Frustrated In Florida

[Guest guest]

We've all read/heard horror stories of doctors who seem to be quite

irresponsible in their practice and often find them hard to believe. But every

once in a while there are docs who come along that make you wonder why we trust

our health to them in the first place.

This past week has been full of frustrations for me thanks to a couple of

doctors who don't quite want to listen to what their patient is saying.

I recently joined this group and have been comforted by your postings. And so,

I've decided to jump in to get some suggestions/advice from your expertise.

Here's a little background.

A couple of weeks ago, my sister who is 42 years old, went to her gyno for her

yearly exam and was told she had an abnormally large uterus. An ultrasound

confirmed that her uterus was 22 cm, she had multiple fibroids, the most

prominent measuring about 2 cm.

Other than a little bit of pelvic pressure, she's has no other symptoms and her

periods are like clockwork.

After dietary and lifestyle changes, she's lost about 70 pounds in the past few

months. In fact, her gyno told her she probably had the fibroids last year, but

they were not detected due to the excess weight she was carrying.

Anyway, when she went to him after the ultrasound, he looked at the results for

about a minute and right away said... " I recommend a hysterectomy. " She had

already done some research on fibroids and started asking questions, but he

quickly dismissed her, scheduled an endometrial biopsy, and said the only

'treatment' he would recommend was a hysterectomy.

My sister has since scheduled appts. with two doctors for second and third

opinions.

This morning she went to her general practitioner (a woman) for a regular

checkup and mentioned the results of the sonogram and the doctor's

recommendations. That doctor said " Well, you don't want any more children, so

why are you even bothering getting a second opinion. Get a hysterectomy! "

She then went on to say that other treatments wouldn't work because the uterus

was too large. When I asked her what a normal sized uterus was, she replied....

" I don't know.!

I felt like screaming!

These are people we trust with our health and this is the best advice they can

give!

Help, someone... If you've had a similar experience and have found a good doc

willing to work with you to find alternative treatments before hysterectomy,

please respond to this message.

My sister is very trusting and is already considering the hysterectomy. I want

to offer a voice of reason... or at least a voice to help her question the

recommendation of doctors who may not be up on the latest treatments for

fibroids.

Thank you!

Barb