Traveling During FET (Subhead: Las Vegas Doesn't Care if My Baby Survives)

[Anonymous]

So, I am 5wk preg (yay!) from an FET cycle. I need to travel to Las Vegas for work for a long-scheduled and super important conference. I'll be there for 3 nights, 4 days next week. I am on all PIO shots rather and Endometrin due to insurance coverage, but I had my RE tweak my protocol so that I could be on Endometrin most of the time and only do a PIO shot once every 72 hours. The way my protocol works out, I only need one administration of a PIO shot while in Las Vegas (henceforth to be known as Fertility Support HELL).

I have called literally every fertility clinic and home health provider in Las Vegas, plus a night nurse agency, and have been turned down by every single provider I have called. Apparently home injection services like we have the in DC area are not a thing over there -- none of the clinics knew what I was talking about. I have spent hours on the phone with providers and my insurance company who was trying to find a home health provider for me who would do it. And, even with a prescription fax from my nurse at Shady Grove, I have not been able to find anyone who will administer a PIO shot.

What are my options? Doing it myself is not out of the question, but obviously I'm scared to since I've been trying this hard to find someone to help administer my shot. Has anyone else experienced this when traveling to a (hellhole) secondary city? I'd love for my hectic work life to stop because of IVF/FET, but...it doesn't. I want to cry and, honestly, wtf?!?!

[Anonymous]

I've administered pio many times to myself. Have someone mark the area. Then use a mirror to see the area as you administer it. You should be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've administered pio many times to myself. Have someone mark the area. Then use a mirror to see the area as you administer it. You should be fine.

Thanks, I'm hoping I can pull it off. I don't know that having my husband mark with a permanent marker would last several days. I leave on a Monday morning and need to do PIO on Wednesday.

[Anonymous]

Pen usually works. My husband marked the area darkly.
Just don't scrub that area hard when you shower. Also, you should be able to see where you injected before. Good luck. Its much less scary than you think it is.

[Anonymous]

Permanent marker around the spot. Jab yourself in the hiney, twisted around in front of the bathroom mirror. . Btdt. Scary, I know, but doable.

[Anonymous]

Here’s what my SIL did. She bought those wound care things you can shower with. It’s like Scotch tape almost. She taped it over a sharpie arrow drawn TO the spot. Did all her injections while my BIL was deployed.

[Anonymous]

Check the online tutorial on freedom med teach dot com. I messed up two of my injections (once, I injected myself in the hip rather than the buttocks, the other time I moved the needle/syringe too much after the injection while it was still in there, and blood literally came gushing out - with some of the oil - when I pulled it out). It did not disrupt my progesterone levels as far as I know.

The key is to stick the needle in quickly. If you go slow to be careful, it will be painful.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Appreciate the advice. I think it is interesting that we, as women on this forum, have come up with half a dozen ways of self administering a shot, rather than questioning why an insurance company can’t set us up with home heath care services if we’re not able to self-administer. I have been told it’s a state lines issue with the prescription even if my nurse here faxes the rX. If I were a diabetic and needed my shots, you can bet my insurance company would have found a provider to help me out. Doesn’t this seem strange or possibly discriminatory to anyone?

[Anonymous]

Sh1t....I would be happy to administer all my shots if my insurance would pay for the actual fertility treatments. Them not paying for home health care services for infertility patients is a non event...not paying for infertility treatment because you don't live in a state where it is mandated is where the real BS is.

Sorry, just had to rant...good luck giving the shot, you can do it!

[Anonymous]

Personally, I'd rather self-administer. I don't need to deal with a stranger in a hotel room. I think that's what most diabetics do too.

Anyway, I've traveled a lot over the first ten weeks of my pregnancy, so I've had a lot of experience with this. If you're worried about permanent marker, your RE should have surgical markers. I had the nurse mark the spot then touched it up every few days with the surgical marker they gave me (while looking in a mirror). It wasn't the neatest job but it did it fine.

Most hotels have full-length mirrors, so that's easy. I've been staying at Airbnbs, which annoyingly don't. At the first, I propped my phone on the bathroom counter and used that to see the circle. At the second, which had counters the wrong height, I just did it over the lump from yesterday.

You adapt, in other words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I'd rather self-administer. I don't need to deal with a stranger in a hotel room. I think that's what most diabetics do too.

Anyway, I've traveled a lot over the first ten weeks of my pregnancy, so I've had a lot of experience with this. If you're worried about permanent marker, your RE should have surgical markers. I had the nurse mark the spot then touched it up every few days with the surgical marker they gave me (while looking in a mirror). It wasn't the neatest job but it did it fine.

Most hotels have full-length mirrors, so that's easy. I've been staying at Airbnbs, which annoyingly don't. At the first, I propped my phone on the bathroom counter and used that to see the circle. At the second, which had counters the wrong height, I just did it over the lump from yesterday.

You adapt, in other words.

I think what I am most worried about is aspirating the needle. The angle seems so weird for that and if blood appeared I think I’d freak out. Any tips for aspirating or can I skip it just once and hope I haven’t hit a blood vessel?

[Anonymous]

So I'm not going to lie, at the Airbnbs I mentioned, I haven't been aspirating. I can't really see that in my tiny phone screen (and obviously not when I was doing it blind). But I had done it for like 9 weeks before that and never once got any blood when aspirating, so I just took my chances and went with it. When I've been able to look in a full-length mirror, I had a fine view of whether there was blood in the syringe (never was). Honestly, if it's going to freak you out and you're only talking 1-2 shots, I think you can skip it.

I did bleed like a stuck pig more than once though.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I don't always aspirate. Sometimes I bleed. Mostly I don't. If you are only doing it once I probably wouldn't bother

[Anonymous]

I'm at CCRM and my nurse told me no need to aspirate.

Been at this for several weeks now giving myself all of the shots myself and been just fine. You can do this. Practice a few before you go. It's really not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've administered pio many times to myself. Have someone mark the area. Then use a mirror to see the area as you administer it. You should be fine.

Me too and in Las Vegas of all places!