How was your experience with Laura Tatpati at Center for Reproductive Medicine in Kansas?
Dr. Tatpati is very kind, warm, and reassuring. She seemed knowledgeable and confident. I didn't speak directly with her often, usually through her very capable nurse, but always felt like Dr. Tatpati knew my case well and had my best interests in mind.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Laura Tatpati at Center for Reproductive Medicine in Kansas?
When you see Dr. Tatpati, you will feel at ease. You will feel reassured, but still leave knowing as much as you need to know about your case. Know that you can be completely comfortable around her, and that she really has seen it all!
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Laura Tatpati at Center for Reproductive Medicine in Kansas?
She is very warm and reassuring, but realistic at the same time. She naturally made me feel at ease. She spoke kindly and optimistically; however, if I asked her a question she answered honestly with data behind as many answers as she could.
Describe the protocols Laura Tatpati used in your cycles at Center for Reproductive Medicine in Kansas and their degree of success.
My tubes are blocked, and my blood work indicated slightly lower ovarian reserve. Due to the reserve, I was started on higher doses of Gonal-F (300) and Menopur (150). After 2-3 days of these doses, my estrogen wasn't reacting as quickly as she liked, so my dose of Gonal-F was increased to 450 for 2 days. This jumped my estrogen up dramatically and my dose was decreased back to 300, while the Menopur always stayed at 150. I was on this regimen for 12 days before finally getting the green light for a trigger shot and egg retrieval. 16 eggs were removed, 14 were fertilized successfully using ICSI (slow swimmers), and 8 embryos made it to day 5. 7 were frozen and 1 was fresh-transferred. I was on 5 mL progesterone IM injections daily. On Day 10 after transfer I had the blood test that showed negative for pregnancy.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Center for Reproductive Medicine in Kansas. (Assigned nurse: Megan)
Megan was amazing. She was always available for email questions, and provided her phone number should an emergency arise. She was prompt in replies, and I felt like she relayed questions to doctors appropriately. Her email responses were short and sweet, never rude, but not sugar-coated lol. I had to remind myself sometimes that she gets a bazillion emails a day from women going through this same thing, and that a quick short reply is so much better than waiting hours for a rosy one!:)
Describe your experience with Center for Reproductive Medicine in Kansas.
The doctors and staff truly care about their patients and helping them to meet their family planning goals. Everyone is very friendly and warm, and comforting. At the time I was a patient, the lab side and lab director seemed great, but was only part-time. For that reason I would never have embryos frozen/thawed/transferred there again, but this clinic has ended the lab side and doctors provide care now while sending all lab-related procedures (retrieval and transfers) to Kansas City.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at Center for Reproductive Medicine in Kansas.
Monitoring appointments were quick and easy. I was always in and out in under 30 minutes, usually under 15 minutes. A window of time was provided, but if that didn't work in my schedule as a teacher, they were able to accommodate with a little wiggle room. The blood draws were the worst, one phlebotomist was able to get the draw on the first try each time, but the other would try a couple times and then have to call in someone else, so I dreaded seeing her.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Laura Tatpati at Center for Reproductive Medicine in Kansas.
The doctor/clinic fee was $12,500. The freezing fee was $1,200 (I think). The medications were the sticker shock. Before we started, after seeing my blood work, I was told an estimate of $2-$6,000 for medications. My first med order was for $5,500, and we ended up spending $8,500 on medications. Based on my age and infertility diagnosis, my husband and I had estimated that I would be on the low end of med cost, so spending so much more was a huge surprise and financially straining.
Describe Laura Tatpati's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Center for Reproductive Medicine in Kansas.
Dr. Tatpati strongly encouraged me to only transfer 1 embryo. This was due to my age (30), reason for infertility (tubal blockage), and that this was our first transfer. She was willing to talk with me about risks and my interest in transferring more than one, but helped me see that at that point in my fertility journey, the risks outweighed the pros on transferring more than 1 embryo.