How was your experience with Kimberley Thornton at RMA of New York?
Dr Thornton is likely very intelligent and possibly talented at her job related to the actual fertility elements. Her bedside manner and patient care is utterly lacking. Perhaps I'm an outlier, but if an outlier can be these drastic, I truly wonder where the mean would lie.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Kimberley Thornton at RMA of New York?
You must be a superior project manager and be able to manage your fertility journey with confidence, precision, and the ability to stand up for yourself. No one will take care of you, no one will check up on you, and no one will offer you ways to ameliorate any difficulties the process may cause for you. You should not be afraid to call, email, and keep calling to get the results, updates, and information you need to proceed confidently. This is your body, your choice, and your money that is feeding the factory.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Kimberley Thornton at RMA of New York?
RMA is a factory. I will not be the first nor the last to say this. I think people are desperate for results and will take any kind of mistreatment along the way to get there. I had expressed concerns from the onset about vulnerability to hormonal variations and when it became so drastic post-transfer that I was suffering from a first-time onset of clinical depression, I was completely dismissed by all involved. When I was finally issued a different protocol (different drug administration technique) Dr. Thornton did not even check in *once* to see if there was improvement, or how I was doing, or just to treat me like a human patient rather than a vessel for a successful live birth. Nurses are the same, and you will rarely see or interact with the same person twice.
Describe the protocols Kimberley Thornton used in your cycles at RMA of New York and their degree of success.
I started on progesterone shots post 5-day FET (pgt-a and pgt-m). I was miserable. I'd communicated my vulnerability to hormones early on, and it became so drastic I had to demand some sort of change in the treatment or I would not be able to be a functional mother for my current daughter. The nurse told me they couldn't 'make me' take the medication, as in I could either proceed with no change and suffer, or make my own call to completely stop treatment at 6 weeks post-transfer. Something somehow finally got through to Dr Thornton and I was switched to thrice daily endometrin pills + twice daily vaginal suppositories. This produced some nausea but SIGNIFICANTLY improved mood. It took too much and too long to get me to that change. And i had to demand it for myself.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at RMA of New York.
Nursing staff repeatedly had to be followed up with in order to get the full information i needed. On multiple occasions I was chasing people down nearly the end of the day to acquire extremely time sensitive prescriptions - including trigger shot over a holiday weekend! They are impossible to reach - no direct lines or emails. And one nurse when i told her i was suffering on my treatment told me i didn't 'have' to continue the medication, rather than work with me to consult the dr for a mitigated treatment plan.
Describe your experience with RMA of New York.
I expect the clinic's strength is in the sheer volume of patients and cases they have treated. This is a double edged sword, however, in that you become just one of those numbers - and statistics - that contributes to their overall rates. Honestly I felt like I was seen as an easy opportunity to achieve an 'under 35 live birth on the first implant' in order to boost their numbers, and I was given 0 personal attention or care. When I awoke from being put under to have my eggs retrieved, a person I'd never seen before merely said to me 'what does your phone case look like'. That was honestly the first thing someone said to me when I came to. That is the kind of treatment you can expect.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Kimberley Thornton at RMA of New York.
Honestly I haven't heard from the billing department once since starting this process. I've tracked my own expenses - thank god? - but no one has updated me or followed up with me. At this point I'm honestly wondering whether I even have a chart over there. I'm estimating the entire process (egg retrieval, testing, FET) cost about 40k.
Describe Kimberley Thornton's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at RMA of New York.
I'm not sure but we only transferred one with no discussion of multiples
What specific things went wrong at RMA of New York?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
- Failed to call with results
- Failed to order appropriate test
- Failed to send your chart to another clinic
- Failed to inform you of changes in protocol
- Provided conflicting information
- Failed to convey critical information
- Failed to consider drug intolerance
Describe the specific things that went wrong at RMA of New York.
-my follicles got jacked really quickly and i was beyond bloated. We were approaching fourth of july weekend and i was project managing to the extreme to ensure that my trigger shot order was put in and able to be picked up before everything closed. Literally 15 min before the specialty pharmacy closed for an extended weekend i was sprinting in to grab the trigger shot, after spending days playing telephone tag to ensure timing was correct and it was ordered. This was INSANE.
-Then my initial Dr went on maternity leave in the middle of my cycle, and informed me two days prior. We were in the middle of interpreting and awaiting updated results on embryos from PGT-A and PGT-M, after coming back inconclusive. This was a shock.
-Finally, I was beyond struggling with my progesterone protocol post-FET and was desperate to be tapered off at the earliest possibility. I was legitimately clinically depressed and conveyed this to a nurse upon hearing that my protocol would not be changing at all even by method. She told me that they can't 'make me' take the medicine, and that my two choices were essentially continue to suffer for the sake of the pregnancy, or just take myself off entirely, because they were providing no alleviation strategy. It was the most grotesque display of utter disregard for patient wellbeing, and frankly this nurse should reconsider her profession. After sending a desperate and dire email to my dr (thank god i randomly had her email) some change in protocol was suggested - suppositories and pills rather than shots. She then literally never followed up with me to check in on me after the switch. No call, no email. Nothing to confirm the switch in protocol was for the better. That was the final nail in the coffin for showing me how little RMA cared for me as a patient.
-When I was able to come off the drugs entirely, I received a curt email: "Your levels are adequate and you can stop your endometrin today." This, after 40k and 8 months. Can you imagine?
-I'm still waiting to hear from the nurse managers to discuss my experience. Nothing. No followup despite my explicit request to be contacted. And so here I am.