Post-Op Checkup

Last Friday, we had our post-op checkup with my OB. Even though we knew we weren't going to get any new results from the genetic testing, I was looking forward to what she had to say. I had questions to ask her to try to get information about where to go from here. Let me say that she is very understanding and has a wonderful bedside manner. She's a real person and will show her feelings. That's a great quality for a good doctor. However, she is a bit of a "fast talker" (if you're a Seinfeld fan, you know what I'm talking about) and Adam has a hard time keeping up with what she's saying. Especially when we were discussing technical terms like antiphospholipid anitbodies and the LAC antibody (that's the blood clotting disorder I have). I have to make sure I'm paying attention to everything she says, but I can usually follow her without any problems. Anyway, we discussed the fact that I want to seek a second opinion from another specialist to either confirm or contradict what our existing specialist says. She said she totally agreed with that and gave a wonderful referral for the doctor that I had already chosen. In searching online and through friends, I have gotten two great reviews from this doctor's patients and now three great reviews from other doctors. That tells me I've made the right choice for a second opinion and possible "new" specialist. This doctor is an RE, a Reproductive Endocrinologist. Our current specialist that we've been seeing is an ART doctor, which is Assisted Reproductive Technology. Most of his patients have difficulty achieving pregnancy. Since that hasn't been my issue, I don't always fall under the standard plan for what his patients need. However, he has tried to push us towards that standard plan even though we didn't feel like it was what we needed. I didn't let him push me into anything that I didn't want or need, but I felt the pressure from his office. However, since he is the specialist and also came highly recommended (in fact, most of the online referrals I got were for his clinic) and it was the testing that he performed that revealed the LAC antibody, I stayed with him for treatment. Anyway, my OB said that the new RE would be better able to give me the answers that I'm looking for than she is. I knew that she wouldn't be able to give me a lot of answers about the antibodies and such because she isn't a specialist. She's a regular OB/GYN and when her patients need specialty care, she sends them to someone who can provide it. We had a good checkup, though, and I am looking forward to the consult with the new RE. We did discuss the test results, or lack of, and she said that sometimes infections just occur. She used to work in a lab and said that she's seen doctors work on something for months, taking diligent measures to be careful and sterile and still come in one morning to infected tissue that had to be thrown away and start all over again. She said that this happens sometimes with amniocentesis tests, also. I had never heard of that before, but she's known of it happening. Then, the parents are left with the fact that they risked their pregnancy to get the tests and then nothing could be done. I am still sad that we could not find out what caused our loss, but I know there must be another plan for me. Maybe the results would caused me to make a decision that isn't the best one?

One thing that did impress me about my OB is that when we were discussing the second opinion, she asked if I had requested my records from my ART doctor's office. I told her that I had not because I'm not sure what I'm going to do and should I decide not to leave his care, I don't want there to be a strain there. Really and truly, I don't want them to know that I'm seeking a second opinion because I don't want it to influence anything we're told. So, since my ART doctor had not included a full listing of all the tests that were done on me initially, she offered to request them for me. As my doctor, it's totally normal for her to want those, she said. So, she sent the request to his office and then will make those records available to me. Once again, she went out of her way to assist me. I'm so glad that I was fortunate enough to find this practice ten years ago (thanks Tammy!) and to still be there today.