Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Doctor/Insurance/HMO Rant. Grr.

**I wrote this post yesterday although it was long overdue.  I just hate this issue so much I didn't even want to deal with writing about it.  Well...you need a read it, because there's a lot more to come when I tell you about what happened at a last minute appointment I had today.**

Even though I am incredibly concerned about getting pregnant, I haven't had a doctor's appointment since July or August.

In February (6 months TTC) I had my last regular yearly exam.  I mentioned that I was TTC without success.  I had my calendar with all of my cycle info with me.  But he basically said there was nothing major to worry about and didn't really ask other questions.

In June (10 months TTC) I met with the same doctor again, this time focused on conception.  Again he did not look at my info or ask any questions.  I'm not sure how forceful I was about showing him my documents, but I remember being frustrated after.  I feel like an idiot when I walk out of a doctor's appointment feeling like I didn't say what I wanted to say.  I'm not a passive person, but I also don't want people to get "upset" with me for being pushy.  I don't know what happens.  At this appointment he also told me that he would be retiring.

We had another appointment two weeks later in June and I honestly can't remember why!  I think I wanted to talk to him one more time before scheduling the "infertility appointment" since I knew that I had no coverage for it and the appointment itself was $400!

In July (11 months TTC) Mr. GG and I went together for our first Infertility appointment.  The nurse told Mr. GG he was not the important one in this process, basically just an accessory, and that set the tone for our interactions with her.  More on that in a sec.  The doctor was pleasant and ordered the SA for Mr. GG, Day 3 Blood Tests for me, and an HSG.  He knew that we didn't have coverage and chose specific places for us to go (outside the system) for cost effectiveness.  I thought that was nice.  The problem with this appointment (again no looking at my calendar or the charts that I took two hours to recopy by hand) was that there were no real "next steps" beyond getting the test results.  I do remember him saying that basically the RE would be next, but I just felt unclear.

I got my test results online and they were normal.  But getting Mr. GG's SA results was a bitch!  The office he went to wouldn't release them to him because he's not a doctor and we couldn't get the results online because the original appointment was under my name, not Mr. GG's, so it was like they didn't exist!  Eventually the nurse called Mr. GG, but come on!  DH has a slight morphology abnormality, but it's not major.

Because the results were good, we weren't sure what to do.  We didn't want to go back and pay for another appointment if there was no need, but we needed more guidance.  After a series of emails with the nurse, I decided I never wanted to go back to that office.  She was never overtly rude, but I felt that she was intercepting my emails and answering them myself without consulting the doctor.  I'm sorry, but I don't want your opinion, I want the doctor's!!  When I asked her about progesterone testing, post-ovulation, she said that she had never heard of it.  Seriously?  It's not that uncommon lady.

Then school started and I did nothing.

Ugh.

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