Post by jessabug on Aug 18, 2011 17:09:46 GMT -5
Okay I'm done being a freak lol. I've been waiting 2 weeks to do that ;D
I got my letter from Dr. Redwine today. I feel like I should have felt better than I did when reading it, but it turns out that I'm back at square two (I say two instead of one because one would be not knowing that I have endo, ha). I guess I was disappointed because I was expecting two things: I was expecting him to heavily discuss my ovary pain that you girls have heard me complain about for the past month since that's the most prevalent pain I have, and I was expecting him to say something along the lines of "because your doctors have discovered this, I think such and such."
Turns out, he didn't discuss my ovarian pain at all, but rather went into detail on my uterine cramps. As for his hypothesis on my case, he wasn't able to offer much because 1.) while Dr. Anderson told me AND my mom that I had a "significant" amount of endometriosis (those were HIS words), his operative report concluded that endo was found on my left ovary, left sidewall, and outside of my bladder and that I did NOT have much (excuse me, but, wtf??). and 2.) while Dr. Gerhards told me that I was "full of adhesions" and that my pelvis was "solid" (again, HER words), she did NOT make any exam notes regarding anything about adhesions, and in addition to that, the operative report also did not state anything about me having adhesions. Dr. Redwine said that "there really was not any mention of adhesions or scar tissue in the operative report, so I am not really sure where the notion that you have a lot of scar tissue came from, although the pelvic exam in July 2011 mentioned that the uterus was slightly mobile. Normally, the uterus can be moved around without much restriction, so if it was "slightly mobile", it might have given an impression to the examining physician that it was stuck down by some scar tissue. However, since there was not any scar tissue in the pelvis at your laparoscopy just a month before, there is not any reason that scar tissue should have formed from the surgery that you had done." Umm, what?? Then why DON'T I move freely?
I'm starting to wonder how much doctors will say to you just to appease you (not Dr. Redwine, I mean the other doctors). I'm so confused by this, and also upset because I feel like I've been made to look like a fool and a drama queen, and I am THE only person who knows the truth, that these doctors really did say those things to me, verbatim. I'm embarrassed because I'm sure it makes others (like Dr. Redwine) want to question my integrity when I'm making all these claims about how I was told I have a lot of endo and that I'm full of adhesions. That alone was enough to make me burst into tears on the spot! I am seriously thinking about turning my iPhone tape recorder on in my doctors appointments from now on, just so I can prove that I heard what I say I heard.
But regardless of that, some interesting blanks that he filled in about my case:
-Dr. Anderson DID remove what endo he found using argon beam coagulation, but that it often doesn't burn deep enough to destroy the disease which is why patients are left in persistent pain.
-The endo that Dr. Anderson found was on my left ovary, left pelvic sidewall, and bladder
-I had an elevated C-Reactive Protein level of 1.7 although my sed rate was only 11 (I tried to research this, and any insight would be much appreciated, but from what I found, I understand that they both measure inflammation, so it's contradictory that one is elevated and one is low?)
-My July exam notes stated that I had a tender uterus and tenderness across the pelvis
His recommendations:
-He suggested I make an appointment to see him, since, as Tamela mentioned in her thread, he can gain a lot of insight from a consultation and it also offers an opportunity to clear things up like the contradictory things stupid doctors say...
-His surgical recommendations based on my medical records are to have a laparoscopy with full excision of endometriosis in addition to a presacral neurectomy, which is where they cut the nerves that come out of the uterus in order to interrupt the transmission of pain from the uterus to the spinal cord and brain, in order to remedy my horrendous period cramps and episodes of explosive pelvic pain.
I have an appointment on the 29th to see him for a consultation. I am really, really hoping that he's able to give me more clarity, because right now I'm feeling a little discouraged, mostly because although he did address my most severe pain, he didn't address my most chronic, which I guess I didn't realize but feels more important to me since it's what I have to deal with on a daily basis?
I feel like I have to make it clear that although the mood of this post is somewhat dejected and disappointed, I'm not at all upset with Dr. Redwine and I understand that right now he's just going off of what he has and I'm sure he'll be able to help me a lot more when I see him in person and he gets a feel (pun intended? hehe) for my case on his own. He seems like a great doctor, and I really like his receptionist Alana -- she calls me J, which is what people in my family call me, and it kinda made it feel like she already knows & cares about me (corny I know), and she's been so patient with my frantic anxiety attacks over the whole wrong address debacle and when I told her I'd be going out of town on Saturday morning, she even offered to fax me his letters so that I could have some peace of mind. I'm really looking forward to meeting Dr. Redwine, and I'm sure that I will be in good hands.
I got my letter from Dr. Redwine today. I feel like I should have felt better than I did when reading it, but it turns out that I'm back at square two (I say two instead of one because one would be not knowing that I have endo, ha). I guess I was disappointed because I was expecting two things: I was expecting him to heavily discuss my ovary pain that you girls have heard me complain about for the past month since that's the most prevalent pain I have, and I was expecting him to say something along the lines of "because your doctors have discovered this, I think such and such."
Turns out, he didn't discuss my ovarian pain at all, but rather went into detail on my uterine cramps. As for his hypothesis on my case, he wasn't able to offer much because 1.) while Dr. Anderson told me AND my mom that I had a "significant" amount of endometriosis (those were HIS words), his operative report concluded that endo was found on my left ovary, left sidewall, and outside of my bladder and that I did NOT have much (excuse me, but, wtf??). and 2.) while Dr. Gerhards told me that I was "full of adhesions" and that my pelvis was "solid" (again, HER words), she did NOT make any exam notes regarding anything about adhesions, and in addition to that, the operative report also did not state anything about me having adhesions. Dr. Redwine said that "there really was not any mention of adhesions or scar tissue in the operative report, so I am not really sure where the notion that you have a lot of scar tissue came from, although the pelvic exam in July 2011 mentioned that the uterus was slightly mobile. Normally, the uterus can be moved around without much restriction, so if it was "slightly mobile", it might have given an impression to the examining physician that it was stuck down by some scar tissue. However, since there was not any scar tissue in the pelvis at your laparoscopy just a month before, there is not any reason that scar tissue should have formed from the surgery that you had done." Umm, what?? Then why DON'T I move freely?
I'm starting to wonder how much doctors will say to you just to appease you (not Dr. Redwine, I mean the other doctors). I'm so confused by this, and also upset because I feel like I've been made to look like a fool and a drama queen, and I am THE only person who knows the truth, that these doctors really did say those things to me, verbatim. I'm embarrassed because I'm sure it makes others (like Dr. Redwine) want to question my integrity when I'm making all these claims about how I was told I have a lot of endo and that I'm full of adhesions. That alone was enough to make me burst into tears on the spot! I am seriously thinking about turning my iPhone tape recorder on in my doctors appointments from now on, just so I can prove that I heard what I say I heard.
But regardless of that, some interesting blanks that he filled in about my case:
-Dr. Anderson DID remove what endo he found using argon beam coagulation, but that it often doesn't burn deep enough to destroy the disease which is why patients are left in persistent pain.
-The endo that Dr. Anderson found was on my left ovary, left pelvic sidewall, and bladder
-I had an elevated C-Reactive Protein level of 1.7 although my sed rate was only 11 (I tried to research this, and any insight would be much appreciated, but from what I found, I understand that they both measure inflammation, so it's contradictory that one is elevated and one is low?)
-My July exam notes stated that I had a tender uterus and tenderness across the pelvis
His recommendations:
-He suggested I make an appointment to see him, since, as Tamela mentioned in her thread, he can gain a lot of insight from a consultation and it also offers an opportunity to clear things up like the contradictory things stupid doctors say...
-His surgical recommendations based on my medical records are to have a laparoscopy with full excision of endometriosis in addition to a presacral neurectomy, which is where they cut the nerves that come out of the uterus in order to interrupt the transmission of pain from the uterus to the spinal cord and brain, in order to remedy my horrendous period cramps and episodes of explosive pelvic pain.
I have an appointment on the 29th to see him for a consultation. I am really, really hoping that he's able to give me more clarity, because right now I'm feeling a little discouraged, mostly because although he did address my most severe pain, he didn't address my most chronic, which I guess I didn't realize but feels more important to me since it's what I have to deal with on a daily basis?
I feel like I have to make it clear that although the mood of this post is somewhat dejected and disappointed, I'm not at all upset with Dr. Redwine and I understand that right now he's just going off of what he has and I'm sure he'll be able to help me a lot more when I see him in person and he gets a feel (pun intended? hehe) for my case on his own. He seems like a great doctor, and I really like his receptionist Alana -- she calls me J, which is what people in my family call me, and it kinda made it feel like she already knows & cares about me (corny I know), and she's been so patient with my frantic anxiety attacks over the whole wrong address debacle and when I told her I'd be going out of town on Saturday morning, she even offered to fax me his letters so that I could have some peace of mind. I'm really looking forward to meeting Dr. Redwine, and I'm sure that I will be in good hands.