Appt Update

(Start poss Trigs)

After waiting nearly 2 months, I finally got in to see an OB/GYN yesterday to figure out what to do as far as our IF treatments. (Granted, an OB/GYN isn't my first choice, but whatever.) It took me a little while to get to the hospital but I arrived a whole whopping 3 minutes late. Anyways... the staff directed me to the proper waiting area, and I took a seat. Near me was a lady who was shockingly 38 weeks pregnant, although she looked more like she was only 24 weeks at the most. We started talking and I learned that even though she's been at that place for the whole pregnancy, she's never seen the same provider twice. In fact, they had just done her 1 hr glucose tolerance test at 36 weeks. Normally, this is done at 28 weeks, not 36. By that time in the pregnancy, it's really not going to matter, cuz you can pop out that baby at anytime!! I was completely shocked to hear that. I came home and told my DH and also told him that when we do get pregnant, we are going to have to change the insurance coverage for me so that I can see a civilian doctor, instead of being bounced around from one military doctor to the next. I want to be able to see the same physician my entire pregnancy, not be bounced around from one doctor to another. I think that's insanely stupid on their part.

(End poss trigs)

But I digress...so I got called back and the nurse and I did the prep chit-chat - discussing what my history was regarding IF, going over my vitals, and somewhat reviewing my records from my previous OB/GYN. She was super nice and I honestly felt like she really cared about the patient (something I'm a strong advocate of when it comes to health care). She left and about 15 minutes later, the doctor finally showed up. He's an older guy and walked in and said "Well, I just finished reading this junk (referring to my records), and that's basically what it is - junk." First impression - WTH!?!?!?! Before even really talking to me to find out what all we have done, he calls the treatments we did with my previous doctor junk. He also informed me that he seems to have become the infertility doctor and he's not sure why. (My understanding - I don't like dealing with you infertiles, but I keep having to.)

He went on to claim that he could only find one cycle that showed that I actually O'd, even though I know I O'd on every single one of them. He was also appalled that my previous doctor didn't do an HSG first. Every doctor is different, and I happen to like how my previous doctor handled my care. It made a heck of a lot of sense to me. Dr. W (I'll just call him that), also stated that he didn't think that 100 mg of Clomid was enough for me, just based on what my ultrasound reports showed. After criticizing my previous doctor's office for about 15 minutes, he finally asked me how I viewed what we had done, and what my perspective was on it all. I told him exactly what we did and why things were done the way they were with my previous doctor. He couldn't quite grasp the fact that my previous doctor did U/S on CD3, 11, and 13. He didn't understand why they'd do one on day 3, so I (the patient) had to explain it to him (the doctor).

To make things even not so nicer, he's a strong advocate for doing IUIs. He asked my opinion on doing Artificial Insemination (AI) after pushing his ideas on me for 10 minutes. I told him I don't want to do something like that if it's not medically necessary, meaning if a post-coital test is normal (which they don't do in his office), I don't see a point in doing something like that - especially if you're going to push your ideas on me instead of letting me decide things for myself. He interrupted me and said "Well, you're not pregnant! To me that's a good enough reason to do AI." He claimed he was trying to be sarcastic, but I wasn't getting a sarcastic vibe at all. I was getting a "I'm right and that's the only way it is. I'm the doctor and I'll decide what to do with your health without your input." So not cool. I honestly felt like I was being talked down to and being told what to do the entire time I talked with him.

Oh, and get this...he's going to renew my Clomid prescription. I'm not sure what dosage he's going to give me, and his version of monitoring? Having me come in for a visit on CD13 so he can check my cervix to decide if we're going to do AI or not. There's no blood draws, no ultrasounds, just a cervix check on CD13. That's not monitoring at all. Plus, even though I'm on CD14 right now, he wants me to start a cycle of Clomid so I can get AF and we can go on to an HSG. I personally don't feel comfortable doing that at all. I don't like starting meds like that mid-cycle, especially if we don't know where my follies are at this point during this non-medicated cycle. Who's to say that I won't O on my own again? I'm tossing the idea around a lot, but I'm thinking that I won't be starting it until the next AF visit.

He asked me what I wanted to do with my treatment (I could tell he really didn't care though). He asked if I wanted to do more clomid or if I wanted to see an RE. He warned against seeing an RE though because my insurance would only cover a consultation (yeah, that's not true). I told him we'd try things here for a couple of months and then move on. I'm thinking in August, I'll ask for a referral. But then again, after feeling like a peon after visiting with him yesterday, I'm almost wonodering if I should see another doctor there and see what they say. Granted, I know it'll probably be about the same treatment plan, no matter what, but honestly, I want to see a doctor who actually cares about my care and who doesn't bash my previous doctor. (BTW, my previous doctor was one of the best OB/GYNs in our area, and I highly respected him as a physician. Dr. W - not so much.)

When I left the office, I was pissed. How could a doctor treat a patient like that? IF is hard enough but to have a doctor tell me what to do next instead of discussing options with me doesn't make things any easier. I just couldn't believe it. I'm thinking about talking with my insurance to see what I need to do to get to see another physician there. I just don't want to be working with a doctor who is so set in his ways that he doesn't listen to his patient. To me that's not health care, and I don't like it and shouldn't have to deal with it.

Ugh...stupid doctor.