How was your experience with Jairo Garcia at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute?
Dr. Garcia has a fairly thick accent, so that was an initial struggle. He told me that 85% of the women who could get pregnant on their own, with DOR, with his treatment, had success with getting pregnant. I asked him why the other docs had me jump straight to DE and he told me that they over-medicalize, which is pretty much what I wanted to hear. During the time I was waiting to see him (about 4 months, and we specifically avoided getting pregnant during that time period) and the subsequent 4 months of treatment, my AMH went from super low to negligible and my FSH went high (so pretty much full into peri-menopause--yes, it can happen that fast). He still thought the next step was IVF with my OE and genetic testing. However, bc my experience there had been so confusing and the travel time so intense, I went back to SG with the intent of doing OE IVF (which they wouldn't do with my #s). By that time, I was emotionally exhausted and we decided it was in the best interest of our family to cough up the money, and let go of the idea of me having my own genetic child.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Jairo Garcia at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute?
Like any fertility story, some things work for some people. Who knows if I had kept on. My gut was telling me that I could not take the 2+ hours of travel time and disorganization of the clinic any more. It was a PT job and often I was given misinformation (like, you are ovulating 2 days into your period, when in fact, I had the very common condition of having left over cysts from previous eggs. That necessitated multiple visits in a week and should not have been that confusing). So, go with your gut and don't push yourself to the bitter edge.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Jairo Garcia at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute?
I never felt like anybody at the clinic knew who I was and after 4 cycles, I only saw the same doc once.
Describe the protocols Jairo Garcia used in your cycles at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute and their degree of success.
They had me come in for an U/S on Day 2 of my cycle, if it looked good, they had me take Femara for 5 days, then check me again on Day 8 (I ovulated early), and then do the trigger shot, then sex within 24 hours. Only 2 of my 4 cycles even worked and they wouldn't let me do the trigger shot on that first cycle bc I had 4/5 eggs and they didn't want me to get pregnant with high order multiples. I didn't know any better and they didn't know me, but that was best I got during my time there and I feel it was a wasted cycle when I could have had a lucky outcome, esp considering my MC history.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff.
I left utterly confused almost all the time. Like a doc or nurse would say "uh oh" and then that would scare me and make me feel uncomfortable, but I couldn't get any answers about why they said that. Impossible to get anybody on phone.
Describe your experience with Johns Hopkins Medical Institute.
Disorganized. No phone support at that time. Given very high expectations. Always left confused, or became confused about treatment cycle after the fact.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Jairo Garcia at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute.
Insurance paid their part of it. I had co-pays for blood draws, meds, appointments.
What specific things went wrong at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute?
- Lost paperwork
- Failed to call with results
- Failed to order appropriate test
- Failed to inform you of changes in protocol
- Lost results
- Provided conflicting information
- Failed to convey critical information