Enough is enough

After this current cycle, we are done with our infertility clinic and will be either going back to our previous clinic or finding another one close by to go to instead. I have had issues with them for the past few months and today's incident was the icing on the cake.

I blogged about my random bleeding in a prior post, but for those who didn't read it, I started bleeding on the last day of my meds. It felt like a full-blown period but I had no idea why it was happening and since it started on Saturday, I couldn't get a hold of anyone until Monday morning. Joy. I learned that apparently, when you skip from CD14 to CD3 {essentially skipping your real period, along with the last few weeks of your cycle} there is the rare possibility of bleeding...rare or not, it would have been nice to know before sending me on my way with an increased dose of my meds...

But I digress. 

So the phone rang this afternoon and when I saw the clinic's number, I thought, "Oh, they must be checking to see how the bleeding is going, how nice of them." But it's not a nurse, it's the front desk guy. And he proceeds to tell me that they need to reschedule my appointment for Friday because my doctor is going to be out of town. You know, the appointment in which I find out if I have any follicles growing. I tell him that I am on track for an IUI, and I don't really have much wiggle room in terms of time. He says, "Let me look at the schedule and see when we can fit you in." {long pause...} "Looks like the next time the doctor can see you is Sept. 12." Ummmm, WHAT?! That would be CD26, and I would definitely not be able to have my IUI. I politely tell him that that is not an option, that I would be missing out on my chances for an IUI, that my cycle would be nearing an end. To which he replied, "Well, I don't know what to tell you, the doctor isn't available until then, and it doesn't look like you're coming in for anything important anyway." I lost it. "Actually, I'm coming in for an ultrasound. And let me get this straight. You're telling me that I was told, by the doctor, that we were skipping from CD14 to CD3, and I would be taking an increased dosage of my medication, which I paid for and took, coming back in on CD13 to be checked for follicle growth, all in preparation for an IUI, and now it seems as though I won't be able to do an IUI because of a scheduling problem on your end? A nurse at your clinic ordered a trigger shot for me, which I paid for and you have in your office fridge, and the clinic isn't going to be able to see my cycle through? Two days before my appointment? Because the doctor is suddenly going to be out of town? That is utterly unacceptable and completely unprofessional. I want to talk to someone else about this. This is NO way to run an infertility clinic. I can't push pause and wait until the doctor is "available" to see me. That's not how it works. You don't put someone on medication and then half way through a cycle, tell them their appointment needs to be moved and there's nothing you can do about it." He then says, with a sigh, mind you, "Well, maybe I can put you on the schedule for Monday, but you'll be double booked with another patient, and the doctor doesn't like doing that." Am I supposed to feel guilty or something?? NO way. I replied, "That will be too late. Monday is CD16. I may have already ovulated by that point, and then my appointment would be worthless. I would be risking our chances, after all of my preparation." Ready for this? He says, "I don't think you'd be missing out on anything, but I'll go check with a nurse." Yea buddy, you go right ahead and effing check with a nurse. He returns and says, "Ok, we can see you on Friday morning an hour earlier, but you'll be seeing another doctor." Like I freaking care who I see?! That should have been their FIRST option! GRRRRRRR.

So, after this, I'm done, and we're writing a letter to the clinic detailing why we're leaving, and a copy will be sent to the administrator of the hospital. It may be "just a job" to them, but this is our life, and it would be awesome if they at least pretended that we were important. We pay out of pocket, so we're spending money we don't have to be treated like crap. Nope. Not anymore. I am just so frustrated with the whole thing, all of it. Our situation sucks enough as it is without dealing with their garbage. I know switching clinics is the right thing to do, but it would mean starting over. Again. More consults = more time and more money. We have 9 more months here before we move out of state, and really, only a few more months of money left to spend on this journey this time around. I am so upset, but what else can we do? I refuse to continue seeing a doctor at a clinic who doesn't give a damn.

**UPDATE**
We have an appointment for a consult at a new clinic in Riverside on Tuesday, Sept. 14. They are a low-cost IVF center and I am so far really impressed by their testimonials, their professional yet soft and charming website, and their pricing. They have risk-reducing refund plans as well as multi-IVF package plans should we decide to go that route before moving out of state. Hoping this place is THE one for us! Well actually, I'm hoping that tomorrow's ultrasound shows follicle growth and that our IUI is successful so we don't have to go to another clinic!! :)