Great Expectations

I think sometimes we expect too much from our doctors and nurses, forgetting that they, too, are human-just with a little more education than most of us.

So when I went to Women's Hospital of Greensboro on Friday night (2/12/16), I was hoping for some new answers, or at least a new treatment plan. After so many ER, doctor, specialist, and clinic appointments, you get to a point where you feel like you have tried it all.

First, a little background on how I ended up at Women's on that Friday night to begin with....

I have fallen into something of a doughnut hole of healthcare-released by my GYN surgeon because there is no further surgical intervention to be done at this time, and waiting for an appointment at the Pelvic Pain Clinic at UNC-Chapel Hill (which could take several weeks, even months).  In the meantime, I am still suffering from intractable and yet unidentifiable pelvic pain, but now with no one to treat it.

So my insurance company suggested I follow up with my regular GYN who suggested that if my pain was not controlled with what I had at home (ibuprofen and acetaminophen) that I go to Women's Hospital of Greensboro for treatment. So I did.

This is the first hospital that looked at me and said, "Yes, we want to treat your pain, but we also want to come up with a plan to keep your pain managed and you out of the ER until you can get in with UNC-Chapel Hill".  Did I hear that correctly?  They cared more about just getting me treated and out of the ER that night? For the first time in weeks, I had hope again....just a little, but it was there nonetheless.

I spoke with a wonderful Nurse Midwife who spoke with my GYN (who happened to be on call that night). They agreed that some tests were needed to make sure there were no major changes since my D&C/Biopsy procedure on 2/4/16, but they were also kind enough to recognize the level of pain I was in and administer some IM (intramuscular) pain medication BEFORE those tests.

Thankfully, everything came back clear.

I was given a prescription for pain meds and instructed to follow up with my regular GYN who will follow me and manage my pain until I am able to be seen by UNC-Chapel Hill.

This is a glimmer of hope in what has been a long and dark tunnel for me.

Sadly, one of the reasons I am up posting this blog after midnight is that the pain continues to increase and is less well-controlled even by the narcotics I have been prescribed. But I am still hopeful that the doctors at UNC-Chapel Hill will have answers-even if I have to wait months to get seen there.

God is always good!
-Meri