Dr Cooney was professional and compassionate, and helped me get through one of the worst experiences of my life...She was amazingly supportive when I had my miscarriage. She talked me through what to expect and how to handle it. When I was going through subsequent rounds of IUI there was nothing that stuck out as particularly good or bad. I wanted to have another check-in like the first time we sat down, where we discuss my history and prospects but including the in/fertility issues that have come up since that initial consult.
Great staff, beautiful clinic, and they're very accessible [at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals]. I was always able to talk to a nurse immediately or very shortly after reaching out. They made it feel personal, like they knew my partner and I. Big weakness: they require a couples consult with their resident psychologist...for any fertility treatment, and it was a miserable experience. My spouse and I already each have a separate therapist, so we have the support we need, and the meeting felt pushy, nosy, and judgemental.
How was your experience with Laura Cooney at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
She was amazingly supportive when I had my miscarriage. She talked me through what to expect and how to handle it. When I was going through subsequent rounds of IUI there was nothing that stuck out as particularly good or bad. I wanted to have another check-in like the first time we sat down, where we discuss my history and prospects but including the in/fertility issues that have come up since that initial consult.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Laura Cooney at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
Be sure to ask what happens next, and how this impacts future pregnancies.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Laura Cooney at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
No one wants to go through a miscarriage, but it does happen. When it happened to me I dealt with a lot of nurses, doctors, and other staff. Dr Cooney was professional and compassionate, and helped me get through one of the worst experiences of my life.
Describe the protocols Laura Cooney used in your cycles at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals and their degree of success.
The first IUI was completely natural. Used an OTC ovulation predictor kit and 1 vial of donor sperm. I got pregnant but miscarried. Had to wait 1 cycle of natural menstruation before trying again. 2nd IUI we used letrozole on cycle days 3-5, then the same process. Negative result. 3rd IUI we used letrozole but also an injection of ovidrel to trigger ovulation. I got a positive pregnancy test but it was a chemical pregnancy and I menstruated shortly thereafter. They are hesitant to escalate treatment because it is clear my body is capable of getting pregnant, and their rationale is that it just takes more tries to be successful. They did a HgbA1c and prolactin tests after the 3rd IUI which were normal.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals. (Assigned nurse: Vicky Slager-Neary)
She has been our primary point of contact throughout, and we've seen her more than any other clinician. She has been professional and has excellent bedside manner. Having had miscarriage I am desperate to avoid having more, but she treats them like necessary hazards to getting pregnant. I want to take escalate treatment and she wants to try the same thing multiple times. She's probably right that I will get pregnant that way, but having miscarriages along the way is a high price to pay, especially when my insurance would cover the escalated treatment.
Describe your experience with Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
Great staff, beautiful clinic, and they're very accessible. I was always able to talk to a nurse immediately or very shortly after reaching out. They made it feel personal, like they knew my partner and I. Big weakness: they require a couples consult with their resident psychologist, Dr Julianne Zweifel, for any fertility treatment, and it was a miserable experience. My spouse and I already each have a separate therapist, so we have the support we need, and the meeting felt pushy, nosy, and judgemental.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Laura Cooney at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
I don't recall the specifics. We have a $3000 deductible for our fertility insurance and we didn't meet it in our initial work up for the clinic. Our hysteroscopy cost maybe $300 before insurance, but after was only about $30.
What specific things went wrong at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
Failed to call with results
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
I had blood tests to confirm my miscarriage, and we got the results electronically but no one from the clinic called to discuss them with us. It was around the holidays, so things were hectic at the clinic, but we knew the rest results indicated that I was having a miscarriage and we desperately needed someone to tell us what was going on. I finally called them the next day and they were closed for the holiday. I didn't get to talk to anyone until the next day, and it was a very stressed waiting period.
Dr cooney was thoughtful. She took our health history, especially mine into her decision to choose an appropriate medication protocol for us. She also understood that this was stressful and difficult... She was respectful to our wishes, listened to our questions and concerns and was very sweet. She remembered details of our story as a couple that made it feel personal... Birth control orally for one month Lupron daily in the am-10mg After a week or two we had our baseline ultrasound and started menopur
Clinic [Generations & University of WI Hospitals] is clean and has a warm feel. The staff are welcoming. The lobby is a quiet environment. The nursing staff and mds were great and efficient. The finance department I felt like was a bit unorganized. They required we meet with a counselor prior to treatment. We hated that appointment and felt it very unnecessary... The nurses were great. They always responded to questions via MyChart very promptly. There was one instance where they scheduled my pregnancy test two days early
How was your experience with Laura Cooney at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
Dr cooney was thoughtful. She took our health history, especially mine into her decision to choose an appropriate medication protocol for us. She also understood that this was stressful and difficult
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Laura Cooney at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
Come with your questions
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Laura Cooney at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
She was respectful to our wishes, listened to our questions and concerns and was very sweet. She remembered details of our story as a couple that made it feel personal
Describe the protocols Laura Cooney used in your cycles at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals and their degree of success.
Birth control orally for one month
Lupron daily in the am-10mg
After a week or two we had our baseline ultrasound and started menopur(75mg) and gonal f(150mg) also lupron decreases to 5mg.
After 10 days we decided to trigger with hcg -10,000 units.
We retrieved 16 eggs in which they only fertilized 12, resulting in 2 embryos.
We transferred the embryos on day 3, with a negative pregnancy test.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
The nurses were great. They always responded to questions via MyChart very promptly.
There was one instance where they scheduled my pregnancy test two days early and didn’t catch it until after the blood draw. They were apologetic for it
Describe your experience with Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
Clinic is clean and has a warm feel. The staff are welcoming. The lobby is a quiet environment. The nursing staff and mds were great and efficient. The finance department I felt like was a bit unorganized. They required we meet with a counselor prior to treatment. We hated that appointment and felt it very unnecessary
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
We were seen between 7-830am for monitoring appointments. They felt welcoming however it was like, “ go ahead get undressed and the staff will be in” staff came in, chatted and then did the ultrasound. If you had any questions you could ask them. They were less than 30 min appointments
Describe the costs associated with your care under Laura Cooney at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
15-16,000 including meds for 1 treatment cycle
Describe Laura Cooney's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
Dr Cooney shows genuine compassion her patients, even when (or maybe ESPECIALLY when) a patient has been told by a prior doctor to stop trying to conceive altogether. ... Dr Cooney adjusted my protocol slightly to account for improving our odds with the first round. ... She also made us feel like we weren’t a lost cause, and that though the chance wasn’t guaranteed...there was a chance.
At Generations, the doctors and the embryology lab meet as a group on Mondays to discuss all of the embryos created that week, to form a recommendation on how to proceed (implanting 1 or 2). ... The lab allowed our embryos to grow out to day 7, which is when they both went to blastocyst. ... The costs for us were a payment package, that included everything up until the pregnancy test. Including the frozen transfer.
How was your experience with Laura Cooney at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
Dr Cooney shows genuine compassion her patients, even when (or maybe ESPECIALLY when) a patient has been told by a prior doctor to stop trying to conceive altogether. She has a great knowledge of the field, and very openly shared all relevant statistics with us whenever we had a question. She also made us feel like we weren’t a lost cause, and that though the chance wasn’t guaranteed...there was a chance. And now we’re expecting! So we will be forever grateful for Dr. Cooney and the Generations team.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Laura Cooney at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
My advice would be don’t be afraid to ask questions. She is extremely knowledgeable, and willing to answer any question to help put you at ease.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Laura Cooney at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
Dr Cooney spoke very candidly with us about the expectations that we should have. She was very compassionate, while ensuring that we have realistic expectations. As our first cycle with a different doctor had failed, Dr. Cooney was careful to not “guarantee” that we could get pregnant, while being optimistic enough that it COULD happen (and it did!). We also felt as though Dr Cooney was genuinely rooting for our success.
Describe the protocols Laura Cooney used in your cycles at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals and their degree of success.
Dr Cooney adjusted my protocol slightly to account for improving our odds with the first round. That said, the protocol was relatively standard. The lab allowed our embryos to grow out to day 7, which is when they both went to blastocyst.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
The nursing staff at generations was knowledgeable and compassionate.
Describe your experience with Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
The strengths of this clinic are the knowledge of the staff, the ability and willingness to adjust/try new things of a cycle didn’t go well, and the research to stay up with the most recent trends/treatments. The only weakness was the lack of a payment plan for IVF, as it can be pretty pricy.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Laura Cooney at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
The costs for us were a payment package, that included everything up until the pregnancy test. Including the frozen transfer.
Describe Laura Cooney's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
At Generations, the doctors and the embryology lab meet as a group on Mondays to discuss all of the embryos created that week, to form a recommendation on how to proceed (implanting 1 or 2). However, this is simply a recommendation. Generally, I believe they recommend one embryo, but in some cases will recommend two. But it’s always your choose how to proceed.