Cary Dicken

Dr. Dicken is great. She took the time in our first consultation to review our charts (from another clinic), give us her opinion and talk about ALL the options - something we did not get at our previous clinic. She is open-minded, caring, thorough and very responsive to all our questions in person and via emails. I feel very taken care of in a personal way with her.

Since she is so good at answering questions - bring ALL the questions you have! She will give you her honest, professional opinion. If you have a wild idea or heard of a new thing, mention it - she's open to talking about everything and seems to understand how hard and complex this is. She may stick to her professional assessment, but always worth mentioning anything and everything that crosses your mind.

I did an antagonist protocol. I did a week of estrogen priming in hopes of creating good quality, uniform eggs. I did FSH only to start then added menopur. I did about 14 days (longer than originally expected) of stims to create as many follicles as possible. We also did ICSI and PGS. She also had me take a lot of supplements and antioxidants - CoQ10, Fertilaid, Vitamin C, D, Red wine extract.

The first cycle was covered by our insurance. The next one we will wither choose 1 IVF with ICSI and1 FET for $13,000 (not including PGS) or two IVFs with ISCI and unlimited FETs for $26,000. Roughly. I believe the PGS was about $2,000. Freezing and boring embryos was about $80/month.

I believe she prefers single embryo transfers - after PGS tested - for best results

I will say that I am impressed with Dr. Dicken's ability to help us improve our egg quantity during a cycle that was initially bound for failure. We had 8 eggs retrieved after she greatly lengthened our protocol. That said, I have read that longer stim protocols more often result in poorer outcomes. I wish she had iterated that information to us in order to help us make a decision about continuing with the cycle. Overall, Dr. Dicken disappointed us greatly. She failed to communicate important information to me and my partner several times which nearly cost us a cycle and caused emotional distress while we awaited our results FOR EIGHT DAYS! We also felt she didn't even take the time to read our notes before checking in with us during apts. Ie. In a conversation with me she did not remember my partner's name nor the fact that we'd opted for PICSI. I am also very concerned that the lab did not provide me with an embryology report---vital information for our next cycle.

Her strengths: she will answer emails in a timely manner. She seems like a nice person. Her weaknesses: very poor verbal communication skills. You may have to wait several days before receiving lab report. Dr. Dicken will call you herself. You will have no communication with the embryologist.

Estrogen priming (although not primed for long enough) 225 Gonal F, 75 menopur, ganirelix 16 day stim cycle because my follicles were many different sizes

14.5 K and 5 K for medications

We were extremely disappointed that she wasn't direct about the pros and cons of day 3/day 5 transfer. Also, had I known my embryos would arrest on day 3 I would have opted for this option. Since the embryologists do not check the embryos on day 2 there is no option for day 3 transfer if you opt for day 5.

At our initial meeting, I thought Dr. Dicken was incredible (she still is). She was knowledgeable with just the right amount of empathy and professionalism. We went into detail about my concerns. On the day that we met, I got a surprise positive pregnancy test. I emailed Dr. Dicken and asked if I could use the progesterone that she had prescribed for my upcoming IUI. She responded quickly and gave me the go-ahead to use the progesterone. Unfortunately, that pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Once my first period showed, I went back to SIRM for the IUI. Dr. Dicken was available for the first ultrasound. She explained that she would be out of office over the weekend and that I would see another doctor. Dr. O’Shaughnessy was neither warm nor patient centered. She gave me minimal information during the ultrasound. It felt very impersonal. Still, I figured its only one appointment. I was called that afternoon and told to trigger the next day and come in 2 days after. In that time, I emailed Dr. Dicken about my positive OPK. She assured me that I wasn't ovulating yet. I apologized profusely for constantly emailing her. I was having a tough time. She never responded to my email. Okay. I figured I was going to be seeing her anyway. On the morning of the IUI, I was told that the Doctor was with someone else and would be with me soon. I was taken to a room to undress. I was very surprised to see Dr. O’Shaughnessy walk in. I was baffled. One of the reasons I chose SIRM was the fact that they did things differently. Now, I understand that emergencies happen. What was confusing to me was why no one could let me know that my Doctor was not available. Dr. O’Shaughnessy was very rough. This was my third and most painful IUI ever. She didn't even say what she was doing. She just rammed the speculum and catheter inside of me. She gave me no instruction (even about the progesterone). Didn't tell me how long to lay down for either. I didn't even hear a good luck. I waited 20 minutes, dressed and left quietly. Downstairs in the car, I cried my eyes out. I guess my doctor was busy with another procedure. I just felt like my procedure was not important. She did the old bait and switch on me and I did not appreciate it. The whole "patient centered" thing is nonsense. I don't think I'll even bother going in for beta.

Communication is key. Ask questions and don't let yourself be treated like cattle. Being told that she would be unavailable would have allowed me to be informed and aware of the changes. That is important to women dealing with infertility as we already have little control over most things.

150 of Menopur. Trigger shot of Ovidrel. Only one follicle. In the two week wait.

Dr. Dicken missed some red flags in my blood results which led to me experiencing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). This syndrome is painful and caused my IVF cycle to be delayed. Subsequently, a frozen IVF cycle rather than a fresh transfer was the only recourse for that cycle.

Do research so you better understand your hormone levels and how that impacts your IVF cycle.

Since I have a good ovarian reserve the Antagonist protocol was used.

Two embryos were transferred each of the two IVF cycles. My age was a factor.

My Dr had left the practice rather suddenly and I appreciated Dr Dicken taking over my care. We discussed treatment and she said she treated similarly to the Dr I had been seeing. I don't know that she could have done anything better medically, although perhaps if she had seen me as more of her patient and not someone who was out of state and just coming for retrieval - My issue with Dr Dicken was her bedside manner. She was unapproachable, unavailable and very cold. On the few occassions we did see her, she kept us waiting for hours, acted very nonchalantly, and didn't seem invested in me as her patient. On Day 5, no one called me with results, and when I called, I was told it was too late in the day to get news. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Anyone who has undergone IVF and is waiting for day 5 to learn about their embryos knows no call is unacceptable. That evening I received an email from Dr Dicken stating my embryos didn't survive. It was two sentences - with zero kindness or compassion. It was an awful way to learn the outcome. I refused to see Dr Dicken again.

Don't expect kindness or compassion.

monitored out of state