Gundersen Fertility Center

The fertility department at Gundersen definitely could use some improvement. They currently do not do any IVF treatments and are limited to one provider and one PA. Therefore, scheduling is very difficult and you do not get a lot of individualized care and attention.

She is the only fertility doc in my area, therefore, she is very difficult to schedule with and I did not hear from her unless it was at a scheduled visit.

I really liked the first nurse I had but, after a few months of treatments, she transferred to a different department. I have not gotten to know any of the other nurses well as it has not been consistent.

She is very intelligent, and always explains things in detail, to ensure i understand the process or my situation. She is very kind and considerate as well. I think she is a wonderful doctor, but definitely has too much on her plate being the only female fertility doctor in the area. Therefore, she doesn’t get to focus on individuals care as much as I would prefer.

She is the only fertility doctor in the area and does not do IVF treatments, other than that she is very intelligent and has helped my spouse and I get a lot of answers.

My first few cycles I used letrozole, with other supplemental medication, including estradiol, prometrium and a trigger shot. Not all cycles was I able to do an insemination, due to my follicle sizes. With this regimen they do one ultrasound and no blood work. My husband and I had to ask for additional testing. I will now be switching to follistim injections with my next cycle, so medications and treatment regimen will change.

Diagnostic care covered by insurance, all other costs are out of pocket.

The clinic has you show up 15 minutes before your appt time. I am never in the waiting room for more than 5 minute past my appt time. You do share the waiting area with the Women's Clinic so you often see pregnant women and newborn babies, which can be challenging.

Dr. Ryan always takes the time to answer our questions, no matter how simple they may seem. I remember her holding my hand as they put my under for my endometriosis surgery. She has been incredibly supportive to us.

I feel like I spend a lot of time on the phone with the staff getting updates, or discussing prescriptions. I leave a message for the nurses line and they always call back within 30 minutes. When they call back, they have talked to the doctor, know exactly where I'm at in my cycle, and are always positive.

Dr. Ryan is very thorough in each of her visits. I feel that we get at least 30 minutes with her each time we are there. She is very caring and understanding of what we are going through. Sometimes I feel like we could speed up the steps we're taking (i.e. upping medication more quickly, etc), but she ultimately knows what's best. She performed my endometriosis surgery and was very caring throughout the hospital visit.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. She does provide a lot of information, but sometimes I want more, and she's willing to give it.

I was started on thyroid medication due to my levels being in the 5s. I was first prescribed 25mg, and then upped to 50, and then again upped to 75. 75 ended up being too high, so I know take 1 pill 5 days a week, and half a pill 2 days a week. I had high levels of prolactin so she has me on Cabergoline. I started at a very low dose (one half pill one day a week) and my levels check out. After my levels were in the correct range, she decided to do lap surgery. It was discovered that I had Stage 3, with scar tissue attaching my right ovary to my pelvis, making it nearly impossible for an egg to leave that ovary. After surgery, she suggested we try naturally for 6 months as all should be working correctly. After 6 months of unsuccessful natural cycles, she started my on 2.5 of Letrozole for my first IUI. The 2.5 did make a couple of additional follicles, but not mature enough to release an egg. Due to holiday timing, we had to skip the IUI and go with a natural cycle. For my second month of Letrozole, she kept me on 2.5 because she has seen low follicle outputs over the holidays. I did have 5 extra follicles, but none of them were mature enough. I did trigger with 10,000 units of Pregnyl. If this current cycle isn'y successful, she will move me to 5 of Letrozole.

Monitoring Ultrasound - $107 HCG Trigger Shot - $130 IUI - $515

Their billing department is not organized. I pre pay every time and they never apply the payment to the bill so I have to call every month to get it applied. They also raised the prices of the iui itself and didn’t tell us until we were writing the check. They raised it by quite a bit which put a financial strain on us for that month.

Not much time spent explaining things. Didn’t even tell me I had PCOS until the 6th iui failed

The nursing staff was amazing. I interacted with several and only had one I didn’t care for.

Going through 7 iui’s I became more disappointed every time. Was told multiple times we would get more aggressive with the med protocol, but I feel we never became aggressive because she would say we wanna try less expensive options even though we were ok with the cost. Also was not told I had PCOS until the 6th iui failed. Each time the physician assistant would recommend a treatment course for the next iui and the time would come and Dr. Ryan would do something else that was less aggressive.

Do your own research because if you don’t things aren’t explained well at all and you need to be your own advocate with this clinic.

Started with 2.5mg of letrozole for 4 cycles with a trigger shot. After 4 failed rounds she increased it to 5mg. I still only produced one mature follicle. The 6th cycle we increased it to 7.5mg and still only had one mature follicle. The 7th cycle she added Dexamethasone which resulted in 2 follicles.

Iui was $489 now they raised it to almost $600. Monitoring ultrasound was about $134

The clinic is close to my house which is nice. The staff is friendly and knowledge but I feel as if I'm just a number and they want my money.

She never gave me the time that I needed to talk to her about my treatments. Rushed in and out of appointments

The nursing staff in particular diane was very nice and compassionate. She listened to my questions and concerns. Ruth wasn't as compassionate but she was still nice.

Dr. Ryan was very blunt and she stated that I wouldn't ever regain my menstrual cycles on my own which in fact I did. She never spent individual time with me, I was always rushed in and out of appointments. She also gave my fiance and I false hope. Dr. Ryan didn't really listen to my concerns and you promised that we would get pregnant within no time.

Try to remain positive through these tough times but don't get your hopes up. Wait until you see the positive pregnancy test.

Menopur 75units daily, monitoring ultrasounds. Pregnyl trigger and iui with progesterone suppositories for the first two cycles. Third cycle add follistim to help grow follicles. So, cycle 3and 4menopur plus follistim, monitored ultrasound, pregnyl and iui and progesterone suppositories. Took time off.. Regained cycles on my own. Started letrozole 5mg per day on days 3-7.. Menopur 2 (leftovers) Pregnyl and TI - only two follicles, progesterone suppositories. 6 cycle letrozole 5mg 3-7, pregnyl, TI progesterone.. Only one follicle. 7 cycle letrozole 7.5mg, lining think, natural ovulation..

Menopur injections were over 1,200 each cycle (4). Follistim 500 for each cycle (2). Pregnyl for each cycle 139.50(7). Letrozole 12$ first two, 20 for the last. Progesterone 88-100 each cycle. In addition to these out of pocket expenses doctor bills range well over 7,000

Only weakness is that they don't perform IVF, but are knowledgeable on the treatment and willing to help with any monitoring or tests needed to complete our IVF journey. It would be great if they had a better website or resource center with their capabilities, types of treatments, and online scheduling. Overall it was an easy process with them

Dr Endrizzi had a similar experience to us and he connected with us on a personal level and advised future treatment based on what would work for us and not to financially benefit the hospital. He was fantastic

Absolutely loved Dr. Endrizzi. He delivered the most disappointing news we've ever received in a respectful manner and clearly explained what we would benefit from the most in the next steps of our journey. Very compassionate and felt like he truly cared about if we fully understood the information he provided.

Mentally prepare for outcomes as labs aren't always what they seem

Dr Endrizzi suggested we move straight to IVF as IUI and further testing would financially set us back without giving us positive results

Affordable care for seeing a specialist

Very good overall. Only complaint is that at my last appointment, I had to wait 20 minuets past my scheduled appointment time. The ladies at the front desk can be very chatty and loud when I’m not sure it is always appropriate.

Dr. Ryan is very personable. She explains things in a very easy to understand way.

The whole nursing staff is wonderful. They are incredibly easy to talk to. They are great at answering my questions.

Dr. Ryan is incredibly knowledgeable. She took a great deal of time sitting with me and explaining treatment options and a plan. She listened to my concerns and was very helpful in answering my questions.

Be open about your concerns. The more she knows, the better she can help you.

My first treatment included 2,000 mg of Metformin. If this doesn’t work, she will prescribe letrozole depending on my next progesterone test. I may also have surgery for endometriosis in the next few months.

Testing was expensive, but I was thankful my insurance covered a lot of it.

Gundersen does not do IVF at the moment but they still do IUI's. If you know you need IVF then you'll need to look elsewhere but overall this clinic and fertility staff is amazing and would recommend anyone going there

She was always friendly

they were vary thoughtful and called me every so often to check and see how I was doing

she is amazing always supportive in good/bad situations... She did our IUI back in June 2016 and that turned into a wonderful pregnancy and then we got pregnant in feb 2017 and ended in a miscarriage but for both she was supportive in every which way when we had our miscarriage she sent us a baby ring to remember our angel

ask as many questions as you need to she will take the time to answer every single one

unfortunately with all of the IUI's that we ended up doing I don't remember the protocols

if starting a family was not so expensive I know raising kids are not cheap by all means but getting pregnant should not cost thousands of dollars

did not do IVF as to we could not afford it

None! All was wonderful. The only part I didn't like was that they "batched' patients' cycles (so we all had to be "programmed" to cycle on the same day). I prefer more of an individual approach, with less medications.

She was incredibly sweet to me and respectful

The fertility clinic was like a second family to us - we visited them with our baby girl post-pregnancy and it was a very emotional and wonderful time for all of us.

I felt incredibly safe and taken care of in Dr. Ryan's care. She was a patient listener and an expert communicator. Her soft-spoken manner was very comforting to me. I still look forward to seeing her for check-ups, even though the fertility clinic there has since closed.

I would tell her to trust her and trust the process.

Dr. Ryan removed a polyp at one point - though it hurt, she very carefully explained the entire process. This led to a positive pregnancy test.

$20K

Dr. Ryan discouraged multiple embryo transfers, and I completely understood her rationale (even though we elected to go forward with transferring 2 embryos).

Very organized. Very clean and welcoming

I felt like a human because I had my own team of nurses and doctor. They always talked to me and greeted by name and were very open to all of my questions.

Compassionate

Dr. Shalih was amazing. She was very friendly and compassionate.

Go in with an open mind. She will do what she can to help

$11,000 for the IVF and $8,000 for the medications involved.