Yarrr Girl
New member
Hello everybody! I've been working up to posting this for a while but finally registered tonight.
In a nutshell... DH and I have been looking for "Dr. Right" in terms of gynaecologists to perform a laparoscopic myomectomy on me. I want the relatively smaller incisions and relatively quicker recovery generally associated with laparoscopy vs. a large incision. Other considerations: we're hoping to conceive once I'm completely healed and, if at all possible, to avoid a c-section when the time comes.
Any recommendations?
Longer version:
According to the ultrasounds that I've had done, I have multiple fibroids with the largest measuring about 6cm in diameter. My periods are long and quite heavy and I tend to bleed a bit in between. Then, there's the pain/discomfort and the slightly-protruding-but-noticeable-to-me tummy they've given me. Oops! I forgot the mild anemia. *groan* Anyway, for some time now, I've been taking doctor-prescribed meds during my periods to keep the symptoms under control but they've been a huge, unwanted distraction for far too long and I'm ready to get them taken out.
My regular gyno has been taking care of me so far and is a totally OK doctor, but for various reasons he's not the one that I want to handle this surgery. DH and I have made the rounds and had consults with several doctors, none of whom were terrible, but none of them really felt like "the one" either. We've also been educating ourselves quite a bit about fibroids and the various treatments available for them. With me reaching the limits of my tolerance for discomfort/hassle, we had all but resigned ourselves to settling for "Dr. Goodenough". [DH was more than willing to continue looking and has accompanied me to every single doctor's appointment I've had since we moved to HK -- and we're both grateful that his work makes that possible. It was me who was exasperated and wanted to get it done ASAP.]
Anyway, we got as far as tentatively scheduling the surgery with a particular doctor who had followed the usual script: ultrasounds and whatnot followed by a brief sales pitch for the surgery that described what would happen in the operating room in very broad strokes. This particular doctor seemed to have a bit of verve/energy and our first impression of them was more favorable than that of any of the others.
The problem came when we got down to brass tacks and began asking some informed questions about how they were going to be doing the operation. DH and I had reviewed the information we had gathered and worked up a list of questions. They ranged from obvious stuff that other gynos recommend you ask -- like how they were trained to do that type of op, how many they had done, how frequently, whether they'd had complications, etc. ... to asking whether it would be possible to receive injections that would boost my red-blood-cell production ahead of the surgery in order to minimize the chance that I would need any transfusions during/afterwards (since HK doesn't seem to allow people to easily bank their own blood ahead of surgeries).
We're not doctors, obviously, but we are certainly intelligent enough to be able to understand some lucid explanations and answers.
We were completely polite and non-confrontational throughout, but the doc was surprised that we had any questions at all and, after fielding a couple with a strained smile, patronizingly told DH that he should have been a doctor. They urged us to trust them and that asking so many questions was pointless.
Obviously, scolding patients for trying to perform a minimal bit of due diligence is not acceptable, so we're looking again.
In a nutshell... DH and I have been looking for "Dr. Right" in terms of gynaecologists to perform a laparoscopic myomectomy on me. I want the relatively smaller incisions and relatively quicker recovery generally associated with laparoscopy vs. a large incision. Other considerations: we're hoping to conceive once I'm completely healed and, if at all possible, to avoid a c-section when the time comes.
Any recommendations?
Longer version:
According to the ultrasounds that I've had done, I have multiple fibroids with the largest measuring about 6cm in diameter. My periods are long and quite heavy and I tend to bleed a bit in between. Then, there's the pain/discomfort and the slightly-protruding-but-noticeable-to-me tummy they've given me. Oops! I forgot the mild anemia. *groan* Anyway, for some time now, I've been taking doctor-prescribed meds during my periods to keep the symptoms under control but they've been a huge, unwanted distraction for far too long and I'm ready to get them taken out.
My regular gyno has been taking care of me so far and is a totally OK doctor, but for various reasons he's not the one that I want to handle this surgery. DH and I have made the rounds and had consults with several doctors, none of whom were terrible, but none of them really felt like "the one" either. We've also been educating ourselves quite a bit about fibroids and the various treatments available for them. With me reaching the limits of my tolerance for discomfort/hassle, we had all but resigned ourselves to settling for "Dr. Goodenough". [DH was more than willing to continue looking and has accompanied me to every single doctor's appointment I've had since we moved to HK -- and we're both grateful that his work makes that possible. It was me who was exasperated and wanted to get it done ASAP.]
Anyway, we got as far as tentatively scheduling the surgery with a particular doctor who had followed the usual script: ultrasounds and whatnot followed by a brief sales pitch for the surgery that described what would happen in the operating room in very broad strokes. This particular doctor seemed to have a bit of verve/energy and our first impression of them was more favorable than that of any of the others.
The problem came when we got down to brass tacks and began asking some informed questions about how they were going to be doing the operation. DH and I had reviewed the information we had gathered and worked up a list of questions. They ranged from obvious stuff that other gynos recommend you ask -- like how they were trained to do that type of op, how many they had done, how frequently, whether they'd had complications, etc. ... to asking whether it would be possible to receive injections that would boost my red-blood-cell production ahead of the surgery in order to minimize the chance that I would need any transfusions during/afterwards (since HK doesn't seem to allow people to easily bank their own blood ahead of surgeries).
We're not doctors, obviously, but we are certainly intelligent enough to be able to understand some lucid explanations and answers.
We were completely polite and non-confrontational throughout, but the doc was surprised that we had any questions at all and, after fielding a couple with a strained smile, patronizingly told DH that he should have been a doctor. They urged us to trust them and that asking so many questions was pointless.
Obviously, scolding patients for trying to perform a minimal bit of due diligence is not acceptable, so we're looking again.