Dr. Miller is a very busy man. Although I didn't see him often, I saw him when it was important. When he met with me, he talked to me like a person. He would explain procedures or where we were at in the process and not talk down to me. He would give me time to ask questions and make sure all of my questions were answered. If I was given instructions from a nurse that I had questions about, they would contact Dr. Miller and give me an explanation as to why he was doing what he was doing.
I thought the monitoring appointments [at The Advanced Gynecological Surgery Institute] were a well-oiled machine. It's monitoring, I didn't want to be there forever, they don't want me to be there forever. It was personal enough that I didn't feel rushed but fast enough it didn't take up my whole day... If you call and you have to leave a voicemail for receptionist they always called back. If you called and left a message for the nurse, they most likely sent a portal message but would sometimes call back. They were very upfront with the fact that I may not hear back from them with results or instructions for the day until 5:00 at night or later depending on Dr. Miller's schedule. If he was in surgeries all day, you may have to wait longer to get your results. But they always got back to me. There is an after hours number that you can call. I only had to use it once but they answered my question and all was well. Weaknesses- if you really want to talk to someone every time about medication changes or see the dr every time you go to the clinic, you will not. You have to wait for your blood results and further instructions of medications for the following day or that evening until late in the evening sometimes. Every time I met with Dr. Miller, I never had a question or doubt that he didn't have my best interests in mind. He was thorough and he knew where I was in cycle and where he need to get me to be ready for a transfer.
How was your experience with Charles Miller at The Advanced IVF Institute?
Dr. Miller is like the Wonderful Wizard of Oz to me. I always knew he was there but I didn't always see him. I was ok with that though. I did not see him every time I had an ultrasound or blood draw but he reviewed my results and a nurse would get back to me the same day. If I had questions about what they told me, they would contact him and get back to me, so I knew he was always around. I liked that when I saw him walking around the hallways, he always had energy and was most likely singing. Our first consultation with Dr. Miller, he addressed some health issue that some doctors had skimmed over previously, thyroid and low blood sugar. He also addressed the premature labor I went through with my daughter which other doctors had not.
Like I said, I did not see Dr. Miller for routine check-ups. I saw Dr. Miller for more important matter, when I had a HSG, before, during and after septum reduction surgery, before and after egg retrieval, and before and after embryo transfer. He told us what to expect and then after what happened and where we would go from there.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Charles Miller at The Advanced IVF Institute?
He is a very busy man. His clinic is not only for fertility patients, he also does gynecology surgeries. He is in surgery 2-3 times a week. You communicate a lot with the nurses, so if you are looking for a doctor you are going to see every time you have an appointment, he is not the doctor for you. I was ok with not seeing him every appointment. He is not the first fertility doctor I've gone too and I did not feel like I needed to see him every time I was in the office because I felt like he was still taking care of me and I was getting what I needed from him without seeing him face to face.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Charles Miller at The Advanced IVF Institute?
I felt that I was treated like a human because of Dr. Miller's staff. When undergoing fertility treatments, you are at the doctor's office often and you get to know the nurses. I always felt welcome. When I was getting blood drawn or an ultrasound the staff would talk to me like a person and give me encouragement. They would ask how I was doing and feeling. One of the sonographers/nurses I became close with and when I was upset she would hug me and give me hope that it was going to be ok. Dr. Miller is a very busy man. Although I didn't see him often, I saw him when it was important. When he met with me, he talked to me like a person. He would explain procedures or where we were at in the process and not talk down to me. He would give me time to ask questions and make sure all of my questions were answered. If I was given instructions from a nurse that I had questions about, they would contact Dr. Miller and give me an explanation as to why he was doing what he was doing.
Describe the protocols Charles Miller used in your cycles at The Advanced IVF Institute and their degree of success.
The first thing Dr. Miller told me was that I was going to have surgery before I went through an IVF cycle. He did not feel that IUI was safe for me to try again because of the amount of follicles that I have. He had me begin taking vitamin supplements Pregnitude, CoQ10, and Vitamin D. Metformin for low blood sugar and Levythyroxine for thyroid.
My daughter was born 10 weeks early. He believed that I need to have septum reduction surgery to make more room in my uterus for a baby to grow to prevent giving birth to a premature baby. I had the surgery in May 2019.
We began our first IVF cycle in July of 2019.
I apologize I cannot remember all the of doses of everything because it was a year ago now.
I was taking
Menopur
Follistim
Lupron
Levonox (blood thinner)
Prenatal vitamin and supplements
From Day 3 to Day 7, I had over 50 follicles growing. I had some very large ones and my estrogen was very high. He cut back on my doses. I started to even out but then my hormone levels dropped significantly so the cycle was cancelled.
We tried again in October 2019. We used the same medications
Menopur
Follistim
Lupron
Levonox (blood thinner)
Prenatal vitamin and supplements
I returned to the clinic a day earlier for my levels to be checked. We cut back on Follistim again because I had a good number of follicles growing at the same rate. We did a successful egg retrieval that cycle but had to do a freeze cycle for fear of me hyperstimulating if we did a fresh transfer.
December 2019 we began a freeze cycle ( I still have these instructions saved)
- Tue 12/10/2019:
o Prenatal Vit 1 -, As directed.
o Lovenox 40 mg, 40mg SC once daily
o Estrace PO 2 mg, Take 2 mg by mouth every evening as directed
o Baby Aspirin 81 mg, Take 81 mg tablet by mouth every day as directed
- Wed 12/11/2019:
o Levothyroxine 25 mcg, Take one tablet by mouth daily.
o Prenatal Vit 1 -, As directed.
o Lovenox 40 mg, 40mg SC once daily
o Lupron 5 units, Inject 5 units subcutaneously between 5-9 AM, as directed
o Estrace PO 2 mg, take 2mg every morning as directed
o Estrace PO 2 mg, Take 2 mg by mouth every evening as directed
o Progesterone in sesame oil 50 mg/ml, Inject 50 mg (1ml) PM
o Baby Aspirin 81 mg, Take 81 mg tablet by mouth every day as directed
o Zithromax 250 mg, Take one tablet in the morning.
- Thu 12/12/2019:
o Levothyroxine 25 mcg, Take one tablet by mouth daily.
o Prenatal Vit 1 -, As directed.
o Lovenox 40 mg, 40mg SC once daily
o Estrace PO 2 mg, take 2mg every morning as directed
o Estrace PO 2 mg, Take 2 mg by mouth every evening as directed
o Progesterone in sesame oil 50 mg/ml, Inject 50 mg (1ml) PM
o Baby Aspirin 81 mg, Take 81 mg tablet by mouth every day as directed
o Zithromax 250 mg, Take one tablet in the morning.
o Medrol 16 mg, Take 1 tablet daily at bed time as directed
After the procedure, Progesterone in sesame oil 75 ml
Describe your experience with your nurse at The Advanced IVF Institute. (Assigned nurse: Taryn)
The first care coordinator we had was Monica and she went over all of the details and medications I would be taking and how to administer all of them. Due to balancing caseloads our care coordinator was Taryn. I did not see her face to face often she would send me portal messages or follow up with me while I was at the office if I had questions. She was very nice and supportive.
Courtney was one of the sonographers that was awesome. She was down to earth. She cared about how I was feeling. She offered encouragement and would give me a hug if I was feeling down.
The nurse that drew my blood was always up beat and would ask how I was doing. Always had a smile on her face.
The other two sonographers were always pleasant and would give me positive feedback.
One of the IVF nurses was always ready to answer questions and offered support when needed.
Describe your experience with The Advanced IVF Institute.
Strengths - someone will always get back to you. If you call and you have to leave a voicemail for receptionist they always called back. If you called and left a message for the nurse, they most likely sent a portal message but would sometimes call back. They were very upfront with the fact that I may not hear back from them with results or instructions for the day until 5:00 at night or later depending on Dr. Miller's schedule. If he was in surgeries all day, you may have to wait longer to get your results. But they always got back to me.
There is an after hours number that you can call. I only had to use it once but they answered my question and all was well.
Weaknesses- if you really want to talk to someone every time about medication changes or see the dr every time you go to the clinic, you will not. You have to wait for your blood results and further instructions of medications for the following day or that evening until late in the evening sometimes.
Every time I met with Dr. Miller, I never had a question or doubt that he didn't have my best interests in mind. He was thorough and he knew where I was in cycle and where he need to get me to be ready for a transfer.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at The Advanced IVF Institute.
I thought the monitoring appointments were a well-oiled machine. It's monitoring, I didn't want to be there forever, they don't want me to be there forever. It was personal enough that I didn't feel rushed but fast enough it didn't take up my whole day. Monitoring appointments had to be scheduled before 10:00 am for same day results. The clinic would start seeing patients at 6:00 am I believe.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Charles Miller at The Advanced IVF Institute.
My insurance luckily paid for my fertility treatments. After I reached my $500 deductible, I had a 10% co-pay until I met my out of pocket max of $1,500. I can say that I had my first consultation in February. I had one appointment in March and two in April to prep for my surgery. I had surgery in May and by June I met my out of pocket max. When I started my IVF cycle in July I had met my out of pocket max and I did not pay anything from July - December. I was very fortunate. I did receive EOB's most monitoring appointments cost around $350 each appointment. The retrieval and transfer each cost between $3,000-$4,000
Describe Charles Miller's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at The Advanced IVF Institute.
Dr. Miller said that he would only transfer one embryo for our first transfer. I am in good health and since I had been able to get pregnant successfully at a previous time he did not feel that we needed to transfer more than one. Also, I am at high risk of having multiples because of the amount of follicles that I have that he did not feel it was safe to transfer more than one at this time. We didn't discuss transferring more than one. If the procedure would not have been successful maybe it would have been a discussion at a later time.
10
Clinic
The Advanced IVF Institute
Naperville