Initial Consultation (Jun 26)
Before getting in to see Dr. Arrington, his staff sent me several forms to fill out and bring with me to my appointment. They informed me his services were considered out-of-network since insurance companies don’t consider his treatment necessary. Ablation (which is covered by insurance) is what other OBGYNs do. They burn the surface lesions out with a laser, but this prevents them from seeing how deep the lesions go (so they can’t ensure they get all the endo out), and they can’t really treat disease around vital organs without damaging them, so ablation ensures you’ll need surgery every year or so. Excision on the other hand cuts out the root of the disease and may only require one surgery (maybe two) in your life. I hoped my out-of-network benefits would help, but I was willing to pay to get relief.
I filled out the paperwork and was surprised that he wanted such a detailed history of my symptoms and family history, but again, was happy to have such a thorough doctor treating me.
When I arrived for my appointment a nurse went over my paperwork with me and asked additional questions to get a complete picture of my health. After that she briefed Dr. Arrington, he looked over my test results (from my scans and pathology), and he came in to meet me.
He did the quickest, most comfortable (that’s a relative term), and most discreet pelvic exam I’ve ever had and asked about my pain in various places. He told me as he went that he could feel some lesions on the left side of my body (right where Dr. Dawson suspected endometriosis).
After the physical exam I changed and joined him in his office while he explained his thoughts. He anticipated I currently had or was transitioning into severe endometriosis. While that seemed upsetting to hear from an endo expert, he assured me this is the best time to treat it as the lesions would be highly visible and it would be easy to cut out all the affected tissue. He promised he would be aggressive in removing anything that could possibly be endometriosis, but wouldn’t do anything to compromise my fertility. He said his recommendation was to pursue surgery and that he was confident he could treat me in one operation and give me a less than 15% chance of recurrence. I liked those odds.
The decision was made, so I sat down with his scheduler. She went over a cost estimate with me, and said if I paid in full before my surgery they’d give me a discount. The full amount with my out-of-network coverage was significantly less than I anticipated (such a big blessing), so I put down a deposit and I took the next available date—July 20, which was only 3 weeks away! I was ecstatic.
Surgery Prep (Jul 19–20)
While I thought my surgery date would never come, all of the sudden it arrived. Since I might have bowel involvement I had to do a bowel prep before surgery. This consisted of a clear liquid diet the day before my surgery and drinking lots of water to stay well-hydrated, and then no food or liquid from 11:00 pm until after my surgery. The night before I was supposed to do one Fleet brand enema followed by another one the morning of surgery. The first enema wasn’t miserable, but the second one was way less comfortable considering my colon was mostly empty.
The morning of my surgery I woke up early, did my enema, and showered in antibacterial soap as instructed. I was also instructed to not shave the area to be operated on, come without makeup or moisturizer/oils on, and leave any jewelry or metal hair accessories at home. I put my hair in two french braids, grabbed my things, and my husband, mom, and I were off to Ogden! It was time for surgery.
No comments:
Post a Comment