How was your experience with Wendy Shelly at Fertility Specialists Medical Group?
She was very personable and easy to like. She made me and my husband feel very comfortable and hopeful. She was always upbeat and positive about the outcomes even though we didn't always get the outcome we wanted.
With that said, there were some appointments that I felt like maybe she was too busy. I would only see her a couple of minutes and it made me uneasy in that I wondered if she was paying enough attention to my chart and my situation. When you spend tens of thousands of dollars of your hard earned money in a dr. office, you expect to have the best care. I chalked it up to that she probably just had a lot going on those days and I tried not to take it personally.
Overall, I will continue to go see her. Her positive traits far outweigh any negative!
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Wendy Shelly at Fertility Specialists Medical Group?
Well a piece of advice I would give to someone going to see any fertility dr. including Dr. Shelly is to be prepared for any and all outcomes. For some people, there's no "cure" for their infertility and just when you think you've got it figured out another negative pregnancy test hits you right between the eyes. And to that I'd like to add to never give up hope! You never know what the Lord has in store!
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Wendy Shelly at Fertility Specialists Medical Group?
Most of my visits I felt like a human, however, I had a few where I felt like a number. Usually on those visits the office was extremely busy and I'd only get to spend a few minutes with Dr. Shelly. It was during those instances that I felt like a number; not a priority.
Describe the protocols Wendy Shelly used in your cycles at Fertility Specialists Medical Group and their degree of success.
For our 3 IUI cycles she had me taking Clomid and a trigger shot (can't remember how far in advance) to make sure I ovulated at the right time.
For our IVF cycle, I started on Feb 24th, 2015. I took birth control pills for 10 days. On Mar 7, 2015 I started the Gonal-F injections and the Micro hCG injections. I was going in for blood work and ultrasounds every other day for a week to check my hormone levels and egg production. The following week I continued Gonal-F, Micro hCG and began Cetrotide injections to prevent premature ovulation. My egg retrieval was done Mar 18th, 2015. 17 eggs were retrieved, 11 fertilized and 5 were viable. I wasn't eligible for a fresh transfer because my estrogen levels were too high. We waited until the following month and then I started the progesterone IM shots, Estrace and the low-dose aspirin to help increase blood flow to my uterus. We had our frozen transfer on April 10th, 2015 where we transferred 2 embryos of the 5 we had. We found out we were pregnant on April 21st and I delivered our beautiful baby girl on Dec 30th, 2015. In Nov. 2016 we decided we were ready for transfer #2. Dr. Shelly performed a water test in my uterus to make sure there wasn't any scar tissue or anything leftover from my pregnancy that would hinder another pregnancy. We decided to only transfer 1 embryo and the same protocol was set in place as the first transfer. We were not successful with the 2nd transfer and we decided to try a third time in Feb 2017. We transferred our last two embryos and the same protocol was used for that transfer as well. Unfortunately, neither embryo took and we are back to square one.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Fertility Specialists Medical Group.
All of the nursing staff were very nice! A lot of them remembered us even after we hadn't been there in a year. They were helpful anytime I had questions and returned my phone calls within a few hours.
There was an occasion where they called in the right prescription but the wrong quantity. Luckily I didn't need it right away and the pharmacy was able to mail it to me within a couple of days. Another instance they hadn't updated our chart and Dr. Shelly came in to discuss our options for additional treatment with the wrong information. She came in thinking we had 2 embryos left when in reality we were already done.
Describe your experience with Fertility Specialists Medical Group.
The office staff is friendly and greets you the moment you walk in. The office is clean and they offer complimentary water and coffee in the waiting room.
The financial dept is very organized and you don't have to worry about "hidden" fees every time you walk in for an appt. They're very good at explaining upfront your financial obligations.
The nursing staff and Dr. Shelly are good at keeping appointment times. I'd say 90% of my appointments I was seen within 10-15 minutes.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at Fertility Specialists Medical Group.
My monitoring appointments usually took place first thing in the morning. I typically was in and out of the office within 30 minutes. Very convenient and very organized!
Describe the costs associated with your care under Wendy Shelly at Fertility Specialists Medical Group.
For our IVF the baseline was $10,500. That included all of our office visits, monitoring, egg retrieval surgery, egg fertilization and a fresh transfer (if applicable). We spent between $3500-$5000 on all of my medication. We also paid $600/ year for our embryo storage fee.
For the transfers we paid $3300 each time and between $300-$500 for medication.
Describe Wendy Shelly's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Fertility Specialists Medical Group.
Whenever we wanted to do a transfer, Dr. Shelly always recommended an eSET. She explained the risks with multiples but she ultimately let us decide what was best for us. She did say she would not transfer more than 2 at one time.
What specific things went wrong at Fertility Specialists Medical Group?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Fertility Specialists Medical Group.
The nursing staff had forgotten to call in my prescriptions before starting a frozen transfer cycle. On the day of my appt. they asked if I had received them and when I told them no they called the pharmacy on the spot and placed the order. Luckily, I didn't need them for a couple of days and I was able to drive to the pharmacy and pick them up the same day.