It was really frustrating that Dr. Jungheim tried, essentially, the same protocol on us over and over again with the same results, and after our 3rd IVF cycle we were met with "I'm not sure what else I can do for you."...very personable and kind...For our third IVF cycle, we did the standard Folistim/ Menopur stim again. I got 23 eggs that time, but again had low maturation rates. We only ended up with one embryo, which we transferred fresh. It didn't work...
the staff (phlebotomists, sonographers, front desk, etc) in the Northwestern clinic was very hit or miss...They're not willing to do out of the box treatment like HGH or steroids (both of which have been helpful for me at our new clinic) and their operations are a nightmare. 6 months to get into the clinic and then an additional 3 to wait for IVF once you're admitted? Parking is also expensive...
How was your experience with Emily Jungheim at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine?
It was really frustrating that Dr. Jungheim tried, essentially, the same protocol on us over and over again with the same results, and after our 3rd IVF cycle we were met with "I'm not sure what else I can do for you."
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Emily Jungheim at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine?
I'd stay away from Northwestern.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Emily Jungheim at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine?
Dr. Jungheim is very personable and kind. However, the staff (phlebotomists, sonographers, front desk, etc) in the Northwestern clinic was very hit or miss.
Describe the protocols Emily Jungheim used in your cycles at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine and their degree of success.
We did 4 medicated (Letrozole) IUIs - none worked.
For our first IVF cycle we used a very standard Folistim/ Menopur stim and Letrozole + HGC trigger. I produced a lot of eggs - 33 in total - but had really low maturation rates, and we only ended up with one low quality embryo available the day of transfer (she was very pro-fresh transfer), and then an additional one to freeze that had matured the day after.
We did a frozen transfer with Estrace prep/ stim, and it didn't take.
For our second IVF cycle, she pulled my stim meds down, but pulled them too far down and our cycle was cancelled. I somehow went from creating 33 follicles, to just 3... so something was clearly off with my meds. She advised that we do an IUI in order to make it not a total loss. It didn't work.
For our third IVF cycle, we did the standard Folistim/ Menopur stim again. I got 23 eggs that time, but again had low maturation rates. We only ended up with one embryo, which we transferred fresh. It didn't work.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine. (Assigned nurse: Katherine)
The nurses at Northwestern are pretty good - everyone was nice, but I rarely communicated with anyone other than via the portal so it's kind of impersonal.
Describe your experience with Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine.
Stay away from Northwestern. They're not willing to do out of the box treatment like HGH or steroids (both of which have been helpful for me at our new clinic) and their operations are a nightmare. 6 months to get into the clinic and then an additional 3 to wait for IVF once you're admitted? Parking is also expensive. AND they still require two separate COVID tests per IVF cycle, one before you start stim and one before egg retrieval, that you must take at the hospital. No other clinics in the city are requiring this, and it's a huge pain.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Emily Jungheim at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine.
We're lucky enough to have insurance that covered nearly everything.
What specific things went wrong at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine?
Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
Provided conflicting information
Canceled a cycle due to clinic error
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine.
Getting prescriptions filled was always a hassle. Rude staff. Owned by the Northwestern machine, you're just a number and a bank account.
I rarely saw or spoke with Jungheim. The care was through nurses. ... I never felt like she was involved in my care at all - or that she even knew any of the details. ... found her nice but behind in the medical literature...based on the outdated practices used in my care compared to the recommendations by ACOG and ASRM. ... She wanted to transfer all 3 but I refused as that is not recommended by ASRM
Wrong semen results. Poor protocols. [Washington University School of Medicine] Charged $2000 because we made more embryos than transferred. Never told prices after insurance despite asking. Incorrect billing to insurance - transfer and extra two days of incubation covered, not doctor or egg retrieval. Double billed for ultrasounds. ... With medication $31,000 for one cycle of IVF. We were not told this upfront ... The nurse was fine - she handled some of the IUIs and the phone calls. I often felt like she didn't have good answers to my questions but no real issues.
How was your experience with Emily Jungheim at Washington University School of Medicine?
I rarely saw Dr. Jungheim despite being her patient. The model of care is centered on nurses and techs - you only see the doctor for initial consult and egg retrieval/transfers and there is no certainty you will get your doctor. I found her nice but behind in the medical literature and she certainly didn't seem like a world class IVF researcher (or Center of Excellence as WUSTL bills it) based on the outdated practices used in my care compared to the recommendations by ACOG and ASRM.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Emily Jungheim at Washington University School of Medicine?
Go elsewhere - the people that have success here with IVF would likely conceive with monitored IUIs elsewhere.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Emily Jungheim at Washington University School of Medicine?
Honestly, I rarely saw or spoke with Jungheim. The care was through nurses. I saw her for my initial visit, for a a visit after 3 failed IUIs, at egg retrieval, and at my fresh embryo transfer. She called once or twice - once after I left a furious message with the nurse when we were given the wrong man's sperm information and after I demanded a call when our embryo transfer failed. I never felt like she was involved in my care at all - or that she even knew any of the details. The few meetings we had felt like combat - I would come in having read all the recent literature and wanting standards of care based on current recommendations, and she would cite decade old research as justification for her decisions. IUIs were done with clomid and no monitoring. When I could not detect ovulation one month they did a vaginal ultrasound and found a cyst. I was not told about the cyst (I saw it when I requested my medical records) nor was it monitored in any way.
Describe the protocols Emily Jungheim used in your cycles at Washington University School of Medicine and their degree of success.
IUIs - 2 with clomid, no cycle monitoring. Test at home for ovulation using home predictor strips and call when positive. Bring in sample, it will be washed and inseminated by a nurse. Next 2 IUIs were with femera after I had a reaction to the clomid.
IVF: long lupron. 15 days stim protocol. daily lupron, started with 3 vials menopur and gonal-f. I was told this is what they did for low AMH values. Doses were adjusted every 3rd day based on bloodwork and ultrasound scans. Triggered with IM HGH; egg retrieval followed. We retrieved 13 eggs, 10 mature, 3 fertilized and all 3 made it to day 3.
Transfer: fresh embryo transfer on day 3. She wanted to transfer all 3 but I refused as that is not recommended by ASRM. We agreed to two. We had 8, 7, and 6 cell embryos; transferred 6 and 8 cell embryos and asked to continue growing the 7 cell to day 5 and freezing. We were told it would likely not make it. It did and we froze the embryo. And for this - our embryo having the audacity to live and me refusing to transfer above the ASRM recommendations we were charged $2000 in lab culture fees for the additional two days of growth.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Washington University School of Medicine. (Assigned nurse: Melanie or Molly? )
The nurse was fine - she handled some of the IUIs and the phone calls. I often felt like she didn't have good answers to my questions but no real issues.
Describe your experience with Washington University School of Medicine.
Strengths - TV shows episodes of Great British Baking.
I was really well monitored coming out of anesthesia following the egg retrieval and felt really well cared for. They kept me for more than a hour, made sure I could urinate, and just overall kept me well monitored. This was probably the best part of my experience with them.
Weaknesses - IUIs are unmonitored and not likely to succeed. Cysts were not monitored. No communication with doctor outside of consults and those were few and far between. The biggest issues: 1) we had very low fertilization rates even with ICSI (next clinic 100% vs 30%). 2) 3 day fresh transfers are just not that common any more because all the data suggest that day 5 and frozen transfers are more likely to implant.
Ultimately, we choose to move our remaining embryo to a different practice because we both were convinced WUSTL would kill the embryo and our chances of success with them would be low. Based on the numbers, they do numerous egg retrievals for each success and they have a biased clinic population towards younger (<35 years old) women. Also, they gave us someone else's semen analysis.
Finally: billing. We went to the WUSTL FRCM because it was the only clinic my insurance would cover. We had 10k in drugs and 10k in infertility. I got a pre-approval as required by the practice and the insurance company. I asked what our share would be when paying the $600 cycle deposit. I was told they couldn't tell me - it was against policy. We went ahead on good faith. That was a huge mistake. Our IVF cycle with them cost $31,000 including $12,000 in drugs. We were expected to pay the $11,000 difference at full rate - not a plan and not at the negotiated rate with our insurance company. It cost us more to do a cycle with WUSTL FRCM with insurance than with another clinic without insurance.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Emily Jungheim at Washington University School of Medicine.
With medication $31,000 for one cycle of IVF. We were not told this upfront (had 20k insurance cap - 10 meds, 10 procedures). We were told after negative pregnancy test we owed $11,000 including $2000 in lab fees for making more embryos then were transferred.
Describe Emily Jungheim's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Washington University School of Medicine.
She transfers too many embryos too early.
What specific things went wrong at Washington University School of Medicine?
Lost paperwork
Provided conflicting information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Washington University School of Medicine.
Wrong semen results.
Poor protocols.
Charged $2000 because we made more embryos than transferred.
Never told prices after insurance despite asking.
Incorrect billing to insurance - transfer and extra two days of incubation covered, not doctor or egg retrieval. Double billed for ultrasounds.
Dr Jungheim was nice but kept pushing IVF as an only option for my treatment. She only wanted to do 3 IUIs and move on to IVF. I really felt like there were other options for me that were less expensive. Also i didnt like the fact the nurses did the IUIs and not the doctor...When i first saw her we did 3 rounds of clomid and tried timing intercourse...Feb 2017 took femara again started monitoring with US. Did US too late and missed ovulation. No IUI performed.
I honestly do not have a lot to say about this office. Everyone was professional but definitely did not get any warm and fuzzy feelings from them. The techs that drew blood were always very nice and very good at their job...Dr Jungheim was nice but kept pushing IVF as an only option for my treatment. She only wanted to do 3 IUIs and move on to IVF. I really felt like there were other options for me that were less expensive. Also i didnt like the fact the nurses did the IUIs and not the doctor
How was your experience with Emily Jungheim at Washington University School of Medicine?
Dr Jungheim was nice but kept pushing IVF as an only option for my treatment. She only wanted to do 3 IUIs and move on to IVF. I really felt like there were other options for me that were less expensive. Also i didnt like the fact the nurses did the IUIs and not the doctor
Describe the protocols Emily Jungheim used in your cycles at Washington University School of Medicine and their degree of success.
When i first saw her we did 3 rounds of clomid and tried timing intercourse. Then jan 2017 started femara preparing for IUI and told me to take OPKs starting day 10. Took them through day 20 and no positive test. They did an US and confirmed ovulation. No IUI performed.
Feb 2017 took femara again started monitoring with US. Did US too late and missed ovulation. No IUI performed.
March 2017 took femara got ovulation and IUI completed. Negative pregnancy test
May 2017 took femara got ovulation and IUI completed. Negative pregnancy test.
Contacted her in July 2017 and suggested that maybe my progesterone was too low and asked for her to take blood work throughout my cycle and she refused. That is when i decided to leave her practice and seek help elsewhere.
Describe your experience with Washington University School of Medicine.
I honestly do not have a lot to say about this office. Everyone was professional but definitely did not get any warm and fuzzy feelings from them. The techs that drew blood were always very nice and very good at their job
Describe the costs associated with your care under Emily Jungheim at Washington University School of Medicine.
I had a $10k benefit towards Wash U doctors so i had insurance coverage i only had a $50 copay for each of the 2 IUIs that were performed.
What specific things went wrong at Washington University School of Medicine?
...no one went over risks of the surgery with us. I was never told that my risk for an ectopic pregnancy was increased. We managed to get pregnant naturally the month of the surgery, but it was ectopic. This surgery is my biggest regret through this entire infertility nightmare.
It was very hard to reach anyone to talk to on the phone, I often had to wait an entire day, or 2-3 days, to receive a phone call back. They misplaced my blood work for several days (which may have revealed an ectopic pregnancy sooner).
How was your experience with Emily Jungheim at Washington University School of Medicine?
Dr. Jungheim is very friendly and intelligent. I trust her, but had to leave the office due to a major loss of trust with the office.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Emily Jungheim at Washington University School of Medicine?
Dr. Jungheim is very nice and friendly, but not always very available.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Emily Jungheim at Washington University School of Medicine?
It was very hard to reach anyone to talk to on the phone, I often had to wait an entire day, or 2-3 days, to receive a phone call back. They misplaced my blood work for several days (which may have revealed an ectopic pregnancy sooner).
Describe the protocols Emily Jungheim used in your cycles at Washington University School of Medicine and their degree of success.
Dr. Jungheim was out of town when I started my period. The previous month we had discussed possibly having a surgery to unblock my tube. The office handled setting up the surgery, but no one went over risks of the surgery with us. I was never told that my risk for an ectopic pregnancy was increased. We managed to get pregnant naturally the month of the surgery, but it was ectopic. This surgery is my biggest regret through this entire infertility nightmare.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Washington University School of Medicine.
It took at least entire days, if not 2-3 days to hear back from nursing. My blood work was lost for several days.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Emily Jungheim at Washington University School of Medicine.
The surgery recommended by her, but not fully explained to us, was not covered by insurance. Nothing was covered by insurance, including when I was pregnant (ectopic). I believe their billing was incorrect.
What specific things went wrong at Washington University School of Medicine?
Failed to call with results
Lost results
Provided conflicting information
Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Washington University School of Medicine.
Please refer to previous response regarding ectopic pregnancy.