How was your experience with Lynda Wolf at RMA of Michigan?
Dr. Wolf is very sweet and takes time to make you feel important. My husband and I just felt like we weren't really a part of the process. We didn't know what was going on and that made this hard for us.
There were some mistakes made during my first IVF cycle. My thyroid wasn't in range the day I started stims. I didn't know this and got the call that everything was normal so I continued on with stims and had a poor cycle that failed. I found out about my thyroid being out of range and was upset. It was only at .02, which is hyperthyroid. I just feel like with something so expensive, everything should be in range. It seems like this just slipped through the cracks so I called Dr. Wolf and she actually gave us a free cycle. That's something I never imagined she would do and was so kind of her! She asked me where I wanted my thyroid to be and I said that I wanted it between a 1 and 2 because based on everything I have read, that is the best range for fertility. She said she would make sure it's in range next time and check it more frequently.
She wanted me to start a new dose of thyroid meds and wait a few months to make sure my thyroid was in range. I went in November to check it and it was good, but I didn't begin my IVF cycle until February. In the middle of the cycle I asked what my TSH was at the last blood draw. They said that it hasn't been checked. This really upset me. Not only did they not monitor it, but they didn't even check it once! My nurse said she'd add it to my blood work for my next visit. During that blood draw my thyroid was 3.6. I know it's not horrible, but it was out of the range for fertility and out of the range she agreed upon. They didn't check it for 4 months and let me begin IVF. This is the opposite of monitoring it more closely like she said she would do.
I wanted to talk to her about all of that, but couldn't because she was on vacation. I completely understand going on vacation, but I feel like patients should know about that before going through an IVF cycle. It's hard to trust just anyone with this and the whole reason we stayed at RMA is for her so it was a little scary to hear that she was on vacation in the middle of a cycle and wouldn't be here for the rest of it.
I understand that mistakes happen and everything can't be perfect, but this is a lot to go through and I just feel like she didn't followthrough with what she promised to me. My second cycle failed, as well and I can't help but wonder if it was because my thyroid wasn't managed properly again.
I was with her for a long time though and the reason we kept going back, even with the mistakes, is because she has such good bedside manner and she really seems like she cares. She's actually one of the nicest doctors I've ever come in contact with.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Lynda Wolf at RMA of Michigan?
Make sure you ask lots of questions. If you want things to be managed properly, you will have to advocate for yourself.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Lynda Wolf at RMA of Michigan?
Dr. Wolf was actually wonderful. She was very personable and seemed like she cared. I just think the clinic might take on too many patients so it's hard to make sure everything is done correctly.
Describe the protocols Lynda Wolf used in your cycles at RMA of Michigan and their degree of success.
For my first cycle we used a long lupron protocol. I have endometriosis so she didn't want to overdo it without the lupron. I produced 8 eggs. 6 were mature and 5 fertilized. We had to do a day 3 transfer because they were fragmented and didn't look well. We transferred 2 and the other embryos arrested. This cycle failed.
I took some time off between cycles and cleaned up my diet. I read some books about egg quality and started taking supplements like Ubiquinol, Inositol and Arganine. I avoided gluten, dairy, caffeine, alcohol...etc.
For the next cycle we did the micro flare protocol. I produced 6 eggs. 5 were mature and 4 fertilized. On day 3 we got a call that they were doing great! Very little fragmentation and they were 8 and 9 cells. We were told to come back on day 5 for transfer. On day 5 we arrived and they said that our embryos were growing slower than they liked and were still in the Morula stage. We transferred 2 and the rest didn't make it. This cycle failed as well.
Describe your experience with your nurse at RMA of Michigan. (Assigned nurse: Jacklyn )
Jacklyn was my nurse and she was amazing. She was compassionate and never made me feel like I was bothering her. She was the best nurse! Our first cycle we had a different nurse and I didn't like her nearly as much. I can't imagine a better nurse than Jacklyn!
Describe your experience with RMA of Michigan.
The billed dept. is really bad. There have been so many mistakes in this area. They let us pay the clinic for all the blood work during our 4 iui procedures while my insurance was also paying for them. When we tried to bring this to the attention of their billing manager (Theresa) she was extremely rude to us and was trying to tell us that they didn't owe us as much as they did. We called insurance to make sure of the right dollar amount and did the math over and over. It wasn't hard. She was so condescending and was making annoyed faces while talking to us. I'm sorry, but a fertility clinic should have more compassionate. patient people working there. Everyone that works there should be smart enough to understand that they're dealing with vulnerable patients. My husband and I were nothing but nice to her. Eventually we asked to speak to someone above her and got the issue resolved.
That was not the end of the mistakes though. With our free cycle we were billed for blood work when we were told it would be free.
It seems like communication is the problem here. On our last IUI we were told by our nurse that we've been coming in a day too early every time so we should wait one more day for the IUI. WHAT?! We would've gladly come in a day later had they told us to go home and wait, but no one said anything about this. I asked Dr. Wolf about it and she insisted that it wasn't in our charts and that wasn't the case, but I don't know how someone could just make that up. We will never know.
Honestly, the best part of the clinic is Dr. Wolf being as kind as she is and our nurse Jacklyn.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at RMA of Michigan.
Generally, the monitoring appointments went pretty swiftly, depending on the day. Occasionally, the waiting room was so packed that there was no where to sit and barely anywhere to stand. This obviously was very uncomfortable and extended the wait time.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Lynda Wolf at RMA of Michigan.
IUIs were around $750 each with monitoring covered by insurance. IVF with ICSI ran around $13-14k with some blood work covered by our insurance.
Describe Lynda Wolf's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at RMA of Michigan.
We transferred 2 both times because the quality wasn't very good.
What specific things went wrong at RMA of Michigan?
- Failed to order appropriate test
- Provided conflicting information
- Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at RMA of Michigan.
During our first IVF, they neglected to tell us when my thyroid test results were out of range so that I could wait for the next cycle or adjust my medications.
Going into the second cycle, we agreed that thyroid would be monitored more closely, yet this time it wasn't even tested for the first few blood draws until I asked for it.
They also neglected to order a urine culture as requested for a suspected bladder infection after my transfer.
Regarding billing, we had paid out of pocket for all monitoring for our four IUIs, having been told by RMA that our insurance would not cover it. After the last one, we discovered that our insurance was in fact being billed and covering the monitoring fully, meaning that they essentially got paid twice for these procedures, an error in excess of $1300 in their favor.
Their billing manager was exceptionally rude and difficult in trying to resolve the error, though we did end up getting our money back with an apology from Dr. Wolf.