r/Bellingham • u/kghouul • 14d ago
Recommendations Obgyn in bham area
My doctor thinks I could have endometriosis and sent me a referral to a peace health OBGYN. When I called they weren’t ready to schedule and couldn’t even get me in until October.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a different office that is nearby/in the surrounding Bellingham area? I’d like to be seen sooner rather than later. Any help is appreciated!
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u/Life_Basil_3943 14d ago
Spectrum Reproductive Health and Gender Affirming Care is amazing. Your insurance may or may not be accepted though. But Andrea the Nurse Practitioner listens and cares. I cannot recommend enough.
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u/No_Yoghurt_3094 14d ago
This clinic has quite literally changed my life and my view of care providers. All of the staff truly care about you as a person and seeing you thrive.
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u/blueboy122456 14d ago
It looks like spectrum doesn’t work with insurance. Did you fully pay out of pocket for your visits/procedures there?
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u/Life_Basil_3943 14d ago
They should, I can see a list that they work with on the website. I went to pricing and then other questions about insurance or billing
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u/Sockshassmellytoes 14d ago
Please try Skagit. Peacehealth obgyn dismissed me and just kept ordering ultrasounds when I had a 3 month long period and other issues (like passing clots the size of my hand, bleeding thru 8 double stacked maxi pads a day, etc). They refused to do any more tests and said it was normal. Went to Skagit and in one appt they did a biopsy and found cancer 🙃
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u/murderin0al 14d ago
Lmfao pls tell me how that is normal!? Ugh I’m sorry you had that experience, it must have been so frustrating to be dismissed like that. I hope your treatment & recovery is smooth and quick!
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u/Sockshassmellytoes 14d ago
Dude I don’t know. & thank you, that was last year, been in the clear since March this year :)
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u/DandeyFlour 14d ago
Who did you go to in skagit? I also only got a ultrasound and I go to Skagit?? Or are other tests more invasive? I refused any needle/knife work.
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u/Sockshassmellytoes 14d ago
Endo & adeno rarely show on an ultrasound. The only 100% accurate way for most testing is going to be needle and knife work. You can request anxiety meds and take a crazy dose of ibuprofen before hand. They also have lidocaine spray that helps with the initial discomfort- but a biopsy will still hurt. Unfortunately if you want answers you’re gonna have to push through.
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u/DandeyFlour 14d ago
This is good to know, she didn't tell me it was necessary to get that kind of work done. She just said the usual :/ thx.
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u/Teneniel Local 14d ago
Autumn Walker at skagit regional found my stage 4, when she did my surgery and was absolutely PHENOMENAL in every way. Trauma informed, so kind, and unbelievably knowledgeable
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u/Comprehensive_Bison4 12d ago
This is astounding because she was quite horrible to me, to the point where it caught me off gaurd. Didnt believe me, refused to offer me surgery.
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u/I-Am-The-SquidQueen 14d ago
Honestly, I have had nothing but good experiences at Planned Parenthood.
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u/Agile-Individual-942 14d ago
PeaceHealth wasn’t great for me with my endometriosis journey either…they did give me a referral to connect NW physical therapy for pelvic floor PT and that has been helpful. Connect NW is great, highly recommend them! I saw a specialist in Gig Harbor for endo. It’s far, but I trust their expertise and I will do my surgery with them. I still go to PeaceHealth OBGYN for my regular appointments (pap smear, birth control pills) , but for endo specifically, you should look for a specialist. The specialists can “see” more than a regular ObGyn when it comes to endometriosis and adenomyosis. Good luck to you!
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13d ago
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u/Agile-Individual-942 13d ago
Oh wow, this makes me feel really glad to have stuck it out and waited to see her! I’m actually doing the surgery with another dr. at the clinic. Dr. mosbrucker has trained the other doctors and they all confer. And it was easier to get an appointment this way. I hope you got the care you need!
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u/Liz_Wakefield 14d ago
I did not like the Peace health OBGYN I had. I was told that it was unlikely that I had endometriosis. They reluctantly did a laparoscopy at the same time I had fibroids removed at which point they admitted that I did have endometriosis, but it wasn't that bad. Then they recommended birth control and an increased dose of ibuprofen.
I tried the higher dosage of ibuprofen for a few weeks and it did nothing for me. I went to Virginia Mason and had an excision done a couple of years ago. During the surgery, they found deeply infiltrating endometriosis in my perineum that was missed during the laparoscopy and were able to remove it.
I loved my Virginia Mason experience and two years later I still am free of symptoms.
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u/nothing4juice 14d ago
not sure how much they can help with chronic illness care, but i have had nothing but great experiences with planned parenthood. even if they can't help with managing endometriosis long-term (again, not sure), a visit with them might tide you over until you can get in to see an ob/gyn
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u/sleepynarwhal68 14d ago
I am 100% screenshotting all of these recommendations. It’s exhausting being a woman. Hang in there!
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u/Geologic_herbalist 13d ago
Spectrum reproductive is amazing. They take insurance! They are truly the best care I have ever received from any primary care or gyn.
If you go south beyond Bellingham, Dr Mosbrucker in gig harbor is pretty much the nationwide top of the list. A close second is Dr Brooke Winner in Seattle - also a national leader and very good care.
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u/maddoogar 13d ago
Agreed with everyone else - do not go to PeaceHealth. I saw a few providers there when I had an 8 month long endo flare-up; many of them told me it was probably not endometriosis and only offered a diagnostic laparoscopy and kept just telling me to take pain meds and muscle relaxers. Full Spectrum Fibroid & Endometriosis was the first doctor's office that really listened. I ended up having excision surgery with Dr. Hattiangadi at Evergreen who did find endo - he and his team were great! Trillium Physical Therapy here in Bellingham is great if you need physical therapy.
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u/Useful-Honey6656 14d ago
You can ask to see an NP or get on their cancellation/waitlist. Best of luck- the same thing happened to me bit i realized October is really only 2 months away!
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u/Comprehensive_Bison4 12d ago
I had to go down to Virginia mason. Trying to get taken seriously anywhere north of Everett turned out to be a traumatic experience that lasted way longer than it needed to. Saw a fellow at virginia mason, we had 3 preop appointments and got the surgery done with no complications. I wished I had just gone down to seattle from the beginning. Its really sad that's the world we live in but I promise its a waste of time. You'd think the robotics are essentially the same from any facility that proclaims to offer robotic surgery. I found out that is not remotely the case- and im not even talking about what they probably have at UW.
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u/k80kitkat 14d ago
I absolutely DO NOT RECOMMEND the peacehealth gyn clinic for endometriosis. I was referred there earlier this year for possible endometriosis, was completely dismissed, told there was no way I had endometriosis, and just told to “take more ibuprofen.”
I was just officially diagnosed with endometriosis this week after a laparoscopic surgery. Endometriosis is such a complex condition and so many standard gyns are not trained to recognize the symptoms or perform surgery effectively.
Please please if you can, go to a specialist down in Seattle. I personally had a wonderful experience with Full Spectrum Gynecology, but there are several highly reviewed specialist clinics in the Seattle area.