Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Who Knew?

Who knew it would be so hard to find a pharmacy to fill Lily's prescription for sildenafil?
For those who don't know, sildenafil is the generic name for Viagra. Yes, you read that right. It is commonly prescribed to treat pulmonary hypertension, which is high blood pressure in the lungs. It acts by opening up blood vessels, which reduces the pressure.
Anyway, the hard part isn't finding the sildenafil itself, it is finding a pharmacy to compound it (make it into a liquid form). I am learning so much about pharmacies! See, most pharmacies aren't used to doing this, and, in fact, won't. I *think* I found a pharmacy in Salem that will do it, and bill it to the insurance. I found another pharmacy that has it but won't bill it to the insurance.
Phew.
Hopefully Lily won't need to be on this for more than a year. We had her follow up appointment with her cardiologist today, and everything is looking great. The blood pressure going to her lungs is still too high, but hopefully as her body adjusts to her "new" heart then her blood vessels will compensate accordingly. Until then, she stays on the sildenafil.
The real reason for her smiles:

3 comments:

The Happy Half Dozen said...

Your hospital pharmacy won't do it for you?

Her pictures are absolutely gorgeous!

Felicity said...

Did she always have such gorgeous chubby cheeks or has she filled out since being home?
Love the photos of her smiling!

Kelly said...

I am so happy to here all of this good news. I too had a hard time finding a pharmacy to compound the Sildenafil. The first time we had to have it filled we just ended up paying for it not know we could bill our insurance. The second time I found the 1 pharmacy in town that will bill. Juliana's pressure is still too high but has come down quite a bit sine pre-surgery. It has just taken some time on the medication. Her smile is ABSOLUTELY adorable! We are praying for her complete recovery!