Acne Day

TODAY is the day that the 30 day wait period ends and I can finally start Accutane and be rid of this terrible awful blemish on my chin (which has been going strong since March).  I'll try to explain the mess as briefly as possible.

8:00 AM - Loaded the kids and myself in the car (showered, fed and dressed), which felt like a huge accomplishment for this hour in the day.

8:40 AM - Picked up artwork from Taylor's office (his office floor is being renovated, and the art belongs to us)

9:00 AM - Arrive at dermatologist for :15 AM appointment; their new office in West Ave was gorgeous!

10:10 AM - Depart dermatologist to get blood work completed (yet another requirement prior to taking Accutane)

10:45 AM - Visit Kathy (my beloved acupuncturist) to pick up detox herbs, so that the Accutane doesn't kill my liver, like my pregnancy anti-nausea drugs did.

11:30 AM - Head back out to the suburbs

12:00 PM - Visit HEB Pharmacy to fill prescription.  I'm told they cannot fill the prescription without my iPledge card (I pledge not to get pregnant).  I have a whole stack of iPledge paperwork at home, half of which are duplicates with my signature.  I find the card is a cutout in the back of my iPledge Bible.

12:30 PM - Second visit to HEB Pharmacy.  They run my iPledge ID number, and learn that I haven't taken the online part of the pledge.  I pull into a parking space, call iPledge to get my password, log into the website from my phone, complete the entire survey.

1:00 PM - Third visit to HEB Pharmacy.  The pharmacy takes awhile to load up my iPledge account, it eventually works, they fill the prescriptions, and the girl at the window asks if I have a coupon... not a normal question.  I tell her no, and she tells me that WITH insurance, the total is almost $900?!  Why is this news to me?  Does this count towards my overall insurance deductible, even though it's just an Rx?  What will Taylor say?  My insides turned to total panic mode... so I called Taylor.

Taylor e-mails me a coupon for Accutane.

1:20 PM - Fourth visit to HEB Pharmacy.  I give them my 75% off coupon, but they tell me that I got an Rx for the generic, and they can't switch me to Accutane.

1:40 PM - Fifth visit to HEB Pharmacy.  I give them a 93% off coupon for Claravis, but they put the codes in which brings the total to $834 <sigh>.

2:00 PM - I go home to lick my wounds... not really, because that would be gross.  Megan and the 6th grade girls she's babysitting for the summer came over to swim.  The kids and I hopped in the pool with them until Taylor got home.  It gave me a chance to gripe about how I hate the FDA, insurance companies, drug companies and the American medical system (something I'm quite passionate about, especially when I'm still sick and they're still taking my money).

3:30 PM - The girls leave, and Taylor tells me about another coupon he printed out for $187.  The trick is, I have to go to Walgreens.  I call Walgreens to see if they will honor the coupon, but they say that they can't do anything until they have ALL of my insurance, iPledge and Rx info in person.  SO, I had to go to HEB, they had to learn how to reverse their data in the iPledge system (which was new to them and took awhile) and return my Rx to me.

4:15 PM - I show up at Walgreens with my prescriptions and a prayer.  Long story short, I got it for $372 total.  They honored the coupon, but my Rx was for a double dose.  

NOW the journey begins.  I've been told the first 2 weeks of Accutane are the hardest, so here we go!  I think I've decided I will eventually post progression pictures of my face (close up without make up), in one post, after my face is actually better.  In the meantime, I'll spare you.