Should Have Put Him in a Headlock

Warning: not-graphic discussion of women’s parts and problems below. If you can’t handle that, I’m gonna suggest you go somewhere else till you mature a little bit. If you don’t want to read, well, I said it wasn’t graphic, but whatever. It’s a big internet–take care and have a good day!

So. I’m seriously getting to not like my surgeon. As far as I know he did a great job, and he’s known for that. When I was scared before the surgery I spent some time on the internet and found he really knows what he’s doing. I was in excellent hands.

His ears, however, and most especially his mouth…

Last week I had my follow-up appointment, nine days after my surgery. I waited nearly an hour in the exam room, then he was in and out in about four minutes and that time included a quick pelvic exam. As he left the room I asked him the situation with my ovaries. The plan for the surgery had been to probably leave them in place, or take one or both if he saw a need.

Realize that I’d already seen the man once since my surgery, in the hospital. That was about a ten-second visit, but I had seen him.

He said, “Oh, yes, I did take one let me see which one you still have…” then he looked in my file and said, “no, actually I did take both, because the way the blood supply was, you were at risk for serious bleeding if I left one in place.”

…this was more than a week after my surgery, and I nearly had to tackle him to get time to ask that question. Before I could think of another question to ask, he was out the door. No instructions of “wait for the nurse for other stuffs” or “we’re all set, have a great life!” Nothing. He just left me there. After ten minutes I decided to go up front and see if I was actually waiting for anything. A mystified lady in scrubs checked my “patient summary” and said it looked like I was all done, thanks, have a great life!

She helpfully printed it out for me. Listed among my problems are “menorrhagia,” “stress” and “female.”

…

…okay, then, Doc.

I was in a lot of pain that day, so it wasn’t until I got home that I started wondering if he shouldn’t have given me a return-to-work date. I put it on my to-do list to call my gynecologist, who actually talks to me, and see what I needed to do. Yesterday I made that call, and yes–my surgeon should have already done it. The lady I spoke to explained that since the surgeon had done the post-op appointment, she needed to research how to bring me in so my insurance would still pay for it, and she’d call me back.

Hurray, cross that off the list. Onwards.

Down towards the bottom of my list was “research menopause.” Last night when I felt too brain-gone to do anything else on my list but I wasn’t ready for bed, I went and had a look at what to expect.

Wow. Some fun facts out there! Women who go through surgical menopause get it all at once, unlike natural menopause where the ovaries taper off hormone production slowly. So a girl can expect a bumpy ride. Also, women who go through surgical menopause and don’t take Hormone Replacement Therapy until about age 50 have increased risks of heart disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease… There are risks and side effects to HRT too, of course, but these are things that should be discussed.

You’d think someone would have mentioned it.

So it’s been two weeks now since the surgery. I’ve had hot flashes that have me flinging the blankets off at three in the morning in my 60° house (which scares the heck out of the cats, used to me being a lump of warmth to sleep on at three a.m.) I went to bed last night determined I would talk to my gynecologist TODAY and get some things straightened out. And I’d let her know my opinion of my surgeon’s communication skills.

The good news in all this? She called me at eight this morning, I’ve got an appointment at eleven, and the insurance will pay for it because she needs to discuss HRT with me. That was her suggestion, before I could ask.

I’m still gonna tell her about that other doctor.