How was your experience with Irene Souter at Massachusetts General Hospital?
As discussed earlier, Dr. Souter’s manner while meeting with her was consistently supportive, educational, and clear. We felt we always understood what our next steps would be, what risks were involved, and what chances we had of success. The only minor issue was how long we needed to wait between appointments to see her, but that’s just a product of how busy she is providing all of her patients with the same quality treatment.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Irene Souter at Massachusetts General Hospital?
Be proactive in scheduling any future consults. When our second IUI wasn’t successful, we preemptively scheduled our IVF consult to coincide with the third cycle of IUI, just to keep the ball in motion if the third cycle wasn’t successful.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Irene Souter at Massachusetts General Hospital?
While Dr. Souter is an extremely busy professional, we always felt like she made quality time for us during our visits. She reviewed any new results, was clear about our expectations, and patiently addressed any questions or concerns we had. We felt very well taken care of under her treatment.
Describe the protocols Irene Souter used in your cycles at Massachusetts General Hospital and their degree of success.
All of our tests came back pretty normal, with the exception of some mild male factor issues (which improved with diet changes). Because everything appeared relatively normal, Dr. Souter suggested 3 courses of IUI with Gonal-F before moving on to IVF. The first IUI resulted in me getting my period before the two week wait was up. The second course was a little odd - my body didn’t respond as quickly to the Gonal-F and appeared to wind up ovulating on its own, so we did an IUI without a trigger shot. I didn’t get my period for 26 days after the IUI, but tested negative for pregnancy. The third cycle went smoothly and I received a positive pregnancy beta test 16 days after the transfer. I’m now 13 weeks along with a healthy baby!
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Massachusetts General Hospital.
The nursing staff were consistently pleasant and understanding. I felt extremely comfortable with them.
Describe your experience with Massachusetts General Hospital.
The clinic is organized and for as busy as it is, you can get moving with treatment pretty quickly. We called in January 2019 and were going through our first IUI cycle by early May. (First consult was February, followed by all sorts of testing for both of us, followed by an additional consult to review the treatment plan). The only issue is how busy the clinic is - when coming in for blood and ultrasounds, I’d always recommend getting the earliest possible appointments, as the waiting room can fill up! But I was never there for more than an hour.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Irene Souter at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Our insurance is excellent - we only paid copays of $30/visit, including transfers and testing. The medicines were most expensive, at about $300/cycle.
Describe Irene Souter's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Massachusetts General Hospital.
We didn’t get to this point, but because I’m still under 35, with IVF we would have done just a single embryo transfer per IVF cycle.