2019 - 2020, Successful
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Dr. Levy really makes time to listen to you and explain things to you. He takes into account what your goals are as far as family size goals. He is even easy to get a hold via email if you are having trouble reaching the nurses...Dr. Levy will talk to you at the level of experience you have with fertility treatments and education. So, if you want more say in your treatment, make sure that you have done some homework in advance because he will candidly answer your questions and have discussion with you.
You should know that Tripler in general does not do fresh transfers. They conduct retrievals at a local clinic (Fertility Institute of Hawaii - also great). Genetic testing in Hawaii is more expensive than prices you might see on the mainland...The issue will always be the limited capacity they have to cycle patients meaning wait times for a cycle are often six months...The nursing team will get back to you via email within a day or two usually...
How was your experience with Gary Levy at Tripler Army Medical Center?
Dr. Levy really makes time to listen to you and explain things to you. He takes into account what your goals are as far as family size goals. He is even easy to get a hold via email if you are having trouble reaching the nurses. We didn't always see him personally, but that is just due to the nature of the clinic. I know that if we had wanted to speak to him personally, that we could have easily arranged that. We would have continued with him through to pregnancy had we not been required to move for my job.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Gary Levy at Tripler Army Medical Center?
Do your research about what you want before you show up. Dr. Levy will talk to you at the level of experience you have with fertility treatments and education. So, if you want more say in your treatment, make sure that you have done some homework in advance because he will candidly answer your questions and have discussion with you.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Gary Levy at Tripler Army Medical Center?
Dr. Levy was fantastic to work with at Tripler. We felt like he really reviewed and cared about our case. We came to him after an egg freezing cycle and six months of trying to conceive naturally. We felt like he not only took our individual case into account, but really worked around the extensive demands of my job for scheduling - which was really important to his.
Describe the protocols Gary Levy used in your cycles at Tripler Army Medical Center and their degree of success.
We did three antagonist protocols. The first was cancelled due to poor response. The second, we made it to retrieval and got 13 eggs - combined with 4 eggs that survived the thaw from a freezing cycle - 1 genetically normal embryo came out of it. We decided to go for embryo banking and do another cycle, adding HGH, dexamethasone, and Clomid. That cycle resulted in 10 eggs, 1 genetically normal embryo and 1 mosaic. Following that cycle, we had to transfer to another city.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Tripler Army Medical Center. (Assigned nurse: Tanya)
The whole nursing team at Tripler was great when we were there. They are compassionate and kind, definitely willing to take time to explain everything to you. There is a long waiting list for cycles and you don't get to choose your doctor really. The nursing team will get back to you via email within a day or two usually. We had a specific difficulty managing both a cell and work telephone number, which made it really hard for me to get results sometimes because they would always seem to use the wrong number meaning we would have to wait for days to find out the status of our embryos or genetic testing.
Describe your experience with Tripler Army Medical Center.
The strength of this clinic is that you receive medications without charge, usually a single doctor per cycle, and the finances are managed by a very responsive crew at the civilian clinic they partner with. The prices are really reasonable and the staff is trustworthy and good. The issue will always be the limited capacity they have to cycle patients meaning wait times for a cycle are often six months. This is more a function of the military medical system's resource allocation and not them in particular.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Gary Levy at Tripler Army Medical Center.
Billing is actually handled through the civilian partnership clinic and they are fantastic! I didn't even realize I was supposed to get a refund form the genetic testing charges and they sent it without me having to ask. They always got back to me immediately and could be easily reached by phone. They actually asked to meet patients when they came in for retrieval so they could get to know them as well. I really liked the financial department I worked with there.
Describe Gary Levy's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Tripler Army Medical Center.
You should know that Tripler in general does not do fresh transfers. They conduct retrievals at a local clinic (Fertility Institute of Hawaii - also great). Genetic testing in Hawaii is more expensive than prices you might see on the mainland.
What specific things went wrong at Tripler Army Medical Center?
- Failed to call with results
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Tripler Army Medical Center.
The only thing I can say, is that if you go with Tripler, you have to deal with extended waits and a nursing staff that doesn't always have the capacity to be immediately responsive as I've experienced at the civilian clinic that we now go to. The other issue was that the one time that I texted the "emergency pager," I never received a reply. Thankfully, the issue was just fine, but I never found out why no one responded.
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