[kimberf]

I'll start by explaining that I'm generally feeling sorry for myself, so this is a bit of a long rant.

I'm about 12.5 weeks along right now. I'm on the last day of my vacation in Turkey and picked up a stomach bug yesterday. So, instead of my usual constipation, I've been on the toilet at least once an hour today (and not just to pee.) My stomach is hurting a bit, not terribly. I'm looking at about 20 hours in transit back from Istanbul to the Bay Area starting at 5 AM tomorrow. This is not sounding fun what with going to the bathroom all the time. To top it off, I had a massage appointment at the hotel today, and they wouldn't do it when they found out I'm pregnant. That's what I get for being honest.

I have an autoimmune disease (where the body attacks itself, like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, etc.) that can cause fetal heart block among other things, so I need to see a perinatal specialist. I have two options - a very good, well known one that's part of an excellent children's hospital with a great NICU in town, or one that's at least an hour away. I'll have to go every week soon, and didn't want to have to drive up to the city all the time, so went to the nearby one.

Since the beginning, I've had some serious doubts about the office in terms of the patient experience -- the actual quality of care is great, but it's a fairly horrible, bureaucratic drain to deal with them. It took them two weeks of me calling repeatedly before I even got in for my first appointment, AFTER I'd even been in for a pre-pregnancy consult and was accepted as a high-risk patient. I tried to see a different doctor recommended by my GP, but when he couldn't remember what my condition is, or what the issues it can cause are, I decided I was best off going to the actual perinatal clinic.

So anyway, I call them today, leave a message for the high-risk coordinator explaining that I have diarrhea, I'm in Turkey, I'm flying home tomorrow, I can't find any Kaopectate here (three pharmacies today, never heard of it.) Can I take Imodium for the flight? And, oh, should I come in sometime this week when I get home to get checked out?

I wait for the several hours that it always takes for them to call back. Well, the doctor that I would be seeing, who's a backup for my regular doctor while she's gone for several months, isn't in for a few weeks, so they asked another doctor (so this is the backup for the backup giving me the advice). That doctor couldn't say whether it would be OK for me to take Imodium since they don't know why I have diarrhea. For some causes, it's better to let everything flush out. Ok, I get that, but not for a 20 hour trip, necessarily.

But here's the part that irked me: She told me that for the diarrhea I wouldn't come to the ob clinic anyway so no need to make an appointment, I should go to my GP. I found this a bit illogical -- they can't OK any meds since they don't know what it is, but they don't actually want to see me for it either... My GP won't give me anything without the Ob clinic OKing it, so I'm fully expecting this all to drag on for days with me in limbo.

So, instead, I called my sister-in-law, who's also an Ob/Gyn, and she said while it's not ideal, it would be OK to just to take the Imodium for the flight and it will be fine (class B drug, no known harmful effects). Thank goodness for having an OB in the family.

OK, sorry that was long...I'm sure I would have dealt with this better if I was feeling well, but I'm not, so it just bugged me.

[ILuvMyHusband]

Ugh, I totally understand. Getting the runaround from your office can be such a pain! It often seems like they don't care about your problem or are too busy to be bothered by it. Doesn't it make you wonder why we pay so much for insurance when we aren't even getting the attention and care that we should?

[willowsmom]

So sorry that you're feeling so awful and your ob office is no help! I hope you're feeling better soon and that you find the care that you deserve!

[carvedwords]

I'm so sorry to hear that. Keep pestering them. For some reason doctors always give the runaround!!!

[kimberf]

Thanks all! It fortunately turned out to be a transient, 12 hour tummy thing, so at least that's better. Still hate this office though. I wish I could find a good high-risk doctor here that isn't actually at this clinic. If I didn't need all the neonatal EKGs and stuff, I'd definitely go somewhere else.

[purseinsanity]

Originally Posted by ILuvMyHusband

Ugh, I totally understand. Getting the runaround from your office can be such a pain! It often seems like they don't care about your problem or are too busy to be bothered by it. Doesn't it make you wonder why we pay so much for insurance when we aren't even getting the attention and care that we should?

Well, the sad thing is that you pay a lot for insurance but that doesn't necessarily mean the people providing the services get it. A lot of insurance bigwigs laugh all the way to the bank, at the expense of patients!

[gillianna]

I hope you are feeling better soon. Are you able to keep fluids down? You don't want to get dehydrated. Good luck on your flight home. I am sure you will feel less stressed out once you are home. I don't know what to think with those doctors, it has to be very upsetting to deal with them.
Hugs.

[LVmom]

I am with you. I had the worst flu I have ever experienced( I was having blood come up), and my high risk OB was out of town . I ended up relying on family members in the medical field also as backup. The substitute OB was impossible to get ahold of. I just think you don't get the care you used to, the doctors are all too busy. Glad you are feeling better. I go in Friday to see if the flu caused any bad after effects. I hope you have nothing but smooth sailing the rest of your pregnancy.