[Dr. Wright] clearly had years of experience behind her, which was helpful and reassuring. And she was not condescending in our discussions...The down side to the experience with Wright is that at a few points, I decided that the recommended approach would not be enough.This example occurred when, after 2 failed IUI cycles, she recommended a third and I just didn't see how the third would yield any different result.
The clinic [IVF New England] in Waltham is accessible, clean, safe and secure. I felt the doctors and nurses were attentive and personal, and made every attempt to make me comfortable. I had several tests performed here (HSG, sonohysterogram, and IVF extraction), and they were done smoothly and quickly...I often got a call in the afternoon after lab results were available. The nurses were direct but compassionate, especially Nicki. There were a few times where either the nurses or the pharmacies would get the medication quantities wrong, and that led to out of pocket expenses which were infuriating. For the most part though, I was happy with the nursing team response.
How was your experience with Kristen Wright at Boston IVF?
Kristen Wright was more relatable than other doctors in New England IVF, but she spoke matter-of-factly and took the factors of my fertility challenges into account. Wright clearly had years of experience behind her, which was helpful and reassuring. And she was not condescending in our discussions, as some other doctors have been in the past.
The down side to the experience with Wright is that at a few points, I decided that the recommended approach would not be enough. This example occurred when, after 2 failed IUI cycles, she recommended a third and I just didn't see how the third would yield any different result. I also often had to follow up our visits with online research to better understand the recommended treatments and the process, as doctors don't often have time to show patients all of the steps in the process. I also didn't always know the timeline for the various treatment approaches. One IUI cycle is straight forward, but the IVF process is more convoluted and often requires many weeks of insurance approvals, so there were frequently longer than expected stretches of time between treatments.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Kristen Wright at Boston IVF?
Do your reading offline after consultations and follow up visits, and ensure you are informed on the treatments so there are no surprises.
Be direct and get as much information as you can about the timelines for treatment and what is involved in getting insurance approvals.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Kristen Wright at Boston IVF?
Dr. Wright addressed all of my and my husband's questions, but she was perfunctory and with minimal emotion. I felt like her office took our situation as a unique case, rather than as one of many routines, but I did sometimes feel like I had to advocate for myself and my combination of factors in order to get a good recommendation that was not generic.
Describe the protocols Kristen Wright used in your cycles at Boston IVF and their degree of success.
1. Rounds of pre-treatment testing and genetic testing, these were expensive and tough to schedule around my travel, but we completed this in a few months.
2. IUI - I performed two rounds of this treatment, using Letrozol as a trigger around days 14 of my cycle. This required monitoring of my bloodwork and ultrasound results every other day over the course of approximately 2 weeks. This was unsuccessful.
3. Egg retrieval - I used Gonal F, Cetrotide and Lupron as trigger during this time. The egg retrieval yielded 42 eggs, of which 25 fertilized, and ultimately 7 embryos were preserved. I was expecting a transfer but given my response to the retrieval, the decision was made to make this a freezing cycle. I will perform the transfer in a few months.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Boston IVF.
I often got a call in the afternoon after lab results were available. The nurses were direct but compassionate, especially Nicki.
There were a few times where either the nurses or the pharmacies would get the medication quantities wrong, and that led to out of pocket expenses which were infuriating.
For the most part though, I was happy with the nursing team response.
Describe your experience with Boston IVF.
The clinic in Waltham is accessible, clean, safe and secure. I felt the doctors and nurses were attentive and personal, and made every attempt to make me comfortable. I had several tests performed here (HSG, sonohysterogram, and IVF extraction), and they were done smoothly and quickly.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Kristen Wright at Boston IVF.
Genetic testing - $400 for husband, $700 for me
Each ultrasound appointment was around $400, and ~50% was covered by my insurance.
IUI medication - $100 out of pocket
IVF process - $7,500 of my lifetime maximum under United Health insurance, and additional $750 out of pocket. For medication, each Gonal F pen was $750 at Village Fertility Pharmacy (and a whopping $1,300 at CVS specialty care), various other medication totaled $2,500 in sum.
Embryo Freezing - $1200 for first 3 months, $85 per month following
Embryo Transfer - Expected to be around $1,000 per attempt
Describe Kristen Wright's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Boston IVF.
I am Type I diabetic and it was not an option for me to receive a multiple embryo transfer.
What specific things went wrong at Boston IVF?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
- Failed to order appropriate test
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Boston IVF.
For my second IUI cycle, I was to receive a double dose of medication and the clinic failed to call it in to the pharmacy, so I only received half the dosage initially.
For my egg retrieval, the communication with the pharmacy was off, and I did not receive any medication the day I was scheduled to start. There were a lot of phone calls trying to rectify the mistake, and I ended up driving to several pharmacies to pick up meds. The saving grace was a nurse named Barbara, who ended up staying late at the clinic in New Hampshire to hold a donated medication pen to give me so that I could start a cycle on time and not need to wait an extra month.
6
Clinic
Boston IVF
North Chelmsford