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Re: College student stuck between a rock and a hard place
From: Alyson (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Tue Sep 6 09:12:42 2005
Tiffany,
I've been there and done this..and it stinks!
Gonna just throw this out there for starters...does your school offer a
health insurance plan? My college offered a student health insurance
that you could purchase if you could not be covered on your parents plan
any longer, it was cheap and offered decent coverage. If that isn't an
option then I would actually go along with your dad and husband. This
is just my opinion. Here's why- if you see the specialist through
health services and go along with the lap out of pocket, you have a pre
existing condition on the books that likely will not be covered by your
insurance once you get coverage. In fact it could always be excluded
along with any fertility treatments (if that comes up)in the future
because that would be tied to the endo. The last thing you want is to
be paying out of pocket for this indefinately, esp. on a teachers
salary. Insurance companies are bastards and they don't like to pay for
anything you had as an uninsured patient.
That said, doctors quite frequently treat endometriosis by putting the
patient on a continuous dosage of birth control pills or progesterone
until they are ready to get pregnant. Your ovaries won't shrivel up and
die, they'll just hang out until your ready to use them again. It may
take a few months once you stop the birth control for them to figure out
what's up again, but once your normal hormone cycle kicks back up so
will your ovaries. The birth control pills will also replace your
estrogen cycle and hopefully keep the endo from progressing
(endometriosis responds to estrogen, the theory is that if you take
estrogen out of the equation the endo won't be stimulated). That will
probably be the best way to preserve your fertility until you can take
the more serious steps of surgery. Also, don't get ahead of yourself.
Just because you have endo doesn't mean you won't be able to have kids.
There are plenty of women on this forum who have been able to have
children. It all just depends on where your endo is and to what extent
you have it. Just keep doing your research and ask lots of questions.
Good luck to you!
(Sorry I went on so long!!)
Alyson
At Mon, 5 Sep 2005, Tiffany wrote:
>
>Hello,
>I have had these wierd pains for years. it started about 2002 and every
>dr i have seen about it says that it is my IBS/spastic colon,without
>even an exam, and that there isnt anything to do about it. Finally,
>when the pain became more constant I went to the student helth services
>at my university here in FL since i do not have insurence.
>
>*I should mention that i do not have insurence bc i chose to get married
>to my husband at 18 (no we dont have kids) and i am 20 now and in my
>senior year and without a job.
>
>At the health services place, they tested me for all the stds and stuff
>and did an ultra sound, all of this has run me about 300 bux. Selfpay!
>When they were stumped as to the cause of my pain they refered me to a
>OB/GYN/fertility specialist to consult.
>
>There we talked about my history and ultrsound results and he said that
>it sounds to him like endo. (NEWS TO ME!) after explaining that the
>only way to diagnose it was thru a lap and that was thousands of dollars
>(again that i would have to pay out of pocket for) this was not an
>option. he recomended that i continue my birth control patch
>continuosly until i have insurence (which is a min of a year and a half
>away) and that doing this would stop the progression of this disease (I
>HAVE A DISEASE?!?!?!)
>
>i have been researching like mad for 4 days now (i found out last fri
>morn). I must admit that when i read about the infertility prospect and
>surgery prospect i fell apart. Who ever thinks that at 20 they are told
>that they might not have kids or will have trouble conceiving?
>
>I have talked to the friends i have that have had this. but it doesnt
>seem to help, yet. I am in a bit of a dilema and the people here seem
>nice and sympathetic, so i thought i would write.
>
>I dont have the money to get a lap done. There is the option of going
>through the health dept. here and they refer me to a specialist and
>then the health dept would pay. But how good is the dr with endo? and
>what would recovery be like? I am in school and in my teaching
>internship (special ed k-12). I cant afford to miss more than one or
>two days max. How do i research this dr. to make sure he/she is a good
>dr who is qualified to get it done right the first time. How do i even
>find a doctor for somethign that is so under diagnosed?
>
>The other option is waiting. My husband and dad like this one. I take
>the birth control for the next year an a half and have no period. Then
>when i have insurence to have the lap to get a diagnosis. I dont really
>like this idea for two reasons: 1. I dont like the idea of not haveing
>a period for so long that my ovaries are at risk of shutting down and
>might have a tough time starting again (the infertility item again) 2. I
>spend the next 19 months not knowing what is wrong with me, what if it
>isnt endo but something more serious? What if it is and more damage is
>done by waiting. And i also have to spend that 18 months not getting my
>hopes up for kids, i would do this so that if i were told i wouldnt be
>able to have kids or would have trouble then it wouldnt be such a killer
>blow if i prepare now, if there are no problems then it will be a huge
>relief.
>
>So, i really dont know which path to go down. I am writtin ghere
>because you all seem to have a different opinion and approach. and
>right now as mean as it is i dont want to listen to my dad and husband
>because frankly they are not the ones whose FEMALE organs are in danger.
>so right now i feel like they are trying to take the "easy way out"
>which is awful i know. but im scared and angry right now.
>
>Any advice or help or anything would be more appreciated than you would
>know.
>
>Thank you for reading-
>Tiff
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