Anyone from Rhode Island

[nickyb73]

I was just wondering if anyone is from the Rhode Island area? I've had some great support on these message boards, but I was wondering if anyone out there has used either woman and infants and/or RCS. I am currently using women and infants but am considering getting a 2nd opinion from RCS if not successful this IVF cycle. I would love to know of those out there who have success stories and good vibs from either place.

[dcu917]

Hi Nicky,

I am from RI. I have been going to WIH - Dr. Frishman is my RE. I, unfortunately, have not had luck. I had two BFP's that turned out to be chemical and two BFN's. I am currently taking a few months out to decide what to do. I know some people who have had luck there, but to me, it seems they don't really tailor the treatment to your personal needs. I am 38 though, so my age isn't helping. Plus, I have only transferred one embryo at a time (except for the last, we did 2). If you'd like to "talk" further on this, email me at dcd917@msn.com. I may do an FET, but am contemplating going to a more renouned facility. There was another girl, kbat, on these boards that went to both WIH and RSC. She had good and bad to say about both. Why are you thinking of changing? Send me an email or just reply here.

Diane

[nickyb73]

Hi Diane:

Thanks for responding to my post. I had my ER this morning and they got 12 eggs. My last cycle, which was my first IVF, they only got 4 eggs and only one was mature and didn't fertilize. Hoping that this time is more successful.

My DH and I are an unexplained infertility couple and it drives my DH crazy that nobody can explain why we cannot get pregant. (DH thinks that they are quacks who just want our $$$$)

Dr. Wheeler is my doctor and although I don't doubt that she is a good doctor, there is not much "bed-side" manner there.

I had previously been on clomid with intercourse at home before meeting with Dr. Wheeler. I moved to injectibles for IUI due to the fact that I was told that they had a better success rate than clomid. We went through 3 IUI using Follistim and then moved to IVF with Lupron and Follistim. When IUI didn't work, IVF was suggested. When I inquired about doing one cycle of IUI with clomid, I was quickly dismisssed. For my first IVF cycle, stimualtion was delayed due to high estradiol levels despite lupron and a cyst. After going back on BC, levels went done but cyst remained. Went forward with stims and retrevial but then only got one good egg. It appeared to me that my body didn't respond to lupron. This cycle, increased both lupron and follistim and had same problem with high levels and this time had to have cyst aspirated. However, this time 12 eggs retrevied and hoping for best.

At times, I feel like there is a lack of personal interaction with the doctor but I am not sure if it would be better anywhere else. Have you had much personal interaction with Dr. Frishman.

The whole process is very frustrating. I would just like to get the best possible results given the emotional and financial commitment I am making.

Thanks for listening to me vent.

Nichole

[dcu917]

Hi Nicole,

12 eggs is great!!! I wish you the best! I like Dr. Wheeler. She has done a few of my retrievals and one (the best one) of my transfers. I agree that she doesn't have great bedside manner and is pretty negative. One of the cycles I had 6 follicles and she warned me that it may not be a good cycle, meaning she may not get enough eggs (I only have one ovary). She ended up retrieving 6 eggs out of 6 follicles and was very happy with that. I guess sometimes not every follicle has an egg. They, she and Dr F both, told me that was good news. Anyway, I agree the one on one time is minimal. They don't hold your hand. I do find that Dr. F is supportive but to the point in the consultations with him. Last time I told him I got other opinions, and he said, "this is not about me, it's about you" and was very accepting of the fact. He did want to know what they said, and he did suggest I stay there, and seemed to kick it up a notch as far as trying to be more supportive of me and my particular case. I've been emailing him and he has been replying (almost seems more responsive in email than if you call and leave a message - you always have to talk to the nurse rather than him directly. With email it's always directly from him.) I am probably going to do an FET with my one frozen embryo soon and then, if that doesn't work, decide from there what to do next.

But, enough about me...I hope you get great fertilization results and have successful transfer! Let me know how it goes.

[nickyb73]

Diane:

Thanks for your response. I heard back from the lab and 5 of the 12 were mature and 3 fertilized via ICSI. My transfer is scheduled for monday. The lab didn't say anything about how they were growing and said that they would call back tomorrow with time for transfer and update on whether the other 2 eggs fertilized.

I don't really expect the doctors to hold my hand but I do believe that I deserve alittle more information. All I ever really get is continue with the program and only get more information if I ask for it. I really bothered me this past cycle that on the day that I ended up triggering, when I went for u/s two of the three larger follicles appeared to have shrunk or disappeared and when I asked the nurse, she was kinda snotty and gave me some half-ass answer that sometimes the smaller follicles use more of the estradiol and the larger one stop growing. When I asked again how it was possible that two large follicles shrunk or disappeared, she just said that everyone measures the follicles differently. It kinda got to me and I was glad when 12 eggs were retrieved. I think it would be nice if one or two nurses were assigned to you so that they would be used to a patients body and know where the ovaries were and would be consistent in measuring the follicles. Dr. Wheeler did not provide me with her email and I think that if I had that, maybe I would feel alittle better.

Hoping that everything goes well with the transfer on Monday and that this won't be an issue. Maybe I will have ask her for it then next time I have an appointment. I think that I may take a few months off if this cycle is not successful.

Good luck if you decide to do the FET.

I will let you know how the transfer goes.

Nichole

[dcu917]

I agree with what you are saying....they don't really share info unless you ask. Sometimes I feel like a pain in the @$$, but then I say to myself "it's my body, I should know what is going on with it". I do not like the fact that you get a different nurse every time for an ultrasound. I wish the doctors did them. I have had to explain to all of them what is going on with my anatomy (the one ovary) every time. It gets old. They all still try to look for the right ovary because I guess it's part of their protocol to check (which is good). I find some of the nurses there knowlegeable, comforting, and forthcoming, but I find some to be just as you describe. I think this is how it is at many clinics. You know how we have to fill out that form with our lining and follicle measurements?...well, this one girl told me at Cornell, one of the best clinics in the country, that she has asked the doctor doing her US what size her follicles were and he said not to worry, their fine. But, then on the other hand, I've heard people getting pictures of their embryos and a report. They don't really share that information unless you ask. I was surprized to hear they told you how many were mature. I've never heard that from them. I have actually asked the embryologist if they noticed anything wrong with my eggs and they said if no one has ever pointed that out, then they were probably fine. I had about 80-100% fert in my first 3 cycles, then this last one I only had 3 out of 6 fertilize (all with regular IVF - no need for ICSI) and that one of them fert abnormally. Abnormally? Never had that happen...so I asked the embryologist why and he said that if the eggs are immature then they will not fertilize (or could fert abnormally). So, I guess that cycle wasn't as good as far as protocol and time for the HCG shot. I had somewhat of a dominant follicle and I think that messed everything up. I think sometimes they do not know what is going to happen or maybe they don't want to disclose much because we would ask too many more questions or try to figure things out ourselves. Another item - sorry, I know this is long - Dr. Blazer was doing a study to determine the affect of AMH (anti-mullerian horomone) levels on IVF outcome. I offered to participate. I asked Dr. F to share the results with me and he wouldn't. He said it would only be speculatory either way. I sure as heck would like to know if my results were favorable or not. He later said that he doesn't see a reason yet to recommend that I stop trying.

Good luck with the transfer on Monday!!are you going to transfer all of them?....make sure you have that full bladder! One time, Dr Wheeler made me drink a ton more water because she won't do a transfer until she sees a full bladder on the US. That transfer went great, though. They checked my bladder with the US twice before we actually did the transfer.

[kbat]

I know that this is an old post, but I thought I would give my 2 cents Just for those who want it.

I've only pretty much dealt w/ the only 2 clinics in RI since it was too hard to travel w/ my husband's job. Also, w/ the insurance issue, there were only certain places I could go where it would be covered--and the only way we could afford to do the procedures.

I originally started out w/ Dr. Wheeler at RSC where I did 3 IUI w/ her there. I wasn't particularly fond of the doctor, but I don't even think I really knew at the time about WIH b/c I was recommended to RSC. My first experience wasn't really good or bad. I know that the main office in Lexington kept messing up the bills, and it was time consuming and a pain to take the time out every month when I got the bill to go through to "fix" it. But other than that, it was an o.k. experience. Wasn't crazy about the dr.--no bedside manner, never looked you in the eye, never really wanted to answer questions, etc.

I then was going to give up at this point b/c we had BCBS of RI and in RI the insurance pays 80% and the patient is resposible for 20%. Well 20% of the overall cost of the IVF was more than what we could afford.... I do realize that I was lucky to live in a state that mandates that the insurance cover the procedure, etc, but if you can't afford it, it really didn't matter....

Then in Aug. 2006, my husband's job switched insurance companies to BCBS of MA, which covers it at 100% except for some co-pays for medication, etc. So we would have stayed w/ RSC, but at the time the doctor in Providence wasn't approved by BCBS yet. So it was either go to WIH or to wait. Since I didn't know how long it would take, I stayed w/ Dr. Wheeler and went to WIH.

WIH was an interesting experience. I found that the nurses were super-nice. They were very accomadating, etc. I also like the idea of having everything done locally in RI, and they did seem accomadating. Like they didn't have us freeze sperm "just in case" my husband couldn't be there the day of the e/r. They said it could be done a few days ahead of time. Also once we weren't sure if he could stay to drive me home and they were willing for us to hire a car--didn't happen, but it was a good backup. But, sometimes one hand didn't know what the other hand was doing. Once in the same day I had one nurse call me to say start the b/c and another nurse called to say don't start the b/c. Another time, I told them I was going away for 3 or 4 days and would that interfere w/ the cycle--they said no, but then gave me a target date of the day I was leaving. Another time, I brought in paperwork and I was told they got it, then 2 or 3 days later I was told they didn't have it. Wheeler told me I would automatically get approved for 6 cycles just to find out later that it was common practice to get approved for 3 at a time. I had to alter when i was going to do lap. surgery. (Originally, i was told that I should do one cycle--then if it didn't work have the surgery b/c then I would have 5 left). Since I didn't know if the insurance would approve me for another 3, I figure I should do surgery first. I lost about 6-8 weeks before I could start a cycle....Then after 3 I was told by Wheeler I should consider different options. When we called them on it, we were told we must have misunderstood what we were originally told (yeah, right!)....

After getting the blown off feeling, I went to RSC. Some really good things about RSC--I really liked the doctor and the 2 front end people (Amy and Julie). the people in lexington were pretty nice as well.

The biggest negative was the nurse. When I first got there, she told me a medication wasn't covered (another medication wasn't going to be covered anymore). I told her that it went up in price for me but still it was covered. She kept telling me it wasn't so I called the insurance and guess what it was covered. Then another time, for the 2nd cycle there, she ordered a medication that wasn't covered after she said it wasn't covered (I knew she was right in that instance). The pharmacy called back to get the right one. When I mentioned to her for the 3rd cycle to remember NOT to order me the medication since it wasn't covered by insurance, she left me a 5 minute message on how she couldn't order the medication b/c it wasn't covered (no duh).... Then on the last cycle she faxed the order to the wrong pharmacy. Then she told me that I would need to take another test since I needed to do it every 6 months or the insurance would cover it. I asked her why since the test was taken like on Sept 29 and it was only end January (I was trying to get it done by Feb before my husband switched jobs). The insurance still approved it anyway, and I didn't have to retest.... the worst thing she did was she forgot to call me regarding my e/t on the 1st cycle w/ them. I had to track someone down by paging someone like at 6:15 in the evening, just to find out that it was a no go.... I could tell you more, but you get the idea She was horrible. She wasn't pleasant at all...Once saw her in the elevator and I said hi and she mumbled a hi to me. She didn't seem like she liked her job or something....

RSC wasn't as flexible as WIH either. You had to go to Lexington for the procedures, and if my husband couldn't make it, they wouldn't allow us to rent a car or to freeze his sperm a few days in advance--we had to do it at least at the beginning of the cycle and it wasn't covered by insurance--we didn't want to spend the money unless absolutely necessary---which we could never know until the last minute. On the last cycle, I said that I wanted the very first appointment at 7:00 a.m. b/c my husband had to be in court at 11 a.m. and it would give him enought time to drop me off at home--and they wouldn't accomadate me. I found it to be more of a baby factory.

I wish we could do the travel thing, but just doing it locally was very stressful to figure out the logistics. part of me wants to see if our new insurance will cover any more, but since I've had 6 failures and we can't travel, I really don't want to deal w/ either clinic..... I think maybe if the RSC dr was at WIH, I would go w/ WIH, but they both had bad and a few good things about it.

[not hopeless yet]

Best of luck with your transfer on Monday and keep positive thoughts that this is THE cycle that works.
I live in MA but have friends in RI that have used W&I. It sounds like the protocol you've been on is standard. As for myself I did 6mths Clomid with IUI, 3 mths FSH with IUI, and now we're on our first IVF cycle. You wouldn't want to do Clomid with IUI after 3 mths of FSH because its like taking a step backward. So despite the lack of bedside manner you're feeling I hope it brings you some comfort in knowing your doctors are on the right track (and p.s.- 12 eggs is fabulous. Now grow 3 little embies, grow!)
Good for you being proactive and thinking what the next step will be if this cycle doesn't work. Hopefully you'll be able to freeze 1 or 2 embies for future. Otherwise, I don't know if your insurance will cover this, but I highly recommend BostonIVF (with locations in Waltham, Quincy, and Boston) which would be within an hour of W&I.
Good luck and keep us posted on your transfer and how you're feeling!

[Rosario]

I am currently going to RSC. This place was recommended by some here on this board. I have Dr Anania and i must say i loved my first consult with her. I haven't had my ER or ET yet but the Nurses team for Dr Anania have been great. They get back to me ASAP and call shortly after getting my blood results and ultrasound reports in.

[kbat]

I have to say that dealing w/ the team up in Mass was pretty good.... It was just the one nurse in Providence who made the experience just awful.....The doctor in Providence was nice and when I had to page someone 99% of the time I got someone good. I once was asking a nurse something after I had to page someone, and just got no answers at all and was told to call my nurse (the one who was miserable) in the morning. But then about a half hour later, I got a call from another nurse saying that she would try to answer my questions. I guess one person, especially if you have to deal w/ that person most of the time, can either make a good experience or a bad experience.....

One thing I did notice that was both places were trying to push the donor egg even though we kept saying that we weren't interested and that it had to be our biological kids or nothing.... But they just kept asking w/ each cycle. I guess they make more money that way???

It sounds like I just didn't like my nurse at RSC. Maybe if I had someone else, I would have liked it better even w/ the same outcome...