She [Dr. Jacqueline Gutmann] took time to explain the plan and seemed to truly care about our results...Overall I would say her methods are on the traditional/conservative side. While I appreciate her not pushing any products or treatments that don't have proven success rates, I do wish we would explore more out of the box options. Overall, I feel a sense of trust working with Dr. Gutman and feel like she truly cares about my outcome.
The RMA Nursing staff is amazing. They know their patients, listen, and really care. They are always available for questions and quick with responses...I received conflicting instructions for post retrieval meds after my first cycle...When I called in to get clarification, the nurse was even confused. Thankfully, I made friends with one of the nurse practitioners and was able to text her directly for clarification...We never had the option to transfer more than one embryo. However for our IUI with injections, Dr. Gutman was ok with proceeding with 3 or 4 mature follicles.
How was your experience with Jacqueline Gutmann at RMA of Philadelphia?
Dr. Gutman is very patient, caring and experienced. While you can tell she is very busy with many patients, the appointments never felt rushed. If questions aren't asked, she won't got into much detail. However when questions are asked, she will tell you what she is was thinking. Overall I would say her methods are on the traditional/conservative side. While I appreciate her not pushing any products or treatments that don't have proven success rates, I do wish we would explore more out of the box options. Overall, I feel a sense of trust working with Dr. Gutman and feel like she truly cares about my outcome.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Jacqueline Gutmann at RMA of Philadelphia?
If you have a question, ask it. Don't assume. She doesn't give much detail if you don't ask for it. If you want to try something new, you need to start that conversation as well.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Jacqueline Gutmann at RMA of Philadelphia?
I felt treated like a human. She took time to explain the plan and seemed to truly care about our results.
Describe the protocols Jacqueline Gutmann used in your cycles at RMA of Philadelphia and their degree of success.
I have been through 2 IVF cycles with Dr. Gutman. The first cycle we used BC for a week prior to starting stims. We then followed the agonist protocol with an aggressive med list. We did 300 follistim iu and 75iu menopur for twelve nights. About a week into stims, we realized I wasn't responding to the meds as we would expect for someone my age. I was producing fewer eggs than normal. The word "cancel" was tossed around once or twice, however we went through with the retrieval. 8 follicles were retrieved, 6 were mature, 4 fertilized and made it to day 5, however only 1 was able to transferred. That round ended in a negative beta. We took a month off, and then started another round of stims. This time instead of BC, we primed with estrogen ( we thought the BC may have suppressed me too much). We then did the same agonist protocol with the same dosages. We stimmed another twelve nights and all monitoring appointments showed more follicles than the first round. However, retrieval yielded only 7 follicles, and none fertilized. We haven't done another IVF cycle since then. We have done 4 IUI's with follistim and follistim/clomid. The first IUI resulted in a chemical pregnancy. The other three ended in negative betas. Each IUI showed at least 3 mature follicles.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at RMA of Philadelphia.
The RMA Nursing staff is amazing. They know their patients, listen, and really care. They are always available for questions and quick with responses.
Describe your experience with RMA of Philadelphia.
Strengths: RMA truly wants the best for their patients. They are experienced and make you feel like a human, not a number. Weaknesses: They are busy, so if you don't have questions, they won't get into details. If you are questioning anything or everything, don't be afraid to ask and don't feel bad about it. It is their job to explain what is going on. One major downside to the clinic is the price. They don't offer any bundled packages and they need everything up front. IVF is EXPENSIVE and usually takes more than one try- it all adds up very quickly.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at RMA of Philadelphia.
Early morning monitoring appointments were hit or miss. Some days I would be in and out very quickly, other days I would be there for almost an hour. I would say they were usually on the quicker side for the most part, however there were still a handful of times that took way longer than needed. The days that did take long however, once I got into the monitoring room, I did not feel rushed out.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Jacqueline Gutmann at RMA of Philadelphia.
My insurance covered monitoring and bloodwork for IUI cycles. Nothing was covered for IVF. RMA prices are high and they don't offer any bundled packages which is the main reason I am holding back on moving forward with another cycle. If they offered better more affordable options, I would have started another retrieval already because I do feel comfortable and trust them. They did offer a tiny discount however with my next cycle being my third round, I was hoping for a deeper discount than offered.
Describe Jacqueline Gutmann's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at RMA of Philadelphia.
We never had the option to transfer more than one embryo. However for our IUI with injections, Dr. Gutman was ok with proceeding with 3 or 4 mature follicles.
What specific things went wrong at RMA of Philadelphia?
- Provided conflicting information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at RMA of Philadelphia.
I received conflicting instructions for post retrieval meds after my first cycle. My take hoe instructions said one thing, while the scripts said another. When I called in to get clarification, the nurse was even confused. Thankfully, I made friends with one of the nurse practitioners and was able to text her directly for clarification.
7
Clinic
RMA of Philadelphia
Philadelphia