IVF: $800 Refill Averted

One of the fertility drugs Leandra had been taking is called Follastem. It comes in this little glass vial and provides up to 900 units. When we started taking three shots, her doseage was 150 units which would last six days.

At day four (which was Monday) of taking the triple shots, we were down to 300 units which would last us two more days. That morning, we had an ultrasound and bloodwork done. The bloodwork would tell the doctors if she needed to change her doseage. Without the bloodwork results, we had to plan ahead and order an extra vial of Follastem. I think my neighbors heard my jaw hit the floor when we were told the cost of the vial was $800. YIKES!

We had some relief when the bloodwork results came in. She was able to drop her doseage to 50 units. With 300 units left, this would fit perfectly. We talked about cancelling the order, which made sense, EXCEPT...she has another round of ultrasound and bloodwork tomorrow (Wednesday) and they could re-up the doesage.

As it turns out, a friend of ours (and my former co-worker) just did the IVF process and is "heavy with child." No longer needing the vial that she has (which is around 500 units full), she offered it to us. Leandra immediately called the pharmacy and cancelled the order, although we are still paying for the overnight shipping costs. No worries, I will take a $30 (I'm guessing) over $800 any day!

By the way, if you are interested, here is a picture of all of the drug Leandra is currently taking:

This includes (in no certain order):

• Follanstem (that's the pen looking thing on the case)
• Lupron (which she has been taking from the beginning)
• Menopur (which has two small vials that need to be mixed)
• Some pill that I don't know the name of (and we have to cut it in half)
• Some kind of antibiotic pill (that we are both taking)