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Infertility Support and Discussion
Need second opinion and don't know which clinic to turn to next....
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Anonymous
I cycled years ago and at the time it was considered one of the top three along with Cornell (w/Zaks) and CCRM. Sher was just getting underway and has since become better known with all of its locations but really there are only a couple of doctors there worth going to and not all of their clinics are as highly rated. While each person must look at each line item of the officially reported stats to see what is being measured and how it resembles them or not, please do know that not only was I patient but I also worked for one of the largest fertility related organizations in the country and knew personally or worked with personally many of these doctors and clinics. If I had to do it all over again I would still avoid Sher and would go to either St. B's or Cornell unless I had or suspected I had an immune issue, then I would see Coulam. But again, go to the biggest gun you can and be comfortable with it 100%. |
Anonymous
| I did eight IVFs before I got lucky. I was a poor responder at SG and doc there wouldn't try newer, more cutting edge protocols. I then went to GIVF. Loved the doc there and got donor-like responses to their protocol, but no BFP after 3 additional attempts. Decided to head to Cornell. It was tough being an OOT patient and my response wasn't as good as GIVF and no BFP. Finally tried CF, because doc there wanted to try something new, EPP. Miracles happen. I recommend that everyone get as many consults as you can because they can be helpful and usually get reimbursed by insurance. Also, I do believe that IUIs are a waste of time and IVF is often a crapshoot. I think your doc at CF is right...it's just a matter of time. Babydust! |
Anonymous
same here - I've heard they have a good lab for genetic testing but never ever heard them mentioned as a top clinic for actual treatment. I'd recommend that you do consults with DF (Dr G) and SG (Dr W). See what you and DH think about their treatment plan ideas & also general fit. Maybe try one more fresh cycle locally. But if you only have a cycle or two left in you (emotionally, financially, etc) then move on to the big guns. No, you won't find the same level of expertise here in DC as you'll find at CCRM or CRMI (Cornell). SIRM too for immune issues, but I don't think you are there yet. After several failures locally we finally found success at CRMI. The travel is all manageable and you don't need to spend a fortune (bolt bus & apt rental). And I'm skeptical of the PP - I doubt that anyone who has been through 8 ivf cycles would use the term "babydust". I'm calling BS. Good luck, OP. I know it is a very tough place to be. |
Anonymous
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PP, I am not the poster you are calling BS on but u just wanted to chime in and say that IVF is such a painful process. The poster said she has been through 8 cycles- that's tough. Let's not add to her pain and diminish it's significance by calling her a liar. Of all the boards, let's keep this one free of the troll BS accusations. Many posters on other fertility boards use the term "babydust" and several are long term IVFers.
Let's be kind |
Anonymous
Ditto |
Anonymous
| I wanted to just add another suggestion for Dr. Greenhouse at SG. Absolutely wonderful and compassionate... He has probably hands down been one of the best doctors I have had across the board. If you are staying local for IVF, I would consider him for a consult. |
Anonymous
| Dr Greenhouse may be good but he works for SG which strongly dictates kicking us high FHS or low responders to the curb, I suggest seeing Sr. Gordon at Df since they aren't as concerned with stats as getting results. |
Anonymous
Right - because DCUM is THE safe place for women experiencing IF. No trolls on here ever. There are *much* better boards than this for anyone really looking for support. I know many, many women who have been through multiple IVF cycles (let alone 8) and seriously none of them would ever use the term 'babydust'. or that they loved their doc at GIVF - huh? Or that CF would do EPP, but Cornell wouldn't? Whole thing just sounds off. Just sayin'. |
Anonymous
| PP I agree this is a BS board and "babydust"is down right insulting, no one who has been through multiple IVF failures would recommend GIVF. |
Anonymous
Can we please get back to the task at hand? A lot of us would rather hear other people's second opinion experiences (be the docs local or otherwise). I really don't want to have to wade through pages of people debating whether or not a post is legitimate to hear responses to OP's actual question. |
Anonymous
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OP here - thanks for all the comments and advice! I appreciate it.
As to the negative comments - just stop. Calling people liars and talking about people's comments is mean and doesn't help the situation at hand. Everyone is different and handles their situation differently. If you don't have anything nice and/or helpful to say, then don't post. If the only thing that interested you on this whole post was the word "babydust" then you shouldn't have chimed in. That poster was trying to be helpful. Geez....give the negativity a break. |
Anonymous
| I just don't understand why someone would continue to spend money at the same clinic where cycle after cycle fails. I switched after 3 failed cycles, 2 IVF, and 1 FET. Unless you've got money to burn, I would highly recommend at least a phone consultation with Cornell or CCRM. I also agree with the previous posters, that for those of us with embryos that can't survive the thaw, find a clinic that absolutely uses vitrification. |
Anonymous
00:18 here - Guess you didn't read my entire post. Having been a similar situation myself, I did try to provide my thoughts. Glad I wasted my time on that. And the whole point about commenting on the other poster is that you have to take what you read on this website with a grain of salt. It's completely anonymous and people can make up anything they want. Unlike "real" IF message boards where you can find a little more credibility in what people say. So go ahead and believe that story if you want - it just sounds really off. |
Anonymous
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OP again - 00:18 - i read your whole post and appreciated the advice and recommendations. You did not waste your time and I apologize that you took my last posting to mean that.
I just think all the other stuff people are saying that is so negative about one person's comment doesn't really help out someone like me or others who might have the same question. I read through every response on questions I post and those that others post that catch my eye, looking for helpful information. It is frustrating when, in the middle of that, multiple people divert to something totally off topic. Like I said, I appreciated your posting and found it helpful to have the input. |
Anonymous
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We went through 9 fresh and 1 frozen IVFs at SGF to conceive our 3 kids (4 IVFs to conceive our first child and 5 more IVFs/1 frozen to conceive our twins). We had 3 miscarriages/ecotpics mixed in between our BFPs. We didn't have insurance coverage and honestly needed to stick with SGF b/c of their shared risk PDG program. That being said - we did do second opinions via. phone with other clinics - St. B's, SIRM to see if they thought SGF was missing anything. SIRM wanted to do immune testing - St. B's thought SGF was doing everything it could.
It would be worth your while to at least do a couple different second opinions. If you could do them in person - I would do so. We did ours over the phone for logistical reasons and I just didn't feel like we had the RE's attention quite as well as if we were sitting in front of them - didn't feel like the RE had really poured over our file (which was thick!) as much as I had hoped. Still I think it's always good to just have another doctor look at your case and I was very up front with my SGF RE about who I was talking with, etc. I saw Dr. Sagoskin (Rockville) at SGF who I totally respect. He was willing to try things that I wanted to in order to tweak my protocol. When I became frustrated about having different REs at SGF make the call on my monitoring dosages (when sometimes I felt like I knew more about my body than they did b/c they didn't look back at previous cycles when deciding what to do) - he agreed to review my case each day so we could decide what to do with my dosage, etc. We were doing PGD b/c we have a genetic condition which causes a higher chance of T13 and T14 babies. The PGD lab director at SGF insisted we do PGD - we were starting to wonder if PGD was doing more harm than good to our embryos b/c I kept miscarrying even with PGD. So Sagoskin ultimately agreed with us on our last cycle to forgo the PGD and put back our 3 remaining embryos - which resulted in our twins. So I honestly think after working with him for so many years that he will think outside of the box. That being said - he still works at SGF which I think in general is a more conservative practice that does like to have it's text box protocols that it pulls out. But if you wanted to speak to someone there - I really liked him (also liked Wildra and Chang). Good luck. I really think a lot of it is a numbers game and if you roll the dice enough time - hopefully luck will fall in your favor. It's just a matter of how much you can endure and at what point do you move to "Plan B" - whether that's getting a second opinion or whatever you need to do to mentally keep moving forward. |