Dr toner was amazing. He took my emails anytime, always responded with thorough and detailed answers, even when I was really delving into Google research and had a million questions. He never acted annoyed, though I'm sure I was very annoying, heh. He always listened to what I wanted, gave his advice, thoroughly explaining why he recommended it, but always took my wishes and direction into consideration in planning my cycles. Best of all, he always told me it would happen, it was just a matter of time, and never let me lose all hope.
My nurse [at ACRM] was amazing. She always responded to my emails within like 30 mins during business hours, and as soon as she got in. She was so compassionate, even when I cried, and I cried a lot over those 2 years. She always was on top of everything I needed. She made it all easy. She was excellent.... I had diminished ovarian reserve and was a low responder to stimulation medication, so I actually did two "mini ivf" retreival cycles.
How was your experience with Jim Toner at ACRM?
Dr toner was amazing. He took my emails anytime, always responded with thorough and detailed answers, even when I was really delving into Google research and had a million questions. He never acted annoyed, though I'm sure I was very annoying, heh. He always listened to what I wanted, gave his advice, thoroughly explaining why he recommended it, but always took my wishes and direction into consideration in planning my cycles. Best of all, he always told me it would happen, it was just a matter of time, and never let me lose all hope.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Jim Toner at ACRM?
Dr Toner is not going to give you false hope. If he thinks you have a strong possibility of a good outcome, believe him. Sometimes it just takes longer than we want to accept. It's worth it in the end! Don't be afraid to ask questions, and ask to change your treatment if you feel strongly about it, Dr Toner will work with you. He won't let you stray too far or do anything that could be harmful. He knows what he is doing! But sometimes it's ok to ask to move on to the next course of treatment sooner than later.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Jim Toner at ACRM?
Dr toner was great. He took my emails anytime, always responded with thorough and detailed answers, even when I was really delving into Google research and had a million questions. He never acted annoyed, though I'm sure I was very annoying, heh. He always listened to what I wanted, gave his advice, thoroughly explaining why he recommended it, but always took my wishes and direction into consideration in planning my cycles. Best of all, he always told me it would happen, it was just a matter of time, and never let me lose all hope. I also loved Dr Calhoun and a few of the other Drs. This is a great practice.
Describe the protocols Jim Toner used in your cycles at ACRM and their degree of success.
I had diminished ovarian reserve and was a low responder to stimulation medication, so I actually did two "mini ivf" retreival cycles. I was on a lowish dose of letrazole days 2-7(I think 5mg? It's hard to remember back in 2015-2016), then a low dose of follistim days 4-until my eggs were big enough. I did not use Lupton or anything to suppress ovulation because I was never ovulating on my own anyway, so they just monitored my estrogen and lh daily until i was ready to trigger. My second retrieval round actually began as a break round-return to an IUI after I had had two miscarriages in a row from a fresh transfer and a frozen transfer, but my ovaries responded so well to the medications that time that we had to switch to an egg retrieval. Normally I had no more than 1-4 follicles developing in any given cycle, but that one I somehow suddenly had 13! That is the retrieval that contained my son. I had an insane pregnancy with him splitting into a twin then the twin dying and the sac becoming a subchorionic hemorrhage that stayed with me until my water broke at 29 weeks, the other transferred embryo becoming ectopic and exploding my fallopian tube, hidden behind my hyperstimulated ovary, for which I had emergency surgery to discover this and remove my right ovary, all while I was pregnant with my son. But it was worth it in the end!
Describe your experience with your nurse at ACRM. (Assigned nurse: Megan....Kennedy? I can't remeber her last name but I can look in my emails.)
My nurse was amazing. She always responded to my emails within like 30 mins during business hours, and as soon as she got in. She was so compassionate, even when I cried, and I cried a lot over those 2 years. She always was on top of everything I needed. She made it all easy. She was excellent.
Describe your experience with ACRM.
The only problems were occasional wait times and billing issues, but the Marietta office was great. Just stay on top of your bills, check them all for accuracy, mistakes happen. Also, some of the Drs are not as compassionate. I did not like Dr Fogle. She sent me home with no pain meds telling me I was just gonna have to tough ohs out, when I told her I felt like I was dying, and I turned out to have a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. Dr Calhoun was amazing, though.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Jim Toner at ACRM.
I paid about $11,000 total per egg retrieval, since my insurance covered some things like bloodwork, not including medications. Medications per retrieval were purchased offsite, and for me were about $1100, because of the mini IVF cycle. Dr toner always helped discount procedures for me. I was able to take out the costs for any specific procedures I didn't need, not just charged the global ivf cycle price. I went through each cost list with a fine toothed comb and they worked with me. My frozen transfer cycle was about $4000, plus medication. IUI cycles were covered by my insurance, but cost me about $200/ month.
Describe Jim Toner's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at ACRM.
Acrm is a big advocate for only transferring one embryo at a time. I followed their advice the first two transfers, especially since I only had two good embryos from my first retrieval, but the 3rd I really wanted to up my odds of a good embryo, so I insisted on transferring 2. I paid for that by getting pregnant with my son AND having an ectopic pregnancy at the same time, for which they had to do emergency surgery to remove my right fallopian tube when I was 8 weeks pregnant with my son. It all turned out ok in the end, though!