Lab quality -- CCRM versus Cornell?

[Anonymous]

Can anyone shed light on this one specific area -- is Cornell's lab equal to CCRM? And, while I'm at it, which doctor would you recommend at Cornell? I just did a phone consult with CCRM and am concerned about the out of town travel and whether or not we can swing it for work/logistics issues; Cornell would be much easier. Is CCRM that much better than Cornell? By the way, I'm almost 42 and my issues seems to be age related/egg quality. We are not considering donor egg.
thanks!

[Anonymous]

Both clinics are excellent, you can't go wrong by going to either. I consulted with both, but choose Cornell. I'd recommend Dr Davis, he is an excellent doctor. He is known for treating high FSH and older women. He developed the estrogen priming protocol (EPP) which has been very successful in older patients. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

thanks so much for your response. Does Cornell allow you to do out of state monitoring in the beginning stages? I'm trying to minimize time away from home and am wondering if NYC will be easier in that regard (versus Denver).

[Anonymous]

Yes they will allow out of state monitoring in the beginning. I did my initial monitoring at Shady Grove. I had been a patient there prior to going to Cornell. I think most the local clinics will monitor for you.

[Anonymous]

Also, I drove home between retrieval and transfer of the embryo. It saved a few nights out of town, I probably wouldn't have done that if I went to CCRM.

[Anonymous]

that's good to know that they allow monitoring. did SG share the results of initial monitoring with Cornell? can you explain how that worked?
how was this covered by the insurance company? any ideas?
thanks!

[Anonymous]

After a few failed cycles at Shady Grove, I went to Dr. Davis for a consult at REALLY liked him. Our final cycle at Shady Grove works, so I didn't end up doing IVF there, but I do remember that it didn't mean too many days in NYC. It seems like such a great place, he could not have been impressive, nicer or more encouraging. I would definitely choose him if you're ready to move on from Shady Grove.

[Anonymous]

I spoke with Dr Davis' assistant and she/he seemed very inflexible -- she said "absolutely no out of town monitoring even in the very beginning; you will need to be here for 2 weeks" and she was VERY reluctant to do a phone consult for an initial visit.

[Anonymous]

Dr Davis would not do a phone consult for the initital. It is very much worth making the trip to meet him in person. They will allow you to monitor out of state, I'd discuss with Davis, not his admin.

[Anonymous]

I agree, it is completely worthwile to go up there and meet with Dr. Davis. But I will also say that they did not allow me to do any out of state monitoring except for the first US/ blood work on day 2 or 3 of your cycle.

[Anonymous]

How long did you have to wait for your first consultation with Dr. Davis?

[Anonymous]

I just posted in the "live in DC but want to go to Cornell" thread. I had my day 2 blood work done at Cornell on 9/29. The next day his assistant called to schedule my appt and I got a consult for 11/16. I think I could have gotten it for slightly earlier, but I'm not going to cycle there until after the holidays so I took the first Monday appt available so that I could combine it with a weekend in NYC. As I said in the other thread, they wouldn't let me schedule the consult until they had either my day 2 b/w or my medical records (of course I found this out on day 4 of my cycle, so I had to wait an entire month to get the b/w done). Another thing to consider, you can take your IVF class there the same day as your consult and that way you can save yourself another trip to NYC. I found a cheap, nice hotel in midtown on priceline to stay at when I went up there for the b/w.

[Anonymous]

I am going to CCRM from out of town. They have been fantastic. Free initial consult and out of town monitoring. We leave in 2 days for IVF. So excited. You have your own nurse with pretty much anytime access. Can not recommend them highly enough. After 2 years with a horrible doctor- I am thrilled.

[Anonymous]

PP -- i had to pay for a phone consult...not free. hmmm. can you tell me how long you are expected to be in denver? how long is your husband/partner expected to be there (and how many times -- i was told 2ce)? i loved CCRM from what i know about them on the phone but it seems really, really, really hard for me to cycle there given work and a 4 year old at home.

[Anonymous]

i was quoted around 230 for a phone consult for ccrm for next month as well.