She Won't Refer Me to a Specialist for a Second Opinion
By StacyB
@Srbageldog (7716)
United States
October 20, 2017 7:27pm CST
I just got back from my appointment with my gynecologist. I am livid. She wants to wait before deciding to refer me to UC Davis for a second opinion. She thinks my pain is caused by a UTI, which the ER failed to tell me about. She also wants to start the process of determining what's going on all over again. I have already had multiple pelvic ultrasounds, an MRI, and a diagnostic laparoscopy. It was determined that there were no ovarian cysts, it was my fallopian tubes which are blocked and swollen (and not even really "tubes" anymore; they are like golf balls) that keep showing up as fluid-filled cysts on all the ultrasounds and other imaging tests. I was referred to a gynecological oncologist already to treat this. The referral to UC Davis would be for a second opinion from another specialist who is closer to home.
So why then do I have to start this process all over again? This doctor acted bewildered and kept saying "I don't know where you're getting that it's your tubes." Um, because that was the conclusion from surgery. Plus there's a ton of scar tissue and adhesions which are gluing my ovaries and fallopian tubes to my bowel. I already know surgery to remove my tubes, the adhesions, endometriomas and possibly my uterus is an option. That is why I am being treated by the specialist in Berkeley!
So now I don't know what to think or who to trust. My gynecologist (who apparently is just my "temporary" gynecologist, since I only get a handful appointments with her to deal with this issue before requiring another referral back to her) prescribed me antibiotics to treat the UTI and wants to wait and see if that gets rid of my pelvic pain (because years of pelvic pain is now being blamed on a urinary tract infection.) The ER doctor is not an expert and failed to even tell me I had a UTI or prescribe me anything for it. And this is why I hate doctors. One tells you one thing and makes you think something is urgent and needs to be dealt with ASAP, and then another tells you something completely different and wants to focus on other issues you didn't even know you had. It would be nice if, for once, all of my doctors were on the same page!
14 people like this
13 responses
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
I had asked for a referral to another gynecologist back in January (I was seeing a different one then and my insurance switched networks so I couldn't keep seeing her; she has since left the area anyway.) It took 7 or 8 months for the referral to be authorized and for me to get an appointment with this gyn. Currently she is the only one accepting my insurance in my area. Which is nuts! Anyway, it would likely take another 8 months or longer to get sent somewhere else, and I would probably have to go out of the area.
And I agree, I don't know what was so hard for her to comprehend about it. She kept mentioning the depot lupron shot, and I asked "okay, but will that shrink my fallopian tubes back to a normal size?" and she said "it might," but that she didn't know where I was getting off thinking I had enlarged tubes to begin with because they didn't say anything about that on the ultrasound results from the ER...the tubes are what keep showing up as cysts. 
3 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
@NJChicaa I am scared to try it because I have read lots of bad things about it online. Lots of nasty side effects and such. 
3 people like this
@NJChicaa (115996)
• United States
21 Oct 17
@Srbageldog the Depo shot will likely alleviate some of your symptoms.
3 people like this
@allen0187 (58444)
• Philippines
21 Oct 17
Agree that this needs to be dealt with ASAP and a second opinion is needed. Hope you get it soon.
4 people like this
@allen0187 (58444)
• Philippines
21 Oct 17
@Srbageldog hope things work out well for you.
3 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
Thank you. I am going to keep my appointment with the specialist in Berkeley on Oct 31 and just tell him I want to treat it with surgery. He gave me that option. It will just be challenging trying to figure out how to get down there for the surgery and any pre-op appointments.
3 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
I see my primary doctor on Tuesday and will ask her for the referral. I feel like this gynecologist was just completely dismissing everything I already know about my body. I will not go through the process of pelvic ultrasounds every couple months, then an MRI, then diagnostic laparoscopy all over again. Especially when another doctor said it was urgent that this be dealt with.
4 people like this
@moffittjc (118442)
• Gainesville, Florida
21 Oct 17
I'm pretty sure you have a legal right to a second opinion. If your doctor want refer you, I believe you can call your insurance company directly and request approval for a second opinion.
3 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
That is what I thought too. Although once when I called my insurance company and requested a second opinion they said my doctor had to put in a referral for it.
3 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
23 Oct 17
@moffittjc The insurance packet I was sent originally said I don't need a doctor's authorization for a second opinion. But then when I called the insurance company they said otherwise. I'm also supposed to be entitled to a second opinion within a matter of DAYS. But when I do get referred for a second opinion, it takes months.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118442)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Oct 17
@Srbageldog Hmmm, interesting. I wonder if the laws vary from state to state? Or maybe from insurance plan to insurance plan?
2 people like this
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
21 Oct 17
She is milking he insurance before you get another doctor to remove the problem.
3 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
That's what I was thinking too. I will just have the specialist deal with it. He said we could treat it however I chose to treat it.
2 people like this
@kobesbuddy (74558)
• East Tawas, Michigan
21 Oct 17
One time my physician referred me to a specialist. He was paid $300 from my insurance company, just for referring me to a different doctor! Doctors seldom agree as to what a patient's problem is.
2 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
@kobesbuddy That is ridiculous. I would get a second opinion from a different cardiologist if I were you.
Last year I saw a neurologist who did a nerve conduction test and that was it. (I was sent to him to treat my migraines and figure out what was wrong with me based on a bunch of symptoms.) Said there was nothing wrong with me (but that I should research fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome; he wasn't interested in diagnosing either though.) My doctor got mad and sent me back to him because he didn't do anything about my migraines. He was mad that I was back in his office and just blabbered on basic info about migraines that any dummy who has had migraines already knows, and wrote me a bunch of prescriptions for meds. When I picked up the prescription, the dosing seemed way off, and didn't match the instructions he had said in his office. Anyway so I asked my primary doctor about it and she said he wrote the dosing wrong and not to take the medication. She sent me to a different neurologist for a second opinion. The second neurologist diagnosed me right away with fibromyalgia, actually asked about my migraine symptoms/triggers, did a physical exam and determined I had suffered traumatic brain injury at some point in my life which was causing me some issues. That other neurologist had just blown me off and said there was absolutely nothing nothing wrong with me, and he wrote his prescriptions wrong which could have killed me if I had taken the way he wrote it! Sometimes these "specialists" are not people to be trusted.
1 person likes this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
That's nuts! I am losing faith in all my doctors, and I didn't have much faith in doctors in general to begin with.
2 people like this
@kobesbuddy (74558)
• East Tawas, Michigan
21 Oct 17
@Srbageldog My doctor ran tests, then told me I have mitral valve prolapse. He referred me to a heart specialist, who said no, you don't have mitral valve prolapse. Last week I was in the ER, for high blood pressure. They did an EKG and I heard the doctor say to the RN, she has mitral valve prolapse. Who am I suppose to believe?
1 person likes this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
I thought I was entitled to a second opinion. I didn't realize I could only get a second opinion at the whim of whatever doctor I was seeing.
1 person likes this
@Jackalyn (7559)
• Oxford, England
21 Oct 17
@Srbageldog Covering her back? I am pretty sure you do have that right.
2 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
I thought I had the right to request a second opinion. I'm bewildered why she refused it!
2 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
@Jackalyn Probably. Or maybe she wants to milk the insurance money for all it's worth before referring me somewhere else. I will ask my primary for the referral and if she won't give it, just let my current specialist deal with it.
2 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
22 Oct 17
I am going to ask her on Tuesday to do just that. I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask the gynecologist since I saw her first and it was my old gynecologist who referred me to the specialist to begin with.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (458091)
• Switzerland
22 Oct 17
@Srbageldog I have to be honest, I trust more men than women as doctors. I had very bad experiences with women. They are stubborn and do not listen and when they think to be right you can do nothing to convince them.
3 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
22 Oct 17
@LadyDuck I have had bad luck with some male doctors and actually prefer women, but I have also had some very good men doctors.
2 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
She didn't have a clue. She couldn't even comprehend that I know for a fact that the "cysts" showing up on all the tests aren't cysts, but my damaged fallopian tubes. I had surgery to remove those "cysts" in March and there were none, it was the fallopian tubes (which couldn't be removed since they are glued to my bowel, and it requires a specialist to perform the surgery.) I was getting frustrated with her insisting that my tubes were fine.
3 people like this
@Courtlynn (66921)
• United States
21 Oct 17
Oh my. I am so sorry. I would be livid too. Hope things get figured out soon so you can see what options you have afterall.
2 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
Thank you. I see the specialist on the 31st so I will discuss my options with him.
2 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
21 Oct 17
Sounds accurate. Doctors are almost never in agreement with each other and so many have no clue about anything!
2 people like this
@mikaelajuliet (638)
• Boston, Massachusetts
21 Oct 17
that sounds so infuriating. I'm sorry you are struggling! hope you get answers soon
2 people like this
@Srbageldog (7716)
• United States
22 Oct 17
Thank you. I see the specialist on Halloween but he is so far away (3 hours from me) so traveling to have surgery will be a challenge. But if I can't get referred to someone else closer to home, I guess I'll just have to deal with traveling for surgery.
2 people like this
@mikaelajuliet (638)
• Boston, Massachusetts
22 Oct 17
@Srbageldog thats terrible
2 people like this
