Michael Sullivan

I really liked how Dr. Sullivan went over the details in how an IUI would work. He did explain that I had a blocked tube and that surgery was expected if the first 2 cycles were unsuccessful. I was sent to a teaching after to explain how injections would work instead of doing clomid. Dr. Sullivan had also explained about my husbands infertility issues as he was not able to produce viable sperm. I really wish he had more contact with me during each cycle and after all the failed cycles as to what I should be doing next

I would let them know Dr. Sullivan was very nice but I felt like he was talking from a script like he would explain things to each patient this way. He was very nice but I just feel like he was very vague in explaining and giving detail in my own fertility issues.

Dr. Sullivan was very nice and explained how I would be going about my treatments he explained treatments. I was really under the influence that Id be pregnant within 2-3 cycles due to him explaining I am young, in shape and have excellent egg quality. After 2 failed cycles I had surgery to remove part of my left tube that was blocked we did another 2 cycles and still nothing. No one has called me to discuss further options at this time even after going in for a consult for IVF after the 4th failed cycle. This is why I just feel like a number. I am moving onto another clinic for another opinion

Cycle one I was placed on a low dosage of femera not sure the exact amount I believe it was 2.5, we then did a sonogram to look at the eggs we did one IUI after it failed we did a second IUI and was placed on a little higher dosage of femera and was prescribed 250 mg ovidril. After the second cycle failing Dr. Sullivan recommended I have the surgery to have my left tube operated on. The third cycle I was placed on follistm they started me on a dose of 125 mg after my eggs were growing rapidly they lowered me down to 100 then 75 everything looked great as the nurse described. We also did 250 mg of ovidril that cycle after that cycle failed we did another round of follistm starting at 150mg and decrease again to 100 then 75, I had 4 mature eggs and they advised Id have to go on Lupron instead of ovidril because I was at high risk for overstimulating my ovaries. My hormonal level was also at great height as it was 3,574 a good amount for IVF. I was then giving estrogen medicine to help my lining also was placed on progesterone. After the 4th failed cycle we've decided to get a second opinion.

Each nurse was very kind they explained what my eggs looked like and the quality of my lining, they did this each sonogram. When it came to the IUI day they went through the steps that were done and let me look at the sperm and confirmed the sperm donors number and my name several times before doing each procedure.

The strengths were the office was always very clean and well organized. They kept names and such very private as to cross off your name when called and didn't ask for your birthday in front of other patients. When doing blood work they asked your last name and birthday to confirm it was you also asked you what cycle day you were on. As far as the clinic weaknesses there wasn't really anything I could say

Most of my procedures were covered under Bluecross Blue Shield I only had to pay co-pays of $10. Some sonograms were more during the time I had worked for a different company and procedures were around $50 for an IUI. For medicines I had to pay about $500 total for injections and femera. I had to pay about $700 for my surgery and since we needed a donor for sperm we paid about $5,000 total for sperm.

Not applicable

Dr Sullivan spoke with me on a real person level and didn’t use terms that I did not understand. I did not feel as if he were rushing me through the appointment as most doctors do and he was exactly on time... no waiting in the office for 45 minutes before being called. He also made me feel relaxed and even joked around with me a little. My husband and I also had a setback on egg retrieval day that caused my husband to need TESE surgery right away and he was able to call a colleague and get us in almost immediately. While the results from that procedure were not what we hoped, we were super thankful for the sense of urgency he put on the situation and how well we were accommodated. He was by far the best doctor I have ever seen.

Feel free to ask any questions to get clarification.

Dr. Sullivan and his office from the moment I called made me feel welcome and gave me information and let me speak directly with the doctor BEFORE I was even a patient. They made me understand the entire process and costs and were very accommodating. We had had a very difficult time at another clinic and I was searching for a place we felt comfortable with and Buffalo IVF gave me that feeling the day I called.

I have only done 1 IVF cycle and the protocol that was used was the “antagonist method” which put me on more Gonal-F than typical (325iu). I was not sure what that even meant at the time, but I continued as directed with the Gonal-F, low dose HCG and Cetrotide. I went in for monitoring/bloodwork every other day and I ended up stimming for 9 days in total. On egg retrieval day, I had 11 eggs retrieved, 11 eggs mature and 11 eggs frozen. At the time I was upset that I did not produce as many eggs as I had hoped but I was thankful that the eggs I got were all mature. We plan on doing another full cycle this fall.

The nursing staff was excellent. I chatted with them over the phone as well as on their clinic portal very regularly as I never had to wait long for a response. They also were very prompt during my stim cycle to give me results of bloodwork and my next steps for medication. I loved that I never had to worry about what the results were during my cycle because they followed up exactly when they said they would.

Strengths: - great communication about procedure and compassion from doctors and nursing staff -prompt follow up/call backs when required -they have their own “financial coordinator” that broke down all costs for me as well as payment plans. Being 100% out of pocket this was very helpful as it decided whether or not we could proceed. Weaknesses: - I do not have very many complaints, but there were a few times that my monthly payment did not go through because of an “expired or invalid” card which was not the case so I had to call a few different departments to Get it cleared up.

I came to this clinic in Buffalo,NY as their costs were the most reasonable that I have seen. The IVF cycle in total was $4000 and that includes embryo transfers for 1 year. They also offered a payment plan which was very helpful as well. For most people with insurance the bloodwork and ultrasounds for cycle monitoring would be covered. My husband and I were not insured at the time and all of our bloodwork, ultrasounds and TESE procedure were all out of pocket. However, the clinic let us know about these costs ahead of time so there were not any surprises.

Our doctor had not mentioned specifics about our single/multiple embryo transfer. He wanted to wait until we graded the embryos to see what our best chances were. However, he did mention that because of my age (30), that typically they only recommend a single transfer. Unfortunately we did not make any embryos during our cycle due to MFI so we did not transfer any.

Dr Sullivan does have good bedside manor, but its not outstanding. I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed/rushed while talking to him and think of questions later. He does however answer every single question I do have and goes over options with me. I appreciate that he also takes into account my feelings and ideas. He allows me to advocate for myself and listens to my suggestions.

listen to what he has to say but also advocate for yourself. Ask lots of questions and discuss all options

Dr Sullivan is personable with me and my husband and tries to take note of other things going on in our personal life and relating to us

I do not have an infertility diagnosis other than MFI. I occasionally have irregular cycles so Dr Sullivan first put me on Femara to motitor and track my ovulation. We did several rounds of TI and then one IUI with Femara. We moved on to IUI with injectables. Because of my husbands poor semen analysis we decided to move to IVF quickly. I respond well to meds. We did BCP, lupron, follistim and low dose HCG for my IVF protocol. We retrieved 27 eggs, 20 mature, 16 fertilized with ICSI, 12 made it to day 3 and 5 were good quality to freeze on day 5. Due to a spike in my progesterone, my fresh transfer had been canceled and we had to freeze all. We chose to do an elective single embryo transfer due to my age (30) and the good quality of the embryos. FET protocol was BCP, lupron, estrace and PIO. Day of my frozen transfer I was told that the first embryo thawed, did not survive and they had to thaw another for transfer. My FET failed and we now have 3 blasts left. We are trying a semi natural FET with support from Femara and a trigger shot. So far I am not having response to the Femara despite the success in the past. Hoping to do a transfer in the upcoming month if we can get good lining and follicle growth

The clinic is open 7 days a week, 365 days a year which is amazing. They have testing within their facility so I dont have to go off site to get my blood drawn. They do tend to set you up with tried and true protocols unless you specifically advocate for yourself. Its possible to get lost in the mix if you dont speak up

So far we have spent $5000 on medication, bloodwork, and scans. This includes insurance coverage and a high deductible for all. We spent an additional $6000 out of pocket for an IVF package that includes 2 retrievals within 1 calendar year along with frozen transfers. Also includes ICSI

Dr Sullivan highly recommended eSET due to my age and the grade of my embryos. He was open to discussion on transferring 2 but we agreed to try with 1 especially for our first transfer

Sometimes I feel like he is somewhat dismissive of our concerns, like after my first injectable cycle went awry and I had to beg the nurse to let us talk to him. He seems knowledgeable but doesn't seem troubled by how chaotic and circus-like the office is.

Insist on getting your questions answered, even if he seems rushed. We pay for his time, and he's making a lot of money for it.

We are just a number. They are so incredibly busy that the office is a circus. We have encountered everything from receiving someone else's intake forms (ours then went to her) to staff walking into the wrong exam room (twice) and long waits for scheduled time appointments. Twice we were taken over an hour late for IUI with a 36 hour trigger. Every time you call it's a different person, and the answers seem to vary from person to person. When they called for my IVF consult, the nurse asked if I was in a femera cycle (that was 3 cycles ago) and if I'd ever done insemination (5 and, um, she called me! Why didn't she know that?). We have told our main doctor our concerns/experiences, as well as another we saw, but no one seems too troubled by it. It has made the process even more stressful.

We did some rounds of oral medication and two rounds of injectables. I had a lot of trouble with the injectables, including two cycles that had residual cysts, for which I had to take birth control. All negative pregnancy tests.

It's a different person every time. Some answer questions well, others do not. Some are very kind and patient, others are not. A couple are very scattered and rushed-appearing. Sometimes, you get different answers from different people to the same types of questions.

Do your homework and have your questions ready in a list. Insist on getting things fully answered. Do not let them rush you out of the room or off the phone simply because they have chosen to take on too many patients...that's their fault, not yours. This is too important and stressful to feel like they have not given you time to feel comfortable.

Thousands and we're not even done.

They prefer to transfer as few as possible to avoid multiples.

Dr. Sullivan is a very busy doctor. When meeting with him he always presented the facts and statistics. He was personal to a certain extent. We are greatful for our 2 miracles under his care! I felt he along with the team of doctors there worked together to help us through this difficult process.

Always ask as many questions as you think you need to fully understand everything. You are not alone... there are many avenues of support.

There were a few times where I felt things could have been presented in a gentler manner.

Dr. Sullivan begin with oral medication first which after a few rounds we learned was not aggressive enough. We then moved on to to injectables. It took a while for us to figure out the "perfect" way to get my ovaries to respond without over stimulating (which happened once). We did a conversion to IVF with my first child which was successful. Two years later I had success with my 2nd try of an iui!

The nursing staff is WONDERFUL!! Some nurses in particular go above and beyond to help you with anything you need. Some even calling at home just to check in!

The office staff isn't the friendliest which I feel they are the first people you meet when going there. The office is aesthetically pleasing as they have upgraded in the last few years. There are several doctors so you can always get another opinion if you are not satisfied. The nurses (most of them) are amazing and will be the ones to help you through all the tough appointments.

We were required to pay co-pays for most meds.. ivf was not covered under our insurance so we had to pay out of pocket for that procedure when a last minute conversion from iui had to be done

He was very knowledgeable and listened to all my concerns. He was able to help me build my care and would listen to any suggestions I had and would have evidenced based information to help make decisions reguarding my care.

I appreciated the less is more approach. We are gratefully that we built our cycles around what we learned from previous cycles and that the least intense protocol needed was used.

He seemed very passionate about helping us reach our goal and was able to relate with personal experiences.

Our first IVF was stimulated with low dose hcg, Lupron, and follistim and half the retrieves eggs were fertilized through icsi and half naturally. Small changes were included in our secon cycle including changing from vaginal to IM progesterone, and using only natural fertilization. Our second IVF resulted in our current pregnancy.

I felt like the whole office was in our corner!!

Scheduling was never a problem for me even with a very variable work schedule. They always worked with me. Blood work must be done before 9am for same day results. They are always available and after hours phone calls were handled by an answering service and the doctors would always call back.

IVF is $4000 for first cycle $3500 for second and $3000 for any more cycles that are needed

They were comfortable transferring a maximum of 2 embryos in my IVF cycles.

He was the doctor that we saw first and made it sound like we would have no problem achieving pregnancy. He did not do our retrieval or transfer, or see me during the ivf cycle. He was only writing orders for meds, then after transfer when the baby wasn't developing he was involved.

Make sure you do your own research and ask every question you can think of, the doctors don't tell you how much could go wrong.

Birth control pills for 3 weeks, followed by Lupron then stimulating meds, Lupron and hcg. I had a good amh and produced many eggs.

Nurse calling with results of beta tests and making it sound like I could die overnight. Giving these results while I'm at work, and not telling me my numbers actually doubled.

Having better communication and organization. I would constantly call, leave messages and get a return call from the wrong nursing department. And whatever questions I had would have to wait until the next day again.

$4000 for one ivf retrieval $600 to freeze husband's biopsied sperm $50 to thaw that sperm $350 for genetic blood work Monitoring blood work and ultrasounds were covered by my insurance

Dr. Sullivan is a fast talker, but he takes the time to answer all of your questions. He doesn't sugar coat things, which I liked knowing what we were up against. He has always been kind and understanding to me.

That he jumps right in and throws a lot of information at you. Don't be afraid to stop him as ask questions.

Dr. Sullivan is very caring and compassionate. I feel that he know me as a person, not as a number. He has called me personally several times during our treatment, include once when he was on vacation, to go over test results. I feel he is 100% there for his patients.

We started with blood work and a "dye" test, decided to start with IUI's and now are moving onto IVF

The nursing staff at Buffalo IVF is amazing. They are all kind and caring. You see the nurses a lot and they know your case so well. The cry with you, cheer you on, pray for you, and take the time to just talk.

There is a wait to get a consult with Buffalo IVF. But it is worth it once you are there. Everyone is very kind, caring, and professional

My insurance covered everything except IVF. They offer a payment plan

Dr Sullivan was very compassionate when we weren’t able to get pregnant. I do not feel that he really tried to find an answer for our infertility though. I feel like we had a false sense of hope and he always said the procedures should work.

Advocate for yourself.

He was very kind

3 iui with femara. 3 IUI with femara and ovidrel. 3 IUI with bravelle and ovidrelle. 2 full rounds of IVF with the same protocol- used bravelle. First one we got about 12 eggs, 2 were transferred on day 3, none to freeze, negative beta . Second we got about 17 eggs, 2 were transfered on day 5, 1 to freeze, negative beta for fresh, positive beta for FET- miscarriage at 6 weeks.

They were all very kind. Never had an issue with any of them.

They were open every day of the year- even weekends and holidays. They have a lab right there but sometimes you would wait an hour for lab work. Staff was all very nice. They do retrieval’s and transfers right there too.

$3500 per round of IVF not including monitoring. Exact prices are on their website.

Dr Sullivan allowed us to decide if we wanted one or two embryos transferred.

Mike took the time to get to know us as a couple. He was our doctor for both of our pregnancies and I wouldn’t have gone to anyone else. Not only did he have a good bedside manner, but he was an advocate for all of his patients. He even helped us fight the insurance company when they were refusing to pay for some of my treatments.

None

He took the time to get to know us. Not only did he make the process as easy as possible he also helped as an advocate to get the insurance company to cover our treatments when they tried to deny us coverage.

I had injections to stimulate egg growth and release. They worked to find the right levels and never overstimulated me. I went in for blood work each day and internal scans every other to make sure things were progressing right.

They were always very kind and sensitive to your situation. Everything and every procedure was always explained well.

The clinic was going through a much needed renovation when I completed my treatment. Everything was always clean and well taken care of. Communication was strong. Getting in and out of the office was easy. They were also helpful with payment options.

I don’t remeber

None

Dr Sullivan came highly regarded by friends and past patients. I feel as tho I have had to take charge of my treatments by asking for the next steps instead of him suggesting we move onto more aggressive treatments, infertility is a tough struggle and it makes you very sensitive, you want to feel like you're the doctors biggest priority it is not always the case with him although I do feel like he is great at what he does and I have seen his methods working we have yet to achieve a pregnancy after over a year of treatments and are now moving on to Ivf

Go into his office prepared with questions, he talks fast and throws a lot of information at you at once

While the nursing staff treats you wonderfully at this office, which I feel is more important because they're the ones dealing with you, dr Sullivan kind of rushes through consultations he is a very nice man but just seems very busy

I saw just about every nurse in the office and loved almost every single one, some more than others, some less but I feel like they are all great there and very compassionate and wonderful

The one on one meetings that we had were very informative. When we had to go for IVF the details in our plan were fully explained and Dr Sullivan was as determined as we were to help our dreams come true

He is a miracle worker. Trust in his plan

We had a unique plan set up just for us and were kept apprised if the situation.

I didn’t discuss the soecifica with him. I trusted his protocol whole heartedly.

It was bittersweet to leave the clinic. I created a bond with a few of the staff and I was so greatful for them

They are an efficient office. Very respectful of your time to get in and out. They are understanding of what you are going through and treat you accordingly. I love that they have a blood lab right there to help ease the process.

Very efficient. Timed perfectly so you were in and out

Don’t remember exact numbers

He suggested that 2 be our magic number. One may not be effective and 3 may result in multiples.