Shady Grove Docs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Seems like a good practice to me, since it works so well. There is a reason they have one of the highest success rates in the US, despite also having one of the largest case loads."

Yes, it is a good practice for those who are statistically likely to do well under their set protocols, which is a good number of their patients. It is not a good practice for tough cases that require more thinking outside the box.

Completely agree. It really sucks when you keep pouring money into their standard protocols, which aren't working, and they won't go outside the box until they've exhausted their cookbook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to put a reccommendation out there for Dr. Anitha Nair at Shady Grove in the DC office. I "stumbled" upon her when I went in to have an initial consultation. While she is probably the youngest doctor in the practice, I loved her. Her bedside manner was great - warm, very caring, and became almost a friend to me and my husband.

Ended up pregnant with twins on our very first IVF.

I agree!! She isn't my doctor but I've had her for a lot of monitoring and I love her! If I was choosing over I would pick her hands down.

[Anonymous]

we loved dr. paulette browne at the fair oaks office. she is lovely and kind and caring, and yet very professional and was open and honest with us about the challenges we would face. i am 40, did one IUI and got pregnant - after 6 years of TTC. i am now 7 months along and baby is healthy as far as testing shows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
"Seems like a good practice to me, since it works so well. There is a reason they have one of the highest success rates in the US, despite also having one of the largest case loads."

Yes, it is a good practice for those who are statistically likely to do well under their set protocols, which is a good number of their patients. It is not a good practice for tough cases that require more thinking outside the box.


Completely agree. It really sucks when you keep pouring money into their standard protocols, which aren't working, and they won't go outside the box until they've exhausted their cookbook.

To answer the OP's question, I would highly recommend Dr. Chang at Shady Grove. Although I agree with the other posters that he is not the most touchy-feely guy, he is a great doctor: empahathic, willing to try different protocols, returns calls very promptly, provides sound advice, and is highly respected among his peers. Although SG may use a cookie-cutter approach, one can't argue with their stats, especially considering the number of patients who cycle through their offices. I don't agree with the quote above that the docs there are not willing to try different protocols. IVF in itself is stressful enough, so if you are comfortable cycling in town (vs. going to New York or somewhere else), then it can make the experience a lot less traumatic. Of all the clinics in the DC area, I think they provide the most value for the money. If you have an especially tough case or have failed at SG, I would recommend Owen Davis at Cornell.

FWIW, I cycled three times at SG after being diagnosed with high FSH (FSH = 44, and was high > 20 on two subsequent tests) at age 39. Dr. Chang was willing to work with me and my husband, and after one failed IUI (done really to see how I would respond to the stims) and one failed IVF, I got pregnant on my second IVF and now have a beautiful, healthy, happy baby. We are both very grateful to Dr. Chang and the staff at SG.

[Anonymous]

SG was the third clinic we worked with and as I type, my twins are sleeping upstairs. Dr. Osborne was my RE. I really liked her personality, and I'm glad that most of my monitoring was in the DC office since it's much smaller. I was used to the cattle call of larger waiting rooms, including Cornell, so the smaller size and shorter wait times in the DC office were a welcome relief.

Good luck, OP. I wouldn't wish IF on anyone.

[Anonymous]

You'll find a lot of preferences from SG- mine is Dr greenhouse- just do a search and you'll actually find a lot more supporters- he helped us .. well have a baby- like his style- responsive- even on email and responsive- cannot say enoough- i interviewed 4 of hte leading ivf places (not thinking we'd do ivf) and after a bad experience (or 3 major mess ups) with GIVF I knew more and interviewed quite a lot of the top REs- he just made sense- we had proven failures- and each re aproached it differently- I had no idea which was right but he made sense... basicaly- low responder at high doses- so he felt increasing the dose would not yield more follicles/eggs- said my pattern was 2-3 decent eggs max- and he was right- i am a low responder- low antral follicle count- it was interesting since i had interviewed the other top res and in some cases i got they'd up my injectible dose- but dr greenhouse's approach was correct- he said i had a history- and upping it only made me pay more.. anyway, we have a super wonderful 1.5 year old boy..

[Anonymous]

" Although SG may use a cookie-cutter approach, one can't argue with their stats, especially considering the number of patients who cycle through their offices. I don't agree with the quote above that the docs there are not willing to try different protocols."

Actually, you can argue with their stats - CCRM's success rates for poor responders in the 38-40 age range are TWICE that of SG's. Part of that is because CCRM's lab is better and part of that is because CCRM is far more willing to think outside the box and try new things. SG may be one of the better clinics in the area, but that doesn't mean they are the best clinic for everyone.

[Anonymous]

PP - who is CCRM?

[Anonymous]

not the previous poster but CCRM is the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine.

http://www.colocrm.com/

They have the best IVF success rates in the country (easily 20% higher than SG which is the best in this area) and they see primarily (almost exclusively) patients who have failed multiple cycles elsewhere. I have two friends who failed 3-4 cycles at SG and then had success on try #1 at CCRM.

They're about as innovative as it gets with IVF----the type of great clinic that invents the protocols that other "good" clinics like SG go on to implement.

[Anonymous]

Interesting, thanks for the info.

[Anonymous]

My favorite doctor at SG was Dr. Stillman. I found him to be very friendly, honest and understanding. He just seemed to make me feel at ease and was always there to answer all of our questions. I got pregnant with him on our 3rd IUI. He was actually the one that "made the call" to us to tell us that we were pregnant. We also brought the baby by to see him once he was born. Anyway, we are trying to conceive #2 naturally but if not we will be back to SG and I will be requesting Dr. Stillman again

[Anonymous]

if you go to CCRM , how do you do everything? I mean there are sonograms like every other day, bloodwork, etc. Do you just go there when you are ready to have the eggs taken out and then wait for the implantation?? How much does this cost to do it long distance?

[Anonymous]

if you go to CCRM , how do you do everything? I mean there are sonograms like every other day, bloodwork, etc. Do you just go there when you are ready to have the eggs taken out and then wait for the implantation?? How much does this cost to do it long distance?

I have not gone to CCRM but briefly contemplated this option.
I found the Colorado board at ivfconnections.com to be extremely helpful. The previous posts on that board are full of questions from people going to CCRM from all over the country. I think the majority of their patients come from elsewhere so there are many people navigating the logistics of cycling from afar.

Go to ivfconnections.com and then the "ivf by location" section.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to CCRM. PP is right - at least 50% of their patients are from out of state. I sent them my records and had a phone consult with my RE to start. Then I had to fly out there during the first part of my cycle for their required one-day work up (which included re-running some tests, some additional tests, and meetings w/ my nurse, RE, genetic counselor and finance office). That trip was probably $500 for travel plus maybe $1000 for the testing (I'm still waiting for insurance reimbursement so I don't know what I'll get back). I also had to send them my day 3 blood and my DH's blood (we had it drawn at our general practitioner's office) - you can get a kit from them to send it in (frozen). Once they looked at everything I got my protocol. Now I'm starting my cycle and when I get my period I'll go to Shady Grove for my initial ultrasound and blood work - they'll fax the results to CCRM and then I'll start my stims. I'll probably go for a follow up ultrasound at Shady Grove and day 4 of my stims and then fly out to Denver for the rest of my cycle. I'll be out there for about a week for them to monitor me and do the retrieval. I'm doing a frozen transfer, so I'll go back in a few months for couple days for the transfer. If I were doing a fresh transfer then I'd have to be out there for about 12 days. The added cost, beyond flights and hotels, is what I have to pay SG for monitoring (the first visit is covered by my insurance, then second visit will be about $350) plus about $100 to have our blood drawn and shipped. CCRM is more expensive than SG, but it depends on what you do.

[Anonymous]

I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Chang in the Rockville office. While he is very no nonsense and professional, I had quite the opposite experience with him than what you others are posting. Dr. Chang was a very sympathetic person to both my husband and I. He definitely reached us on our level and explained things in layman terms to us. He is a very intelligent person and I think that is being misinterperted for being "cold" or "disconnected". I don't know how many of you who have had IVF or another form of fertility treatment went to Shady Grove, but, did anyone go to the "Shady Grove Baby Day at the Zoo" last year?