Shreveport or Dallas?

One of the hardest decisions Michael and I have made to date, came back in March.   Should we use Dr. V in Shreveport or go elsewhere for IVF?

The last thing I would ever want to do is offend anyone.  I know that everyone has their own experience and opinion, and ultimately everyone’s infertility journey is different.  Lots of people have asked us why we decided to travel, when Shreveport offers IVF in our own backyard, so I wanted to type out one post I could refer them to.

To start, the wait time to get into Dr V's office in Shreveport is awful.  Like six months.  However, I got in much quicker by getting on the wait list for cancelled appointments.  But it was obvious to me from the very first day that his office is swamped, and the patient load is huge....and maybe too huge.

I know some people have said the Dr. V's personality wasn't the greatest.  I actually found him to be easy enough to talk to, and he seemed to explain things clearly.  I don't need a lot of coddling from the actual doctor, so he didn't really bother me. My greatest challenges were with his office.  From the very beginning, I found myself irritated with the fact that I could never reach live person.  And when I left messages, I rarely got a call back before the end of the day.  While that is acceptable for most doctors and situations, in the world of infertility that just doesn't work.  Everything from bloodwork to ultrasounds is so time sensitive.  It's irritating enough to have drop everything to go to the doctor because your Day One (again!) and you need to start a new cycle of testing etc.  But when you're looking at a day full of work meetings and school stuff and you JUST WANT TO MAKE A FREAKING APPOINTMENT BUT CAN'T GET THROUGH TO A LIVE PERSON....well it just wasn't a good fit for me.

My breaking point was the day I called, after waiting three months for surgery, and the nurse told me I was going to need to be cancelled because my scheduled date was no longer going to fall in the right part of my cycle.   I completely lost it...which then got her to talk to the doctor and a simple solution was found.  However, without the temper tantrum I would have been sitting at home, starting the whole thing over.  Worse, was when I explained to the nurse that I was under just a wee bit of stress making my cycle a bit unpredictable. When she had the guts to tell me that she “didn’t know what I had to be stressed about" I knew it was over.  I guarantee she will never say that to any girl on Day one of their cycle, ever, ever again.  Most importantly, if that is the extent of her problem solving skills, I had fears about her ability to coach me through anything more difficult.

When we went for a second opinion in Dallas, I wasn't sure whether or not driving back and forth would be something we could do.  If we had the option to do something other than IVF, I still might have considered using Shreveport for the convenience factor, and because the treatments look relatively the same, no matter who is doing it.  However, once the stakes were raised to IVF I knew that I needed more coddling and hand holding than Shreveport could provide. One of my great fears about IVF is about the safety and knowledge of the embryologist and lab.  This is the place and people who will handle the genetic components that will (hopefully) be our baby.  There is virtually no information about them, and no way to research the best ones.  You are simply at the mercy of who your doctor hires.  After having a wonderful experience with every individual I have come in contact with at Dr. S. office, I can have peace that he hires the best.

I have found that as we have begun planning for IVF and tackling all of the emotional and financial hurdles that there is a lot more to In-Vitro than I previously thought.  IVF is an incredibly delicate procedure, and doctors all have different opinions about how to best perform it.  IVF is not performed the same at every fertility center.  There are some very “conventional” ways to perform IVF, which would actually have not be the best thing for me.  I am a very young woman, yet I have low ovarian reserve.  My reproductive organs work more like someone who is much older than me.  That in and of itself puts me in a category of women who have not been researched as thoroughly.  IVF is the procedure that will be performed, but Dr. Selah’s office will do it in a way that will give our embryos the most assistance possible in becoming fertilized and growing.  And he will do that while also attempting to keep our risk of multiples as low as possible. 

Most importantly, Dr. Selah's office is awesome. I can email any of them: receptionist, nurse, financials, and even our DOCTOR and get a response within an hour.  It rocks my world.  More importantly, I feel peace that Dr. S is shooting straight with us and truly directing us toward the best treatment and not taking us on a wild ride of "standard” treatment protocols that will only be thousands of dollars down the drain with very little results.  I would have much preferred IUI, however if it was going to be an exercise in futility I appreciate having been spared emotionally and financially.

I have confidence in Dr. Selah and his staff. Whether we get a baby or not, I will never have doubts about his knowledge or ability.  He himself acknowledged to us that he is not the creator who makes babies.  All he can do is use his knowledge and experience to shift the odds more strongly in our favor.  Our hope and faith is not in a doctor or a fertility center, but in a God who will help it all come together and work through some of the most skilled and intelligent people I have met.

Check out this video about Dr. S and the Sher Institute!

Love,

Juli