He is a compassionate doctor, and comes across as honest and genuine. He seems to truly want to help me get pregnant and have a baby. He seems to care about what is in my best interest, and not just in his success rate numbers, etc....Dr. Koulianos is compassionate; and always answers my questions kindly, honestly, and respectfully....Don't hesitate to schedule consultations with him and ask any and all questions you may have. He is very kind, and spends time to answer all questions the best he can.
My IVF coordinator nurse [at CRM of AL] seems somewhat experienced with the medical aspect, as I think she's been a nurse for a while; but she seems stretched pretty thin, sometime takes two or three times of me trying to contact her or asking a question multiple times before she answers, does not respond to at all or address all of my questions some of the time, and doesn't show much care, concern or compassion for me as a person over-all. She is not unkind or rude by any means, just doesn’t seem to be a very warm person.
How was your experience with George Koulianos at Center for Reproductive Medicine of Alabama?
He is a compassionate doctor, and comes across as honest and genuine. He seems to truly want to help me get pregnant and have a baby. He seems to care about what is in my best interest, and not just in his success rate numbers, etc.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of George Koulianos at Center for Reproductive Medicine of Alabama?
Don't hesitate to schedule consultations with him and ask any and all questions you may have. He is very kind, and spends time to answer all questions the best he can.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with George Koulianos at Center for Reproductive Medicine of Alabama?
Dr. Koulianos is compassionate; and always answers my questions kindly, honestly, and respectfully.
Describe the protocols George Koulianos used in your cycles at Center for Reproductive Medicine of Alabama and their degree of success.
IVF #1: Lupron Flare protocol --- Birth control, Microdose Lupron, Gonal-f 450 IU per day, drop in Gonal-f to 300 IU per day on day 8 of stims, Human Growth Hormone (Omnitrope) 0.25 mg per day every day of stims (9 days total), DHEA (micronized) capsules 25 mg 3 x per day. 6 eggs, 4 top-graded blastocyst embryos, Freeze-all
FET #1: Birth control, Lupron, Estrogen patches, Progesterone in Oil IM injections, Medrol, Baby Aspirin 81 mg. eSET, Positive beta, turned into an early miscarriage, and then a suspected possible ectopic, treated with Methotrexate.
FET #2: Birth control, Lupron, Estrogen patches, Progesterone in Oil IM injections, Medrol, Heparin, Baby Aspirin 81 mg. One embryo didn’t survive the thaw. eSET, Negative beta.
FET #3: Birth control, Lupron, Estrogen patches, Progesterone in Oil IM injections, Medrol, Baby Aspirin 81 mg, DHEA (micronized) capsules 25 mg 3 x per day (in preparation for next egg retrieval). eSet, Chemical pregnancy.
IVF #2: Lupron Flare protocol --- Birth control, Microdose Lupron, Gonal-f 400 IU per day, Human Growth Hormone (Omnitrope) 0.25 mg per day every day of stims (9 days total), DHEA (micronized) capsules 25 mg 3 x per day. 3 eggs, No embryos.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Center for Reproductive Medicine of Alabama. (Assigned nurse: Sabrina Sokolowski)
My IVF coordinator nurse seems somewhat experienced with the medical aspect, as I think she's been a nurse for a while; but she seems stretched pretty thin, sometime takes two or three times of me trying to contact her or asking a question multiple times before she answers, does not respond to at all or address all of my questions some of the time, and doesn't show much care, concern or compassion for me as a person over-all. She is not unkind or rude by any means, just doesn’t seem to be a very warm person. She does respond to me a lot of the time, but it usually takes longer than I hope/expect. This has actually been one of the more stressful parts of the ivf experience for me. She has given me donated meds for both egg retrievals after I asked if they had any available, which I very very much appreciated. One of the other nurses that I have interacted with is very responsive.
Describe George Koulianos's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Center for Reproductive Medicine of Alabama.
Before our 1st embryo transfer, I was informed by our doc/clinic that at my age (at the time I was 37), they generally recommend transferring 2 embryos at a time. I requested an elective single embryo transfer for our first transfer, just to be extra cautious. Doc was fully supportive of this, which showed me that he was looking to my best interest instead of his own success rates, etc. For our 2nd embryo transfer, our doctor suggested another single embryo transfer because he said I did get pregnant the first time, our embryos had a very high grading, and I am petite. For our 3rd embryo transfer, we only had one left to transfer. After 3 failed single embryo transfers, in addition to my age, now 38, the doc, as well as my husband and I, would like to transfer 2 embryos together at a time going forward.