SCRC- Two tries at IUI

We started our fertility journey with Dr. Wendy Chang at Southern California Reproductive Center in Beverly Hills. We chose her for many reasons, including she was educated at Harvard and well-known in the infertility field. 

Let me start by saying the office is very posh, as are most of the woman (and couples) in the waiting room. I'm clueless when it comes to recognizing celebrities, however David recognized several in the waiting area. He always asked me after the fact, "Did you see so and so in the waiting room?" And, I hadn't. Because infertility is often a private and sensitive issue, I will not be sharing the names of those David saw.

Between August and November 2010, we tried IUIs twice with Dr.Chang. Prior to the first IUI, Dr. Chang did the uncomfortable dye test with my tubes, and both were clear (years back the right one had been blocked, and I had surgery in 2004). For the first IUI I was given clomid. For the second, we switched to injectables (follistim). She hadn't told me until 4pm that I would be doing follistim, and she also told me I had to start that evening. She ordered it to a pharmacy in Pasadena (near my work), so I could pick it up on my way home.

Something that should have been simple (picking up a prescription on my way home from work) was not.The pharmacy told me I would have to pay almost $900 cash for the follistim. Dr. Chang's office had not gotten it approved my insurance, and my insurance would only cover it through their mail order pharmacy because it's a specialty medication. I literally sat on the phone (at the pharmacy) for almost two hours trying to have my insurance cover the medication. Finally, an associate at the insurance told me he was able to authorize it, gave me his contact information, and advised me I could get reimbursed. So, out came the charge card.

I had never given myself a shot before. Dr. Chang's office had not shown me how to use the follistim pen (like an epi pen). On the way home, I ended up driving to the hospital where I work on the weekends. I can't say enough good things about Henry Mayo and the staff there, and I knew I'd be able to find a nurse willing to educate me on the injections. I'd called my friend ahead of time (who also works there), met her in the emergency room, and received the help I'd needed.

There was a total of 4 IUIs with Dr. Chang, because she did two on two days in a row. Both times I stayed home after the procedure and rested. Prior to the treatment, she'd had me cut back on my running, and I wasn't allowed to exercise at all for two weeks following each procedure. Both tries failed, and we decided to move on to IVF.