How was your experience with Irene Moy at Kaiser Permanente NorCal?
I really love Dr Moy. We got to know each other quite well over three retrievals and the monitoring appts and phone calls and emails that surround it. She was our point person during all of it and was readily available for our questions. I really felt like she was rooting for us and we had many phone calls to hear news, discuss next steps, or answer questions. When issues arose, she reached out to the labs to understand what happened on our behalf and I do feel she went to bat for us as best she could. She was always good humored, patient, and understanding. There were times when I would have liked more information about the protocols and medications, and how/why she decided on the changes that she did. Overall though, I had a wonderful experience with Dr Moy. It's the limitation of Kaiser that were ultimately disappointing.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Irene Moy at Kaiser Permanente NorCal?
If you have questions during an appointment, ask them quickly. She will make time to answer your questions but she does seem to be in a rush. She's matter of fact and to the point which we appreciated.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Irene Moy at Kaiser Permanente NorCal?
Dr. Moy always tried to remember details about us and made conversation during the routine appointments. She has a great sense of humor and attitude and I really felt that she was rooting for us. During some more difficult news, she called us or made time for a phone call and answered all of our questions. Even when she had a cold.
Describe the protocols Irene Moy used in your cycles at Kaiser Permanente NorCal and their degree of success.
All three retrieval protocols included Follistim, Menopur, and Ganirelix. The second two added Omnitrope and included a dual trigger which appeared to help the number and maturity of eggs retrieved. As with all Kaiser protocols, I was on the pill for a good portion of time prior to and after stimulation and retrievals.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Kaiser Permanente NorCal.
Nursing staff were good. It would have been nice to have a designated nurse/coordinator throughout the process but instead it was whoever called back. That worked fine. They were friendly, knowledgeable, and helped answer my questions. The nurses during the actual retrieval were also friendly, some seemed new. Getting an IV needle in was difficult during all three retrievals.
Describe your experience with Kaiser Permanente NorCal.
The clinic, being Kaiser, has its limitations including the level of patient education you receive, the inflexibility around being on the pill in preparation for the scheduled cycles, and the feeling that I was being "shuffled through." I once received an email from a nurse addressing me by someone else's name. The substance of the email was appropriate to me but it was very much a "copy paste" scenario. I could deal with all of this though until we encountered some issues with the embryology lab that have me looking into other clinics. In short, we lost one high quality PGS normal embryo because, as we were told, there was a very rare instance when the embryologist was unable to remove all of the oil from the embryo before freezing, rendering it unlikely to thaw successfully. Our doctor and the head embryologist explained what happened very thoroughly and patiently. We were offered a sympathetic "these things happen" but they did not claim responsibility nor did they offer a free cycle. I did another retrieval and our next PGS normal embryo had to be thawed, re-biopsied, and refrozen because the first biopsy came back as "No DNA present." I don't know where the breakdown occurred this second time (whether at Kaiser or the genetic testing lab) but it's enough of a question mark that I have trouble trusting the Kaiser lab. We will likely have further conversations with Kaiser.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Irene Moy at Kaiser Permanente NorCal.
Retreival: $9,305; ICSI: $1,900; Biopsy for PGS:$3,00; FET: $2,365 (unused credit); ~$8k in meds for each round
Describe Irene Moy's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Kaiser Permanente NorCal.
While we never got to the transfer stage, Dr Moy recommended transferring only one PGS tested normal embryo or more than one only if they hadn't been tested bc of risks of carrying multiples.
What specific things went wrong at Kaiser Permanente NorCal?
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Kaiser Permanente NorCal.
See earlier post re: embryology lab.