Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Trust Your Feelings!!

My first thoughts on Hubby's dr were not good but I chalked it up to the fact that I was worried. I should of listened to my feelings. Yesterday Hubby and I went to his dr appointment. We waited 2 hours for a 2 minute (no lie) visit. He had told us over the phone that all results were great. Well he again told us everything was fine and then so Oh wait there were Hurthle cells present. We asked what did that mean. oh nothing we just have to watch it and unless it was bothering him we would do nothing. Yes doc it is bothering him. The lesion (now it is a lesion not a nodule) is breaking his collar bone. So he recommended a surgeon, handed us a copy of the biopsy results and told us to come back in a month.

Here are the problems: 1. Hurthle cells can only be tested for cancerous cells by removing the lesion and thyroid and then testing. Needle biopsies can not determine this. 2. Hurthle cells become cancerous. 3. If there are Hurthle cells present they need to be removed. 4. the surgeon he recommended is retired!!!! 5. He did not go over the blood work results. The lesion is causing Hubby's thyroid to overact and that needs to be taken care of. 6. The lesion grew .5 cm in a month.

I was so angry that when we got into the car I called my mom and asked her to look up Hurthle cells. Of course she is a mom and said she could not get any results - she saw the results but did not want us to get upset in the car. When we got home I checked to see what I could find. Not good news. Hurthle cells are closely related to cancer. They turn into cancer cells. So what did Dr. Idiot want us to do - wait until it is cancerous!!


Today I took off from work and went to our primary doctor. She looked at the paper and said immediately "he needs to see a surgeon". I have been on the phone all morning. I got Hubby an appointment with the surgeon in a week. I also found a new endocrinologist. It is about a 40 minute ride away but this doctor is highly recommended. The doctors there have already seen the sonogram and biopsy results and he will be seen shortly after the surgeon sees him. They have also heard complaints about Dr. Idiot.

I just thank whoever that we didn't just say ok and waited. I am also glad we have a great primary doctor and staff. There are many horror stories about waiting out there. So now I am on the verge of totally freaking out. It is not a death sentence if treated properly but it is still very scary.

So if you have a bad feeling about a doctor or what a doctor thinks or does - trust them!!! Go see another doctor, get a second opinion or third. Unfortunately not all doctors know what they are doing.

(I will have knitting next time I promise - Thank you for letting me rant)

3 comments:

Jill said...

Oh, no! What a terrible experience for you both. That is shameful, but I am glad you decided to check it out and DO something. That is the best thing. You should be proud of yourself. Don't worry, you can rant anytime! ;) And I'll forgive the lack of knitting for the time being... LOL --Hugs--

Anonymous said...

Rant away - you have good reason to. I am glad you listened to your feelings are are getting better treatment for your hubby. Hope everything goes better at the next few appointments and things get taken care of quickly. BTW, I am going to do the Keri mitts. I just need to decide what yarn to do them in. There is a bulky baby alpaca at my LYS....

bittenbyknittin said...

So much for the good-news-good-news. Yikes! What a crackpot doctor. Your story is a perfect example of why we must not be passive, uninformed consumers of healthcare. Stay strong.