How was your experience with Martin Keltz at WestMed Medical Group?
Dr. Keltz is smart, and he answers questions when you ask them. I like to make my decisions based on research and proven best practices. Dr. Keltz is well read on the latest information, so I trusted him to know best courses of action.
One side note: after my transfers, he kissed my forehead. Both times. He asked if it was ok, and I said yes, but it definitely caught me off guard the first time.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Martin Keltz at WestMed Medical Group?
Plan to be in the office a looooong time. Bring a book.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Martin Keltz at WestMed Medical Group?
This clinic sees a large number of patients. They batch their cycles, so you end up sitting and waiting for long periods of time (sometimes two hours!) for monitoring. There are always a lot of people waiting with you, and it’s a stressful environment. Once you’re with the doctor, though, he does a decent job of making you feel heard and cared for.
Describe the protocols Martin Keltz used in your cycles at WestMed Medical Group and their degree of success.
We did a high dose of Gonal-F, with Cetrotide to prevent ovulation too soon. I had a very low AMH result for my age, so we went in guns a-blazin’. I only stimmed for 8 days, and I ended up with 7 eggs retrieved, 5 mature, and 3 fertilized embryos. All made it to day 5. I used ICSI because I was using frozen sperm. I transferred one embryo in a fresh cycle, got a BFP, but the fetal pole never formed, so I had a D&C. Did a frozen transfer with the remaining two embryos, which resulted in a singleton pregnancy that I carried to term!
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at WestMed Medical Group.
Some of them were great! Kind, compassionate, competent. But some were a bit gruff, and could work on their approach to speaking with patients.
Describe your experience with WestMed Medical Group.
Long waits make it difficult. Also, WestMed is huge, and there is no way to speak to someone. I’m a teacher, so getting a call back at a random time during the day doesn’t work for me. You have to leave a message on the central number, with someone who knows NOTHING about reproductive medicine, and hope that they write down your message correctly. Then you get a call back, but if you miss the call back, you have to start again, and you can’t ever leave a message with someone directly in the RE office.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Martin Keltz at WestMed Medical Group.
I paid out of pocket for the procedures, but insurance covered monitoring visits and meds. I had a high deductible, though, so the visits were still pricy. The IVF with ICSI (retrieval plus fresh transfer) was $8750. The FET was $3750. Freezing embryos was $1000.
Describe Martin Keltz's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at WestMed Medical Group.
Dr. Keltz tried very hard to convince me to transfer only one embryo for my FET. I pushed to transfer both, and still ended up with only one child, so it worked out for the best. There was a mix-up on the day of my transfer with the paperwork, but it got worked out (to the detriment of the doctor’s schedule.