How was your experience with Amin Milki at Stanford University?
I liked that Dr. Milki was present for all appointments except for one. I also never felt intimidated from asking questions about things "we read on the internet about xxxx" as you know how annoying that is to doctors. Milki was always receptive and willing to answer questions. He can talk fast at times and throw out information or answers too quickly which I had to tell him to slow down and repeat himself which he never got frustrated or annoyed. I also like that he's very blunt and direct. I found Dr. Milki based on a close friend's recommendation who thinks like I do ...we don't like wishy washy doctors especially when dealing with IF. There are so many unknowns and so many "what ifs situations". I appreciate how Dr. Milki gives you direct facts even if they are not what you want to hear ... I never had conversations where he was condescending or indecisive like "well, you could do this but there's a slight chance of this and if you do that, slight chance of this...". I felt like because he was direct, it was easy to make difficult decisions whereas other doctors don't give you good clear guidance on the best path to take. I hope that makes sense?
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Amin Milki at Stanford University?
He's a doctor and gives you direct advice and provides facts to provide it. If you or your husband is engineer in any way, you will love him! If you want a warm fuzzy doctor that gives you hugs and sad droopy eyes when he gives you bad news, he's not the guy. If facts and direct answers empower you, he's the doctor for you!
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Amin Milki at Stanford University?
Up until Dr. Milki, I've had female doctors and he never made me feel "weird" or uncomfortable and was always casual during our exams. He answered all my questions and was very direct with them. I felt he treated me as a human because when I asked about doing things outside of his recommendations, he would listen and weigh in his advice and gave me the option to choose which paths I wanted. I was never forced to do things his way. I would ask why he didn't suggest certain methods and he would give his reasons and advice why it was not recommended but always said but if you prefer to do it that way, we can do that. He made sure that I was in control of all the decision making.
Describe the protocols Amin Milki used in your cycles at Stanford University and their degree of success.
Our first IVF cycle was agonist cycle which I produce 17 eggs then 13 fertilized and I think 10 made to blast but when we did 3 day PGD testing, they all failed except one that later was a frozen transfer and didn't stick.
Our 2nd IVF cycle was not agonistic? cycle, I think they call lupron? It's been awhile so I can't remember which we thought let's try for quality instead of quantity which resulted in 8 ER and only 4 fertilized but based on visual inspections, only 3 appeared to be viable and I did have positive pregnancy test but lost after 8 weeks which showed in earlier U/S tests that wasn't doing well and had weak heart beat.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff.
In my experience the nurses were aweome! I loved having their online email communication and even though it says 24 hours to respond, most of the time, they responded within 1-2 hours. I loved it! They always answered my questions and if they didn't know or needed to get information from Dr. Milki, they always responded within few hours. I never was left hanging or confused. They know that IF is very delicate and frustrating for us, we always want answers right now!
Describe your experience with Stanford University.
The online service is awesome, you can email anytime anywhere from your phone app or on computer. You can also pay and manage your bills that way as well.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Amin Milki at Stanford University.
Costs seemed comparable to other clinics. We took advantage of a program which we could do 2 fresh and 2 frozens for less than cost of 2 fresh IVFs. I think it was called Attain.