Is anyone around here?

[inaya]

I hate that this community has fallen apart and I don't know where to find anyone any more. And especially right now when I'm needing advice, I know it's a bit selfish but I'm trying not to melt down right now and you guys were my people.

We had our third loss in April this year. I'm trying to figure out how to get testing done and have hit roadblock after roadblock. I have no idea what to do or who to see. My PCP said that she consulted with an OB and she felt like the one blood test I had done years ago after our 2nd loss (tested general blood cell count etc and PTT) was adequate. My MW gave me a referral to an RE, but my insurance company replied that I don't have infertility coverage - which isn't really applicable IMO because I just want to pursue diagnostic testing not IF procedures but that was what their voicemail today said.

I don't know what my next steps should be or how to get someone to actually help me find or rule out any potential issues. And at this point there's good reason to believe there might be a diagnosable issue, although I know there's also a very good chance they won't find anything.

Tips? Experience? Encouragement?

[menrandes]

Depending on the kind of insurance, you might not need a referral at all and can make an appointment with a RE to get diagnostic testing. My insurance doesn't cover infertility either, but my consultation and initial tests were all mostly covered.
I'd call around, most big RE practices will do a consultation with you and go over what your insurance will or will not cover.
Provided your insurance doesn't require a referral, that's what I would do.
I think most of us are hanging in the all AL areas lately as sort of a re-bonding.

[cali]

***grad warning***

I hope it's ok that I'm responding. But I just want to second what menrandes said. I have zero infertility coverage but they did cover my initial consult and diagnostic testing with the RE. I think menrandes gave great advice to call a local RE and ask them to help you clarify insurance stuff. They have experience dealing with these things. I'm sorry you're struggling right now. This process is so frustrating and insurance doesn't make things easy. Good luck.

[Speedy]

I don't really have much in the way of advice, since the process is so vastly different here in the great white north, but I wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss.
I'm definitely hanging out mostly in AL when I'm around.

[inaya]

cali you are absolutely welcome to respond, and thank you for doing so. All AL people are welcome.

And thank you all. I have an HMO, so I absolutely need a referral. I did contact the doctor that I was trying to get a referral for and sent them a message. I noticed that they offer a free short phone consult, so depending on what/if I hear back from the email message I can try that route.

I also scheduled an appointment with an OB (I've been seeing a MW but this is pretty much beyond her scope of things). I initially made it for this week hoping to just get things moving forward, but then rescheduled for next week so MH can come with me.

And I'm also trying to make lists of what to ask for, how to validate my opinions and concerns. I'd much rather be under the care of an RE so I don't feel like it's all on me, because I have absolutely no idea how open to testing and knowledgable about loss this OB is, but I'm willing to do whatever works.

[inaya]

Update: I had an appointment with one of the OBs today and it couldn't have gone much better. I was super anxious all day leading up to it, and they were running late etc etc, but she was friendly and nice and basically said yes, let's run a full panel of tests to check on blood clotting issues and then if that doesn't turn up anything we'll go from there. She wrote up the order right then and I got blood drawn (11 vials) right afterwards. Now to wait for the results.

Also, I've self-benched until we rule out any obvious issues, but my follow-up isn't until after my FW next cycle (I mean, it's like 99% likely). I'm trying to decide whether I should move the appointment up a bit and go without MH, or delay another month. I know the chances for any single cycle aren't high, but all the what-ifs get to me and I'm not quite ready to burn the bench yet. I'm kind of going around and around with the possibilities here.

[Speedy]

inaya, I'm glad they're testing. It's kind of one of those catch 22 things, where you kind of hope they find something that would explain things, but kind of hope they don't.
I ended up having 14 vials done at once, plus a pee test. Man was that a fun day!

[Radley]

inaya I'm sorry you are going through this. I'm glad your visit went well though. It's so nice when they listen and treat your concerns well.
I was self Benched as well while waiting on some test results, ultimately I'm glad I did because my health tests came back not looking great and got me benched anyway. Just my take on it, but it's definitely a gut feeling and there were several times I second guess what I was choosing.