Where is the snow???

For the most part, I am definitely a fall/spring person, but I love the snow! I am sure a lot of that has to do with getting a few "snow days" in each year. An unexpected break from the kids and excuse to drinking hot chocolate and watch movies all day is definitely a perk of being a teacher. I tend to think that I am worse than the kids on days that there is even the slightest chance of wintry precipitation. In the past, I have been known to read directly from weather.com to my kids and refresh the school closing screen at least once a minute. This year however, I haven't even had the chance to get my class into a frenzy because we haven't gotten more than a few flurries. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be the recipients of some winter weather this week, but I'm sure the forecast will change before I have a chance to really get excited. Everyone needs to do their snow dance this week!!

On a side note, Rich is doing much better after having surgery last Monday. He had a screw placed in his scaphoid which was broken during his motorcycle accident in September. He did not do well with the percocet and was sick for the first couple of days, but he is on the mend now. His reproductive endocrinologist appointment was quite informative. After six or more different doctors, this doctor took the time to review all of the past records and come up with a plan. He would like Rich to start doing three injections of HCG per week to get his testosterone levels up to the normal range. After a month, he needs to go back for additional blood work to see if the dosage needs to change. Then, after 4 months he will need to follow up with a semen analysis to see if the HCG had an affect on sperm count. If the count has not improved then he will add in FSH injections. Once we get to this point we'll find out of the problem is because of his pituitary gland or testosterone production in the testes. IF this is a pituatary problem, then the FSH injections have a 95% chance of improving sperm count and quality. If it is not, then there is not much else that we can do.

The only problem with all of this is once again, cost. The HCG injections are $400/month and there is a worldwide shortage so most pharmacies are on back order. We went to six pharmacies yesterday and only one had HCG in stock. We are still waiting to hear back from the doctor who is trying to get approval from the insurance company so that we can afford to start the treatments. The problem is that we already have the label of "infertility" so even though Rich's diagnosis is hypogonadism, the insurance company will read through the doctor's notes to prove that the issue trying to be resolved is fertility related. Then they will deny the claim. If we ever get to the FSH injections they run $150-$200 a WEEK. Hopefully, something will give before we get to to those injections!