How was your experience with Eric Surrey at CCRM Colorado?
Meeting Dr. Surrey was intimidating because my husband and I were just coming to understand what our fertility issues were. However, he was vey clear with what our issues were and that we would never be able to naturally conceive a child (that was his bluntness, but I really appreciated that moment of truth). He indicated that we were perfect candidates for IVF. We got all the "checkboxes" checked, T's crossed and i's dotted and I went in for a lining check before retrieval. As it turns out, I had a cyst. Dr. Surrey's favorite nurse (I was not a fan) said we would have to cancel the retrieval. I demanded to speak to Dr. Surrey - so he came to see me, performed the ultrasound again to confirm a cyst and said he could drain it on the spot. THANK GOODNESS he came to the ultrasound room. Shortly after that, he performed our only retrieval. He was gentle, and kind. He knew I was afraid of needles but assured my husband and I they would take good care of me while in retrieval. SUCCESS! Our first IVF cycle was a fresh transfer, so 5 days later, we were back in his office for a transfer. He recommended transferring only one embryo, but told me I could convince him to transfer 2, which we did. Shortly thereafter, it was confirmed that I was pregnant, and my numbers looked like twins! Unfortunately, my numbers started dropping just a few days later. As it turns out, we lost one embryo but were still pregnant with the other. Dr. Surrey called all the time to tell us the good and bad news. We are forever grateful for Dr. Surrey because we now have a beautiful 2 year old son, Ethan. When Ethan was born, we sent Dr. Surrey a birth announcement. He wrote us a letter back and called us congratulating us. In 2017, we did 2 transfers with Dr. Surrey again. He was hesitant the second transfer because he wanted me to lose some weight first, but didn't argue with me. I wish I had listened to him. It was hard to hear that I should lose weight, but he was telling me what was best for all of us. We had a successful transfer in June 2017 and were pregnant with 1 embryo. Again, he was very congratulatory. Unfortunately, we miscarried at 5 weeks. Dr. Surrey was the on-call doctor when I was having my miscarriage late one night. I was SO VERY thankful that it was him that answered the phone. He stayed calm and tried to calm me down with specific instructions until I could see them in the morning. Dr. Surrey was upset along with us when it was confirmed via ultrasound that we had, in fact, lost our baby. We told him we were not giving up and to see us in a couple of months. In October 2017, we did another round of IVF and transferred 2 embryos. Unfortunately, neither embryo took, and Dr. Surrey was on the phone with me very shortly afterward to talk about the path forward. We talked multiple scenarios and he provided his recommendation until we agreed on a path forward. In my opinion, Dr. Surrey KNOWS what he's doing. He is very good at his job. He will always tell you what the best path forward is, but will offer other scenarios and tell you the risks associated with everything. I feel like he's a good listener, is understanding, compassionate, blunt, and is willing to work with you. He is honest, and that carries so much weight.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Eric Surrey at CCRM Colorado?
Dr. Surrey will be blunt, and it might hurt to hear the truth (initially), but he knows what he's doing.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Eric Surrey at CCRM Colorado?
I felt like a human because after our son was born I 2015, Dr. Surrey called us to congratulate us. When we started back up with IVF in 2017, Dr. Surrey met our son. At both FETs in 2017, he asked how our son was, BY NAME!
Describe the protocols Eric Surrey used in your cycles at CCRM Colorado and their degree of success.
Before each cycle, I took a low-dose birth control pill. After that, the meds were basically the same. Endometrin, Vivelle, Lupron, Progesterone in oil, Medrol, Doxycycline. We had success twice (IVF) with this protocol, but not the third IVF cycle. My cycle started with Lupron 10u/day until I started my Endometrin and Medrol and Doxycycline. I was on 1 patch of Vivelle every other day for 8 days and then it increased one patch every other day until told to stop. I started the Progesterone in Oil 0.5 mg every other day in the morning 5 days before the transfer. Again, I was told to continue all medications until specifically instructed to change or stop.
Describe your experience with your nurse at CCRM Colorado.
I was not a big fan of my first IVF transfer nurse, Helaine. She didn't call in the birth control before my pharmacy closed for the weekend, and she didn't call in enough to get me on the right schedule. Then, when we were suffering our miscarriage, she was basically telling us that we should brace ourselves for losing both embryos. She also said it was not typical for first-time IVFers to get pregnant. Thankfully, she left CCRM before my next transfer in June 2017. I loved that nurse - gosh I wish I remembered her name. She was on the ball - always calling me back when I had a question just to let me know she got my message, even if she didn't have the answer yet. But, she ended up leaving CCRM right after our miscarriage. For our last transfer, they were still trying to figure out what nurse was assigned to us. So, I ended up talking to and seeing multiple nurses. It was hard because some nurses were super sweet and took their time talking to me and answering my questions. Other nurses seemed to be in a hurry and sometimes short with me on the phone if I had questions.
Describe your experience with CCRM Colorado.
The doctor's are the strengths at CCRM. I believe they are all infertility specialists and have something unique to bring to CCRM and their patients. If you're not happy with one doctor at CCRM, ask to see another doctor.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at CCRM Colorado.
All monitoring appointments are in the morning, i.e. blood draws and ultrasounds. It was a well-oiled machine. Each person checks in at the desk and then sits and waits for their name to be called. Typically, you never wait longer than 10-20 minutes.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Eric Surrey at CCRM Colorado.
$2856.62 to CCRM, $3401 Fertility Labs of Colorado (FLC), medication typically ran from $1800-$3500 depending on the cycle. I don't remember specifics on what I paid for each blood draw or ultrasound.
Describe Eric Surrey's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at CCRM Colorado.
Dr. Surrey always recommended to me that I only transfer 1 embryo. He said there is less risk involved later in a pregnancy if I were to be pregnant with a singleton vs. multiples.
What specific things went wrong at CCRM Colorado?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy