How was your experience with Lawrence Werlin at Coastal Fertility Medical Center?
Our initial consultation was great. He took his time and was extremely thorough. He didn’t push us toward one treatment over the others, but laid everything out so that we could decide what was best for us. Once we were being seen by him during the IUI cycles, though, he did not engage in conversations with us. He pumped us in and out of his room with no time for questions. He called patients with bloodwork and semen analysis results, but didn’t give us much explanation or interpretation and always seemed to be in a rush to hang up and call the next patient on the list. Which made us feel more like a number and less like we were getting individualized care. He kept the atmosphere in the clinic lighthearted, though, and you could often hear him singing in the hallways. He’d burst into the room with great upbeat energy. That helped take your mind off things a bit.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Lawrence Werlin at Coastal Fertility Medical Center?
Expect to be the one initiating conversations/asking questions/information gathering. Otherwise you won’t get much info out of them. I had to ask why they were changing my trigger shot to lupron, and even after having asked multiple times, they never outright said they were worried about OHSS that cycle. I had to google a lot.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Lawrence Werlin at Coastal Fertility Medical Center?
The office was a well oiled machine, patients flying through ultrasounds and bloodwork pretty quickly. Which is nice in some respects. But at the same time, it didn’t allow us to feel like we were getting individualized care. Anytime I asked questions, the doctor gave extremely brief answers and you could tell he did not want to engage because he had a hoard of other patients to get through that morning. It was the same over the phone, too, when he was giving results. If you wanted more information/interpretation of bloodwork or semen analysis results, he just said we could come in for another consultation if we wanted. They never explicitly stated they were worried about OHSS during my second IUI cycle, but after googling the reason why they had changed my trigger shot, I found out what they were doing. I asked the nurse directly a few times why my trigger shot was changed, and she danced around the subject each time. The nurse was pretty rude to me and not empathetic when returning my calls (she never answered when I called, I always had to leave a voicemail). She once told me over the phone after a failed IUI cycle, “what....are you wondering why your period started? If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. Sometimes that happens.”
Describe the protocols Lawrence Werlin used in your cycles at Coastal Fertility Medical Center and their degree of success.
We had no known female fertility issues, but clear male factor infertility. We decided on IUI, and Werlin said if we go with IUI they recommend 3 rounds before moving to IVF. We did 2 IUI cycles with injections. 100 ml of Gonal F/Follistim each day. The meds made me extremely bloated, slightly crampy, exhausted, and emotional. We had about 8 days of stims each cycle and triggered with an HCG trigger shot the first time and Lupron the second time (since they were worried about OHSS). Produced plenty of eggs on the meds. They did 2 insemination days each cycle. After insemination, went on 400mg progesterone a day during the two week wait. Was supposed to come in for bloodwork pregnancy test after 2 weeks, but I started my period 12 and 10 days after each IUI.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Coastal Fertility Medical Center. (Assigned nurse: Joanne)
My nurse never answered the phone, I always had to leave a voicemail. She was insensitive over the phone when she did call me back. She scheduled me for a follow up appointment after my 2nd failed IUI for an ultrasound, but when I got there, both the nurse on staff and Dr Werlin himself were confused as to why I was there and why she scheduled me a follow up ultrasound, as I wasn’t in any pain and didn’t need to check for cysts since we were going to take time off. They proceeded to charge me for the visit, saying it wasn’t part of the other ultrasounds included in my IUI cycle I had paid for. We requested a refund in writing 3 times since it was clearly the nurse’s error to schedule us in. We never heard back.
Describe your experience with Coastal Fertility Medical Center.
Strengths: They are very organized and you are usually in and out of the office pretty quickly in the mornings. When doing IUI on injectibles, you get daily ultrasounds once it gets closer to insemination to make sure you are not overstimulating.
Weaknesses: You don’t get much information out of them and need to rely on google for a lot of things. You might feel like a number here.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Lawrence Werlin at Coastal Fertility Medical Center.
Out of pocket, no insurance coverage:
IUI $1750
Injectibles (8 days) $800
Consultations: $150
What specific things went wrong at Coastal Fertility Medical Center?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
- Failed to convey critical information
- Scheduled the wrong procedure
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Coastal Fertility Medical Center.
They failed to explain they were concerned about OHSS during my second IUI. They changed my trigger shot and didn’t give much explanation as to why when I repeatedly questioned them. They didn’t tell me what to look out for or when to call. Maybe this was all included in my orientation packed I received a year prior, but it would be nice to hear it then and there when you’re recieving treatment.