Things your doctor doesnt even want to see

Today was my first day of OB/GYN. For the first half i work in a gyn clinic adjacent to the health department, so you can already guess the fantastic crowd i have the pleasure of seeing each and every day. As my first day, they took no time in throwing me directly into a room with a patient i like to call, "the train wreck"

to clarify - you know the feeling, when you are driving along and happen to come across a railroad crossing, just as pass the last possible turn before crossing the tracks, the lights flash and the gate comes down. You have now reached the point of no return. You can do nothing at this point except wait for the long, slow moving, boring train to pass. As you sit there patiently, you begin to notice the train slowing down, and then realize that it has stopped. This is the point where you know you are screwed and you cannot get out. All you can do is sit back and wait.

I had a patient like this today, i had no idea what i was getting myself in for when i first knocked on room 3. As i entered the room, i noticed she brought a shopping bag with her. Normally patients are helpful and bring in their medication bottles, this way they wont have to worry about messing them up when the question arises, "what meds are you currently taking?"

Sometimes you dont want to know what patients bring in those bags...today was that day. I have been used to internal medicine, where patients are sick, and usually complicated sick. Today i had just sick....

when i asked the first question, "why are you here today?" i got a response i wont forget.
"i want you to remove my uterus because i am sick and tired of bleeding."
I only wish i could provide you with the irate, demanding and angry tone the woman had with me, as she preceded to open her bag, take out a Ziploc filled with used tampons and pads, to fully illustrate the point of how much she was bleeding.

(and really, she had about the same amount i go through in a normal period, nothing more)

Instead of gaining the sympathy she wanted from me, all i could think of is how crazy it is to save a weeks worth of tampons and pads, to complain about heavy bleeding. You can tell me how many you go through without the visual. Really i know how to count. After discussing with her the results of her pelvic MRI, pelvic U/S and CT of the pelvis (all demanded by her), telling her that her uterus was normal without any evidence of fibroid or tumors and that she should try the oral contraceptives that had been prescribed to her upon each visit she made over the past year. Her only response is, "just please take it out, i am in pain every time i have my period, and i bleed so much that i am in pain." This woman was more than a little irate, and even when told she could have a referral to another gyn for a second opinion because the dr i work with refuses to perform an elective hysterectomy. She just yelled at the doctor and demanded pain medication....

what a drug seeker, a woman that is willing to have a part of her body removed to score drugs...