Dr. Mag comes across as a very smart and compassionate man on his IG Lives. I will say that I’ve had more questions answered by him when he is on social media than when I was in the clinic...He was the one who established the plan at the consult, however, I felt frequently that he was not overseeing my treatment plan during the retrieval process as there was no adjustment in my meds as my estrogen was rising significantly and my eggs were starting to mature at different rates.
I would say the best thing about this [CNY Fertility Center] clinic is that it is the lowest price if you are paying out of pocket. Be aware that even though they advertise as being the lowest price for IVF out there, it will come at a cost as you will likely have to go through multiple cycles to have success here. The treatment protocols are not individualized and they are not modified through your cycle..
How was your experience with Paul Magarelli at CNY Fertility Colorado?
Dr. Mag comes across as a very smart and compassionate man on his IG Lives. I will say that I’ve had more questions answered by him when he is on social media than when I was in the clinic. I do believe that he is very passionate about what he does and the science behind it, but sometimes it impedes the ability to connect to the human side of the process.
The things that I feel could have been better include his communication on my specific treatment plan/protocol. He was the one who established the plan at the consult, however, I felt frequently that he was not overseeing my treatment plan during the retrieval process as there was no adjustment in my meds as my estrogen was rising significantly and my eggs were starting to mature at different rates.
The other aspect of communication is that I was never told the grade of our embryo. We decided to do PGT-A testing, and we were only told the results of that test but never told the actual overall quality of our embryo. We ended up transferring that embryo which failed, and only later on by me requesting my medical record did we find out that the embryo was graded as “poor”, but that was never communicated to us. I feel whole heartedly that the patient needs to know every aspect of what their results are, not to say that something is “normal” when that is only half of the picture. I was a wreck for several weeks after that transfer, but had I known that the odds weren’t great, it may have helped me cope a bit better.
Honestly, most of the contact with Dr. Mag was limited (unless you were on social media), nursing staff were the primary gate keepers. You need to be very on top of your own treatment and be your own advocate.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Paul Magarelli at CNY Fertility Colorado?
I believe I stated this in the review of Dr. Mag, but you need to be your own advocate. You need to ask questions, even though you don’t know what to ask. I had to call the call center number on multiple occasions after hours, when I had questions. I was told I would receive calls from the nursing staff regarding our fert report and if I should take the HCG trigger when my estrogen was going sky high, but I never had contact initiated by them. I also had to call to get our PGT-A test results when we had been waiting for about 5 weeks when we were told we’d have results in 2-3 wks. Response time is not always the quickest to say the least, and you have to call a call center and cannot call the clinic directly.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Paul Magarelli at CNY Fertility Colorado?
This was my first IVF cycle and even though I had done quite a bit of research on what to expect, I usually met with a different nurse during each appointment, maybe once in a while I would have the same nurse twice. During the retrieval process it was common for the nurse or NP to say “oh, is this is your first cycle?” To which I was always surprised that they didn’t know that from looking at my chart. I was at times called by the wrong name, however, the nurse would apologize.
During retrieval day, I was pretty sick after the retrieval (due to OHSS and from anesthesia) I was recovering in the post op room, when the nurse came in and said “you’re ok to leave when you feel ready”. I could hear the doctor’s voice outside in the hallway, but he never came in to see how I was, or just to touch base. I understand that may not be the norm for fertility clinics, but when you can hear your doctor and you are ill, it leaves you feeling like your physical well being doesn’t mean much.
Describe the protocols Paul Magarelli used in your cycles at CNY Fertility Colorado and their degree of success.
The treatment protocol I was put on for retrieval was gonal F, low dose HCG, cetrotide, Lupron and HCG trigger. I was stimmed for 9 days, with retrieval on day 11. They retrieved 22 eggs, only 6 mature enough to fertilize and only 1 embryo made it to day 5-6 blast. I was told after the fact that I probably should have been stimmed for another 1-2 days which would have given us a few more embryos.
For FET, I was put on an immune protocol consisting of prednisone, Z pak, baby aspirin, Claritin, Benadryl, low dose naltrexone, Pepcid, extradiol, progesterone suppositories and progesterone in oil injections. I also did a HCG wash and intralipids 2 days prior to transfer. I later learned that the immune protocol is “smoke and mirrors” - there are few interventions needed when you have an overactive immune system, and there is specific testing which will tell you that you in fact have an over active immune system. But I was just told to start taking all the above mentioned meds, that it’s “protocol”. This part of the process seemed very odd to me as I’ve never been pregnant or miscarried, so why would I need to go on all of these meds as a “just cuz” type of scenario?
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at CNY Fertility Colorado.
The nursing staff means well, they are kind and caring. They are very busy, and don’t have much time to spend with you. They ask if you have questions, but if you don’t know what to ask, it’s difficult. There were times I was given instruction by the nurse at my appointment, but then my treatment plan sheet explaining my meds and dosing wouldn’t match - I would have to call the call center or send a message through the portal to clarify. I was never properly instructed how to do injections and had to reference YouTube on multiple occasions.
Describe your experience with CNY Fertility Colorado.
I would say the best thing about this clinic is that it is the lowest price if you are paying out of pocket. Be aware that even though they advertise as being the lowest price for IVF out there, it will come at a cost as you will likely have to go through multiple cycles to have success here. The treatment protocols are not individualized and they are not modified through your cycle. The doctor is knowledgeable, but he is busy and not accessible majority of the time. After reflecting on my retrieval, I was triggered too early and I believe it was because they wanted to do the retrieval on a Friday vs. a Saturday or Sunday.
You have to advocate for yourself. I was not given the whole truth about our embryo, that it was poor quality even though it was normal after chromosomal testing - the likelihood our transfer would have been successful was very unlikely, but I was never informed. If you can look at other places and afford it, save yourself the time, money and agony of having a failed cycle.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Paul Magarelli at CNY Fertility Colorado.
The IVF cost was $3595 as my husband is a Veteran and we paid in full - it is closer to $4,000 if no discount. The other costs were $150 for hysteroscopy, $695 for FET. Meds cost ~$3,000 for retrieval, FET Mets ~$300-400.
Describe Paul Magarelli's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at CNY Fertility Colorado.
Only one embryo to transfer for my situation, however, I do know that Dr. Mag tends to say that he does not advise multiple embryo transfer d/t risk to the mother and the babies. Ultimately, they ask you how many embryos you want to transfer... i was asked on multiple occasions how many we were transferring, which was irritating when you only have one embryo.
What specific things went wrong at CNY Fertility Colorado?
- Failed to call with results
- Provided conflicting information
- Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at CNY Fertility Colorado.
- did not call with specific instruction for trigger when I was borderline OHSS (I was told the NP was going to call to give the final instruction)
- did not get a call with our fertilization report the day after retrieval
- had to call to follow up on the results from PGT-A testing 1-2 wks after we were told we’d have results
- consistently received conflicting info from nurses verbal instruction vs. printed out instruction on treatment plan
- did not give me full results on our embryo quality prior to transfer
- no documentation on my hysteroscopy that was completed at this clinic
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Clinic
CNY Fertility Colorado
Colorado Springs
