So as I mentioned in my last post, I had my first doctor's appointment since my third miscarriage on Friday. I went alone because really it wasn't a big appointment. We were just talking about our next steps. I am not sure that I have ever mentioned that I go to an Indian Clinic for my pregnancies and miscarriages. The first one I did not and had to pay for my D&C with my own money (whatever my insurance didn't cover, which was a lot since I had not even touched my deductible!). When I had my second I decided to go to the clinic since I was still paying for the first. Anyway. If you are not familiar with how that works, if you are Indian, then your health care is billed to your insurance and then they pick up the rest. It is kind of like the Health Department. I will have to say that I have had pretty good experiences with the doctors and nurses there at the hospital, but there have certainly been some bad ones!
If you are special like me (not in a good way!) then they refer you to a high-risk doctor at OU medical center. They also pick up the tab for you when they refer you, however, you have to go through them every time which can be a hassle. I tell you all of this with a disclaimer. I am NOT cheating the system or trying to get a handout by no means! I am going through Indian Health Services because my insurance does not cover infertility. Which sucks.... That means for the rounds of tests that I have already have done, I would have had to pay almost $7,000 out of pocket. That's almost half of the cost of adoption! I plan to save my money just in case that becomes our next plan of action.
Ok, now that you are up to speed, let me tell you about how my appointment when. It was pretty good, however, I was a complete and total basket case. I had a pretty bad experience being passed between the clinic's OBs, ER doctors, and my high-risk doctor with my third pregnancy and I had not really had a chance to vent my frustrations to my case worker. She is a Nurse Practitioner and handles all of the referral paperwork. Anyway, let's just say the poor woman ended up holding my hand and hugging me because I was so upset. I know that it is easy to blame other people than to accept God's plan, but I feel like there was something else that they could have done besides pushing me off onto someone else.
I am rambling, so I will rap it up! :) Long story short, she is working to make sure I never "fall through the cracks" again. She gave me direct lines, and cell phone numbers for herself, the Chief of OB, and my high-risk doctor at OU. She is working on getting me another appointment set up at OU, but there is a ton of red-tape right now. I have decided that if by the end of next month she is unable to get me all straightened out I will be looking for a new High-Risk OB in the Tulsa area. So if you have any suggestions or recommendations, feel free to throw them my way! I have already had so many tests run that there may not be as much out of pocket expenses if I do decide to find a new doctor. Either way I need a doctor that is fully devoted to helping me! I promise to not call unless I think it is an emergency, but by George if I call you, you had better call me back!
