Kaiser Permanente Sacramento

I was a patient of Dr. Vu's while he was preparing to retire from Kaiser. He clearly had one foot out the door. He kept recommending that I do IUI's, giving me a total of 7 medicated IUI cycles. Looking back, I wish that he would have recommended IVF much sooner because he wasted a lot of my time. He gave me the wrong medication during one cycle and I was overstimulated, causing my cycle to be canceled. He is a kind man but I felt their was a lack of care and concern.

Advocate for yourself. Do research on medications and doses before taking.

As a patient I feel like Dr. Vu just doesn't have the time to help me/thoroughly review my case. I think he is very knowledgeable and kind. I appreciate his honesty and do think that he is an expert in his field, just suffering from physician burn out.

You have to be very patient and ok with 4 word e-mail replies

I decided not to pursue IVF with Dr. Vu and to go to a different clinic. Dr. Vu just did my IUI's and they were pretty simple.

I was quoted about 17k for IVF and 6-9k for meds. My IUI's and infertility treatment was covered.

Vicky Moy was very personable and patient when explaining our infertility issues. Even though both my husband and I are in the medical field, we are limited understanding when it comes to infertility and the possible infertility treatments possible. Vicky took the time to discuss out initial test results, what they meant and our treatment options. Together, we were able to come up with a plan for our infertility treatments and I left the appointment feeling comfortable that we were in such good hands, despite how emotionally difficult this time can be. Infertility is a sensitive subject, and she was very open, direct and caring towards us.

Have all of your infertility testing for you and your partner done prior to your initial appointment. In addition, it's really important you and your partner are present in order to discuss your results and treatment options together. Many times, women go alone to the initial appointment but I thought having my husband there hear the information firsthand from Vicky was helpful.

So far, we have committed to doing IUI cycles for 3-4 cycles before moving onto IVF if necessary. We are doing IUI with Clomid and I am going to do 2 cycles without the trigger shot and then 2 cycles with the HCG trigger shot if necessary. We have gone in for our initial consultation, and I start my first IUI cycle in a few weeks.

Infertility costs are covered 50% by our insurance, up until IVF treatment. IVF is estimated to cost $15-24,000 for the first cycle and an additional $5-6,000 a cycle thereafter. Genetic testing is extra, and additional medications are not covered.

My doctor has recommended an eSET for a singleton pregnancy because that is what is safest for the mother and baby. She prefers to do it that way, but in the end lets the couples decide what is best for their family planning.

Dr Klooster was very willing to spend time with us to explain his understanding of our situation and his recommendations for treatment. He was respectful of our desires for treatment and of our time and money. He was willing to consider our situation specifically rather than simply following the clinic's standard protocols.

Be very direct about how slow or fast you would like to move through treatment options.

She was nice but I had a lot of questions that I felt were brushed off. The protocol in kaiser is very rigid and it makes adaptability for different patients difficult. I felt like just a number. It’s a very difficult time and there wasn’t much compassion felt.

Be prepared to have to ask questions that might not be answered.

I have rheumatoid arthritis that is in medicated remission. I knew that I was going to have trouble getting pregnant because nothing with my body is easy at all. She recommended doing ovulation predictor kits first for 3 months then clomid and then iui with clomid then letrozole then menopur. I was getting a lot of eggs but no preganacy not even once.

I had two insurances while seeing the clinic in Vacaville kaiser. I paid for copay for iui and ultrasounds. My medication were discounted but ended up being 2000.

She prefers only one embryo transfer. Because twins have a low mortality rate and complications.

There is no question that Dr. Vu is an extremely knowledgeable and competent doctor. I had zero doubt in his ability to preform surgery, retrievals or transfers. The part I found challenging was when I asked questions to get a better understanding of what went wrong and to come up with a new plan of action. After our first loss I asked him to run tests on me to rule out issues with my uterus, blood work to test my hormone levels, coagulopathy labs to rule out any issues before the next transfer. He said everything was fine and that losses happen at my age. I went through two more transfers that resulted in losses before he finally agreed to run the labs. In a perfect world, all these test would have been run prior to beginning IVF.

If you're looking for a doctor that has compassion for your journey, who will walk alongside you through the process, Dr. Vu isn't for you. If the human component in your doctor doesn't matter to you and your case is somewhat straight forward, Dr. Vu is for you.

The protocol I was on was called "The Poor Responder" protocol. He prescribed Gonal-F, Menopur, Lupron, birth control, and Ovidrel for retrieval. For FET, he prescribed birth control, Lupron(15u for 10 days, 10u for 16 days), estrace(2mg 3xday), and progesterone (1ml day, 5 days before FET)).

The retrieval cost $12k, FET cost $3,200 and medications were $5k - $6k for retrieval and $1k - $2k for FET.

Dr. Vu preferred to transfer one embryo at a time but said because of my age (38 at the time), he was OK with transferring two for a fresh transfer. He educated us on the risks.

She was very nice and explained what was going to happen and what was next. She also supported my decisions on what I wanted to do. She would change my meds when needed to try and up my chances of the treatments that I was doing and monitored my progress well.

Stick up for yourself and always question things if you don’t understand any part of something.

I used femara with all my iui’s. I also used menopur with all. The last couple iui’s I doubled my dose to 2 vials. And always used a trigger shot 36 hours before my scheduled iui’s. I always had at least one decent sized follicle but never had one fertilize.

Pricing seemed average. My insurance paid for 50% if testing, meds and procedures (everything except ivf). Ultrasound was around $115 and iui was around $150 after insurance.

She was very responsive to email, of course with Kaiser they have 24-48 hours to respond. She is honest about her approach and her experience. Bed side manners are great. She's kind and patient. Never did I feel rushed when speaking with her.

Be open about your expectations. Ask about the latest trends.

Agonist full IVF cycle. Menapur, Gonal-F, estrogen pills.

I believe I spent about $15,000 minus PGS testing. $4000 for meds.

Will only transfer 1 PGS embryo at a time. Non tested she will transfer 2.

Dr. Cookingham is wonderful. She is extremely knowledgable while also being positive and upbeat. She is informative and has a kind bedside manner. Unfortunately, she's part of a system that is not supportive of the patient and their life and needs.

I wish I knew all about other options besides ivf. I also wanted to know more about making ivf more successful. I feel a lot of things were not explained and I went into ivf thinking it would work the first time which isn’t the case .

Sometimes it takes more than once for ivf to be a success . Don’t just assume all patients want a fresh transfer that it will work .

I was informed to do fresh transfer with transfer on day 5 this is without a freeze all . Later they informed me it would’ve been more successful

18,000 total cost with everything

I was informed it’s high risk to do more than one transfer . Only 1 embryo would be on the safer side

Very professional and fact base. He knows his information. Unfortunately the group has no inhouse donors and it would cost a lot to go through tests again (even after you pick one from another company and they are tested there)

Know exactly what you want

I went through IVF using injectables and donor sperm. I was sent a picture of the fertilized eggs (when I showed them to another fertility doctor at a different clinic, they were surprised they used them)

You pay for the medicine on your own, usually through Walgreens. You pay the IVF fees before the procedure. Around $12000

NA

Friendly but matter of fact. I have huge fear of doctors and needles - somehow once we got through my initial consultation he never made me nervous. Had a specific plan for my situation which removed a lot of stress.

Single mother by choice so technically had no had infertility issues before (as far as I knew.) Did three months of insemination just on my own. When that did not work planned three months with Clomid and then three months with injectables. After 4th attempt I was stressed out and had a reaction to Clomid so took a month off to relax and let my body adjust. Was successful the following month.

I was seen midweek and we had a great first meeting and connected great. I was told by the staff that I'd be called later with a schedule and instructions. I later got a call confirming I'd get that info on a Friday. On Friday they called and told me a nurse would call me on Saturday... which is when I had work scheduled, so I let them know I'd do my best to answer during my shift. Nurse Ashley called late, once my high-intensity schedule already kicked into full gear. I called at the end of my shift and the nurse went nuts and screwed up the instructions. When I met nurse Ashley the next Monday she panicked, then consulted with Lisa and Lisa approved to continue as though the med instruction error never occurred. Ashley did an injection demo and waved the needle around in front of my face several times. Many times I requested to slow down or start again and was ignored by all nurses and doctors. I believe they thought everything was fine and that I should continue, but also that I was being ignorant of the situation. We only got 2 good eggs when they expected as much as approx 9. Kaiser denied me a second round of coverage, but one glance at what happened and they magically covered me for another round. I requested a referral to Fremont Kaiser IVF and was ecstatic with the results. Sac was so nervous and hectic and Fremont was so calm. Dr. Cookingham left the state shortly after, which makes sense after several conversations I had with multiple OB/GYN's, Fremont IVF and my oncology team. I wanted to appreciate the team, but considering I have Triple Negative Breast Cancer, the worst type, I'm very certain they changed the entire outcome of my cancer treatment.

Not applicable as I cannot recommend her due to my experience. I'm sad for her if there are mitigating circumstances I don't know about. But Kaiser did not disclose an ounce of info to me about any details from behind the scenes. Something or multiple things either went wrong behind-the-scenes or something looked bad enough for them to grant another round of IVF treatment at their own expense. I was offered the reassurance that "it did not fall on deaf ears" ... which says it all when you have the experience to read between the lines.

$20, I have tier 1 coverage, so it covers a lot

It’s very early to tell because had a previous doc and he only did the last 2 cycles of treatment. Dr. Vu seems knowledgeable and was compassionate. His explanation of treatment and further steps was somewhat confusing and my wife and I didn’t feel like we had a full understanding of what to expect moving forward.

Make sure he explains the duration of treatment (6-12 months out).

IUI. We were doing progesterone suppositories and letrazole. He only did the last 2 cycles because the previous doc very abruptly retired.

Each IUI and appointment was 15 bucks through kaiser (we have excellent insurance)

N/a

She answered all my questions and had a good bedside manner. As a clinic I feel kaiser has their physicians treat every case exactly the same rather than individually. Their physicians do the best they can with what they are allowed to do.

Ask all of the questions she is knowledgeable and will answer any of them.

Letrozole with trigger and an IUI.

My insurance covers 50% so each IUI with letrozole and trigger was about $325.