafting off him through the phone.
Me, nice girl who never wants to snap, snaps: Well thank you so much. You’ve been so helpful.
As I’m about to hang up on him, he interrupts: Well hold on a sec.
I’m transferred to the pharmacist. I explain the situation again. He explains that if it was the intent of the doctor to only take the active pills, the prescription should have been written for 21 pills and not 28 then. When I insisted my last script was written out for active pills only, he put me on hold to look into it.
I mutter every curse word I know while I listen to Enya.
He comes back on and says he’ll fill it, but I need to come in soon before they close.
Was that so hard Man With Penis? Dick. I ended up getting my pills and starting them that night. But really?? Really. Even my freaking birth control script. Nothing can come easy.
And I Need A Hysteroscopy Today
Fast forward to today. I wondered if the clinic in Texas ever sent over the fax for orders for my hysteroscopy. I knew the nurse emailed me the order and I had several rounds of calls with the insurance company about coverage. Verdict: No one can give me a straight answer. So I’m done. I don’t know what our portion out of pocket will be, I don’t know if it’s more expensive to get it at the fertility clinic vs here, I don’t know a goddamn thing. So I gave up on the insurance part and focused on just getting the procedure scheduled.
A few days ago, I emailed the nurse back and asked her if she had faxed it to my clinic here since I never got a call to schedule it. Today, she wrote back and said yes, that she faxed it on the 14th. Over three weeks ago. I called my clinic here where I’m doing satellite monitoring and left a voicemail for the coordinator to call me back and let me know if she received that fax.
Her voicemail back—oh, how I wish I didn’t miss that call—said yes, she received it, but they don’t do hysteroscopies there and I needed to check with my OB.
Excuse me? You’ve been holding on to an order for three weeks and decided you just weren’t going to call me and tell me that bit of information?
Excuse me? You’re an infertility clinic and you can’t do a hysteroscopy? Or is it that you won’t? Because since I started back doing monitoring at my old clinic here, I’ve been passed over, I’ve been ignored, and they’ve been willing to accommodate as little as possible. It’s not that they do don’t hysteroscopies there, it’s that they won’t do them for a satellite patient.
I took a deep cleansing breath and called my OB clinic. The woman on the phone thought they didn’t do those there, but that they were done at the hospital. She will have one of the staff for my OB give me a callback.
Which means more phone calls.
I want to cry. Why does everything have to be so difficult? Why does every med, every lab, every procedure have to be met with 25 phone calls?
So I’m waiting on my OB to call me back so I can chase down a department somewhere with a fax number I can get for my nurse in Texas to send the order to. I just want to get this scheduled.
I just want to be done with phone calls and messages and coordinating back and forth.
Now that I’ve sufficiently made this the most depressing thing you’ll read all day, I’m going to go eat some cheese and crackers instead of drowning my feelings in chips and dip and copious amounts of wine. Because I’m trying to be strong here.
Image via Unsplash
It’s like you can not depend on anyone to do anything correctly the first time…ugh!!
Author
No! And I don’t understand what the deal is this time around. I mean, things have always been dumb for these cycles, but this time around has been especially trying.
Aaaargh! I feel your frustration! Why can’t these people get their collective shit together on something that requires such precise timing????
Author
That’s exactly it! Everything needs to be timed and there is no room for BS!
My god, I would have seriously snapped at Penis! I swear my pharmacist thinks I’m a little crazy and gives me a wide berth. I believe you’ll keep fighting in spite of their stupidity. You’re up for it!
Author
I just have found that I have no patience this time around. None.
Can I get stabby for you? Cause I’m happy to get stabby so you can focus on doing a FET.
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head about CCRM. On a moral level, they should be accommodating you. But because you aren’t giving them all your money they are no longer interested. Seriously, give them a negative review because that is complete BS.
Sending good thoughts that all of this means good news soon
Author
For what it’s worth, it’s not CCRM. Actually, it makes me wish I would have tried them out instead of going back to mine, but I honestly thought because I was a former patient there, they would… welcome me. But no. Apparently not. Thus, I’m stabby.
Ah! I’m sorry you are dealing with this. But – you are strong and you are the kind of woman who gets. stuff. done. So while this is all sucky (nice, adult adjective there, yes?), you are going to rise above and get that transfer going. Hugs and high fives for not marching right down to the pharmacy to confront the penis with a kick to the shins. You will get through this.
Author
Ha ha! Hey I say “sucky” all the time in this blog. 😉 And yes, a kick to the shins would have been lovely. People need to stop making this process so difficult.
THE DUMBEST PART OF ALL OF THIS is probably none of it will matter. Like, you probably would have been ok if you started your BCP a day off; your uterus will probably be okay. It will all PROBABLY be fine but in the SLIGHT chance it’s not we all turn into raging lunatics. When you don’t control any of this it’s impossible not to fucking lose it on the people who DO control things. Honestly, if fertility patients ran the system it would be perfect because we know what this hell is like.
Author
I KNOW! I mean, I honestly have no idea how this would have affected things. Would it have started my period? Would that then, in turn, throw off the next cycle that needs to be so carefully timed out? You’re right. Fertility patients know how to get shit done.
It really sucks, your clinic is treating you as a second class citizen as a monitoring patient. Some GYNs are doing hysteroscopy as an out patient procedure it;s called Endosee. Since you just need a quick look for diagnostic purposes, it would be an option for you
Author
Interesting. I’m still waiting for my OB to get back to me with scheduling. He did ask if an SIS would suffice, which my fertility said was OK in place of a hyst for financial reasons, and if my OB is willing to take me in, unlike my local fertility clinic, then I’m good with that. I don’t seem to have much of a choice anymore.
Oh man, you are being put through the emotional wringer! You most likely would have been fine taking the pill the following morning, and then resuming that night as usual, but still! Penis guy did not need to be such an asshat. And your local clinic! What the frickin hell!? (parden my language) It’s not like they don’t at least collect money for the monitoring portion that they DO do. (hee hee) They monitored for you before, right? Did you get so much grief from them the first time around? I wish I could drop kick them for you.
Author
Well and that’s the thing. The next day was Labor Day and they’d have to call the clinic and jump through hoops, and I’d be lucky to start them that night. We have everything booked for our stay so I am worried about messing the timing up. Still, I had NO IDEA what would be OK. Because of course, these things happen on a Sunday evening. And yeah, my fertility clinic here… a part of me wants to call her up and ask her what the heck is her problem. They, including her, were wonderful before. Amazing. She went above and beyond for me. Now? I’m lucky to be getting some ultrasounds there.