wAiTinG

Jan 17, 2010

This may be "TMI" for some, but I'm going to write about it anyway.

On December 10th, I contacted my doctor with a concern about a heavy, extended period.  (See, TMI already.)  Lots of bleeding, lots of clotting.  This was the second week of it, and my husband urged me to call.

The doctor wanted me to leave work and go to the ER.  No.  In the past, every medical issue I've had is unfounded.  I leave this doctor or that doctor or that specialist with a "Sorry, we don't see anything wrong" - this gets expensive and frustrating.  They convinced me to come to Urgent Care after work for some tests.  Fine.  My doctor said she'd call me the next day with results.

No call the next day, or days after that.  I chalked it up to yet another "Sorry, we didn't see anything wrong."  Figured maybe she was feeling sheepish.  Whatever.

Last week I emailed my doctor.  I explained that the bleeding/clotting was still a problem, and asked if we could discuss birth control post-surgery to help control the bleeding.  I received a response from her nurse saying we could talk about it at my pre-op visit on January 14th.  Okay.

My doctor sits down at my pre-op, looks at my chart, and asks "What were the results of the ultrasound?"

Huh?  What ultrasound?  Turns out my records show I was supposed to have an ultrasound done of my uterus after my visit to Urgent Care.  Not sure how I was supposed to know that.  Someone dropped the ball.

Everything looked good for my pre-op, but my doctor would/could not sign off on it until seeing the results of the ultrasound.  Fine.  I made an "ASAP" appointment at a specialty center an hour away, they squeezed me in at 4:45 pm on Thursday.

Friday afternoon I received a call from my doctor.  The ultrasound shows the lining of my uterus is extremely thick, and cause for concern.  (I have always had very irregular periods, and was warned way back in 1998 that several months without a period could eventually result in cancer.)  A biopsy is needed.  Okay, tell me when.  We're running out of time here.  (Remember, she won' t sign off on my pre-op...)  She tells me she'll do some checking and call me back.

She called back to say she spoke with other doctors, and the biopsy won't do it; I need a D&C.  Again, okay, fine, just tell me when and where.

She isn't sure if the surgeon will require the D&C be done before surgery or if he will be okay with performing surgery with the "uterus problem" knowing I will follow up with the D&C the following week.  She left a message for the surgeon, posing this question.

I am not in the medical field.  I'm just an Administrative Assistant.  But even I know that that chances of a call back from a surgeon are slim on a Friday afternoon.  Call me crazy.  I get on the phone and start calling my surgeon's "people."  I tell them what's going on.  They inform me that the surgeon is in surgery all day, but suggest to hurry and get the D&C done, just make sure there's enough recovery time between that and my surgery on Wednesday. 

I called my doctor's office and spoke with her nurse.  Relayed this information.  She spoke with my doctor, got back on the phone, and told me they are doing nothing more until they hear back from the surgeon.  WHAT?!  I explain that the surgeon is not calling them back any time soon, he's in surgery all day!  It's Friday afternoon.  Monday is a holiday.  Wednesday is my surgery.  We're in crunch time and I need this to move along!  I offer the cell phone numbers of my surgeon's "people" and apologize for stepping on toes as I re-iterate my concern about lack of time here.

Several phone calls later, no progress is made, but they have a Plan A and Plan B.  Plan A is to have the procedure done while I'm on the table for my surgery.  Makes sense, right?  The challenges would be finding a doc at the U to do it on Wednesday morning (citing to ME the fact that we're running out of time! lol) and getting the insurance to cover it being done at the U as opposed to a 'regular' doctor.

Plan B is to go ahead with surgery on Wednesday, and follow up with the D&C a week later.  That's fine, too, but my boss will be angry that I will need more time off work.  (I was planning to return to work one week after surgery.)

Both plans are great... as long as the surgeon will do the surgery without the procedure being done ahead of time.  Crossing my fingers that he will.  His "people" claim I should have an answer tomorrow morning.  We'll see.

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