![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Big sigh of relief
Jul. 8th, 2009 08:34 pmYes, I know my last Alaska post got eaten. I'll finish my trip report soon. But my big news for today is that I had an appointment with a second opinion gynecologist. My first gynecologist I've been seeing for several years and was good enough for routine annuals and prescriptions, but she always seemed overly excitable, not someone I trusted for a calm evaluation, but good enough for routine stuff. This last time, though, she was extremely concerned about the fact that my fibroids, which have been causing me no problems, had continued to enlarge. She really, strongly recommended a hysterectomy, taking out the ovaries too, since my mother had ovarian cancer. It would have to be full incision as well, not laparoscopic, because she said they were too large and laparoscopic would take too long. She was very definite. To be fair, I do believe she had my best interests at heart, in her opinion. But clearly, it was time for a second opinion.
So today I had an appointment with a gynecologist I had seen years ago. I had really liked her and would have continued with her except that her office stopped accepting the medical insurance we carried. When I discovered she was listed again as a preferred provider, she was my clear choice. She's very down-to-earth, the kind of doctor who gives you the info but lets you make up your own mind. Does not push her own opinion, except that she's very definite about doing laparoscopic surgeries if at all possible, and would for me, if I so elected. She's critical of how often other doctors opt for full surgeries instead of lapararoscopic (about my first doctor, she said, "I've worked with her on laparoscopic skills. I'd do it with her!"). And she thinks there's no call for removing the ovaries, so there'd be no instant menopause. "There's not a clear genetic link with ovarian cancer," she says. "There are other cancers that are more common, and we don't whack off those bits preventively, do we?!" She's very up-to-date with current research and doesn't just quote 'by-the-book' opinions. She's from Wisconsin.
But yes, she does think my fibroids are getting big enough that they'll start to cause me problems. There's limited space in there, you know. So I don't have to have them out, but it might be a good idea. I have a window of 4-6 months when they're still small enough to do a laparoscopic surgery. And so I'll schedule a laparoscopic, uterus-only surgery with her, probably after Worldcon. Really, about the best I could hope for. Big sigh of relief!
So today I had an appointment with a gynecologist I had seen years ago. I had really liked her and would have continued with her except that her office stopped accepting the medical insurance we carried. When I discovered she was listed again as a preferred provider, she was my clear choice. She's very down-to-earth, the kind of doctor who gives you the info but lets you make up your own mind. Does not push her own opinion, except that she's very definite about doing laparoscopic surgeries if at all possible, and would for me, if I so elected. She's critical of how often other doctors opt for full surgeries instead of lapararoscopic (about my first doctor, she said, "I've worked with her on laparoscopic skills. I'd do it with her!"). And she thinks there's no call for removing the ovaries, so there'd be no instant menopause. "There's not a clear genetic link with ovarian cancer," she says. "There are other cancers that are more common, and we don't whack off those bits preventively, do we?!" She's very up-to-date with current research and doesn't just quote 'by-the-book' opinions. She's from Wisconsin.
But yes, she does think my fibroids are getting big enough that they'll start to cause me problems. There's limited space in there, you know. So I don't have to have them out, but it might be a good idea. I have a window of 4-6 months when they're still small enough to do a laparoscopic surgery. And so I'll schedule a laparoscopic, uterus-only surgery with her, probably after Worldcon. Really, about the best I could hope for. Big sigh of relief!
