Audra’s Experience

After taking oral contraceptives for 15 years, my OB-GYN assured me that the first and second months after stopping them would be my most fertile.  Instead, my cycle still had not returned 6 months later, at which point my OB-GYN directed me to a fertility specialist. 

After forcing my cycle to come back with the use of hormonal medication, and a few months/rounds of Clomid later, I still hadn’t conceived and my body felt completely out of balance.  But, my husband and I decided to give it one more month before progressing to more advanced medical intervention.  That month, I had an ovarian cyst burst in the middle of the night and the pain from it sent me to the ER.  While in the hospital, they told me that my blood work indicated that I was pregnant.  My husband and I were overjoyed for a minute before the ER doctor also told us that they couldn’t see the baby via ultrasound, and they should have been able to given my hCG level.  It turned out that I had an ectopic pregnancy caused by a procedure done by a negligent fertility specialist.  We continued to monitor the hCG levels for several days with hopes that the baby would finally show in the ultrasound, but sadly I had an ectopic pregnancy with an unknown location.  We had been waiting almost a year to receive a positive pregnancy test, and now we would have to make the decision to end the pregnancy we finally had.  This experience left me physically and emotionally drained, and I wanted a break from Western medicine. 

I found Collaborative Care through Yelp reviews, and Jackie responded to my message very quickly.  She took the time to listen and learn about my experience, and her treatments felt extremely personalized. She never jumped to conclusions about how I was feeling, and she listened to the smallest, most minor symptoms I was having.  I could tell she genuinely cared about my experience and wanted me to feel my best; all of these things are the opposite of my previous medical experiences.  Under Jackie’s care, my body felt better and more balanced in one month than it had in years, and in the second month of fertility treatments with Jackie, I received another positive pregnancy test, but this time it was a healthy pregnancy. 

My husband and I welcomed our beautiful baby girl in May 2018, and we have Jackie’s care to thank for making that possible.