How was your experience with Susan Hudson at Fertility Institute of Texas?
Dr. Hudson has a warm and gentle approach while also being completely honest with her explanation of the benefits and risks of any part of the process. She did not over promise on what my prognosis was or the chance of success.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Susan Hudson at Fertility Institute of Texas?
Don't feel afraid to ask any question you have. She is always forthcoming with answers and provides explanations.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Susan Hudson at Fertility Institute of Texas?
The office is small, you know all of the staff and you only see Dr. Hudson. She even does every monitoring appointment.
They always showed compassion and kindness.
Describe the protocols Susan Hudson used in your cycles at Fertility Institute of Texas and their degree of success.
When we began our first cycle, she planned an antagonist protocol where I would use estrogen patches and Cetrotide starting on Day 21 for 7 days and then go in for my baseline scan before changing to Menopur and Gonal-F. This was specifically planned to deal with Diminished Ovarian Reserve, my primary diagnosis. That first cycle, I did the patches and when I went in for my scan, we found I had two leading follicles and she decided to check me again the next day to see if they had grown or shrunk. The next day they were still there, and so she advised us to cancel the cycle. She explained that with the two leading follicles, any other follicles would not be able to catch up and my chances for the best outcome were lower, with not having the most follicles as possible. We canceled the cycle, of course we were crushed but because she explained why it wouldn't be good to continue, we felt it was the right thing to do. She also changed my treatment plan for the next cycle, where we would not start with the estrogen patches and Cetrotide.
The next cycle I went in on CD1 for my baseline and everything looked okay and we started injections the next night. I did Menopur and Gonal-F for 7 days, then Cetrotide was added to prevent the follicles from ovulating. I stimulated for 12 days and used Lupron for the trigger. The entire time I stimulated I had three follicles. Two were larger than one however she said an egg could be in there and she would try all of them. We got three eggs, all three were mature and all three fertilized with ICSI. The three made it to Day 3 and then two made it to Day 5. The two blastocysts were biopsied for PGS and sent to freeze. We ended up with one normal embryo. From the onset she told us these were our chances and it was spot on.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Fertility Institute of Texas. (Assigned nurse: Julie)
I had the same nurse from start to finish, she always called when she said she would and promptly answered my questions in the portal. I interacted with a few other staff members and all were warm and accommodating always.
Describe your experience with Fertility Institute of Texas.
Dr. Hudson works with an IVF lab which is separate from her office. The IVF lab is located in a surgical facility. Dr. Hudson performed the retrieval and transfer but the nurses and embryologists were employees of the facility and the IVF lab. Every interaction I had with the nurses and embryologists were always wonderful. They were professional, warm and compassionate.
Having the procedures performed outside of the doctor's own office was different compared to my first doctor where everything was done in-house however it was not a negative experience.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Susan Hudson at Fertility Institute of Texas.
We paid a package fee for the doctor's services which included monitoring scans, bloodwork, retrieval and transfer procedures. It was $5350.
We paid a separate fee to the IVF lab for their embryology fees such as handling the eggs, sperm, ICSI, embryo monitoring, biopsy and cryopreservation. This was $8150.
We paid a separate fee of $1250 to the surgical facility for retrieval then another $1000 for transfer.
PGS fees were separate, paid directly to the lab performing test.
The cost for medications were separate and was roughly $7000.