Always scary when your consultant says she is too under-qualified to deal with your endo...

[Catness]

Yesterday I had a mirena insertion under general and a few other things done and a very frank conversation with my consultant.

The Good news: had all what was supposed to get done yesterday and it went in fine.

Bad news - my consultant is referring me to a specialist laparoscopic endometriosis surgeon at a different hospital as in her words 'she isn't qualified enough to treat the severity of my disease'. I'm being referred to have major excision surgery to cut out all of the disease affected areas and due to my endo being so extensive she said that this op will take hours. Apparently I need the top-level surgeon and it might not all be able to get done in one surgery, it may take two and the recovery time is going to be weeks if not months. She is trying to get me seen to within the next couple of months.

The scary thing was she was talking to me like she had already explained the severity of my endo, which she absolutely hadn't before. I new it was bad but not that bad!

Good news - will be seen by top endo surgeons and hopefully this will help a lot and I am allowed all the ice cream I want in the next couple of days after my op yesterday yay!

[Brownlow]

Hi Catness,

I love that your gynaecologist has been intelligent and professional enough to recognise her limits, admit to them and refer you to the appropriate endo specialist. I think that's good news! Some gynaes are experienced enough to deal with some endo to a greater or lesser degree but I have seen several stories on this forum that are clear cases of gynaes taking on too much and causing more problems. Endo has a specialism all of its own with good reason.

Good luck with your surgery. x

[Catness in reply to Brownlow]

Thank you yes it is good news but a little scary too! But at least I will be in good hands so that's a huge relief and I'm being taken seriously which is always good xx

[Brownlow in reply to Catness]

Yes, I agree, it is scary! sorry, didn't mean to gloss over that. I was just more shocked to hear of a consultant say that another consultant would be better! xx

[Catness in reply to Brownlow]

I know! You don't hear of it often x

[Hidden]

It shows amazing regard for your safety and the best possible outcome for you,

Too often I hear of surgeons attempting to do surgery that is too complex for them..... That's when mistakes happen or only half the work is completed.

Excision surgery is definitely the best technique.

Like my consultant. I think your doctor is amazing!

Best of luck to you.

X

[Catness in reply to Hidden]

Thank you xx

[hayls]

Hi

Just wanted to say I have been in your exact same position and have now had the major excision surgery for servere stage 4 with top endo lap surgeon (and endo colorectal surgeon), for me it did end up being split across 2 ops that were about 8 weeks apart but there's always a chance they will do it in one op. It can end up being 2 ops as even with photos from your current gynae the endo surgeon will not know 100% your situation until he gets in there himself and this sort of surgery needs to be planned etc. Also don't want to scare you but from my experience you are looking at months, not weeks, for recovery particularly if it is 2 ops. I had my ops in august and october and went back to work in January but am only just back full time now. I am 99% recovered but still get very very tired. Of course you may bounce back quicker than me!

On the positive - my life has been transformed by my surgery! Pain has dropped at least 80%, just keeping my fingers crossed it stays like that for a while! Good luck, hopefully you'll get an appointment through quickly x

[Catness in reply to hayls]

Thank you yes fingers crossed it all goes ok! Xx

[wp22]

OMG. I can't believe someone has admitted that they are not qualified. They should all do that.... X

[Catness in reply to wp22]

Haha yes it does seen quite rare!

[Impatient]

I applaud her. Well done. Far too many don't want to acknowledge their limitations in what can be a very complex illness, and the carry on fobbing you off with this and that ineffective treatment.

So nice to come across an honest Doc. it has happened before on the forum once or twice - but it is rare for them to be so upfront. It is welcome too.

I much prefer to her a doc saying this case is beyond their training right now, rather than skirt round the houses.

[Catness in reply to Impatient]

Yes completely agree! But am a little scared if honest but atleast I will be in the best hands

[Angelclaire]

Hi me too went in for a Lap to remove cyst from my ovary, as I was coming round I heard a nurse say "he says she needs a better surgeon than him"! Got back to my room and my surgeon came up and explained that "it was a mess in there" Ovaries stuck together, bladder stuck and unable to move anything to even see my bowel, I had stage 4 and needed a specialist surgeon as he didn't want to cause more damage blundering around in there. After the initial shock I was very impressed as had gone private and was surprised he was handing me over and not taking the opportunity to do repeat surgeries and make more money out of me. Very impressed with his level of professionalism, care and honesty.

[Catness in reply to Angelclaire]

Yeah it is good as I have come to realise not many people will admit when they are out of their depth. I hope you got to see someone to help you?

[Hidden in reply to Angelclaire]

Have you had the next stage of surgery ?

[Catness in reply to Hidden]

No not yet, my consultants secretary didn't send the letter until this Friday past. I'm going to call the new consultants secretary tomorrow and try to arrange it all. Thank you for asking