More Shots

When I lived with Allison, she used to scold me for not going to regular doctor's appointments. Here's my confession: I think the last time I had a physical was when I was required to get one to start working at the shelter. That would have been in 1999. I know. It's very irresponsible. And I know that Alli was right when she said that I should to get one to have a base line in case anything went wrong. All of that is good advice, but I still dreaded going to the doctors and only went when I could not take care of whatever issue I had by researching it online, or talking with my sister or brother and figuring out if getting the treatment would be worth going through the hassle.

I'm not afraid of doctors. I just haven't had a really good doctor since I became an adult. Seriously, if I could still see my pediatrician I would have continued to go to him. But most doctors I've had, they haven't really seemed too concerned about actually trying to help me get better (for example: my migraines).

So yesterday had me at the end of my rope with doctors. On Monday evening I had spoken with a doctor in MA whom my mom had recommended, who has gone through the Creighton program and uses naprotechnology. He said that he was concerned that my first level of progesterone was very low, and he wanted me to get another level drawn right away (not the 1 week waiting period my PCP had written the order for) and he wanted to have another HCG level done, to make sure that the pregnancy was actually progressing. He said these are pretty basic levels and most PCPs are willing to have them done.

So I called my doctor's office and unfortunately he is on vacation this week. I explained everything to the nurse, and she spoke with the doctor who's filling in for him. When she called back, I was surprised to learn that they wouldn't order the levels, because "what happens if it comes back as abnormal? Then what do we do?" So I called back the napro doctor and he said that he would take that on, do the lab orders and the scripts and that all seemed fine.

Until I got to the lab after work yesterday and they hadn't received the faxed lab order. Now, I was supposed to do another shot last night, so I needed to have the blood drawn before the shot to make sure it's accurate. They can't do the blood draw without the order, and it was after office hours, so they requested to have the napro doctor paged. Another doctor was covering for him, though, and when he called in, he was extremely unhelpful. He told the lab tech that I've already had the level done, and that it didn't make any sense because I haven't even come in for an appointment. The lab tech tried to explain for me that it was for the naprotechnology, and there isn't a napro doctor in NH to do this, and at that point the on-call shut her down and flat out refused to give the orders.

So here's where I highly praise the staff at Elliot Laboratory, because she didn't give up. While I was calling my mom and asking her what I should do - do I still do the shot or do I wait until I can get the levels drawn? - she called her supervisor, and then called a floor supervisor and got permission to draw the blood without the order. And so they will contact the doctor today and work all of that out to actually run the test.

In the end I got the level done, so I should be happy, right? But the fact is, these are really basic levels. They are checked when a woman has a history of miscarriage or when she has a history of infertility, so it's not like I'm asking for some weird test that they won't know how to interpret. And I have a doctor who is willing to take care of the treatment based on the results. But because the obligation to treat an abnormal result falls ultimately on the doctor who ordered the test, I had to beg for someone to write the order. Neither of those doctors, by the way, were willing to consult with the napro doctor, who is more than willing to explain how all of this works if someone would just ask him about it.

And now I'm waiting for the results, because ultimately the concern is that if we're treating this with progesterone and the baby isn't growing, then it would prevent the natural miscarriage which would occur. Which is just grotesque and scary. My mom assures me that she is not worried that the baby isn't alive or growing, but I can't put my fears at rest that easily. Hopefully I'll know by the end of the day today.