How was your experience with Carlos Soto-Albors at Northern California Fertility Medical Center?
He was quiet, and sometimes I wished he would talk more or explain more. We pretty well went along with the flow (although not understanding just where that flow was going or why things were being done). It wasn't until after egg retrieval happened that we started to understand what was going on.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Carlos Soto-Albors at Northern California Fertility Medical Center?
To ask questions, and urge the doctors to explain what everything is and why they're doing what they're doing (like making med changes).
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Carlos Soto-Albors at Northern California Fertility Medical Center?
I went in to IVF thinking it would take just a short time...but when things went for a couple of months, I got impatient, and not knowing what was going on, felt alone. Also, while the main focus was on my wife, I felt like other than some of the doctors pointing out my problems, that I was invisible (a couple of the doctors, but there were also some nice ones that boosted my confidence). When the end result came under the care of Dr. Soto-Albors, things had actually worked out really well, and because of him, my wife and I now have a son that we enjoy every day with. So while the process was stressful, the results were awesome.
Describe the protocols Carlos Soto-Albors used in your cycles at Northern California Fertility Medical Center and their degree of success.
Not really sure what kind of protocol was used; we were never told. Follistim was used, some Estrace, Ganirelix, Progesterone in oil (was later changed to Crinone due to allergic reaction). After all was said and done, 27 mature eggs were produced, 24 had been fertilized via ICSI, and 5 of those embryos made it to day 5. We miscarried one of the twins, but the other was born full term and without any problems.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Northern California Fertility Medical Center. (Assigned nurse: Can't remember)
Our nurse coordinator and we had had a little bit of friction at first because of the stress levels, but finally were able to get adjusted well to each other. The other nurses (we only worked with each one once or twice) were great, and there were a couple of nurses that were very optimistic and positive.
Describe your experience with Northern California Fertility Medical Center.
I had heard rumors that there was a bit of success associated with this particular clinic; for us, the same was very much true. I had a couple of doctors tell us that because of the problems with my sperm, we HAD to have donor sperm present (adding to the stress, though I can understand the motivation behind it; they wanted to make sure that the cycle was a success). The embryologists were really nice and good; it was obvious, looking in retrospect, that the whole team knew what they were doing.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Carlos Soto-Albors at Northern California Fertility Medical Center.
Ultrasounds were something like $300 apiece (and there were quite a few), we spent about $5000 on meds, two of my operations cost around $1500. As for the actual IVF, we spent about $20,000 on all that.
Describe Carlos Soto-Albors's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Northern California Fertility Medical Center.
He actually asked for our input on this one, and when we said two, he then revealed that he had also been thinking two as well.