I really like Dr. Saleh. He's very nice. He’s always joking around with us to help lighten any stress or tension. He is always happy and energetic and hopeful about my future as a patient. He does move kind of quickly and in the beginning I often felt like I left the appointment with tons of questions. Even in an appointment, he is in and out super fast.... I really appreciate that Dr. Saleh didn’t just say let’s try again, but he’s really trying to search for the reason why before transferring more of my little embryos.
Strengths are the staff [Sher Fertility of Texas]. They are all wonderful! MAs, the financial coordinator Karen, nurses, Dr. Saleh, the embryologists, all wonderful!... The clinic is in an older hospital, so it's pretty old looking too.... Wait time has the ability to be long. Sometimes we get to the clinic and they take us back right away, and sometimes we wait a really long time. The other day we waited for almost an hour after our scheduled appointment time to go back.
How was your experience with Walid Saleh at Center for Reproductive Endocrinology (formerly Sher Fertility of Texas)?
I really like Dr. Saleh. He's very nice. He’s always joking around with us to help lighten any stress or tension. He is always happy and energetic and hopeful about my future as a patient. He does move kind of quickly and in the beginning I often felt like I left the appointment with tons of questions. Even in an appointment, he is in and out super fast. It isn't that he doesn't want to answer our questions, because when I ask questions he is always gives willing and helpful answers. Our first consultation was great because he drew out what I should expect on a piece of paper and I still refer to it sometimes. Any consult we’ve ever had with him he has been very clear and drawn out next steps and what to expect. Overall, I have really liked Dr. Saleh. He's honest about what my future looks like as a patient and is contagiously hopeful.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Walid Saleh at Center for Reproductive Endocrinology (formerly Sher Fertility of Texas)?
If you are a person like me that loves questions, write down your questions and make sure Dr. Saleh or the nurses know you have questions at some point in the appointment. They’re really willing to answer anything, I just had to be extra on the ball to make sure my questions were answered each visit. But seriously, ask questions. It’s so helpful to calm any worries or anxieties while going through the infertility process.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Walid Saleh at Center for Reproductive Endocrinology (formerly Sher Fertility of Texas)?
I felt like every time I went to the clinic the nurses and Dr. Saleh celebrated the little achievements with me. Whether it was good thickness of lining or my body was responding well to the medications, they always were hopeful, excited, and happy about those results. Even when I received negative tests, the nurses just encouraged me to continue having hope because we weren't out of options yet.
Describe the protocols Walid Saleh used in your cycles at Center for Reproductive Endocrinology (formerly Sher Fertility of Texas) and their degree of success.
At our consultation, Dr. Saleh said that there were different places to start; clomid alone, clomid with iui, iui with injectables, then ivf. The higher you go on that scale the more expensive and more invasive the protocol. He said he didn't like doing IUI with injectables because it increases the chance of multiples and he likes to avoid that increased chance. So my husband and I decided that we would do IUI with clomid. I was on 5 pills of 50 mg of clomid starting on day 5 of my cycle, ultrasound at day 13 (because my eggs were slower to mature), and then IUI around day 14. He would have me trigger and then 24 hours or less later he would do the IUI. I asked why he didn't do the IUI after 36 hours, cause I had heard mixed reviews online, he said he wanted the sperm to be there when the egg was released. Unfortunately my body wouldn’t cooperate and all 3 IUIs were unsuccessful. When moving forward to IVF, because I had a higher than normal AMH, I was on a lower dose of stims. My body still went a little crazy and I ended up getting OHSS. For my safety, Dr Saleh had me freeze all the resultant day 5 embryos and wait to do an FET. I’m so glad he did because I ended up getting pretty sick from the OHSS. For the FET, my body responds pretty well to meds so I was on a normal dose of estradiol shots (.3 ml), which my lining responded well to. Sadly, my embryo transfer resulted in a negative. Everyone was shocked and because of my perfect embryos, beautiful lining and the unexplained nature of the negative, Dr. Saleh recommended doing an ERA because I’m the unexplained of the unexplained. I really appreciate that Dr. Saleh didn’t just say let’s try again, but he’s really trying to search for the reason why before transferring more of my little embryos.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Center for Reproductive Endocrinology (formerly Sher Fertility of Texas). (Assigned nurse: Heather)
Heather is so wonderful! She always makes sure to call me with test results, etc. I always have a billion and one questions and whether I’m sitting in her office or emailing her, I never feel like my questions are stupid nor do I feel like an annoyance to her. She’s so compassionate and helpful.
Describe your experience with Center for Reproductive Endocrinology (formerly Sher Fertility of Texas).
Strengths are the staff. They are all wonderful! MAs, the financial coordinator Karen, nurses, Dr. Saleh, the embryologists, all wonderful! They're the whole reason we are going to this clinic. Even the receptionists are sweet and lovable. The clinic is in an older hospital, so it's pretty old looking too. I wouldn't have thought much about it, but the clinic my sister goes to and others I have seen are spa-like and beautiful, which is quite different than this clinic. Wait time has the ability to be long. Sometimes we get to the clinic and they take us back right away, and sometimes we wait a really long time. The other day we waited for almost an hour after our scheduled appointment time to go back. Which might be the norm at fertility clinics, I’ve only ever been here though.
Describe Walid Saleh's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Center for Reproductive Endocrinology (formerly Sher Fertility of Texas).
Dr. Saleh firmly believes that if you have one good embryo, that’s all it takes. My husband and I, on the other hand, think more is more to love. When we decided to transfer two perfect embryos, Dr. Saleh educated us that we have a high likelihood of multiples, the embryologists also told us, as well as our nurse. We also had to sign something on transfer day saying we understood Dr. Saleh had recommended one and we wanted two. He never made us feel pressured to only do one though, he just thought it wasn’t necessary with the quality of our embryos. I’m not sure if for others he recommends only single embryo, but ours were such high quality he recommended only one.
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Clinic
Center for Reproductive Endocrinology (formerly Sher Fertility of Texas)
Dallas