Saturday, January 5, 2008

I almost had to "bleed" a pregnant lady.

I was given my Rx for Novarel, along with my Femara, at my cd3 baseline appointment. Due to the fact I needed the Femara same day, I stopped at the Walgreens closest to my work to get it filled. Normally I wouldn't go to Walgreens, as I believe their pharmacy is the devil, but convenience outweighs my opinion all the time.

Femara? Check. Novarel? Not in stock. But I don't think it's ever been in stock the last 3 times I've purchased it, so no big deal at all. They say it'll be in the next day, but I won't be needing the trigger shot on cd4, so I don't give it a second thought. That is, until they call me.

I got a recorded message about my "Rx" being unavailable without an estimated date as to when it would be in. I was told they'd call me. I still didn't need the drug until next weekend, probably the 12th or 13th, but since I was picking up my antibiotic for my upcoming HSS, I asked them about it. A few quizzical looks at the computer monitor and I finally ended up receiving a shrug as my end response. No idea when they'll get it. And no other Walgreens in the city has it in stock either. "Try calling in a few days" and I was sent on my way.

Nah-uh. I don't work this way. I need to know my plan and that wasn't a plan. So I called my friendly neighborhood Safeway pharmacist, which is my normal drug dealer. He says he doesn't have any either and they use the same wholesaler as Walgreens, so no dice. He then proceeds to tell me that just about every pharmacy in the city uses the same supplier, so I'm pretty much screwed if I want some hCG. This is when the idea of bleeding a pregnant lady came to mind.

Fortunately the image of holding down a preggo in some kind of a vampire pose was dismissed when he told me I should try this certain local place that uses an independent supplier. I called them with renewed hope and the girl on the phone actually laughed when I asked her for Novarel. She said they don't have it and she knows their supplier is out. She asks me to hold on for a moment while she looks up the date of possible shipment. I almost hang up but hold on to at least hear a date. It's got to be better than a shrug, right?

A few moments later and she comes back on, saying they "should" have it by the 18th. The vampire image pops back into my head. But then again it's destroyed as fast as it was created when she continues with "but guess what? I have ~one~ vial left. Want it?"

So this girl has her dope. I forgot the syringes though so the RE is going to have to share. Maybe I can show up to a junkie's needle exchange party. Do you think it would be bad junkie etiquette if I showed up empty handed and expected a hand out?

6 comments:

Searching said...

That is too funny! I'm very glad you have what you need and pregnant women everywhere are safe from the Nancy vampire.... For now!

Anonymous said...

I hate walgreens too. you may already know this, but online pharmacies are way cheaper and will send overnight if you need it. they just need the rx straight from the dr.

I used freedom pharmacy for my ivf and they were great (helpful, friendly, cheaper, on time, sympathetic): http://www.freedomfertility.com/content/patients/default.aspx

good luck. ~luna

Nico said...

bleeding a pg lady - now that *is* funny. It might even work ;-).

I was going to suggest freedom pharmacy, but LFH beat me too it. Just in case the 18th comes and goes without the other place getting it in.

nancy said...

Thanks for the suggestions! Since I actually have drug coverage for IF stuff, I never looked into cheaper places - it never came up. So now that I know there are these places that exist, I will keep them in mind if/when this happens again.

I really appreciate the comments!

bleu said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bleu said...

I just wanted to let you know there has been a nationwide shortage of Novarel. Something with the manufacturing. I got generic HCG for my trigger last time and the pharmacy I used thanked me for agreeing to it for just that reason. Just an FYI.