Anyone using Dr Preston Sacks at Columbia Fertility?

[Anonymous]

he is probably the only doctor worth seeing there. pleasant, friendly, and very capable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:he is probably the only doctor worth seeing there. pleasant, friendly, and very capable.

Really? I've met a lot of Rifka success stories, and I am one myself. I have only seen Rifka, and Sacks when Rifka has been out of town, but I have thought both were fantastic.

[Anonymous]

I didn't like Rifka or the female one, but dr. Sacks was nice, I ended up at SG with Dr widra because of my insurance but they weren't able to help me.

[Anonymous]

We've done several IUIs with him and just set up our first IVF protocol with him. He is wonderful. Very capable, great at explaining things, and is very encouraging. He answers all of our questions and is straight forward about the issues we could face. My husband and I find that Dr. Sacks wants to get to know you and works hard to make everything as easy as possible, considering all of this stuff isn't easy. He even is working with us to create an IVF protocol that works with our crazy work schedule and my prior health issues (I am a cervical cancer survivor.)

In addition, the DC staff that I have interacted with are great - his nurses, the billing department, everyone! I couldn't ask for nicer or more encouraging folks.

As for the previous post on the actual office - yes it is older, but it is not dirty. Just cramped and a bit dated in terms of decor. But hey - you need to go where you are comfortable and if you feel uncomfortable in that office, visit with Dr. Sacks in one of the other offices.

Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

I am about to start my first IVF cycle with Dr. Sacks. After reading so much about him on here, I wondered if he was really as good as people say he is...He is and then some. I have been to the DC and Arlington offices and had great experiences at both. I feel like I am treated night and day different than I was at SG.

[Anonymous]

I met with Dr. Sacks last year, and was really happy with him. My husband had already seen a urologist, but Dr. Sacks ordered some additional tests which eventually diagnosed our MF. We did one unsuccessful cycle, and then were succesful on our first FET. The DC office is like all downtown medical offices - staff is so-so, appointments run late and it's impossible to get billing 100% correct with all the insurance ins and outs. It was worth it to have Dr. Sacks. Dr. Rifka did a great job with my egg retrieval while Dr. Sacks was out of town, but his attitude really rubbed me the wrong way when I had met with him during an early consultation.

FWIW, I'm only 30 with no fertility challenges and ICSI addressed our MF, and we transferred 2 embroyos the first time and 2 for the FET, ending up with a healthy singleton. Dr. Sacks was receptive to ideas I had from my research (e.g., doing a uterine lining biopsy the cycle before transfer to increase the odds of implantation), and there was nothing I raised that was unfamiliar to him.

[Anonymous]

Shady Grove is the only real fertility practice in the DC area, these posts must be fake..

[Anonymous]

Great comeback PP. SG may be the biggest but it's not a good fit for everyone! Even if they had gotten me preg I think I would still have the same negative feelings towards their practice - it is impersonal, and a factory, and I personally did not get good care there.

[Anonymous]

Dr. Sacks is wonderful- he helped us with ou 2 year old twins!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shady Grove is the only real fertility practice in the DC area, these posts must be fake..

Please tell us about your experience with Dr. Sacks and Columbia Fertility.

[Anonymous]

You know, my son is a result of a Shady Grove IUI, so I definitely have a soft spot for them. But they aren't the best in every situation. In fact, they wouldn't even give me a chance when ttc#2, and I'll always be grateful that Dr Sacks gave me a chance. I must say that I used to have negative feelings about Dominion, but their recent foray into natural cycle IVF has really caused me to reconsider them as well. There are definitely multiple good options in this area.

[Anonymous]

I have three year old twins from my first IVF with Dr. Sacks. Since then I have done multiple elective single embryo transfers and Dr. Sacks has always supported that. As long as you make it clear that you do not want multiples, he is going to work with you.

[Anonymous]

I am now 40, started using Dr. Sacks last summer when I was a 39 year old newlywed. We were with him July 2009 - January 2010.

We did 5 IUIs that were un-successful, and then took the super-expensive drugs to do an IVF cycle, but ended up doing an IUI again because I didn't produce eggs (apparently I create lots of eggs on Clomid, but not on the super-expensive drugs - how annoying is THAT to find out!)

I thought Dr. Sacks was Top Notch. He gave me the best explanation of my hormonal disorder I have ever heard. When you ask questions, he will answer you and also tell you if it is something you want to consider, or if it is not worth worrying about. You can discuss what you would like to do and why - and he will tell you why it might not be a good reason, take your prefs into consideration.

I left the practice for SG because the office seemed very disorganized and that caused me significant stress. I don't like it when a nurse calls and she tells me to start taking drugs that I have already started taking. We had four indicents like that. I believe they had some nurses retire recently and are training new ones. I have a friend who went there two years earlier and she loved her nurse (the one who retired)

Consider the fact that most of the time, you deal with the nurse. Ask to meet your IVF nurse. How many IVF nurses are there? How long have they been with the practice? What days do they work? Do you have a "primary" nurse?

Despite the stress of the constantly changing nurses, I felt like the folks at Columbia Fertility had more freedom to tell me the "real deal". I feel like I only get the company line at SG. But, I really like they way SG gives you one principle POC - I no longer worry that I have been forgotten.

I will be back with Dr. Sacks if this cycle doesn't work, because he will let me do a Clomid IVF cycle and it sounds like SG has a pre-determined path you must follow, even if you are in the 2% of people that it doens't work for - does not allow you to try different things. (our health insurance doesn't cover anything for this, so paying for the $5K of drugs that don't work is annoying the 3rd time around when we know that the cheap Clomid produces for me)

Best of luck to you!!!

[Anonymous]

I agree that the CFA offices are extremely disorganized. I go to the one in Bethesda and they keep forgetting to call in my prescriptiosn. Plaus - some of the staff is pretty gruff and rude - like I am intruding on them. I only use them because they are close by.

I also think the DC office - which I go to for monitoring sometimes is unorganized and their billing and insurance staff are useless.

I have had a lot of stress with them. The doctors themselves are fine and I think they might be able to help me - it is the back-office that I have my gripes about.

[Anonymous]

I see Dr. Sacks at Columbia. He has the best manner of any doctor I've ever seen and is extremely patient. I've had a good experience with all the Columbia staff so far. I tried Shady Grove first but my experience there was pretty bad. I'm glad for all those that had success at SG. Just goes to show that you have to find the best place for you.