CCRM

I want to first start off by saying I have definitely realized just how dangerous the internet really is.

Prior to this ODWU at CCRM I had googled a ton of information about the clinic and its doctors.  After much research I decided to come here because of their high success rates and particularly that they obtain success even after multiple failures at other clinics.  During this time I was excited!  I didn't find a lot of bad information about the clinic although I knew they weren't going to be perfect.  So, Saturday the 25th comes and I'm so excited because our flight left at 5:38PM.  The flight was great, no problems there and we got to Colorado by about 9:30, hotel by 11ish, went to walmart got some snacks and came back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit before bed.  I was able to sleep well that night.

The next day hubby and I decided to take a trip to the zoo.  Well, when we got there a ton of little kids were running around the parking lot in their super cute halloween costumes.  So I decided that I did not want to be there.  Being around kids is not an easy thing for me to do these days.  So, we decided instead that we would go to Black Hawk, CO.  They have casinos in the mountains at Black Hawk and playing blackjack is something my hubby and I like to do.  So, we took the beautiful drive up to the casinos, played blackjack for about 6 hours, and ended up winning!  We were happy especially since we knew we were about to drop a ton of money at CCRM the next day!  We also went to a beautiful dinner at Venice restaurant.  It was 5 minutes from our hotel, 4.5 stars, and worth every single penny!

So ... of course that night I could not sleep at all.  I don't know if it was because I was excited or nervous, or wether I just wasn't liking the dryness in CO (my skin was so itchy!).  The main point ... I couldn't sleep. I laid down at 9:30 because I knew I was going to have to be up by 5AM the next morning and didn't fall asleep until about 1:30AM after Jason made me some warm milk ... fun times.  Since I couldn't sleep I decided that I would do some more research on google.  Bad, bad decision.  I came across a bunch of reviews of CCRM, here's a brief summary.

- They nickel and dime you.  Not saying this is not true and there are some unexpected expenses. However, I have been at different clinics that do the same thing.  It did irritate me very much how you have to pay for the nurses time separately.  It's not billable to any insurance and it is $1,550 for an IVF cycle.  Just weird.  They also don't tell you that you have to pay for at least 1 shipping box for your blood sample (the labs have to be done in their labs) and the box costs 70$ to pick up and $110 to ship, not to mention you have to overnight ship it back to them once you had your blood drawn.  Irritating but really not horrible.  They also tell you that even though you have insurance and they take it that they will only bill your insurance about $3000 and you have to pay the rest OOP and get reimbursed.  This makes absolutely no sense to me but it's not like it was a surprise.  They give you the paperwork and it clearly states all of this information.  I was annoyed about it but not shocked.  Also, FLC (the place where they do all of their emrbyology procedures) does not take any insurance except United.  I also knew this before I went there.  I was able to get an exception through my insurance company that they will pay 90% although FLC is not in-network BUT because they don't take any other insurance I still have to pay up front.  The up front cost is about $14,443 for the type of cycle Jason and I are doing.  You are required to put a $1000 dollar deposit down on your IVF cycle even if you're not ready to go through the cycle at that time.  They don't make you put it down you can walk away and not pay that and just get all of the testing done but they tell you that their prices go up every year by at least 5%.  Out of control.  We signed the paperwork, put down the deposit and we're going to go speak to our lawyer because the paper they make you sign has all of the prices on it and that's a legally binding contract right?  Either way 5% ... when you're already paying about $20,000 on everything ... eh ... it sucks but it is what it is.

- One woman said there were debit card machines in every single exam room and you had to pay before the service.  This is just simply not true.  Not the pay when services are given part (that's standard pretty much anywhere you go for medical care, BTW), but the debit card in every room is just not the case.  The only exam room I went into that had a debit card machine was the phlebotomist room.  But again, that didn't surprise me.  The room was big (it was their office and the blood drawl room) and I paid AFTER the blood was drawn.

- Many people said the communication is terrible and that the nurses, business department, and receptionists are rude.  I did not find this to be the case at all.  My nurse is Laine and she is AWESOME. She has such an amazing sense of humor, makes light of the situation we're in and I totally appreciate that.  Infertility can be such a downer.  It was so nice that during the middle of the day when we had our nurse consult she was the one we got.  Everything else is so dry and serious and she was seriously the best part of my day.  The receptionists were all very helpful and nice.  I have nothing bad to say about them.  I did have a tad bit of a problem with the business department.  When we went into the meeting with Kelly (she was the business woman working this day) she expected us to know how to start the conversation.  We didn't even know where to begin and she just said to us, well what do you need to know?  I thought that was .. weird.  I mean obviously we're in the business department we would like to know about financing options (if there were any), the total cost of the cycle, how everything was broken down, etc. but we just didn't know really where to start.  She does this everyday, she should know what to ask.  She eventually took on a nicer tone but in the beginning she was just very rude.

- There were a lot of complaints about Dr. Schoolcraft in particular.  I can't really say much about him because he's not my doctor and I didn't meet with him.  I have Dr. Surrey as my doctor and I really like him.  He's soft spoken, understanding, comforting (without giving you false hope), and he's honest about your situation.  Jason likes him too so I'm relieved about that.  And as far as Dr. Schoolcraft goes.  After reading all of the posts about him, I'm not sure those people who hate him, and yes I mean hate him, are being fair.  He may have a bad bedside manner, and he may be very confident but he has the right to be.  He consistently gets women pregnant that are over the age of 40.  He is amazing from what I know thus far about him in his ability to do great research and innovate.  No other places does as much research and clinic trials as they do.  I think what they do is amazing.  I know everyone has different experiences and opinions and that's fine but I just don't think these women who are bashing him all over the internet are being very fair.  If you don't like his attitude don't go there to see him, but I will tell you that Dr. Schoolcraft is the doctor that figured out that you have to change the culture dish on day 3 and put different nutrients in it to help nourish the growing embryo.  He did that.  He made it possible to do 5 day transfers.  I would be cocky and confident too.

After reading all of this on the internet I was a mess!  I was telling Jason how I wasn't sure we made the right decision by coming to CCRM.  It was a nightmare but I promised myself I would go into the clinic the following day with an open mind and that's what I did.

Overall I was very happy with our experience.  It was a long day but worth it.  We got some answers that day and some we will get in about a 2-3 week period.  Some come back faster than others.  What we did find out though is:

- I have a beautiful uterus.  It's shaped beautifully, I have great blood flow in that area, and inside it looks great.  Not polyps, or adhesions.  Everything is great, which is great news, or annoying news however you want to look at it.  The hysteroscopy was not as bad as the HSG, I was happy about that.

- All of my blood work looks great and I produce a ton of eggs.  We just have to figure out how to get the attrition rate to not suck!  I just want healthy looking hatching blastocysts.  Is that too much to ask for?!

What we're waiting for over the next 2-3 weeks:

- Jason's sperm test.  They're going to look at the DNA and make sure that it's not fragmented.

- Jason's karyotype to see if he has some translocation going on.

- I have to get my uterine biopsy done but that has to be done during a certain day in my cycle so I'm waiting for that day to come and I'll get that done.

I think that's all ?  There was so much information given and so much that we have to do to get started again it's scary and overwhelming but it'll get done.  PMA - Positive mental attitude!