Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Okay, One More

Update about the 17P situation that is. After I finally heard from my insurance, I was satisfied with a price for me of about $200 for the rest of my shots. That doesn't seem too bad until you compare it to the $100 I paid for Finley's whole 13-week NICU stay. Yes, it would be cheaper for me to just have this baby out now. That screwed-upness lies somewhere between the insurance company and Ther-Rx/KV Pharmaceutical, but I do not let the makers of Makena off the hook for their ridiculous pricing.

Fortunately, neither does the FDA. Just a couple days after my order for 1 $100 refill of 5 Makena shots went in (rushed), today I found that the FDA will be allowing compounding pharmacies to continue making the inexpensive 17P I've been enjoying for the last 10 weeks. That still leaves me and my insurance with paying those criminals at Ther-Rx for 5 shots, but I had to do what was necessary to keep this pregnancy safe.

But of course, life is never so simple. My last precious milliliter of 17P wound up being only .5 mL. That doesn't mean the pharmacy shorted me (of a $3.50 value! Oh no!), it just means that somewhere in the last 10 shots, .5 mL got lost in mixing needles or stuck to the sides of the vials. It's normal. And at $7/shot, I can afford little losses like that.

So even though I moved as fast as I could to make sure I'd get my shots, I'm still anxiously awaiting the rush shipment from my CVS/Caremark specialty pharmacy so I can make up for the lost dose amount. And hopefully not need a progesterone suppository, which my OB's office has threatened if I don't get my shipment before Friday. I'm just hoping that if I do need the suppository, it goes in the shipping and receiving door and not the, uh, emergency exit (for evacuation only). Are you as sick of my metaphor as I am?

So that's the story. The hope is that in another month, I will get my last 5 mL from the compounders at a totally reasonable price. I haven't called the compounding pharmacy to check up on it, but I can't imagine the hassle they've been going though between the angry pregnant ladies and the greedy pharmaceutical reps. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's a worse place to be than between rock/hard place, frying pan/fire, mama bear/cubs, bull elk/harem.

I'm not stressing about the situation much now, mostly because I'm wondering if I'm the only little girl who got the "don't get between a bull elk and his harem" speech.

For the record, after 2:34 AM tomorrow morning, I will be the most pregnant I have ever been: a full 25 weeks and 4 days!

1 comment:

Jenny said...

That sucks that you ended up paying extra but I'm glad to hear it wasn't as bad as it could have been and that next month's lot should be cheap again.

Haha - love your metaphors re: progesterone. I've not had to go that way (although we start the crinone gel tonight - bleh) but I've read lots of people say they actually prefer the emergency exit as it stays up there better and absorbs better. Hmmm. Anyway - hopefully you'll avoid it all together.

Congrats on being so very pregnant! Hope the rest of it goes by blissfully uneventfully.