Before I write posts, I usually like to tag it with labels first; keeps me on topic. I realized, in tagging this, I added "faith" at the last minute... I think I added it more for secular than religious purposes.
All of my major bloodwork is in. I'm sure I will have thyroid and hormone workups done again in another month or so (esp. thyroid, since I somehow went from managed hypothyroid to crazy high overmanaged hyperthyroid in about 6 weeks). I have my meeting with Dr. Gross next Friday; I have a bunch of questions to ask him. Arieh will be there with me again like last time; I feel much stronger with him there and it's good to have a second set of eyes and ears that represents our interests as a couple.
He's currently out of town at a conference, doing some serious networking, as he was laid off the week after I was diagnosed. During his usual evening call-in last night, he suggested that since I have all of my bloodwork done, perhaps I should get a second opinion. Not that he thinks Dr. Gross is wrong, or lying to us, but that it can't hurt to have someone else look everything over. Just to make sure, yanno?
I'm conflicted b/c my doc is pretty top notch, but I can see my husband's reasoning. We try to be thorough people, so a second opinion totally makes sense. He argues: it can't hurt. I argue: it can. After months of uncertainty, even before my Dx and now especially since in trying to find answers as to its causes, getting my autoimmune disorder and Fragile X results back has felt like such a huge weight has been lifted. The clouds have parted, answers I don't totally understand yet have been laid out and illuminated by the sun.
To get a second opinion doesn't necessarily undo all of this, but it casts me back in the dark, throws me back to the beginning- I'm left in the state of the unknowing, anxiously awaiting to either a) hear the same thing; b) hear something different or worse; or c) find out this was all a mistake and I'm just fine. And none of those options seem particularly appealing any you slice it, even the last one (b/c I know stuff isn't fine- I haven't had a period since Christmas).
For those of you out there that have gone through crazy diagnoses or had suggestions for courses of treatment that left you scratching your head: did you seek a second opinion? How did you navigate that with your partner and first doctor?
12 comments:
Hi there Miriam...thanks for the beautiful comment on my blog...I am having a pretty bleak day today (totally for non-IF reasons), but your comment made me smile..thanks for that...
(Become my follower? LOLOL...that's quite an ego rub! : ))
Being gossip fodder is such a weird feeling...
Miriam...do you trust your doctor...if you do...just hang around...although I see your husband's very good intentions there...but hunting for a good doc and settling for one is as tough as looking for a life partner..some people get it at-sight, and other need to go through a whole circus of toads to find the right one..and alas, like marriages, not each of them is made in heaven!
It does not hurt to get another opinion...if it is possible to find somebody equally trustworthy and qualified, just show him your reports and ask what protocol would they adopt.
All the best to you. BTW, loved the story of Hannah and Sarah, and I would like to know whether mythologically, they did get to have kids or not?
Compare the protocols and decide which one is best...a rude doctor who gives you the right medicines is better than a sweet chap who mistreats!
Just swinging by with ICWL. The name of your blog caught my eye. I don't know if you know or are even interested but there is a christian support site for infertility & child loss that goes by a similar name. http://www.sarahs-laughter.com/ If you are interested you can sign up and they will send you a daily email devoation called Daily Double Portions. I have found it insightful for myself. Just and FYI, I don't mean to be intrusive.
As for the second opinion, I think you should get one. If for on other reason to reaffirm your faith in your current dr. And later down the road it may keep you from looking back and thinking "I wish we had gotten that second opinion." We got a second opinion when our verdict came to IVF. It was scary but nice to have another set of professional eyes looking at our situation. We told our current dr. She was cool with it--she is a professional! She even did a test that the 2nd opinion recommended. We are still with our first dr. But now we are even more confident in her judgement and skill. Good luck to you!
I have gotten a second opinion on a health matter (not related to carrying children though). The doctor basically said the same thing as the first doctor. But I was still comforted to get that opinion.
I think a second opinion can go a long way to giving you affirmation that you're on the right path but can also throw up a whole host of other questions, leading to more confusion.
If it was me I'd get a seccond opinion, try find a doctor of the same standing (get recommendaiotns etc first) and then see what his/her opinion is. At least then you have a chance to compare.
I'm debating going to a new clinic - with the support of the nurses at my present clinic, and I don't think my doctor will mind. A second opinion is worthwhile, because they might see something that your original doctor has missed or have a new idea. At least you'll know.
Hi. If you have a thyroid issue, I'd sure like to recommend the thyroid patient website Stop the Thyroid Madness. I have the autoimmune thyroid Hashimotos, and I swear that site saved my life ten fold. There's a page on there specifically for hashis: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/hashimotos but look at all of it because it really speaks the truth. Janie has also a blog worth following and it's on Facebook, too.
I honestly can't tell you what to do. Although I had to fight to find out what was wrong, once I was diagnosed, the answers were all there. Best of luck figuring out what to do and good luck to your husband on his job search.
~ICLW
Hi. I, too, came over from LFCA and hope I've read enough of your blog not to say anything totally stupid, though you'll have to be the judge of that.
Like you, I have very high ATAs, though I didn't experience POF (just DOR). Although your RE may be more "up" on this than mine was, I didn't get my thyroid problem diagnosed or treated until I referred myself to an endocrinologist who specialized in thyroid. I really think this is worth doing if you're not already seeing such a specialist ... you wouldn't ask a thyroid doc to treat your ovaries; don't ask an RE to treat your thyroid. Medicine today is just too specialized. I found my thyroid doctor (whom I love, love, love) using this website: http://www.thyroid-info.com/topdrs/. So that might be one approach to a second opinion ... not an RE, but another specialist in connection with your overall and/or thyroid health and ttc.
As you may already know, it's common in the early stages of autoimmune thyroid disease to bounce back and forth between being hyper- and hypo-, basically as the thyroid "cranks up" in response to attack and then fails (at least temporarily) and then rallies). I see you've been dealing with thyroid issues for awhile, but given your very very low recent TSH I wonder if this could be happening to you.
Also, estrogen binds to T4, so anytime your estrogen goes up (e.g. new BCPs), your thyroid hormone dosage may need to go up, and ditto with estrogen down, dosage down. That, too, could be driving what you are seeing (I don't know enough about which meds you've changed when to know).
Throughout my infertility journey asking myself the question, "Will I regret having tried this if it doesn't work?" has been about the most useful question I've come up with, and for me with getting a second opinion (substitute "help" or "change my plan" for "work") the answer would be no (so I should/would do it -- get a second opinion).
Well, I hope there's something of some use in here, and wish you both strength and good luck.
Unless I am unhappy with my current care, I am usually so unmotivated to get the second opinion...too much work, stress, and I feel awkward about it. But I'm still in the very early stages of IF and probably just haven't got there yet...and hope I don't. :) I can see it as a very beneficial thing, but I get so lazy about it! GL with the decision!
ICLW
I usually avoid 2nd opinions primarily due to the hassle. Like Hilary said, paperwork, stress, switching insurance over, etc.
However----I totally understand wanting to find a 2nd opinion. Especially with regards to major health issues.
Good luck to you!
*ICLW*
A second opinion can make you more uncertain, especially if you get a different opinion. My dr originally gave me one diagnosis, and after more tests said she was wrong. So now I'm just more confused than ever. But I would still go for it if only to satisfy your husband.
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