Verified
This patient has provided documentation of treatment at this clinic.
2013 - 2015, Successful
He listened to my questions and explained things in a way I could understand.... He was compassionate and very confident. He was willing to talk when I had questions and he was very positive. He gave us another consultation after we had our first daughter and wanted to try again and really explained our chances with the remaining embryos we had.... For my fresh cycle with Dr. Salem I took metformin all throughout and I was on birth control for 19 days
The clinics strengths are that the doctor is wonderful want the surgery staff [Pacific Reproductive Center] is fantastic! Weaknesses would be that sometimes getting information from the nurses is very frustrating. When I was trying to get the result as to whether or not I was pregnant both the nurses and the receptionist claimed they couldn't check the fax machine (that's where the results would be)... Apparently it was some unknown person that checked it and emailed it to them
How was your experience with Rifaat Salem at Pacific Reproductive Center?
He was a great doctor and explained things really well. He was compassionate and very confident. He was willing to talk when I had questions and he was very positive.
He gave us another consultation after we had our first daughter and wanted to try again and really explained our chances with the remaining embryos we had.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Rifaat Salem at Pacific Reproductive Center?
Come prepared with questions
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Rifaat Salem at Pacific Reproductive Center?
He listened to my questions and explained things in a way I could understand.
Describe the protocols Rifaat Salem used in your cycles at Pacific Reproductive Center and their degree of success.
For my fresh cycle with Dr. Salem I took metformin all throughout and I was on birth control for 19 days, 14 days in I started Lupron 10 U shots. I did the Lupron shots for 18 days. CD2 I started taking prenatal vitamins, started Follistim 150 shots, Menopur shots, medrol 16 mg/day, and a baby aspirin. I had about 30 eggs growing on each ovary so we scaled down the medications from about CD7...I can't remember exactly what they had me do, but I think I skipped a dose of Follistim. I took all of that for 7 days. On CD12 I had an HCG trigger shot. I had my egg retrieval CD 13. That day I started progesterone injections 1 mL/day, doxycycline (just for 5 days), and delestrogen (0.3 mL twice a week). I continued the prenatal, baby aspirin, and medrol. On CD18 I had my embryo transfer.
As far as blood work and ultrasounds: I had blood work and ultrasounds done CD1, CD7, CD9, and CD11. We transferred 2 embryos to increase our chances of at least one implanting. Then I was on bed rest for 3 days. Ten days after the transfer I had a blood test to see if I was pregnant, then two days later I had another test. And i was! Then when I was 7 weeks along I had an ultrasound to make sure there was a heartbeat and then had an ultrasound again at 9 weeks and then I was released to my regular OB.
For the Frozen embryo transfer we did about 2 years later I was on metformin all throughout and BC for 16 days. 10 days in I started Lupron 15U shots. I took 15U for 11 days and then we took it down to 10U. On CD2 I started prenatal vitamins daily, baby aspirin daily, and delestrogen .5 mL injections twice a week until CD13. On CD14 I started medrol 16 mg/day and progesterone .50mg shot. Throughout that time I had blood work and ultrasounds on CD1 and CD11. And just blood work on CD8. The embryo transfer was CD19. We transferred 2 embryos again. After the transfer I stopped the Lupron, but started the progesterone vaginal capsules daily, and continued the rest of my medication (progesterone injections, prenatals, baby aspirin, medrol, and delestrogen). Seven days later I had my first blood draw to check to see if I was pregnant and to 2 days later had another. That one ended up being a chemical pregnancy.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Pacific Reproductive Center.
Our first cycle with PRC was fantastic. The nurses were so helpful and available. However, for the FET I got very frustrated, they took a long time to get back to me when I called. All of that I could have overlooked, but when I was waiting for my results I had a horrible experience! So they told me that I was pregnant because my blood work showed that I was pregnant, but then it didn't double like it should have, so they had me get my blood drawn again the next day. However, they kept having some difficulties getting my results and wouldn't call me back. I had to call 14 times to finally find out that I was no longer pregnant and actually just had a chemical pregnancy. It was emotional and very frustrating.
Describe your experience with Pacific Reproductive Center.
The clinics strengths are that the doctor is wonderful want the surgery staff is fantastic! Weaknesses would be that sometimes getting information from the nurses is very frustrating. When I was trying to get the result as to whether or not I was pregnant both the nurses and the receptionist claimed they couldn't check the fax machine (that's where the results would be)... Apparently it was some unknown person that checked it and emailed it to them... Finally they must have figured out who checked it or how to do so because I finally got the results to my FET...BFN.
However, during my fresh cycle everyone was wonderful... So maybe it was a fluke the second time ...
Describe the costs associated with your care under Rifaat Salem at Pacific Reproductive Center.
It was about $10000 plus medications which were about $3000
What specific things went wrong at Pacific Reproductive Center?
- Failed to call with results
- Lost results
- Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Pacific Reproductive Center.
I told it in a previous question. I needed to know my results of my FET and it took 14 calls before I found out that I had a chemical pregnancy and wasn't actually pregnant.