How was your experience with Christina Broadwell at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
She was the nicest doctor at Generations, but I didn't feel like I got personal attention from her, I always had to communicate with her via the nurses and often received conflicting information. We scheduled a one-on-one consult to discuss our failed IUI's and other possible testing we could have done but she didn't seem interested in getting us answers, only pushing us to do IVF. I felt like she ignored my husband's high DNA fragmentation test results, and didn't give us any recommendations as to how we could improve his sperm quality.
We asked about alternatives to IVF, like low stimulation cycles (mini IVF), and only fertilizing 1 egg at a time but she said they don't do that. We ultimately decided to leave the clinic after I was put on a medication that ended up suppressing my ovulation and messing up my cycle, wasting us a lot of money, time and stress. I just didn't feel like I got a personalized treatment plan.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Christina Broadwell at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
Make sure you read up on all your options, and also the risk factors of various treatments they might recommend; you won't get any information from her if you don't ask and probe.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Christina Broadwell at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
I felt like they had a standard set of testing they do, regardless of history or situation. I felt like they were more focused on pushing me through the standard treatment (IUI then IVF) instead of trying to figure out why we weren't having success.
Describe the protocols Christina Broadwell used in your cycles at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals and their degree of success.
I had 5 cycles of letrozole prior to IUI. The first 3 cycles I was it cycle days 3-7, and had 1 mature follicle. Dr. Broadwell increased the length of of the medication to cycle day 2-8, and the next 2 cycles I had 2 mature follicles. She had me trigger with ovidrel each cycle as well. Unfortunately none of those IUI's worked.
Dr. Broadwell wanted us to move on to an injectable IUI cycle, with the goal of producing more follicles, but we were very uncomfortable with the idea of having more than 2 follicles, and the risk of high order multiples. Dr. Broadwell seemed less concerned about this, calling it a calculated risk. Since our main diagnosis is MFI, we finally convinced her to try back to back IUI's (2 IUI's 1 day apart in the same cycle). Unfortunately, it did not work.
The 6th and last cycle we tried, Dr. Broadwell added estrace to my protocol, but didn't explain why. I finally determined that it was to thicken my uterine lining, but I was never told that my lining was thin during the previous cycles. Unfortunately, the estrace suppressed my follicle growth, and after 2 ultrasounds my cycle was cancelled, and we were told to try timed intercourse. I wasn't told whether I should stop the estrace, I had to call and ask about that. Shortly after stopping I had several days of spotting, and now my cycle has been irregular. No one told me this could be a possible risk of going on estrace, so I was very upset, as I have normally had very regular cycles.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff.
The nurses at Generation are awesome! I spent more time talking with them than Dr. Broadwell and they were all very compassionate. Unfortunately, they had to relay my questions back and forth with Dr. Broadwell, since I could never speak with her over the phone, and the nurses obviously couldn't answer questions regarding next steps in my treatment plan. Every nurse I met at Generations we very kind, compassionate, and great about following up with me.
Describe your experience with Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
It's a nice clinic overall, very clean, organized and designed to feel calming.
I didn't like that there were often pregnant women or women with children in the waiting room with me; it felt like everyone was having success except us.
The clinic was good about communicating cost and was familiar with my insurance (and what it didn't cover) but I discovered that they are a bit on the high side of IF pricing. I also felt like a number, and was just being pushed through the standard protocol. The clinic seems to focus mostly on IVF.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Christina Broadwell at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
IUI (1 ultrasound + sperm processing and IUI) $750ish per cycle (not including meds... meds were about $160 for letrozole and ovidrel from costco)
Describe Christina Broadwell's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals.
Dr. Broadwell prefers single embryo transfer (though we never did IVF)
What specific things went wrong at Generations & University of Wisconsin Hospitals?
- Failed to inform you of changes in protocol
- Provided conflicting information