Boost

Well, the appointment to try to get a referral to check out my non-IF related issues turned out better than I expected. I think it helped that I got in to see a doctor this time instead of the nurse practitioners that are so prevalent on campus. No offense to NP’s, but I think in a situation like this I really needed someone with more experience. I could just tell that even though this was not his area of expertise, this doctor as least knew enough know which direction to go and to point me to. Dr. Receptive was not only nice, but he listened to every little bit of minutia I had to say. You know how sometimes you can talk to a doctor, or anyone for that matter, and you can tell the exact moment when they have stopped listening to you? Well, that never happened at any point during my appointment and can I just say how great that was to have somebody listening to everything you say and not be dismissive. From his comments to me, I could tell he considered every point I put out there and then made his own assessments. It felt a little more like the collaborative effort I was hoping for between me and the doctor. And, it gives me hope that I can find a specialist who I can interact with in the same manner.

So, I did repeat bloodwork for FSH, LH, TSH and prolactin. Even though I was in mid-cycle (cd19), Dr. Receptive wanted to see what my FSH was. His thinking was that it was too early to say it was POF since I just had the one FSH level. But it was high, and if the mid-cycle is also high, then that indirectly confirms my high FSH. I’ve thought about the validity of that logic these last couple of days and I’m not sure to think. I wish I had the presence of mind to ask for a progesterone level, too, just to see if those levels are high or low since I read that women with POF tend to have low progesterone also. But, it’s a start and the appointment energized me to move forward. The other little drawback was that he seemed to have a specific specialist in mind to refer me to, but he couldn’t remember his name. And he referred me to a “Gyn Endocrinologist” and so my referral got sent to Endocrinology because the receptionist didn’t find a number for “Gyn Endocrinology.” It didn’t occur to me until later that he might have meant to refer me to an RE which means my referral probably should have gone to OB/Gyn since that’s where the RE’s are. In any case, at least I have the referral and I can sort the details out one way or another.

Tests come back Friday.