Greene (Don) Royster

Dr. Royster has a calm demeanor and I have never felt rushed out of his office. He has maintained professional conduct and explanations of each treatment or procedure I have undergone with him. I have personally disagreed with a couple of recommendations from him but I understand his clinical rationale for making them.

Ask as many questions as you need and if you ask for the medical research on the topic he will provide it.

1 egg retrieval that included Gonal-F, Cetritide, and Meno Pur. The gonal-F dosage was adjusted a couple times throughout. I was seen in the office every 2-3 days to start then every other day the week of the retrieval. I am unsure why these particular medications were selected but they seemed effective for me since I produced 15 eggs (as viewed on ultrasound and as retrieved).

The clinic always asked what time in the mornings worked best. It was often the first appt they had for the day so there would be many people in the waiting room but we never waited more than 10 minutes to be taken back to our room. They were completed efficiently and as long as I didn’t have questions or need to learn how to use something new, the appointments were very quick.

Costs were explained up front according to our measly insurance coverage. We paid large sums up front which meant we were not billed or paying every visit. I thought I wouldn’t like that, but it actually helped make the appt’s a little less daunting. Egg retrieval ended up costing us somewhere around $10k out of pocket. However, we had plenty of appts prepaid after that and were able to use that for some of the procedures I later had with this doctor (d&c, laparoscopy). Medications were almost fully covered by insurance.

Dr Royster and the office always state “one embryo one baby.” Safer for mom and baby.

I had a very positive experience and found him to be very caring. He has a great bed-side manner and is soft-spoken. If I ever encountered a setback, he was able to explain things in a way that alleviated some of my concern. The IVF process is inherently stressful so there would always be some degree of concern in my opinion. I never felt rushed in my visits with him which is somewhat unique in the realm of fertility clinics/doctors. My fresh embryo transfer was successful and he did a good job explaining every step of the process as the transfer was happening. l appreciate that I was given the option to use either progesterone suppositories or progesterone in oil injections. This made me feel like I had some choice in the whole IVF process. I also liked how during my attempts at IUI he immediately recognized that I would feel better on an alternative to Clomid. I think he has a very high emotional IQ because it seemed like he could read between the lines when I was struggling from the fertility treatments but not being forward about it (mostly because I had no reference point as to how much discomfort was normal because it varies by person and each transfer/treatment).

Write down questions ahead of time on your phone (notes section) so you don’t forget what you want to ask. Feel free to share your feelings throughout the process because he’s very kind.

We did a fresh embryo transfer with ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) due to male factor infertility. It was successful. ICSI helps the sperm make it into the egg.

I’m really glad he only transfers one embryo at a time because from my work in public education I’ve seen a lot of twins with learning disabilities from mild to severe.

Dr. Royster did not always show me the screen during ultrasound checks or explain what he was seeing. He didn’t explain my lab results or where he would like them to be. Dr. Royster was nice enough, but I don’t feel like he spent enough time explaining things.

Be ready to do some Google research because things will not be explained well.

Dr. Royster did many of my follicle checks for two TI cycles and three IUI cycles, though he did not perform the actual IUIs himself. He had me taking 7.5 mg letrozole CD 5-9 for the TI intercourse cycles, both unsuccessful. I did one IUI cycle with 7.5 mg letrozole CD 5-9 and two with letrozole 7.5 mg CD 5-9 and 75 units Follistim CD 10-13. All unsuccessful IUIs.

IUI is free at Brooke Army Medical Center for eligible patients and IVF is significantly reduced. Medications are included free of charge for both through a grant program.

He is the most caring infertility doctor I have encountered. He was always more than willing to answer and fully explain his answers to any questions I had. He has a way of putting your mind at ease and it is easy to trust him.

Understand that the time limit you have with him at your monitoring appointments is not his choice. Schedule a one on one and let him know you need more time to answer questions or concerns.

We used Lupron, Menopur, and Follistim for stims. Ovidrel for egg release and PIO for transfer.

Monitoring appointments are very much like a cattle call. Everyone for that day is told to be there at the same time for labs and then you sit in the waiting room to be called back 3 at a time for monitoring.

IVF was $7000 including meds, IUI is free and no charge for meds.

He was the first REI specialist I saw so I was very worried and emotional about what he would say and find. My diagnosis was a shock and he was very empathetic and did not make me feel uncomfortable for crying. He has great bedside manner but also is very candid and knows his stuff

Dont be afraid to ask questions or be scared to cry in front of a man. He wont make you feel uncomfortable about it

This clinic charges less than most we only paid about 7k