Well, I got the rug pulled from under my feet again. It felt more like getting hit up side the head with a shovel. How is it that I remain optimistic going in to these appointments? Will I never learn?
Yesterday morning Alex was feeling particularly awful. She was in a low to rival all lows. Before we could even leave the house she took 3 doses of hydro to get past the extreme nausea. A three hour drive got us to Stanford just in time for her 2:00 appointment. The receptionist told us Dr. V was running 45 minutes to an hour behind. The finally called us into the exam room at 3:40. Another hour later we were still waiting. I stuck my head into the hall and complained. They sent in a doc in training. He was completely lost and baffled; he had none of the information needed. Out he goes. A little after 5:00 (yes this was a 2:00 appointment) the doc in training along with the surgeon arrived. By then Alex and I are completely frazzled and exhausted.
Dr. V gave us a heartfelt apology for the wait and gave us his full attention. The good news? I really do like the guy and feel he is qualified to do the surgery. The bad news? He feels "considering the complexity of the case" he needs to talk things over with Dr. Friedman and some of his Stanford associates before he is willing to schedule surgery. I can't blame the guy I guess, he doesn't know Dr. F, so his caution is warranted. I know I should respect that he is not someone to jump in to life altering surgery uninformed. I just wanted so badly for this to go more smoothly.
I swear the long wait threw me off my game. I should have explained my decision making process; I thought of that in the car on the way home. This morning I sent Dr. F an e-mail to tell him to expect to hear from Dr.V, but who knows how long it might take for the two of them to connect by phone. I sent Dr. V an e-mail as well. I gave him a complete explanation of all the things I failed to mention yesterday. I just don't know what to think now. I don't know when we will hear back or if he will be willing to do the surgery once he talks to everyone.
Showing posts with label surgeon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surgeon. Show all posts
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Fast Forward? A New Surgeon
The wait has been killing me. No doubt I mentioned this before, but Dr. Duh can't even see us till 3 weeks from today and who knows how long after that till he has time for the actual surgery. When I spoke to his office weeks ago they said he was scheduling surgeries in June. Does that mean by the time we see him and are allowed to schedule he won't have openings till July? August?
The night before last Alex was literally crying herself to sleep. I hate that I can't do anything, it is so frustrating as a mom to watch your child in pain (and depressed) and not be able to do anything but tell them to wait it out. Anyway, I had a talk with God that night and told him I didn't think I could do this much longer and needed some divine intervention. When I woke up the next morning (yesterday) I was feeling inspired to do something about it and I sent a quick email to Stanford University asking if they had anyone with experience in laparascopic BLA. A surgeon, Dr. Visser, called me within hours and left a message, and also replied to the email saying he would get in touch.
Last night he called, with apologies for not getting hold of me sooner! Okay, I love this guy already! He is young and not an endocrine surgeon, but those are both things I can live with. He says he does an adrenalectomy every other week and has about 50 under his belt. He did explain that he is young and has done fewer (obviously) than the surgeons who have been doing it for decades. He trained at UCSF and considers Dr. Duh a mentor. He has extensive skills in laparascopic surgery and has never had to convert a lap surgery to an open surgery. The really exciting part? We now have an appointment to see him a week from today! He says he will get Alex in for surgery quickly after that if we are interested. Most of his patients are cancer patients and don't have the luxury of waiting, so he gets them in quickly.
So, for today it feels like my prayers were answered. I think Alex and I were both a bit shell shocked last night. It seems scary now that surgery might be a reality in the near future.
The night before last Alex was literally crying herself to sleep. I hate that I can't do anything, it is so frustrating as a mom to watch your child in pain (and depressed) and not be able to do anything but tell them to wait it out. Anyway, I had a talk with God that night and told him I didn't think I could do this much longer and needed some divine intervention. When I woke up the next morning (yesterday) I was feeling inspired to do something about it and I sent a quick email to Stanford University asking if they had anyone with experience in laparascopic BLA. A surgeon, Dr. Visser, called me within hours and left a message, and also replied to the email saying he would get in touch.
Last night he called, with apologies for not getting hold of me sooner! Okay, I love this guy already! He is young and not an endocrine surgeon, but those are both things I can live with. He says he does an adrenalectomy every other week and has about 50 under his belt. He did explain that he is young and has done fewer (obviously) than the surgeons who have been doing it for decades. He trained at UCSF and considers Dr. Duh a mentor. He has extensive skills in laparascopic surgery and has never had to convert a lap surgery to an open surgery. The really exciting part? We now have an appointment to see him a week from today! He says he will get Alex in for surgery quickly after that if we are interested. Most of his patients are cancer patients and don't have the luxury of waiting, so he gets them in quickly.
So, for today it feels like my prayers were answered. I think Alex and I were both a bit shell shocked last night. It seems scary now that surgery might be a reality in the near future.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
We have an appointment
I reached the surgeons office yesterday and managed to get on their calendar. I hope this means he is willing to actually do the surgery. Personally I'd like to skip this step; his record speaks for itself. I'd prefer to make an appointment for surgery and just meet him the day before at the pre-op. No such luck. We have an appointment on April 17th, five more weeks of waiting. Until then I will be praying that he doesn't meet with us simply to tell us he won't do the surgery.
Of course the scheduled the appointment for 9:00am. That means we will need to spend the night in San Francisco. Alex and I both love the city, but a bargain room and parking is $200.00. The drive from here is only about 2 hours during non-rush, but at that time of day it would take us 4. There's no way I could get Alex in the car at 5:00am, she usually can't get out of bed till noon.
Of course the scheduled the appointment for 9:00am. That means we will need to spend the night in San Francisco. Alex and I both love the city, but a bargain room and parking is $200.00. The drive from here is only about 2 hours during non-rush, but at that time of day it would take us 4. There's no way I could get Alex in the car at 5:00am, she usually can't get out of bed till noon.
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