Carol Wheeler

Dr Wheeler has a reputation of being a bit cold, but, knows her stuff. I’m going along with it, but feel as though I’m lost in the mix as a patient. We’ve only met twice during the very beginning stage of our treatment and haven’t heard from her at all throughout our 3 failed IUIs. When I asked questions during our meetings, I felt dismissed. We’re still in progress with treatment and have learned we’ll have to advocate fiercely for ourselves.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions about why certain tests are or are not being run, her bedside manner can be a shock initially, and make frequent follow up appointments.

First and second cycle: Clomid days 3-7, home testing for ovulation, call when positive test and schedule IUI next day. Third cycle: first monitored IUI...Clomid days 3-7, Pregnyl for trigger shot and IUI two days later

In RI, fertility treatment is mostly covered by insurance. I believe we paid coinsurance which was about $300. Coinsurance cost for Pregnyl med was $18 and Clomid was about $7. HCG test is considered an operation for some reason and was pretty expensive compared to our other testing.

Dr. Wheeler is good at what she does and offered advice that we felt comfortable following. During the embryo banking process, she made adjustments to the medications that yielded better results. She showed excitement when we retrieved more eggs than expected and was eager to share that news with my husband. Once we moved on to build our family and transfer the embryos back, we did not have the same such luck. After the first PGS embryo failed to implant, Dr Wheeler suggested an ERA and RPL panel. After they came back normal we moved forward with another transfer. After that failed tonimplant, she consulted with other Drs at the clinic and they all felt it was bad luck. We moved forward with transfer 3 and unfortunately same results. She suggested a hysteroscopy and different protocol. Fourth transfer was successful but I miscarried at 6 weeks. Another Dr was on duty for the ultrasound that day but Dr Wheeler came in for the room to check on us. She performed my MVA procedure and was very compassionate and sensitive to my grief on that day. While I was eager to hear about her thoughts for next steps, my husband and I felt we were not having success and throwing good (and expensive) embryos away so we decided we needed a new set of eyes on our case.

While she may not always have the best way to deliver information, she is kind and she does want to help you build your family.

IVF 1 antagonist (high follistim and low menopur) IVF 2 antagonist (highest follistim and low menopur) IVF 3 antagonist (medium follistim and medium menopur) FET1 estradiol and crinone Additional test: RPL panel, ERA, uterine biopsy FET2 estradiol And PIO FET 3 estradiol and PIO Additional testing: hysteroscopy FET 4 Lupron, estradiol, crinone, medrol, doxycycline

In RI, law mandates that infertility is covered by insurance. So far, egg retrieval’s and frozen transfer were covered. We had to pay out of pocket for PGS testing and ERA.

She explained her rational for using single embryo transfers with us for each transfer. We felt comfortable with her explanation and agreed with those decisions.

When I first met with Dr. Wheeler, she made sure we underwent all tests to make sure we could find out why I wasn’t getting pregnant, and also paid attention to what my insurance required to pay for fertility treatments (at the time it was covered 100%). We did 3 unsuccessful IUI’s and said we’d probably be a better candidate for IVF. We didn’t do ICSI because it wasn’t covered, and had 12 eggs retrieved, 9 of which fertilized. She likes to do fresh transfers, (thinking getting the baby back to where it belongs quicker is better in her opinion) and I had a 3 day fresh transfer that ended up in my first pregnancy and live birth of my son. No other embryos made it to Dave five to be frozen, so I am currently waiting to do another IVF cycle and egg retrieval in the next couple months. Many may not see Dr. Wheeler as warm and fuzzy, but she is caring and knows her stuff. She told me she’d get me pregnant and did. Unlike the other review, she did change up my protocol often, and because I only had 12 retrieved last time, I will be using a new protocol this time as well. It’s been 3 years, so she has changed some prescriptions to more up to date ones. She stays current with her knowledge, and even though she isn’t into holistic treatments, she had no problem with me changing my diet and getting acupuncture during my IVF cycle. All in all, I would recommend her in a heartbeat. She knows what she’s doing, and will help you achieve a pregnancy.

Don’t expect hugs, and tears when things don’t work out. She’s very systematic and if one thing doesn’t work, she doesn’t let you get discouraged, she instead tries a new approach.

I used clomid with each of my IUI’s and would call the morning of a positive ovulation test and have two consecutive days of inseminations. With IVF, (2015) I first started with birth control for 5 days and Lupron injections staring day 3. I also used Gonal-F and had a trigger shot 46 hours before retrieval. She’s also not a fan of PIO shots (thank goodness) and instead gives you progesterone suppositories. My next IVF cycle this year (2018) will be birth control for two weeks, menopur instead of lupron, and still using Gonal-F, but in a higher dose to give me more eggs.

They tried to space out appointments in the morning, which was hard for us working women who all wanted to be seen at 7:30 to make it to work for 8:00. Even though there were st appointment times, it was more like first come first serve with a sign in sheet. If they found out you were significantly early though, they would make you wait until all the earlier appointments were finished. It was pretty quick though, because they would do your blood work while you waited, or right after your ultrasound.

At the time, I had insurance that covered IVF at 100%. I still had copays for procedures, but not monitoring or blood work. Now my insurance covers 80%, so it will cost me a little over $3,000 for IVF with ICSI.

Because I am younger, the chance of having multiples with a multiple embryo transfer is higher, and therefore results in a more high risk pregnancy. If I were 35+ she would be more likely to transfer more than one.

She comes off as very intelligent and knowledgeable, however perhaps she not for everyone as she may come off as mechanical and detatched. Very cut to the chase and practical which I appreciate instead of niceties. She listens well and answers whatever questions or concerns of yours that she can.

Come prepared with specific questions and do your homework to make the most of the meetings.

So far I have done three cycles of iui beginning with day three baseline blood work and ultrasound, followed by 5 nights of Clomid. On approximately day 10 youll have another bloodwork and ultrasound. That evening they call and instruct whether you can take the injectable Ovidrel to induce ovulation. Then two days later the iui is scheduled, followed a week later by a progesterone bloodwork and in another week a beta blood draw.

Typically physician payments come from care New England and other labwork etc from women and infants directly. Dr. Visits were charged by time used (at least with Cigna) and the financial counselor s are helpful and a great resource.

This doesn't apply to the treatment I've listed as receiving.

I felt as though Dr. Wheeler held back in terms of what to expect, and wouldn't commit to any outcome or even discuss the chances, aside from saying "well, you're older, so..." Not the best bed side manner, not the most LGBT friendly. Our first visit, she separated us physically, without telling us why and then informed me that I was going to have a gynecological exam - not by her, but by a male doctor. It was extremely upsetting as I felt I was coerced and did not have the chance to consent - in addition, they wouldn't allow my same sex spouse in the room, which is standard protocol. This made me feel even more nervous, like he had a reason for not allowing them to provide me support. Overall, it was a horrid, horrid experience.

Be extremely assertive - insist on knowing BEFORE you come in what to expect, especially in terms of gynecological exams. I asked for data on the clinic and was denied = she wouldn't tell me or discuss. I asked for reasoning behind trying natural cycles (I was over 40) and wasn't given an answer. I asked for what she thought my chances were and she just said "the same as other women your age"?? What does that mean? No idea. I'm not the specialist - she is, but we never received any specific information.

She insisted we try two cycles naturally. By the second try, we were ready to move on to another clinic, based on how uncomfortable we were made to feel by multiple people.

250.00 per IUI

n/a

Carol Wheeler was good at explaining the facts. She shows no compassion. She was not involved with any of our procedures. We only saw her for the initial consult and the post failure consultation. She showed no empathy and made us feel that all of our concerns were unwarranted. We only found out later that some of them were.

Ask for another doctor.

Lupron flare and birth control suppressants. (Lupron 2 week kit, follistim, endometrium) 11 eggs retrieved, 10 fertilized, 0 made it to blast, 4 transferred on day 3. Negative Beta relsult.

The monitoring appointments were run well. Very efficient.

She had one protocol had would not veer from it. When the clinic accidentally thawed the last remaining vial of my first son's donor, she refused to accept accountability, would not refund the money that I paid for it, and took a "wait and see what happens when we thaw it a second time" stance. She deemed the vial going from 40 million to 10 million sperm acceptable. I did not.

Do not go to her

8 injectable IUIs. She would not increase my dose when I failed to respond. She also did not tell me that repeated injectable cycles could make endometriosis worse.

Ridiculously overpriced, as I was paying out of pocket. I didn't know any better at the time.