I have been busy at school getting back into the swing of things. I am always surprised how long it takes for things to fall into place. The kiddies are still in shock with the changes from last year (this is the first year they change classrooms for various subjects). I feel like it is taken a bit longer to bond with this group but I seem to remember thinking that last year.
On the baby making front we decided not to do the study. We just didnt think it was the right fit for us. We went back to talk to our fertility clinic that we have been with for the past year and we are going for our first IVF consult on Oct 4. I actually feel better about the clinic because hubby came with me and I finally got most of my questions answered (although I still think the doctor has no idea who I am). He also assured us that hubby's sperm is excellent. I have read and he confirmed without my prompting that all labs have different criteria and they have consider anything over 3% great and generally never see over 4%.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Cost of Fertility Drugs
Hi,
I am trying to figure out the exact (or close to) amount that the study is covering by paying for the drugs. Here is the list that they are covering:
1.Suprefact 2 vials ($56x2=$112)
2.Gonal F 2 vials (1020x2=$2040)
3.Endometrin 100 mg (100 pills x 2=$200)
4. HCG 10, 000 iu- 1 vial ($100)
Total coverage
approx $2500
***These prices are quoted from a localfertility pharmacy in my neighbourhood but the prices were from 2008 so I am sure they have gone up.
ww.glenshieldspharmacy.com
I am trying to figure out the exact (or close to) amount that the study is covering by paying for the drugs. Here is the list that they are covering:
1.Suprefact 2 vials ($56x2=$112)
2.Gonal F 2 vials (1020x2=$2040)
3.Endometrin 100 mg (100 pills x 2=$200)
4. HCG 10, 000 iu- 1 vial ($100)
Total coverage
approx $2500
***These prices are quoted from a localfertility pharmacy in my neighbourhood but the prices were from 2008 so I am sure they have gone up.
ww.glenshieldspharmacy.com
Advice
Hi,
I thought I would write down the questions we need to decide regarding IVF to make the best decision. PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR INPUT :)
1. Should we implant 1 or 2 embryos?
If you impant 1 embryo you have less chance of becoming pregnant. If you implant 2 embryos you have a 13% chance of having twins (only 40% of IVF attempts end up with a successful pregnancy and 34% of those are twins). If you end up in the 13% and get pregnant with twins you are more likely to have complications (early labour, unable to carry the babies to term, birth defects, pre-eclampsia
2. Should we participate in the study?
They cover the costs of the medications (about $3000 worth). They only implant 1 embryo. If I did IVF outiside of this study I would probably be put on Lupron (it will reduce the size of my current cysts). By the way I have $2000 dollars worth of coverage for 2010 from work that would go towards the medication if I do not participate in the study. Another thing to consider is that I wanted to take the drug that the study is investigating anyways, if I am in the study I have to risk my chances of being in the placebo group. If I take the Lupron somewhere else it will cost approx $2000 extra but it might be benefitial.
3. Do I stay with Dr G? I am very frustrated that it takes so long to get an appointment. I think he is very nice but when I meet with him he seems to be in a rush. I am angry that he potentially gave us wrong information regarding the sperm analysis. It is not a convenient location. However, I do not want to go through all of the preliminary tests again and waste more time.
I would really appreciate any input. I know there is no clear answer but I would love to hear your opinions.
I thought I would write down the questions we need to decide regarding IVF to make the best decision. PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR INPUT :)
1. Should we implant 1 or 2 embryos?
If you impant 1 embryo you have less chance of becoming pregnant. If you implant 2 embryos you have a 13% chance of having twins (only 40% of IVF attempts end up with a successful pregnancy and 34% of those are twins). If you end up in the 13% and get pregnant with twins you are more likely to have complications (early labour, unable to carry the babies to term, birth defects, pre-eclampsia
2. Should we participate in the study?
They cover the costs of the medications (about $3000 worth). They only implant 1 embryo. If I did IVF outiside of this study I would probably be put on Lupron (it will reduce the size of my current cysts). By the way I have $2000 dollars worth of coverage for 2010 from work that would go towards the medication if I do not participate in the study. Another thing to consider is that I wanted to take the drug that the study is investigating anyways, if I am in the study I have to risk my chances of being in the placebo group. If I take the Lupron somewhere else it will cost approx $2000 extra but it might be benefitial.
3. Do I stay with Dr G? I am very frustrated that it takes so long to get an appointment. I think he is very nice but when I meet with him he seems to be in a rush. I am angry that he potentially gave us wrong information regarding the sperm analysis. It is not a convenient location. However, I do not want to go through all of the preliminary tests again and waste more time.
I would really appreciate any input. I know there is no clear answer but I would love to hear your opinions.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Explosion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously people my head is going to blow up. I am so freaking mad, frustrated and disappointed. So needless to say the study does not cover IVF just the medications that we would be taking. Now I have some tough decisions to make.....ugh!! I suck at making decisions and this isn't a small one. First I have to figure out what medications I would be paying for (if I did IVF outside of the study). Does anyone know the names and amounts of the prescribed medications that an endo girl of mature age like myself would have to take? Then I have to decide if the money I save on the drugs makes up for the fact that the study only allows me to implant 1 embryo. How many embryos do most people implant? I had always thought we would try two! Is there a big difference in success rate in single versus double transfers?
Now the thing that pisses me off is that after all of this time this new fertility doctor mentions that G's sperm Morphology sucks. He says it should be over 30% and it is only 6% good sperm. Although I looked it up online and read various things, some saying anywhere from 2%-6% was normal and others saying that 30%-50% was normal.
Please let me know what you have been told is normal?
Now the thing that pisses me off is that after all of this time this new fertility doctor mentions that G's sperm Morphology sucks. He says it should be over 30% and it is only 6% good sperm. Although I looked it up online and read various things, some saying anywhere from 2%-6% was normal and others saying that 30%-50% was normal.
Please let me know what you have been told is normal?
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Jealous
So I think I might have a really bad case of jealousy and that just isn't very attractive on anyone. So two years ago when I was teaching Grade 5 I had a "team teacher". Basically this just means that she teaches the same things as me and the classroom next to mine. We were supposed to collaborate and work together to stay at the same pace and cover the same things. Let's just say this didn't happen and she is now moving up to grade 7 and we will be teaching grade 7 together.
When we taught together before she had taught Grade 5 before and she was not very helpful. I am the kind of person (I am not sure if this is good or bad) that gets a new class/grade and reads all of the material and brainstorms about ways to bring the curriculum alive. In my opinion she is the kind of teacher that takes what the teacher had planned from the year before and just does every lesson the way the other teacher did it. She photocopies their worksheets and has the kids work along in a duotang (zzzzzzzzzzzzzz). At first I would ask her what she thought about doing this or doing that and she would always say sure whatever you want. I realized that I was revamping things and she had no input and then when I went to explain what I was thinking she couldn't follow along what I was doing. It took so much time to explain things that it became a job just to let her know what I was doing and how I was doing it. To be honest I just couldn't be bothered. There was never any give and take and on the very very rare occasion when she came up with an idea she would just mention the idea, never cultivate it and never have any follow through. She would say something like I think we should do tissue paper pumpkins. Then I would ask her if she had a lesson plan or any ideas how we would teach the lesson. She would just sit there and look at me with a blank stare. So I would go out and buy the tissue, cut the strips for both classes and then she would ask me if that was all I had cut. Finally I just had enough and I started to do my own thing. At first it was awkward because she would ask what we were doing for art/social studies/science etc. and I would say things like " I was thinking of doing ________ with my class". Then I would show her what I bought and tell her where I got the stuff. I know I could have just as easily picked up stuff for her but I guess I am petty.
On a personal note I just don't like her (wow, I am not nice). She is so different from what you would expect. Looking at her you would think she was a young hip teacher full of ideas but I just don't see that. She always says things like "that sounds like a lot of work" when we are brainstorming ideas in meetings.
Did I mention I will be working with her again this year. She has already asked the previous teacher repeatedly for her memory stick (heaven forbid she write a test or an assignment). Of course I understand her wanting to see what other people have done but I can just see her lazy wheels turning. She is just someone who piggy backs on others and I hate that. She literally had the same thing on her bulletin boards for 3 years. I was so embarassed for her when a parent asked her, while pointing at some work that was displayed, who James was. When she said he was a kid in her class from 3 years ago I was so embarassed for her and the school. Seriously most teachers change their boards with every major art project but at the least you change them when there are major season changes. You would feel pretty ridiculous with Christmas trees up in June.
So why do I even care???? How does she influence me??? Here it is ladies the root of the root. I hate that she is the cool teacher. That's right it's because I am usually the cool teacher. I try to include lots of hands on fun lessons that utilize group work,teachnology, drama, role playing, etc. She on the other hand doesn't bother to plan and does boring meaningless lessons (wow, I am bitter) but bribes them by taking them to McDonalds and then taking them out to play kick ball so they think she is the best. Plus she talks to them like they are her friends. She shows them pictures of the guys she is dating on her phone and gives them basic details about her love life. She even tells them when she gets her period and has to go to the bathroom. Um can we say unprofessional....or maybe I am just a boring old dud.
When we taught together before she had taught Grade 5 before and she was not very helpful. I am the kind of person (I am not sure if this is good or bad) that gets a new class/grade and reads all of the material and brainstorms about ways to bring the curriculum alive. In my opinion she is the kind of teacher that takes what the teacher had planned from the year before and just does every lesson the way the other teacher did it. She photocopies their worksheets and has the kids work along in a duotang (zzzzzzzzzzzzzz). At first I would ask her what she thought about doing this or doing that and she would always say sure whatever you want. I realized that I was revamping things and she had no input and then when I went to explain what I was thinking she couldn't follow along what I was doing. It took so much time to explain things that it became a job just to let her know what I was doing and how I was doing it. To be honest I just couldn't be bothered. There was never any give and take and on the very very rare occasion when she came up with an idea she would just mention the idea, never cultivate it and never have any follow through. She would say something like I think we should do tissue paper pumpkins. Then I would ask her if she had a lesson plan or any ideas how we would teach the lesson. She would just sit there and look at me with a blank stare. So I would go out and buy the tissue, cut the strips for both classes and then she would ask me if that was all I had cut. Finally I just had enough and I started to do my own thing. At first it was awkward because she would ask what we were doing for art/social studies/science etc. and I would say things like " I was thinking of doing ________ with my class". Then I would show her what I bought and tell her where I got the stuff. I know I could have just as easily picked up stuff for her but I guess I am petty.
On a personal note I just don't like her (wow, I am not nice). She is so different from what you would expect. Looking at her you would think she was a young hip teacher full of ideas but I just don't see that. She always says things like "that sounds like a lot of work" when we are brainstorming ideas in meetings.
Did I mention I will be working with her again this year. She has already asked the previous teacher repeatedly for her memory stick (heaven forbid she write a test or an assignment). Of course I understand her wanting to see what other people have done but I can just see her lazy wheels turning. She is just someone who piggy backs on others and I hate that. She literally had the same thing on her bulletin boards for 3 years. I was so embarassed for her when a parent asked her, while pointing at some work that was displayed, who James was. When she said he was a kid in her class from 3 years ago I was so embarassed for her and the school. Seriously most teachers change their boards with every major art project but at the least you change them when there are major season changes. You would feel pretty ridiculous with Christmas trees up in June.
So why do I even care???? How does she influence me??? Here it is ladies the root of the root. I hate that she is the cool teacher. That's right it's because I am usually the cool teacher. I try to include lots of hands on fun lessons that utilize group work,teachnology, drama, role playing, etc. She on the other hand doesn't bother to plan and does boring meaningless lessons (wow, I am bitter) but bribes them by taking them to McDonalds and then taking them out to play kick ball so they think she is the best. Plus she talks to them like they are her friends. She shows them pictures of the guys she is dating on her phone and gives them basic details about her love life. She even tells them when she gets her period and has to go to the bathroom. Um can we say unprofessional....or maybe I am just a boring old dud.
Psychic
Okay I am not really psychic....... or am I. I know this is weird to say but I always knew I was going to be infertile. I literally always got a feeling in the pit of my stomach when people would talk about how terrible it would be to have problems conceiving. I just knew somewhere deep inside that, that was going to be the fight I was going to have to fight.
A while ago I read someones blog that mentioned that they could not envision herself with a child. She was going through all of the treatments but couldn't see it in her head. This also scares me because I used to picture myself being pregnant and having a newborn but I no longer have dreams about this. I am not sure if this is just because I am blocking it so that I don't torture myself or if it has a deeper meaning.
I can't even mention another vision that I have because it is literally morbid and I don't even want to say it because that is just bad luck.
A while ago I read someones blog that mentioned that they could not envision herself with a child. She was going through all of the treatments but couldn't see it in her head. This also scares me because I used to picture myself being pregnant and having a newborn but I no longer have dreams about this. I am not sure if this is just because I am blocking it so that I don't torture myself or if it has a deeper meaning.
I can't even mention another vision that I have because it is literally morbid and I don't even want to say it because that is just bad luck.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Back to Business
Well summer vacation is officially over. Starting tomorrow I will be back in the classroom although the kids don`t start until after Labour Day long weekend. I have tons to do but I am feeling calm. This is my first year that I get to keep the same classroom and teach the same grade. Although I have to redo most of my bulletin boards the task seems less daunting than previous years.
Something that has been constantly on my mind is this study that I might be eligible for. I am not counting on it because it is such a long shot but I know I will be disappointed if I don`t qualify for it. It is hard to swallow that having my birthday too month later might exclude me from $30,000-$40,000 worth of medical care. Either way though I really want to get IVF underway. I hate this limbo and I need to be doing something proactive in my quest to conceive.
Something that has been constantly on my mind is this study that I might be eligible for. I am not counting on it because it is such a long shot but I know I will be disappointed if I don`t qualify for it. It is hard to swallow that having my birthday too month later might exclude me from $30,000-$40,000 worth of medical care. Either way though I really want to get IVF underway. I hate this limbo and I need to be doing something proactive in my quest to conceive.
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