At first Dr. Bareh only wanted to use a single embryo but I strongly wanted to try two and she agreed that I was healthy enough that if the result was a pregnancy of multiples it would be fine...She walks you through every step of everything you go through along the way. When making decisions about treatment she explains the options and pros and cons of both and includes you but also lets you know what she thinks is best
they [Loma Linda U nurses] were a big part of my support while going through treatment. They took their time in teaching me injections, calming my nerves about the needles, and were compassionate and patient always...Treatment was a package deal, monitoring, retrieval, bloodwork, ultrasounds, and transfer. I believe the package was about $13,500 without genetic testing of the embryos, that was an additional $5,000 for a group of embryos
How was your experience with Gihan Bareh at Loma Linda University?
Dr. Bareh is amazing. She walks you through every step of everything you go through along the way. When making decisions about treatment she explains the options and pros and cons of both and includes you but also lets you know what she thinks is best. She has an innate way of knowing when to be gentle with news but also when she needs to be blunt. She feels every bit of your feelings with you, she often got emotional when I was upset but held it back to comfort me. She likes to make decisions based on information so at times I would do bloodwork and an ultrasound and she would call me later in the day to let me know what the next steps would be. If she has any weakness it would be her undying optimism. At times when I have felt like maybe we should be a little more realistic she always once you to consider the long shot.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Gihan Bareh at Loma Linda University?
I would be very up front with Dr. Bareh about your communication style, if you like very blunt information let her know. She tends to be a nurturer and it helped me to remind her that I wanted to know the good, the bad, and the ugly.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Gihan Bareh at Loma Linda University?
I was treated so kindly from the moment I entered the door. The receptionist always remembered my name, had started checking me in before I got to her desk, and always kept personal business personal. The nurses were kind, spoke to us by name, remembered preferences of ours, and were as helpful as could be. Dr. Bareh is so compassionate. She is optimistic as they come, but if you want to cold hard truth she will give it to you. She has a way of making you feel comfortable and very well taken care of.
Describe the protocols Gihan Bareh used in your cycles at Loma Linda University and their degree of success.
We first tried clomid, after one cycle we changed to letrozole because I felt too many unpleasant side effects with clomid. We tried letrozole 4 cycles, one resulted in pregnancy that we miscarried around week 6 of pregnancy.
We then tried IUI, we used letrozole again and it was unsuccessful.
At this point we decided to move onto IVF. we used Menopur, Follistim, and Omnitrope. We ended up with 9 eggs retrieved, 4 of which were not mature enough to fertilize, of the remaining 5, 3 were fertilized and all three made it to day 5 and frozen. We had to wait a few months to transfer because I was found to have polyps in the uterus and had to have surgery then recover. We transferred to embryos and it was unsuccessful. Dr. Bareh felt that the quality wasn't quite there, which we knew after the retrieval but I really wanted to try anyways. So after about 4-5 months later we tried a second cycle. During the waiting time she suggested some vitamins and supplements to help better the quality of my health and in hopes of improving the quality of the eggs. She changed our medications a bit, we tried a micro dose HCH and Lupron cycle with centrotide and gonal F. This cycle we had more eggs and better quality. Through retrieval we were able to get 11 eggs, 7 of which were fertilized, 5 made it to full healthy 5 day embryos. We transferred two and it was a successful transfer. Unfortunately we lost our baby boy at week 19 of a rare abnormality that didn't show on any early prescreening testing.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Loma Linda University.
The nursing staff at Dr. Bareh's is amazing, honestly they were a big part of my support while going through treatment. They took their time in teaching me injections, calming my nerves about the needles, and were compassionate and patient always. They communicated almost daily with me during cycles, always greeted me kindly, gave me bad news compassionately. The only downside was that often in the morning it is difficult to get a hold of them, all nurses are in clinic assisting with patients, checking them in, teaching, or other stuff. So when I needed to talk to a nurse I always had to leave a message and wait until they called back, but they always called back.
Describe your experience with Loma Linda University.
As a whole I loved the clinic. All staff a kind and caring and you can tell they enjoy what they do and that they care about the patients. The only complaint I had was that the office manager wasn't always available to answer billing questions, or help with financial arrangements, so often you have to wait to get those types of answers taken care of. Since it didn't effect my care and treatment I wasn't bothered by this too much but it is something to consider if you like questions answered immediately.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Gihan Bareh at Loma Linda University.
Treatment was a package deal, monitoring, retrieval, bloodwork, ultrasounds, and transfer. I believe the package was about $13,500 without genetic testing of the embryos, that was an additional $5,000 for a group of embryos. The second round since we were returning patients that same package was $12,000. Once we were pregnant the follow up care was not included, we went to weekly monitoring visits and had bloodwork done. Insurance paid for some but if not that would have been out of pocket at around $300 a visit - I can't be exact be cause like I said my insurance covered some of those visits as prenatal care.
Describe Gihan Bareh's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Loma Linda University.
At first Dr. Bareh only wanted to use a single embryo but I strongly wanted to try two and she agreed that I was healthy enough that if the result was a pregnancy of multiples it would be fine. The second transfer we tried to as well.
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Clinic
Loma Linda University
Loma Linda