ok, everyone, I need the benefit of your 20-20 hindsight

From: cathy:- (anonymous@medispecialty.com)
Sun Oct 28 00:12:03 2001


I introduced myself a couple of weeks ago, but I'll recap...

About 7 months ago I started having on-and-off sharp stabbing pains on my right side in exactly the same place and very much the same feeling as I get each month when I ovulate. But it is not nearly so intense -- my ovulation pain is 12 hours at about a 5 or 6, whereas this is more like 0, 1, 2, and an occasional spike to 3. At the same time I started having an intense (like 6 or 7) pain at orgasm, which fortunately only lasts like 10 seconds or so. (When I read of you ladies who need an oxycondon to even consider sex I'm not sure whether I should be incredibly thankful that I don't have anything like that degree of pain -- or really bummed that no matter how you look at it, it is now confirmed that EVERYBODY is getting better sex than me! <wicked grin>)

About 6 weeks ago I visited my family practice doc, who listened to my description of symptoms and immediately guessed "adhesions." I knew something about adhesions because I have a book where the author talks about her surgical spiral where each new surgery for adhesions only made the adhesions worse. The FP said that she would refer me to a gynocologist, and that if they decided it was adhesions then they would probably go in and cut them. I immediately questioned that, "Don't they just come back worse if you cut them? She said, "Uh, no, I don't think so." (But then she is not a surgeon. The important part is that she obviously believes that adhesions=pain, which I know is a good sign.)

So she referred me to a gyne, who kept giving me "the look" -- as in "if you only have this little bit of pain why are you in here complaining?" This is in the middle of "ovarian cancer awareness month" where the article I read in the paper made this big deal about not brushing off vague abdominal symptoms, because with OC it's frequently true that there are vague "not right" things, but the first really significant symptom is often death. I kept feeling like she was saying that I didn't "deserve" her time because I wasn't in enough pain.

The first doc had ordered a pelvic ultrasound which I had a couple of weeks after the appointment with the gyne. So far neither doc has called me with any results. I did get a bill from the hospital for DOING the ultrasound, but no bill from the radiologists for reading the films. I posted to the Q&A board at obgyn.net because of 2 things about the ultrasound -- one is that it took like 10 minutes, and two was that the tech worked only from the left side of my bladder, which is a good 8-10 inches away from the pain on the right side. The doc on obgyn.net told me that first of all it sounded like I needed a transvaginal ultrasound, not an abdominal one, but that anyway a "real" pelvic ultrasound requires moving the wand on both sides and the middle of the abdomen.

So I'm trying to figure out what to do next...

Do I call my family practice doc and find out what the ultrasound said?

Do I call the radiologists and ask for a copy of the report? (At least that way I'll know that there IS a report!)

Do I try for a referral to a different gyne? My FP clearly believes that diagnosing and operating on adhesions are outside her expertise -- although she DOES believe in them.

I live in rural western IL. There is only one gyne who even does surgery at my local hospital -- I went to a nearby slightly larger town to see the gyne. I know how many of you have had your inside (and lives!) totally mucked up by ignoramouses making a bad situation worse and worse... Should I just blow these people off completely? I've been told that a diagnostic laporoscopy is "minimally invasive" surgery like any schmuck can do it and do no harm. But there are those of you who clearly have formed new adhesions from diagnostic laporoscopies. I have this idea of calling Drs Reich & Redan's office and going to Scranton for a lap. But I feel silly calling in the "A Team" when I don't even know for sure whether I HAVE adhesions! Which brings me back to my central problem... I'm really not in a huge amount of pain, and it's not interfering with my life. Except that part about how a "successful" sexual interlude includes getting "kicked in the nuts" which really tends to put a chill on the old libido! So far I've only had one abdominal surgery, my (unnecessary) c-section 7-1/2 years ago. Does a diagnostic lap, even if done by a really good surgeon, mean a big risk that the adhesions and pain will get worse? I mean that seems like a pretty big price to pay to satisfy idle curiosity... What happens if I just blow all these people off and wait until the pain becomes debilitating and then seek treatment?

So, anyway, for those of you who've made it to the end of another of my long rambling discourses... Once a lot of you were in roughly the same situation I am now. Knowing what you know now, what do you think I should do? Think of me as you "doing it all over again." So I guess my question is "if you knew then what you know now, what would you have done?"

--
cathy :-)

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