Now back to the gynecologist!

This doctor's office is hysterical. There are notes posted everywhere including one asking that children not climb on the chairs nor spit on the floor.

Is this a problem here? I wanted to ask-but didn't!

She sends me right away into the examining room. Get it over with, suits me!

"By the way, thanks for driving my son to the party the other night." Nothing like hearing "Mom, your gynecologist is taking me to Brumath for a party".  She chuckles. "Can you believe these kids and their social lives?!? Every weekend, or day off 'Mom, I'm going to a...'" I nodded in agreement. "And they're all over the place. Brumath this week, Severne the next... Can't you entertain yourselves here in Strasbourg?"

Apparently, she had a full car going up there, including a blond boy who she assumed was mine. After the event, her son says "You know Ronan's mom is one of your patients?" "What?!? I would have never guessed it!" Yeah, can't tell. My kids don't look like they're really mine. 

Good distraction from The Wand. "Your left ovary is clear and there's a 3 1/2cm cyst on the right". It looked bigger than that on the screen but she measured it. Uterus is shrinking too. 

When we get back to the office, I saw the diagrams on her wall. "Just curious, are twins always C-sections?" No, she went on to explain that it depends on the positioning and a few other factors. She was shocked when I told her of the woman I knew who saw 8 Ob's in the L.A. area and all insisted on a C. She returned to France to have the babies for this reason.

Anyway, I mentioned the newly discovered twin. She laughed. Apparently there was an amusing incident on a gold course once, when one of his colleagues was happy to see him, or whom he thought...

Well, he did my thyroid scan because I'm never going back to Dr. B. again.

"Why is that?"
"They don't like each other."
"...and how do you know that??"
"Well, I just mentioned in passing that I was Dr. N's patient and he said some nasty things including stating outright that I should change radiologists."
"You know it's not good for patients to get themselves in the middle of these sorts of conflicts" she scolded, and then changing tones completely, asked "So what did Dr. N. say??"
"Not as bad. When I handed him Dr. B.'s report, he asked for the 'other six pages'." I even demonstrated how he held out his hands, waving his fingers. 
 "When I said it was only one page, he acted all shocked and went on about 'Is it possible that Dr. B can write a report that's only one page?!?' Then he explained that Dr. B. can 'go on and on, for pages and pages, saying nothing'." She bent over laughing.

Enough radiologist conflict stories. She took my blood pressure. A little high. We'll do it again.

She also asked me how many times I was in the restroom while waiting. Um, can't remember.
"This is not normal". I assured her that I didn't have any problems after the births and this is my history. I always peed a lot and I had a history of UTI's. Then I proudly listed everything I do to successfully avoid them (cotton undies, none for sleeping, plain soap, etc.) After the births, they asked if I leaked when I coughed and/or laughed. I didn't so they didn't think I had a problem. She told me that I sort of leaked during the exam.

"I also noticed that you have a little cache of underwear in your purse". Yes. True. "This is not normal. I know this specialist..." She didn't think I'd need surgery but to let this doctor decide. She explained that it was a new specialty, under gastroentrology but specifically for women. I was surprised it wasn't urology but she said that it covers that too.

I had discussed some "damage" I had during delivery, with my other gynecologist but I explained, she was hesitant because they surgery isn't always successful. We'll see. I'm kind of relieved that something might be done. She said exactly what I was thinking. I'm okay now. No big problems but what happens in a few more decades? This won't get better and I might not be able to deal.

Blood pressure, still high. So when was the last time I saw a cardiologist? Like never. Oh. I'm sending you to one. Nothing scary. Pressure a little high. She wasn't thrilled to hear that the grandfather I never met, because he died at 47 (two packs a day but still way young). Also, radiation on the left side. Let's just be sure!

Her waiting room had gotten busier so I managed to escape. She was going to get back to me about the letters. I picked them up from Adassa Clinique two days later, and ran into the former director leaving a retirement party. "I'm going to miss this place when it closes!" Sad!

I had to pick my non-look-alike son up from school. I saw a tall, black boy which reminded me. "Next time you see Hugo, tell me which one he is." "Easy!" said my son. "HIM!" pointing to the same kid. Oh yeah. He looks much more like his mom!

 

Thyroid Saga

Thyroid check done for this year.

Dr. N., instead of horrible Dr. B., did my thyroid check.

Both radiologists were there and the waiting room was so packed that I sat in the hall. There was no where to sit. I came back in when I thought it was getting close.

He calls me in and since it was late February, I whispered in English "Happy New Year!" as we were coming down the hall. Tet, Vietnamese New Year had been a week or so earlier. He smiled and then set about trying to find an examining room. He started darting around like a lost gnome. The lab coats a lot of doctors wear here in France are amusing. They're gathered at the neck and have floppy arms. They look almost Medieval. Finally, he finds one I haven't seen in years. He dashes out the door, telling me to roll my turtle neck down.

I already had a spat with evil Dr. B. over this so I had on a tank top under my turtle neck. I only had to take it off. Dr. N. stops at the door, coming back in. "That's very good!" Yes, I told him. I've been through this with your wonderful colleague...

He didn't want me lying flat down like Dr. B. I wanted to tell him this but was torn about appearing to tell him to do his job. More comfortable sitting up and not having to lie on that rod thing behind the back, like Dr. B. uses.

He starts telling me about his Tet celebration. It fell conveniently on a weekend and he was able to go to Paris. He said that they had a gathering of about 40 family members. Then, oddly, he starts explaining Tet to me. I finally interjected "New Moon, right?" He stopped. Yes, you know that.

"I'm from San Francisco. I know about Tet... well, Chinese New Year's. I had enough firecrackers thrown at my feet as a child..." Little blond girl from the suburbs, of course!

He looked crestfallen. Oops. He seemed really keen to talk about it and then I took the wind out of his sails. I felt guilty, like saying "No, continue explaining..." even if I knew already. Too late. Of course I had to bring up Chinese New Year's. I know the Vietnamese love being compared to their big neighbors! He just fell silent.

So we get to the thyroid. He's looking at the screen. "THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS THYROID!" he exclaims. Well no, there isn't. I could have told him that. He didn't get the memo. This is a yearly CHECK.

"Nothing here to puncture!" Oh for crying out loud. Can I someday have ONE normal appointment without weirdness from him. "Puncture?!? Who talked about puncturing anything?!?" Then I realized, I was about to sink myself again. "But believe me, if I need any puncturing, I won't hesitate to have you do it!" Need ego stroking here!

"This thyroid is perfectly normal. I don't know why they're monitoring it!"

"Because I have a bad family history, I've done radiation..." He still didn't look convinced. "My sister had a rare form of lymphoma that started in her thyroid so they want to keep an eye on mine." Then he looked alarmed. "No, your thyroid looks fine. Just normal signs of aging..." He keeps on "Yes, it's just growing OLD". Oh heaven help me.

I'm done but I do have some of my scans which I think were from my last apt. Turns out I grabbed the wrong ones. I'm so lame! I'm kicking myself. But he snaps them out of my hand and starts talking about my benign ovarian cysts again. Of course he doesn't realize these are scans he's already seen (unless he has some sort of weird photographic memory which I wouldn't put past him). I then start to feel guilty about the waiting room full of patients so try to squirm out of it.

He repeats that I shouldn't have yearly MRI's because of possible kidney damage but when I mention that the gynecologist wants to do an MRI of my ovaries, he says "Yes, we can do that..." and that won't damage my kidneys since I just had a breast MRI?? No, he means yearly. Whatever. I grab my stuff and leave, bummed that I didn't get the chance to see another picture of him with his twin. Gosh that was cute!!!

Of course I find the right scans a week later while cleaning up. Kick myself. Have to think of strategy to see twin picture again...

Then I went to see the endocrinologist. For some dumb reason, I thought that I had had done the wrong blood work. I lost the original Rx so I called for another. She gave me one with another doctor's name on it. Hmmm... So I did it. Then, I couldn't figure out how to handle this. I called the office and diplomatically told the secretary (whom I did not want to accuse) that I had a "concern" about the labwork. Please ask Dr. B-S and IF I didn't hear back from her, I would assume everything was fine. I didn't want to create extra work for them. At least I knew that I'd be covered if it was wrong.

The labwork was fine. She didn't notice nor mention the fact that Dr. N. had done my scan. Yeah! In fact, she was in a cheery mood and told me that my numbers actually looked better than a year ago.

She talks to fast. Actually, her talking fast is not so much the problem. I understand her but it's all terminology I don't get. I can talk Breast Cancer or Birth Medicalese in French, no problem. But thyroids? I'm all confused. I don't "get" the thyroid in English, let alone French!

I do know that radiation patients have a higher chance of thyroid problems but they don't know much more about the subject. I had radiation, I have a family history AND I have elevated levels in one category. It's not good but my thyroid is. She even said that maybe we'd drop the scans and just do yearly bloodwork.

Okay, that's done for the year! Next task... those ovaries.