I came to Dr. Chang in 2010 with a challenging case of endometriosis and wanting to start a family. My first impression of Dr. Chang was that she was soft-spoken, knowledgeable, a good listener and very humble. I didnâ??t know then, that her, my husband and I were at the beginning of a long road together, which proved to be the most difficult thing I have ever had to live through. In the more than 2 years we worked together with Dr. Chang, my initial impression of her never changed, and further, we were fortunate to have the most compassionate, caring, competent and sweet doctor by our side. When you have as many doctorâ??s appointments as I did with her, you would think that emergencies creep in and it is inevitable for her to be late or unable to show for some appointments. This has never happened. Considering that she performs surgeries at St. Vincent Hospital, performs ART procedures at OHSU downtown and practices in Beaverton, I consider this to be a miracle on its own. She has… simply never made us wait, which I have always considered to be the level of mutual respect that she has for her patients. Also, she will personally call you after your procedures to make sure you are doing fine and often she will even call you to tell you about test results. She will always personally call you to deliver bad news, which is the hardest thing to do Iâ??m sure, but this shows how personally invested she is in your care and in your life. I truly love her for that.
If you do your own research and have questions, she will entertain them all and if you have suggestion for things to try, such as some additional test, she will consider you as part of the team and work with you effortlessly. The time that I struggled with getting myself better from endometriosis and getting pregnant has been filled with disappointments, pain, crying and often doubt. I doubted if I was doing enough or if I was doing too much. I also wondered if I have looked far enough to find the doctor to help me. Dr. Chang has always encouraged us to look to others, and we did. We have consulted with both Oregon Reproductive Medicine (ORM) and Fertility Consultants at OHSU among others. Returning to Dr. Changâ??s office was always a relief. I work with numbers for my profession, so naturally I looked into ART success rates. ORM is one of the leading offices in the nation. But when you look closer, there are two things that were very important to us, that you will not receive from ORM: personal, compassionate care, and any care at all if you have little or no likelihood of getting pregnant. Dr. Chang would never turn anyone away to make her numbers look better and that is exactly why we grew to trust her unconditionally after working with her for so long. At Fertility Consultants I had a very bad experience with a seemingly routine exam/procedure. Given my history of endometriosis (including 2 surgeries in 2 years, both unsuccessful at treating difficult to get to areas) I was in pain in about 3 weeks out of a month and ultrasounds, mock transfers, etc. were not always easy. The exam at Fertility Consultants has been hands down the most painful in my entire life, so much so, that my tears were flowing. However, at no point during the procedure was I asked if I was ok, or if they should stop. Dr. Chang by contrast is the gentlest physician and she always, always, always asks if I am ok, and if I am in a lot of pain, do I want to continue.
Nobody really thinks that one day they will end up on a fertility doctorâ??s table, thatâ??s just not how anyone imagines starting a family. But if you do end up on that table, you hope that you are always treated with respect and a great deal of compassion. And Dr. Chang was the only RE who has made me feel safe in that sense. My advice to those who are trying to figure out where to get help with their fertility challenges is to be careful. Needing help with starting a family is not the same as needing help with other things, such as fixing your car or landscaping your yard. In most of those cases, you are only looking for competence and maybe a fair price. But if you need help with starting a family, in addition to competence, you need someone on your team, who will take a stake in your life, who wonâ??t make you feel like you are someone off of an assembly line and who will not pass you off when the going gets rough. My husband and I will forever be grateful that we found Dr. Chang and that she stuck it out with us. Thank you Dr. Chang.
Finally, I want to mention the staff of Dr. Chang, who are all without an exception are the kindest, friendliest and hardest working ladies. Angie, Hanh, Deidra, and Morgan, thank you so much for all your support, hard work and kindness!
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