Lazy Friday

We've finally got our pool set up and nearly ready to go. We have rusty well water, so we always have to do a special treatment to the water once we have the pool filled up. We put this white powdery stuff in the pool that costs $27 a bottle (yikes!) and the rust in the water clings to the white stuff and it all floats to the bottom of the pool and stays there until we vacuum it out. So, I vacuumed the pool floor tonight while Fred fixed a tiny leak on the filter hose. I wish someone would come out this far to fill our pool with nice clean water annually, but no one will come out this far. In the community we used to live in, the volunteer fire dept. comes and fills your pool for a small fee.
Two days ago, I started the heavy bleeding again. After still no response from my DR, the onset of the bleeding prompted me to contact the administrator of my DR's office building yesterday. Within 90 minutes, I had a personal phone call from the DR yesterday and by this morning I had a call with an appointment scheduled with a specialist. The bummy part is the OB/GYN appt. is on my anniversary...July 3! Oh well.

For those of you not aware of all the problems I've been having concerning the DR's office, this is the letter I sent him on June 8:

June 8, 2007
Dear Dr. XXXXX,
I am writing to express my concern and feelings about what I feel is a lack of care by your nurse, Tonya.
I had a uterine biopsy in your office on May 9. By that point, I had been bleeding off and on for 2 months and had possibly even suffered a miscarriage. I was told the biopsy results would be back in a week’s time.
After not hearing from your office for 9-10 days following the test, I began calling and left messages with the various ladies who answer the phone, asking for someone to call me concerning the test results. No one returned my calls. In hind sight, I guess the test results weren’t in, but I think someone should have returned my calls to let me know that. When you are sick and waiting on biopsy results, the wait is very hard.
Four days after the test, on Sunday, May 13 I had to go to the ER for uncontrollable uterine bleeding. Dr. Sowers was on call and directed us to BMH. I was bleeding out an overnight pad every hour. I was put on Provera, 20 MG for 10 days and instructed four times by the ER NP to call you the first thing the following morning. I called at 9:25 AM on Monday, May 14. I spoke directly to Tonya. She promised to talk with you, see if you wanted me to do anything different then call me back that day. I’ve never heard from her concerning this and do not know if she told you I went to the ER. I bled so strongly that week that I wore two overnight pads at a time inside a Depends undergarment and slept on a shower curtain liner.
Twenty days after the test, I once again spoke with a phone operator. She was very sympathetic and said that she was sure someone would have already called with the test results and stated that I must have missed the call. She said, “I promise someone will call you back today.” I waited by the phone until 11 PM and no one returned my call.
The next day, my husband called Tonya and left her message, asking her about the results. She called him back immediately at his pharmacy and tried to give him the results. He prompted her to call me and tell me the results herself. She told him the results had come in at 9 PM the night before but she didn’t want to call that late. I wish Fred had told her I’d waited by the phone until 11:00. I told Tonya that I was still feeling very poorly. She said she would “sit down with Dr. XXXX tonight” and call me back the following day. Two or three weeks later, I’m still waiting to hear from her. The ER NP told me to go to a OB/GYN. I asked Tonya if you wanted me to come back in or if I needed to go to an OB/GYN. That is one of the things she was to ask you and let me know and I still have no answers.
I am, in no means, trying to cause trouble. I just feel like you aren’t aware of everything that has happened. I was so sick in May that I didn’t know if I would make it. I felt like Tonya didn’t care and I still have no resolution to the bleeding. I’m not sleeping and I’m dealing with the hormonal fallout of Provera and whatever else is wrong hormonally. I’m still spotting off and on.
I don’t know what else to do and I don’t know how else to reach you. I realize I am only one of hundreds of patients and I’m not asking for special treatment.
I cannot return to Balanced Life, the ladies gym, until I have a release from your office. I can’t get anyone to call me back so that I can talk to them about this as well.
Thank you for your time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I never heard back from the DR, I figured my letter had been intercepted by someone in his office, as we are friends with this DR and know without a doubt that he would've contacted me right away.
When I spoke on the phone with him yesterday, I could tell he wasn't in a position to speak freely, but he assured me we would talk again soon. So, we'll see. At least I'm going to the specialist now. Not sure what will happen as the consensus seems to be that the bleeding is hormonally induced due to my ovarian disease and the treatment for this is birth control pills, which I cannot take because I get blood clots. Sigh.

On a good note, after working 10 straight days, Fred had today off as well as Sat. & Sun., so I'm excited about that! Being sick, I slept 18 hours last night and he slept a lot too, so we didn't get much done today! We had lunch at Applebee's...I had the Bistro Steak sandwich on a Ciabatta and it was YUMMY!! I also took some stuff to the consignment shop, bought some stuff while there and that about sums up our day today! lol