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gynecologist review response 16 |
how old are you, and for how long have you been seeing your gynecologist?
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I am 30 and I've been seeing my current dr. for about 3 1/2 years.
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how did you find your first gynecologist? did your mother talk to you about it; did she take you to see hers?
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I went to my general practitioner for my first pelvic exam just before I got married at age 25. When I got pregnant shortly thereafter, she made a few recommendations but I ultimately chose a dr. that was recommended by a trusted friend. My mother and I never talked about such matters. In fact, I still do not feel comfortable talking about these things with her and I've been married 5 years and am a mother myself.
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do you feel comfortable to ask questions about your body, what you are experiencing, to discuss your sex-life?
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I have become more comfortable over the years, especially after having 2 miscarriages (1 at 8 wks and another at 16 wks) in my first year of marriage. The first one I had just a few days before my first OB appt. with that new dr. That experience really woke me up to the fact that I couldn't be shy...as much as I naturally would be. I knew I needed to be open with my concerns and symptoms. When I went through the second experience, I really had to be an advocate for myself and realized too late that I deserved a more attentive and caring dr., so I switched before becoming pregnant for the 3rd time. I have never felt comfortable discussing my sex-life with my dr., but, ironically, that is not so much because I feel uncomfortable talking about it. It is probably because I get the feeling that my dr. 1) is, himself, embarrassed about the kind of work he does (it is obvious that he has taught himself tricks to try to overcome this...he starts out each and EVERY visit with the same "Hello, Hello, Hello!"), and 2) he seems somewhat "distant" or even "dismissive" when I have brought things up in the past that are anything less than the normal routine. I think he really does love the obstetrics part of his practice, but I probably haven't dealt with him enough for any other reason to know if my feelings are on target or not.
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how often do you see your gynecologist? what does a regular exam consist of?
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For the first 2-2 1/2 years after I started going, I literally saw a gynecologist, a perinatologist, a reproductive endocrinologist, or a radiologist (for gynecological reasons) almost every single month. Now that the problem has been resolved and I have 2 healthy beautiful children, I'd say I go once a year for a physical. However, since we now have insurance that doesn't cover well visits, I have been procrastinating my yearly exam and am overdue by a couple of months. I can't decide if I should just go and pay out-of-pocket or just wait until I get pregnant again (sometime later on this year maybe). I know it is important to have regular check-ups, but my husband has been my only partner and I am in perfect health, as far as I know. I just worry about what might happen if something went undetected. A regular exam starts out, "Hello, hello, hello!" As I mentioned, I think this is my dr.'s way of calming his nerves and mustering up his own confidence, I guess you could say. Then, the rest is soooooo routine that I could get it all down to the most minute details. He might make a little small talk about how my kids are doing and say something about his own. Then, he'll ask if everything is going alright healthwise. As he is chatting, he begins doing the breast exam. Then, he presses gently on my abdomen. Moving down to the end of the exam table, he gets out his lubricant and makes sure his little tool tray is ready as he sits on his little stool and advises me to scoot down...every time, even though I know exactly his routine and no longer need him to tell me. He does the speculum exam with the Pap smear and the bimanual exam, and then he's done. He really doesn't allow much time for questions, so by that point, if I have any questions at all, I feel like I've been delaying and he's ready to walk out the door and so I feel a sense of being rushed. It never seems like the "right time" to bring up questions about sex-life or anything else, for that matter.
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would you recommend your gynecologist - why, or why not?
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I would recommend him to someone who was wanting to start a family. He is a wonderful obstetrician, and I really don't want to find a new one after all I have been through on that end. I'd continue going to him for other problems I may experience, but I sometimes think it would be nice to have a more thorough and in-depth conversation about, well...anything at all. He seems a little too "let's-get-down-to-business", though he has definitely been more compassionate than my first gynecologist. And one thing that I really, really like about this guy is that he not only knows a whole lot about delivering babies, but he has more than a dozen kids himself (no joke!) and I like that he has the "life experience" dealing with family life. I just don't know that I would feel the same about just any dr. However, if I wasn't planning on having more children, I'd probably want to find a new gynecologist or at least go back to my general practitioner for my yearly check-ups. She was extremely thorough, very sensitive to my needs and feelings and displayed a deep and genuine care for me as a person and not just as a patient. However, she does not deal with such specialized concerns. I don't know that I could get much advice from her on sexual problems. I think she would refer me to a gynecologist.
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what are all the factors that go into how you feel about your experience with your gyno?
does the reception and nursing staff play a role?
is there good reading material in the waiting room?
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That is a little hard to say. I mean, it is important that the dr. is thorough in the exam, but even moreso, I think it is important that he is concerned about my overall well-being and not just focused solely on my female parts. If he is concerned about me and sensitive to my needs and shows that he is genuinely interested in what questions I have, that is certainly a big factor in determining how likely I am to want to return for exams on schedule. If I feel "brushed off" or rushed on a regular basis, my experience is that I start to feel something important is missing there and I don't make those visits a priority. The office receptionist and nursing staff at my office is superb. If I wasn't seeing them only because of my visit with the dr., I really wouldn't mind staying in touch with these ladies. They always treated me as though I was their best friend and that I mattered to them as a person and not just a patient. I don't worry about the reading material. They always have plenty of good magazines, but usually I don't have to wait long or I have something else to keep me busy.
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is there something more you'd like to be getting from your gynecologist that you aren't?
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I would like to have a real dialogue with him about my health, and I wish that I could openly discuss sexual issues. I once mentioned that sex is always painful for me, but he didn't seem at all concerned or interested in talking about it. It was as if he was telling me it's normal to have painful sex and to just keep on having more of it so I could keep paying him to deliver my babies. I have never told him that I have never once experienced an orgasm, and I can't bring myself to tell him. I honestly think I'd be more comfortable talking to a female dr. about it. At least there might be some sensitivity there. Men probably don't even understand what it's like to go for years without having one. My dr. displays an "in and out" attitude that leaves little time for anything remotely psychological or emotional to be addressed.
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have you been treated for a disease or disorder? what was it? was it easily diagnosed? what treatment was prescribed, and was it successful?
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I had a uterine septum (the cause of my miscarriages) that was easily detected by ultrasound. I wish I could have known about it before I got pregnant the first time, but there was just no reason to look into it. It was completely random. Other than that, I've only had a couple yeast infections (one was treated by my first dr. with Terazol and over-the-counter meds were recommended for the others.) Once, when I was having some difficulty getting pregnant for the 3rd time, I felt some burning higher up (not in the vagina), and I mentioned it to my dr. He diagnosed it as yeast, but with treatment, it was still there. Finally, it was treated with hyssop, an herbal remedy that kills bacteria and causes uterine contractions that flush it out. A chiropractor recommended this! My gynecologist was completely floored by this but had no problem with it. The burning went away and I was able to get pregnant after that. I know--I would have never believed it myself had I not experienced it firsthand. I've never had any further problems after that.
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this conversation makes me think....
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I really ought to go ahead and schedule an appointment.
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