How was your experience with Drew Tortoriello at Sher Fertility of New York?
I already covered this in the why I felt like a human rather than a number section, and this interface won't let me cut and paste so unfortunately if you want more coherence you're going to have to refer to my previous answer. Short version, Dr. Tortoriello:
-- listened to me
-- was never patronizing or dismissive of my questions
-- never discouraged me from doing my own research
-- was kind
-- was a straight talker about my treatment details
-- had a good sense of humor
-- was deft and gentle in his touch with both ultrasound and during retrievals
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Drew Tortoriello at Sher Fertility of New York?
Dr. Tortoriello was kind and friendly and had a good sense of humor, but also very practical and straightforward when it came to discussing the details of my treatment with me. He listened to me and was never patronizing, and he wasn't afraid to admit it if he didn't have an immediate or good answer for something. I always appreciated the fact that he never discouraged me from researching or things on my own and asking questions--and was never dismissive when I did--because quite frankly, I couldn't have gone or stayed with any doctor with whom that wasn't the case. He also had a gentle hand with both ultrasound and retrievals (and was awake for all of the latter)... when you have as many as I did, that's really important! Overall, I would recommend him highly.
Describe the protocols Drew Tortoriello used in your cycles at Sher Fertility of New York and their degree of success.
I remember all of this, but I did too many cycles to be extremely specific here. To give a quick overview, though, after my first disastrous high stim cycle (nothing frozen), I then always did a low-medium stim cycle with Femara for a few days, then added anywhere from 75-300 FSH plus a small dose of HGH (Omnitrope .5mL or less) per day. We then added Ganerelix to suppress ovulation when that became necessary, until it was time for retrieval. The standard 10,000iu hCG trigger shot was used every time. Occasionally we did a luteal phase start. The rationale for this was that the super high stim protocol oversuppressed me and my AFC was never that high anyway (although we would never start a cycle with less than 4, which meant I took off a couple of months after every cycle so my follicle count could replenish itself a bit). With this protocol, I always had at least 1 blastocyst frozen per cycle. I didn't do genetic testing so I've no idea how many of those embryos are normal, butvam assuming at least a few of them probably are.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff.
There were a lot of them so I was friendlier with some than others, but I got along with all of them and never had any unpleasant incidents of any kind in the three years I was a patient there. It helped that I could also always email my doctor directly too if necessary.
Describe your experience with Sher Fertility of New York.
Physically the offices aren't as fancy/expensive-looking as Cornell or New Hope or NYU, but don't let that influence your decision because overall, SIRM-NY is high quality where it counts! The most important thing is to find a good doctor who you feel is the right person to have on your team for what can be a very long and challenging process, and I found that in this clinic. Their scheduling and front desk staff was also good, which I don't think I've mentioned yet but which makes a difference when you have to have as many appointments as fertility treatment involves!
Describe the costs associated with your care under Drew Tortoriello at Sher Fertility of New York.
I've tried to block it out, but it was commensurate with other equivalent clinics in NYC and slightly cheaper than a couple of the others I considered at the time
Describe Drew Tortoriello's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Sher Fertility of New York.
As long as my doctor is willing to do eSET, I think that's up to the patient; I never wanted it so it never came up, but I'm pretty sure Dr. Tortoriello would do it if that was what I wanted--it's my body/money/willingness to risk or reduce a multiple pregnancy!