Spent 4 hours at clinic a few weeks ago for endometriosis appt. They couldn't do anything but write me an Rx for ibuprofen. And try to refer me out.
Got a call yesterday morning that I had an appointment with a specialist today at 9 am. That was fun to arrange at work.
Saw doctor today. No exam. No prescriptions. His basic points were:
- Based on notes, this is the most severe case he's dealt with. Never seen it that bad.
- Best short term rec is to get more surgery and then go into chemically induced early menopause for a while. He conceded there were some slight problems with this plan. And that it wasn't a long term solution.
- My long term options are to wait for menopause or get a total hysterectomy.
- If I want to have kids I should do it quickly, since I'm getting so old. (For those unaware, a common belief in the medical community is that the only reason A Woman wouldn't want all her reproductive organs removed is because she wants to have kids. No other reason to have that stuff). He even offered to refer me to a fertility clinic.
- Treating my chronic pain with pain medication carries a risk of dependency. (Hormone replacement increases certain cancer risks, puts me at high high risk for osteoporisis, and a total hyst has a shit ton of side effects.) But I really need to be aware that pain meds could be bad for me. Also, did he mention that pain meds were bad? P.S. some people have problems with pain medications. Edit: we'd rather remove more organs than have you take some pills for several days out of the month. Okay, that last one is just my bitterness seeping through.
- He concluded with, "I'm not doing anything for you today. I'm just trying to educate you about your choices and your fertility. I'm going to try and refer you to pain specialist.
I really hate going to the doctor's office, but I fucking despise going when it's a conversation we could have had on the fucking phone. I missed work for this shit, got all stressed out, blah blah driving around town and bullshitcakes.
All this crap is exhausting. I start all of these conversations with "Here's what's worked for me, but I am open to suggestions." I wish the suggestions had evolved over the decades beyond "Let us rip out your ovaries."
