I always felt like a human with Dr. Gago...was very compassionate and understanding. I stayed with the clinic because I loved her as a doctor. She was able to be blunt, informative while still umderstanding how difficult this journey is...She recommended an ERA first before a transfer due to my PCOS. My results showed I needed 30 more hours of progesterone which pushed my transfer back by a day. Those results are the reason why my first transfer resulted in a successful pregnancy.
I only have 1 working ovary and had 25 eggs retrieved [at Gago Center for Fertility]. 17 were mature, 14 fertilized, and 6 made it to blastocytes. We did PGS testing and sent out 6 embryos to be tested...While Jenny was the nurse in charge, I did not always get to communicate with her. Jenny was a great nurse, but the other nurses I had issues with. They would contradict what I had been previously told or forget to schedule a test that was needed.
How was your experience with Laura April Gago at Gago Center for Fertility?
Dr. Gago was very compassionate and understanding. I stayed with the clinic because I loved her as a doctor. She was able to be blunt, informative while still umderstanding how difficult this journey is. Dr. Gago had another physician there when I began IVF and he was the one that was the doctor on my case. He wrote up the protocol, and did the egg retrieval. However, there had been a breakdown in communication of what happens after the retrieval. Dr
Gago got involved to help settle things, and ended up taking over my case. She recommended an ERA first before a transfer due to my PCOS. My results showed I needed 30 more hours of progesterone which pushed my transfer back by a day. Those results are the reason why my first transfer resulted in a successful pregnancy.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Laura April Gago at Gago Center for Fertility?
To make sure that if you are not getting the required communication from her staff, to let her know. She will take care of it right away, and you will not have the problem again.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Laura April Gago at Gago Center for Fertility?
It depwnded on the staff member on whether I felt like a number or a human. I always felt like a human with Dr. Gago, Jenny (nurse), and Erin. With the IVF nurse I felt like a number, as well as with members of the front office staff.
Describe the protocols Laura April Gago used in your cycles at Gago Center for Fertility and their degree of success.
At first I was on birth control for 2 months prior to starting the IVF meds to reset my hormones. I took 300 units of Gonal F, and 150 units of Menopur to mature the eggs nightly over 11 days. I was Ultrasound every 2-3 days to check growth. I was also taking 500mg of Metformin ER daily to help combat my PCOS symptoms. I was given cetrotide for 2 nights before triggering. I triggered over 2 nights. First night was with Ovidril and lupron, and second night with lupron. I was given valium and motrin prior to the retrieval to relax the uterine muscle, help with pain, and inflammation. I was also on 2mg of estradiol but cannot remember when I took it during the stimming. I only have 1 working ovary and had 25 eggs retrieved. 17 were mature, 14 fertilized, and 6 made it to blastocytes. We did PGS testing and sent out 6 embryos to be tested. 2 came back normal and both were boys. The month prior to the transfer we did the ERA test which showed I needed 30 more hours of PIO to be receptive.My transfer date was pushed back a day. To prep the transfer I took estradial 2mg, and injected lupron daily. 6 days to transfer I stopped the lupron, and began PIO injections. My first transfer was successful.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Gago Center for Fertility. (Assigned nurse: Jenny)
While Jenny was the nurse in charge, I did not always get to communicate with her. Jenny was a great nurse, but the other nurses I had issues with. They would contradict what I had been previously told or forget to schedule a test that was needed.
Describe your experience with Gago Center for Fertility.
Their strength is Dr. Gago, Jenny, and a couple other staff members. Their weaknesses are being pricier than other clinics, communication, and organization. I found that they are one of the most expensive clinics. While they do have multiple cycle options, they do not have a reduced rate for uninsured treatments, and no payment plans. Everything has to be paid in full and up front before they will send the meds out to the pharmacy.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Laura April Gago at Gago Center for Fertility.
Dr. Gago uses Univfy to help predict your success rate per cycle. Depending on your rating you would be offered different programs. To get qualified for the refund program you have to have a success rate of 65% or higher for the first cycle. Our rate was 64%, but due to the issues we had she manually approved us for the refund program. The refund program costs $29,500 and you get 3 retrieval cycles with unlimited frozen transfers. With the 2nd and 3rd retrieval you had to pay $500 for anesthesia. All ultrasounds, blood work, icsi, semen analysis with wash included. If you have a successful pregnancy past 10 weeks of gestation you were refunded $5,000. However you no longer have the option of a 2nd and 3rd retrieval. If you went through all 3 cycle retrievals, and transferred all frozon embryos with no successful pregnancy in 2 years, you would be refunded 50% of $29,000. We also did PGS testing out of pocket through Coopergenomics which cost us $2,050, and did ERA out of pocket for $800. The $29,500 had to be paid up front and in full before they sent out your medications to the pharmacy.
Describe Laura April Gago's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Gago Center for Fertility.
Dr. Gago will only transfer 1 embryo at a time if you are under 35. Also we only had 2 embryo's, and were high graded embryo's. She did not want to risk multiples.
What specific things went wrong at Gago Center for Fertility?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
- Lost paperwork
- Lost appointments
- Failed to call with results
- Failed to order appropriate test
- Failed to inform you of changes in protocol
- Lost results
- Provided conflicting information
- Failed to convey critical information
- Scheduled the wrong procedure
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Gago Center for Fertility.
There was a major miscommunication between staff members, and then with myself. I was given contradictory information after retrieval, not called back, and prescription not sent in. I also did not have my mock transfer/hysteracopy scheduled after the retrieval.Once that was discovered I was told that they had no openings to do a traanfer until June
My retrieval was in January. I did contact the office manager about this right away who was very sympathetic and had Dr. Gago get involved. The office manager scheduled my hysterscopy for March, and scheduled a transfer for April. At the time of the miscommunication, and of my retrieval I was actually under the care of Dr. Ayers at the clinic. Dr. Gago took my case over from Dr. Ayers due to the issues I had with his nursing staff.
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Clinic
Gago Center for Fertility
Ann Arbor
