WOMENS-HEALTH Messages for June, 2000: Re: ?strange behavior by gyn

Re: ?strange behavior by gyn

From: anonymous@obgyn.net
Tue, 13 Jun 2000 08:53:27 -0500 (CDT)

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In reply to: Jill: "?strange behavior by gyn"

At Tue, 13 Jun 2000, Jill wrote: >
>I had my first colposcopy and the gyn did something that seemed strange.
>Before the exam started , he put a glove on and started applying KY
>jelly to my vaginal opening using a round and round motion. While he
>was doing this , he was looking at my face intently [I wasn't lying flat
>as am pregnant and can't tolerate lying flat, so I could clearly see him
>looking at me]. The nurse had her back turned and was preparing slides
>on the other side of the room while he was doing this. Then he stopped
>and took off the glove and seemed to be waiting for the nurse. When the
>nurse was ready he then put on a pair of gloves and inserted the
>speculum and started with the colposcopy. I am feeling really uneasy
>about this and want to change gyn's. It was somewhat subtle but I am
>feeling very uncomfortable with this gyn ,especially with him looking at
>me like he did. Could someone please tell me if there is any medical
>rationale to his action.

That is not the way that I do it, but that doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with it. I generally use fairly small speculums for routine exams, but I use a bigger one for colpos, so a certain amount of lubricant makes things easier. I would put the KY on the speculum myself, but you can do it the other way.

You have to be careful about how you interpret looks. I wasn't there, so I cannot possible say what the look meant, but I have a story from my own experience that may help.

I was desperately trying to stop the bleeding on a very young girl following a vaginal delivery. I had tried almost everything short of surgery, the blood loss was horrific, and I knew that we were in deep, deep trouble if I could not get the bleeding stopped very soon. The girl had been terrified from the start of labor, and was more so now, so I was trying to be reassuring and calming. The girl's mother was standing at the bedside, and as I was speaking in a reassuring way to the girl, I was trying to communicate nonverbally to the mother that we were really up the creek without a paddle. I needed her to be aware of the gravity of the situation, as she would end up being the one to make decisions for her daughter as her daughter was beginning to lose consciousness.

To make a long story short, we finally managed to get the bleeding stopped, by means of techniques that I had only read about, preserve the girl's fertility, avoid surgery, and on to full recovery. I was, to put it mildly, quite proud of myself.

A few weeks later, I was informed that the girl's mother had filed a complaint with the hospital about me, because I had given her a "mean look". To date, this is the only complaint ever filed about me with any hospital. I was crushed, and even have occasional nighmares about this (like most doctors, I am an approval junkie).

The take home message is that not all of us have faces that send the message that we want to send every time. If your doctor makes you uncomfortable, then you might need to switch. Just remember however, he may just have a weird face like me.

--
William D. McIntosh, MD, FACOG
Clarksville, TN

This is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to be replacement
or substitute for consultation and examination by an appropriate medical
professional.  Due to time constraints, private e-mails cannot be answered.

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