posted
All right. This post will be both personal and probably disgusting.
I went to the doctor recently because of some chronic indigestion I've been having. It usually happened when I'd eat greasy food (can you get any other type of food on a college campus?) or when I'd be under stress, but after a while I got fed up with it and went into the university clinicto see if they could just give me a pill or something to make it stop.
When she first walked in, I immediately thought she was a little strange. At first she seemed quite disoriented and very... ditzy. One eye didn't open all the way and she seemed to stumble every once in a while for no real discernable reason. I ignored this. I mean, don't judge a book by its cover.
I told her my case. She listened and asked a lot of questions, throwing in a few about family cancer. So I thought she would just write me a prescription and then send me on my way.
Boy, was I wrong.
She started throwing out things like intestinal parasites and bowel cancer, left and right, all sorts of horrific sounding things, asking me terrifying questions like if I ever noticed any blood in my stool, and I said no, and then she said, "Well, it could be a microscopic amount."
I started to get a major case of the heebie jeebies, especially went she started dropping the C-bomb. I asked her what test would tell us anything about that and she said the stool test, because there would be blood in it. She said that wasn't high on her list, since I didn't have much in my family history and I was so young, but then I said, "My great uncle had colon cancer." Then she just FREEZES and gets this look on her face as though to say, "Well, that's it. It is incredibly unusual for an eighty year old man to have colon cancer. You must be a writhing, festering jungle of tumors." Then she said, "That certainly IS family history."
She said she wanted to do some tests. I have never really had tests done on me before. When I was a kid I had some done for athsma, and they were pretty terrifying, so when she said "tests" my skin started to crawl.
Her solution to the problem was to have some very expensive and highly degrading tests run on me, including a blood test and... a stool test. I say "a" test even though they want me to bring in samples on three seperate days, since "You might not always pass the parasites or the blood in the same day." How pleasant.
I thought I was just going in there for some indigestion. And now these people are going to have me carrying my feces in a bag across campus and then handing them over to a total stranger behind a desk. Oh, the humanity.
The most amusing thing was when the girl behind the desk said, "Make sure to turn it in within a half hour." Yeah. Like I'm going to hold on to it any longer than a damn well have to. Because I can't think of anything more fun and inspiring than what you are making me do. It will be a ball. Just a regular ol' hoot.
So I'm sitting here, sorta angry and sorta scared. What if it is bowel cancer? I mean, kids get cancer all the time, they always have cancer kids on oprah and stuff, what if I turn into one of those kids? What if my guts are just one throbbing tumor? What then?
And just what the hell are parasites? That just might've been the most disgusting thing I've heard in a while. Is something going to burst out of my chest and then flee into the decks of our spaceship where it'll grow and then feed on the rest of the crew with its inner mouth?
I remember my viola professor once said, "You know, university doctors are basically the crappy sort of doctors that can't get a real job, so they have to work on poor, stupid college students." I sure hope he's right.
I'm supposed to be reading Defoe, but you can understand if I find it difficult. I have a nice little cocktail of anger, frustration, and sheer terror running in me right now, so you'll have to excuse me if Roxana is not the most gripping of stories at the moment. Does anyone have some input as to my delicate predicament?
[ February 17, 2005, 11:43 AM: Message edited by: Book ]
Posts: 2258 | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
Wow! Most people complain that their doctors don't take their complaints seriously enough, or write it off as "nothing" and it turns out to be something.
Sounds like you have the exact opposite deal going here. So you just did whatever she told you to do?
posted
I think it's just the fact that you went to the school clinic. I know I visited the doctor at my school clinic for reflux, a relatively new thing for me. He pretty much blew me off saying that 'everyone gets heart burn once in a while.' When I tried to explain that it wasn't heart burn, it was not keeping food down, he didn't appear to understand, and finally recommended I take OTC pepsid.
It's a lot worse when the doctor overreacts though. Too bad you can't wait til the end of the semester to get a second opinion with your family doctor. That's what I plan to do when I go home. The position of campus doctor isn't very well paid at most schools, so the candidates are generally people who couldn't work elsewhere, which is kind of scary. You sound worried enough that it would be worth it to talk to a local off-campus doctor. I don't know if you have insurance or if your insurance covers doctors near you, but if the campus doctor is making you pay for expensive tests and the like, then you'd be better off paying a little to get a second opinion before paying for another test. Not to mention the peace of mind that you'll undoubtedly get from knowing that this woman is overreacting. Good luck!
Posts: 349 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
I wouldn't say I hate doctors, especially since my father and many of his friends are doctors. However, I will say that I don't like going to see doctors who don't have a good bedside manner. I went through 3 OB/GYNs when I was pregnant.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I'm sorry for the distress and frustration, Book. I'd be pretty scared, too.
I think GI cancer is very unlikely in someone under 40 years old. From eMedicine article on colon cancer:
quote:Of patients with colon cancer, 90% are older than 50 years. The highest rates of incidence are in individuals aged 70-85 years. Only 5% of patients are younger than 40 years.
However, it is possible.
A good physician will always consider such things. It is part of the job. It is part of doing that job well. Parasitic infections are also a possibility (just like worms in cats, only a different kind), although also not as likely. Heatburn -- aka GERD, or gastrointestinal reflux disease -- and possibly additional peptic ulcer disease sound more likely, given what you have related here. However, I obviously do not know all the details of what was discussed, and I do not know anything about the physical examination.
Now, whether or not (and how) to discuss what she was thinking is another matter. I have heard people be furious with physicians for not sharing these parts of the differential diagnosis with them (as in, wanting-to-sue/damned-incompetent-quacks level of furious), and I've seen the complete reverse, as it seems to be for you. Obviously, how it was handled was very distressing to you, and remains so. I'm truly sorry for that. Next time it might help if you tell the physician up front that "I don't want to know all the details -- it will freak me out. Just tell me what you think I need to know and no more."
I do not mean to say that you "should" have to do that, or that you did anything wrong at all. Let me make that explicitly clear. This strategy may be a way that you can stay actively involved in avoiding such stress in the future. That would be a good thing. I hope you find physicians who are more understanding in the future.
For what it is worth, half of the best physicians who trained me were working in student health centers (McKinley in Champaign-Urbana and University Health Services here in Madison) Yes, there are some who are less committed, just as there are in private practice. My standards are very high for judging other physicians. But it is in university health services that I have seen some of the strongest commitment to high-quality care. At Madison, this translates into continual quality improvement studies, year-round.
Again, though, I am so sorry you had a bad experience. I hope it turns out okay.
posted
And as yet another aside, these are indeed the sorts of things I consider when I get asked professional questions here at Hatrack. I'm sure Theca does, too.
It makes for complications, as we are also your friends. We do the best we can to educate and point you in the direction of the best available online resources. We have to be careful, though, as we take you and your health very very seriously. We want to do well by you, and we do the best we can.
Most important right now is your health and distress, Book. You must keep us updated on how you are doing. I will be worried about you.
posted
One last thing, and then I'll shut the heck up.
Just to be clear -- it should always be okay to rant and rave about physicians here. This is a community of people who care about one another, and titles and degrees should not make for privilege.
Some days I'm all too human and get distressed when all of my profession is tarred with one brush, but I'm a big girl and should be able to suck it up. (That's part of the job, too.) sndrake in particular has been very understanding. I keep working on it.
So, anyway, hope you feel better soon.
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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posted
Been there, done that. Even went to the school clinic for the same thing. Wait till they want to do a flex sig on ya! Talk about ouch…. It’s miserable. So…. Mine turned out to be IBS (Irritable Bowl Syndrome) http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/ibs_ez/ You might want to look into it a bit. I found that taking a multivitamin seemed to help mine some. Also, I had to figure out the different kind of food that triggered it for me. Milk in the morning is very bad for me. I can’t have cereal for breakfast. I think I might be a little lactose intolerant too, But I can drink milk or have ice cream later in the day. Oil bases cheese is bad for me. Pizza Hut uses this. Ouch. Real cheese is ok though. Papa John’s uses this. I think I’ve narrowed down that pancake syrup is bad too. Not sure if it’s a certain kind. Since in the experimental stages here…. But you get the point. Certain things bring it on in my case. You might also check out Digestive Advantage IBS. http://www.ganedenbiotech.com/index.php?page=DAIBS It’s new. I’ve tried it some and it helped for a bit. But I seemed to have gotten used to it or something. Not sure. Still testing this one on myself. Anyway….. I know where you’re coming from with your frustration. They didn’t have a clue and didn’t know much. This has been a big problem in my life and even caused me to have an attack during my high school graduation. Mom made my pizza dinner with fake cheese. She saw it was on sale and got it, even though I’d told her a million times to only get Kraft. Oh well. What’s the big deal about walking across the stage right? So good luck. Hope this helps.
Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Wow, see, when I first scheduled the appointment what I said was "I think I have IBS." (However, since I initially pretty much just said that I wanted to talk to a nurse about a concern I had, they assumed I had an STD) Your condition, Jay, sounds highly similar to mine. After reading up on this stuff, I'm pretty sure that's what I have (hey, my diagnosis was way more efficient and less expensive than that of my school physician's, go figure), although I'd like to know exactly how I can cancel doing all these stupid (and pretty repelling) tests.
For a second there I was legitimately scared. The main thing was that I never knew what triggered it. I always thought IBS was dependent on spicy food (yes, Ben Stiller movies are a mjor source of medical info for me), but hearing what you say, Jay, it makes more sense. I often wondered why trying to eat certain healthy foods made me go crazy and eating certain garbage foods made me feel just fine. Becuase I couldn't find the triggers, I could never know if it was IBS or not. Now I know, I suppose.
I was basically walking in there with just the knowledge that sometimes my guts go nuts and I didn't know why. Now with this new angle on cheeses, I'll put more thought into what I shove in my face.
[ February 17, 2005, 03:27 PM: Message edited by: Book ]
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quote: After reading up on this stuff, I'm pretty sure that's what I have (hey, my diagnosis was way more efficient and less expensive than that of my school physician's, go figure), although I'd like to know exactly how I can cancel doing all these stupid (and pretty repelling) tests .... I could never know if it was IBS or not. Now I know, I suppose.
The problem is, your diagnosis may or may not be as reliable.
PS: I didn't mean to be offensive to all doctors in the naming of my thread. Just the ones that jump to conclusions.
Posts: 2258 | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
This is interesting. I've been having similar symptoms off and on for years, but I wouldn't describe mine as indigestion as much as nausea. I always thought the main symptom of IBS was diarrhea, but never researched it. Most of my job entails communicable diseases, so I'm not that up on chronic stuff.
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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Oh, and I wanted to say also that the clinicians at the student health center at my school were excellent. I seldom saw an MD, usually a PA or a CNP, but I never had any complaints with the care or treatment I received there. In some cases, I prefer the middle level medical practioner to seeing a physician, anyway.
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posted
I've mentioned this before but my university's health center was notorious for the time a friend of mine got back his strep test results, which said he was pregnant.
I tend to be one of those people who would rather have all the tests possible so I have hard data for both the doctors and me to go on. Having said that though, I also put off getting checked out for heartburn until I was curled up on the floor in a fetal position and they wouldn't let me out of the hospital til my gallbladder was removed. Tests before that point, would have been a good thing.
posted
I was diagnosed with IBS when I was 12. After a colonoscopy. The second attempt at a colonoscopy-- I had to be put under general anesthesia, because the first time, they gave me Versed and I hallucinated for 4 1/2 hours. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Well, yes, diarrhea is there (we don’t like to talk about that much, embarrassing). But I know for me the abdominal pain is the worst. The best way to describe it is like feeling like my intestines are being tied in knots and ripped apart. It is extremely painful when an attack occurs.
Hope it helps Book. Docs don’t seem to like to diagnose IBS or lactose intolerance. There’s not a 100% test that says yes. You have this. The crazy thing is, from being in public bathrooms frequently, (this is going to be gross) but I think that a lot of people suffer from this and do nothing about it. And the thing about the multivitamin helping made me wonder if there is something in our diet we’re missing or something.
Oh well. Guess ya get used to it and figure it out for the most part.
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I'm seldom embarrassed about things like diarrhea anymore. Working in public health, I hear about so many more potential embarrassing conditions and behaviors that diarrhea is nothing!
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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See, for me, it's alternating constipation and diarrhea. I get intestinal cramps a lot, but I have learned over the years how to manage it pretty well. For me, it's limiting dairy (which means taking Tums), a high-fiber diet (including Citrucel when necessary) most of the time, and Immodium as necessary for the cramping and diarrhea. I also have to limit pork product consumption (although I seem to be outgrowing that one somewhat, and am easing back on to them slowly because pork is such a source of iron, and I'm in need of it) and nuts, coconut, and pineapple consumption, as well.
It was hard at first, especially that part where you have to keep a food diary to figure out the patterns of eating that make it worse. But now it's become habit, and it's not the worst thing that could happen to me. According to my family, I've had the same pattern since I was an infant-- almost literally since I was born. I see it in my daughter now, and am making a mental note to watch her and inform her pediatrician of what may be going on when he's puzzled by it years from now, so hopefully she won't have to undergo a colonoscopy (and the enemas that come before it!)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I guess I'm just lucky. I was having occassional painful gas at night that would wake me up and prevent me from falling asleep again. I went to the clinic, saw a doctor, was prescribed presciption Zantac and I haven't had any problems since.
Posts: 3446 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I agree with Jay. I think a lot of people do have IBS or are lactose intolerant.
By the way, you guys do know that it's biologically normal for most adult mammals to be lactose intolerant? I mean, this is a smart crowd, so I figured you guys knew that interestin' lil tidbit.
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I hope you find physicians who are more understanding in the future.![[Cool]](cool.gif)
Like I said, no topic is off-limits for that sort of reason.
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