Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Doctors, Protocols and a Whole Lot of $$


After much research on IVF clinics around the Bay Area, I narrowed my choices down to two clinics. The "Big Clinic" with Dr. P and "Hollywood" with Dr. Z.

Doc and I met with Dr. P on Friday and he was very nice. A straight shooter with a very friendly demeanor with lots of experience. We talked for about an hour and he explained that my upcoming cycle (if this current IUI didn't work) would fit in perfectly with his March retrievals and transfers. The estimated cost of the meds would be about $3K and the IVF itself would be $9,500. A whole lot of dough...

Unfortunately, the clinic will be closed for cleaning in April, so if for some reason we didn't do the transfer and retrieval in March, we'd have to wait until May and May would be very bad for us because we have a vacation planned to go to Puerto Rico. So, I'm a little hesitant about the timing of all of this. It's a bit more complicated than I realized.

Anyway, I called yesterday to follow up with the Big Clinic's IVF coordinator and didn't get a call back until 4:30. That concerned me a bit, because if I'm going to pay $10+K, I'm expecting not to have to wait all day for call backs. I don't want the logistics to add more stress to the process. Anyway, the IVF coordinator told me that Dr. P had recommended the antagonist protocol for me (he hadn't mentioned this during our meeting on Friday). After doing a bit of homework on the internet, it looks like this type of protocol is typically used for low responders, older women, and sometimes women with PCOS. Statistics show lower pregnancy rates with this protocol. This sort of concerned me, so I sent Dr. P an email...we'll see if he responds. Anyone know anything about the antagonist protocol?

As for Dr. Z at "Hollywood" (Hollywood because it's pretty glitzy and nice), we have a phone call with him on Friday. We'll see what he has to say about all this.

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