When Boy was born, his right testicle was undescended. That was set as a rider on his private health insurance, up to and including testicular cancer later in life.
Because maternity coverage was also not included, last fall, we transferred to Beloved's company's plan, although it was significantly more expensive. Since we didn't have the rider any longer, I finally gave in and took him for the ultrasound the doctors have wanted since he was born to see if the testes was there at all.
Ultrasound didn't locate the missing, so our primary care physician referred us to a specialist, whom I took Boy to see today.
1) The staff treated me like I didn't have a brain. Granted, they couldn't possibly know that I was once pre-med and am very comfortable with scientific/medical terminology, but in that case, their explanation was even worse because they were not very patient with their presentation or really invite questions. I very much felt that I was in the presence of "Experts" who should not be questioned.
2) I didn't like the doctor on sight. I don't know exactly why, but I just didn't. THEN she dropped comments like, "I can see you're busy..." glancing at Girl, and made an awful grimace when Girl cried in protest at my handing her to my friend. The bedside manner was TERRIBLE.
3) Doctor poked Boy in the groin and scrotum, and then said we should schedule an "exploratory surgery" because she felt blood vessels but no teste, and couldn't say if the vessels were free-floating or if the teste was up high in the inguinal canal somewhere. I immediately pointed out there is a family history of cryptorchidism, and asked if other imaging wouldn't be possible to identify the teste first...no, no...she insists that wouldn't be a good option. She also seemed very disgusted that Boy is uncircumcised and wants to "stretch" Boy's foreskin while he is under anesthesia because it is "too tight".
*sigh*
I'll grant that I am TIRED and not on the ball for mental games, but I just don't feel very comfortable with this. My friend wasn't much help...she's very polite and offered that maybe the Doctor had a headache when Girl cried, doesn't have children, etc. Am I overreacting? Am I just another momma who is nervous about having her child go through surgery?
I don't know. My head hurts, my heart hurts. I wish medicine WASN'T a profession where you had to wonder if the doctor isn't just out to line their pocket...
Something doctors and patients forget, is they work and are paid for BY YOU. If you are not happy with what your doctor says and howyou are treated, then they need to be fired. period. You should feel comfortable. They are not Gods or be all end all types, they are your employees, there to help You.
ReplyDeleteI would talk to another specialist. Just plain for getting treated without respect.
ReplyDeleteBesides, if they're going to do surgery, why don't they just do the "hernia repair" and get it over with?
Scans can't detect everything--for example, they couldn't see anything wrong with the appendix of a friend of mine because it already burst. And you know from experience there's other, un-burst things that they miss on ultrasound too.
I hope this gets resolved soon, to your satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteMy twin boys both had inguinal hernias that needed surgical repair before 6 months old. I'm so glad we had an awesome, sensitive pediatrician to work with to coordinate things. You deserve the same.