I love Dr. Brabec! She diagnosed me with PCOS at the first visit upon reviewing my bloodwork and confirming via ultrasound...She is not warm and fuzzy, but she knows her stuff! We feel that we are in expert hands...She is very up to date on the latest regarding fertility and PCOS, which we greatly appreciate...Go into your appointment with a list of questions you want to ask, because she is an extremely intelligent, fast talker with a lot of information to share.
[Reproductive Resource Center] front office staff is outstanding, but especially Robin. She is extremely sweet and always seems to genuinely care about us and our situation...the nurse practitioners call back the same day and are very sympathetic. They also do a good job of having you see the same couple of nurse practitioners throughout your treatment...The waiting room always has peaceful music, and the wait times are never bad at all.
How was your experience with Celeste Brabec at Reproductive Resource Center?
I love Dr. Brabec! She diagnosed me with PCOS at the first visit upon reviewing my bloodwork and confirming via ultrasound (I had 60 antral follicles - yikes!). This was a huge relief! I had already seen two different doctors (my primary and a nurse-midwife at an OBGYN office), who dismissed the very same lab results, which showed an extremely high AMH of 12, as "normal". Dr. Brabec shoots very straight with us. At our first appointment, she explained that we have about a 2% chance of conceiving per month with no assistance, an 8% chance with IUI and meds, and a 70% chance with IVF. She is very up to date on the latest regarding fertility and PCOS, which we greatly appreciate!
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Celeste Brabec at Reproductive Resource Center?
Go into your appointment with a list of questions you want to ask, because she is an extremely intelligent, fast talker with a lot of information to share. Writing your questions down ahead of time and showing her the list will help ensure they get answered. She is not warm and fuzzy, but she knows her stuff! We feel that we are in expert hands!
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Celeste Brabec at Reproductive Resource Center?
Dr. Brabec's front office staff is outstanding, but especially Robin. She is extremely sweet and always seems to genuinely care about us and our situation. Also, when I call to report that I'm not pregnant, the nurse practitioners call back the same day and are very sympathetic. They also do a good job of having you see the same couple of nurse practitioners throughout your treatment.
Describe the protocols Celeste Brabec used in your cycles at Reproductive Resource Center and their degree of success.
Dr. Brabec recommended we start with letrozole (Femara) and IUI, because even with a good semen analysis, IUI doubled our chances of success over letrozole alone. She also gave us the option of letrozole with timed intercourse, which we decided to start with since it was the least invasive option. We ended up doing 2 cycles of letrozole + timed intercourse and 2 cycles of letrozole + IUI. The first month, I took 0.5 mg dexamethasone (she said due to elevated DHEA-S levels common in PCOS patients, which indicate adrenal testosterone production) daily for the first half of my cycle and 2.5 mg letrozole on cycle days 3-7 to help me ovulate, then came in for a follicle ultrasound on day 11. My follicles hadn't grown enough, so I was told to bump up to 5 mg letrozole and take it for a few more days in that same cycle, then come in for another ultrasound. My follicles had grown appropriately by the next ultrasound, so I was instructed to trigger a couple of days later with Ovidrel at home and have timed intercourse at least every other day. She prescribed progesterone inserted vaginally for the second half of my cycle to improve success rates. The rest of our cycles, I took 5 mg letrozole (instead of 2.5) on cycle day 3-5, but the rest of the meds were the same. On my last two letrozole cycles, we decided to add IUI to boost our chances, since I had ovulated perfectly each time with no pregnancy. Both times, the IUI was done the morning after I was instructed to do my Ovidrel trigger.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Reproductive Resource Center. (Assigned nurse: Ashley and Jessie)
Ashley and Jessie are both great! Between the two of them, they have done almost all of my ultrasounds, my HSG, and one of my IUIs. They return calls within the same day or the next morning (if you call too late in the afternoon).
Describe your experience with Reproductive Resource Center.
I honestly can't think of any weaknesses of this clinic. The waiting room always has peaceful music, and the wait times are never bad at all. As I said above, the front desk staff (especially Robin!) are amazing!
Describe the costs associated with your care under Celeste Brabec at Reproductive Resource Center.
Our care is entirely out of pocket with literally no insurance or negotiated rates. Ultrasounds are $288, and three out of four months we have only had to do one. The HSG was about $850, including facility charges. Diagnostic blood tests were about $600 through LabCorp (Dr. Brabec prefers Quest, but Quest offers no discount for uninsured patients). Meds were around $50 for Ovidrel, $10 for letrozole, $30 for progesterone, and $5 for dexamethasone, which came to roughly $100 per cycle for meds. The two times we did IUI, it was about $400 extra. Overall, our letrozole + timed intercourse cycles were around $400 each and our letrozole + IUI cycles were about $800 each - all with literally no insurance. I have gotten a quote from Attain for IVF (because this is our next step), and they offer a package through RRC with up to 2 retrievals and unlimited fresh/frozen transfers until you have a take-home baby for $17800 (no refund), not including meds or anesthesia charges.
Describe Celeste Brabec's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Reproductive Resource Center.
We haven't reached this point yet, but our IVF consultation is next week.
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Clinic
Reproductive Resource Center
Overland Park