Re: scared and need advice: to Kristy and AnonII
From: Anon (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Tue Feb 17 07:25:46 2004
>Anon,
I'm sorry if it feels that people are ganging up on you if they offer
other opinions, but I don't think that's the case. You offered some
good observations, but I wanted to share some facts based on knowledge
obtained when I was underwriting medical practices.
I didn't read all your posts, so I'm not sure why your doctor went ahead
with surgery when he was "100% sure you didn't have endo". The surgery
determined that you in fact , did. There are many medical conditions
where tests don't reveal the true extent of the problem and a diagnosis
cannot be completed without surgery. Assuming you had insurance, the
doctor had to justify some reason for the surgery to the insurance
company or it would have been denied. I also don't understand the
profuse hospital bed apologies. If the surgical process found endo,
presumably the surgery was subsequently performed to treat the
condition.
The fact that someone is an OBGYN is not reason enough to reject the
physician as a provider of treatment of endo or any other gyn problem..
The patient has to ask sufficent questions to determine how much
experience a particular doctor has with various conditions and
procedures, and do research on the doctor to see what his/her
credentials are. Also, since so many patients have access to the
internet, doing research on credible sites such as webmd.com will
provide a wealth of information to discuss with the doctor.
If you reject a doctor just because he/she happens to do OB, you could
be missing out on an opportunity to find a really good, caring doctor
who can help.
--
Anon II
>Anon,
>
>I know you just want to help Softball. It's just that I get upset when
>someone talks about regular OB/GYNs in such a way that makes it seem
>like all OB/GYNs don't know how to deal with endo. It was a regular
>OB/GYN that listened to me, and I mean really listened to me after
>having to put up with some other drs who pretty much told me I was crazy
>and laughed when I told them that I felt my uterus and ovaries move
>forward which was later proved by a CT Scan later down the road. It was
>that regular OB/GYN (a woman, not a man, which was the first gyn I ever
>went to) that got me in to the OR even though with my very first surgery
>a male dr did help. He was a student of Redwine. Not sure if he still
>is. With my second surgery in 1999 it was also a woman OB/GYN (the one
>I have now) that got me in to the OR. And with that surgery she saw
>visible lesions, the male dr that helped in the OR with my first surgery
>didn't say anything about endo in his op report at my first surgery in
>1997.
>
>Softball, my recommendation to you is to try a lower dose bcp to see if
>that helps you. You said in your message you may not have a choice but
>to do the Lupron and yes you do have a choice. I would also suggest
>that you talk to the ladies here that have done Lupron about their
>experiences both good and bad and also consider joining some other endo
>lists too like the ERC one and get input from there too. Also, consider
>maybe natural alternatives such as dietary changes. Lupron like
>hysterectomy should be last resort. Or as Anon 1 told you find another
>dr that is more experienced with endo. It may be another regular OB/GYN
>or you may have to travel somewhere if you can't find someone
>experienced there in OK whether it be a regular OB/GYN, a Gyn
>Oncologist, or an RE (if they will see you). But pls know that you
>always have choices. Don't let anyone tell you that you don't have any
>choices b/c you do. We all do.
>
>We just have to find the one that's right for us.
>
>Kristy :)