Maybe I'm a little weird, but I like to know what I'm injecting into myself. We already explored what is used to make stimulation meds (Human pee. Yes, really!). Today let's take a look at the making of heparin. You might want to get a barf bucket . . .
"In a small, damp factory here [in Yuanlou, China], blood-smeared men wring pulp from pig intestines, then heat it in concrete vats. The activity at Yuan Intestine & Casing Factory is the first step in the poorly regulated process of making raw heparin, the main ingredient in a type of blood-thinning medicine."
China is the source of approximately 70% of the heparin used in the United States. Some of you may recall the Heparin Recall of 2008. Heparin sourced from China was found to be contaminated and there were a lot of deaths because of it. Worse, the contamination was almost certainly deliberate.
This heparin recall happened right when I started trying to conceive again after losing Jeremiah and Miles. Yeah, back when I thought I could get pregnant again just by having lots and lots of sex. Ha! I actually called Aventis, maker of Lovenox, and they assured me they are not sourced from China. The heparin I now have is the generic of Lovenox and there's no telling where this stuff came from. Now I'm no xenophobe, but I really hope it contains the intestinal mucosa of Western pigs.
Mmmmm. Pig intestine. How do I get that goodness in me?
You guessed it - MORE needles!
Enoxoparin sodium (generic of Lovenox) - Street value: $915!!
Yes, generic costs that much! Thank goodness for insurance. My copay: $25
8 comments:
Oh my I have been injecting this stuff one to two times a day depending on what I need...Yuck...and Yikes but if it works thats what matters most...Hope you are doing well havent heard from you in a while
Hahaha! Waste not, want not! LOL!
holy pig intestines batman! I'm glad I never tried to figure out what goes into the stuff I had to inject into my Lou...I might have hesitated! And holy pig intestines again at the difference insurance makes! Woah. It's so different in the US to here. I'm so glad you have insurance and can get the drugs you (hopefully) need to hang onto a lovely healthy pregnancy :)
xxxx
So I've been given permission to barf? ;-)
I'd say YUCK but I know what so many of the drugs that we go through entail in the process of making them, I'd be a hypocrite to do so and still be so grateful for them.
So...it IS yucky...but praying yuck wins out!
I've always said the UNLESS part....I actually never even heard the term until we started IVF because I've never been that close, so when someone congratulated me on it, I googled it and came across unless. I've of course seen it as until, and may even have used that once or twice, but I'm REALLY on it with you...unless, unless, unless...
And those are BEAUTIFUL embryos, so I am betting unless/until will be moot!
xoxoxo
Hey Annie...just responding to your comment on my blog in case you don't make it back there. Another reader had the same issue with Reader and just "refreshed" it...my posts started coming up again. :-)
Haha, I love the line "I don't mind stabbing myself in the belly!"
And ew, but whatever--I'm sure we put much grosser things into our bodies all the time.
I can't believe you found a picture of that...
Hey Annie,
I've given you the Cherry on Top Award....link back to my blog to pick it up. :-)
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