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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Person who wrote about dr Gordon, what kind of protocols is he into? Does he believe in immune treatments? What did you like about him ?
[/quote]

I'm the PP who recommended Dr. Gordon. I was on Synthroid and aspirin when I conceived at Dominion, and started on Lovenox the afternoon they confirmed my positive beta. I'm not sure how to answer your question about what kind of protocols he is into, but I'll give you my backstory as to how I wound up with him and on the drugs I just mentioned...

I had 2 chemicals and a m/c in 7 months, all natural conceptions; the 2nd chemical and miscarriage happened in back-to-back cycles immediately after we'd been diagnosed with unexplained infertility (go figure) at GW. After the 2nd chemical, I asked my GW RE about progesterone and aspirin-the aspirin because I had read it may help with recurrent losses and because it was determined during my infertility workup that I have elevated platelets. I started progesterone, but she was resistant to aspirin unless I had a confirmed clotting disorder (and didn't offer me any of that testing). I saw a hematologist for workup on my elevated platelets just days before I miscarried. No clear answer to explain the platelets was found, and was again not tested for clotting disorders, but the workup also revealed I had/have an elevated CRP (general inflammatory marker). My PCP followed the CRP for months after the m/c, and although it dropped some, it continued to remain elevated, so it was likely not solely due to the m/c. After the m/c, my GW RE changed my diagnosis to RPL, ordered 4 tests related to that, and advised us to keep trying on our own without providing guidance on how long to continue that before moving on to IUI (utterly terrible advice, considering it was her job to help us get pregnant!). The 4 tests she ordered were normal. One tested for anti-phospholipid antibodies, which can contribute to clotting. I asked about testing to rule out inherited thrombophilias and was told it's not "standard of care". She also disregarded further evaluation of my thyroid (my TSH was above 2.5) and said I'd need solid diagnoses from the hematologist or other specialists on the platelets and CRP before she would even do a literature search to see if any of that may have factored into my losses. This was exceptionally frustrating considering I found a 2017 published study from the NIH saying aspirin could reduce pregnancy loss in RPL patients who had high CRP! It took me awhile, but I eventually realized she was not going to give me the care/help we needed in order to successfully conceive.

I wound up making appointments with an endocrinologist and different hematologist, who were both in support of investigating the aspects the GW RE overlooked. I was negative for all clotting disorders BTW. I wound up on Synthroid and aspirin, and the hematologist also suggested I could try Lovenox the next time I conceived, despite there being literally no scientific evidence to support that it would help me. I then saw Dr. Hamersley (maternal fetal medicine) for a pre-conception consult. She also supported me being on aspirin and strongly recommended doing Lovenox for both its anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties given my platelets and CRP. We then had consults with both Dr. Abbasi at CFA and Dr. Gordon at DF in order to choose who to go forward with. Dr. Abbasi sent us away with pages of additional lab testing to do for immune issues; however, we didn't do them because after all the stress I'd been through, I knew I wasn't psychologically strong enough to handle her brusque demeanor. Dr. Gordon, on the other hand, earned my trust and confidence shortly upon meeting him. He was on board with the aspirin and, while not thrilled about the plan to start Lovenox upon positive pregnancy test and constantly referred to it as "voodoo", but was more-than-willing to go along with it. I was up-front from on our initial consultation about the fact that if he didn't prescribe it for me, I would get it from Dr. Hamersley or my hematologist. I don't think he likes his patients on empiric Lovenox because it significantly complicates things if there is an ectopic pregnancy or a threatened miscarriage.

In working with him, I truly appreciated his straight-forward demeanor, his extensive experience, and his sense of humor. He's one of the best doctors I have ever seen. He reminded us that we were RPL, not infertility, patients, but outlined how the various ART options might be of benefit to us. His advice was spot on--we conceived the first treatment cycle we did with him (unmedicated IUI w/ trigger shot) and I'm now in 2nd trimester. I also found that the way monitoring, appointments, procedures, etc. ran at DF was a much better match for me compared to GW. There are lots of discussions about him on this board, and the whole Dominion team puts a lot of effort into sharing information by social media. If you want to get a sense of Dr. Gordon's personality, check out the videos on the Dominion Facebook page.[/quote]

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