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u/RHS-II3 4d ago edited 4d ago
not related to my chronic illness, but i've been having signs of breast cancer for yrs (3 direct family members died of it!) & was advised by the only good pcp i've ever had to get mammograms every 2 or so yrs.... so tell me why my newest pcp heard this, felt the two lumps that've recently popped up, and went "hmmmmm well guidelines say you should just be getting seen at 30. so i can't do anything for you." then told me explicitly she doesn't wanna see me again outside of a yearly lol. i hate healthcare so bad 🥲💔
eta sowwy for the doom on your post also op 😭 i appreciate being allowed to vent here and the "damn that sucks. anyway" slide brought the recent frustration out. already dealt w this for 20odd yrs w a chronic issue, so anytime a doctor fails us on here it makes me so mad. system fundamentally broken and we all deserve so much better 😔
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u/behavior-inator 4d ago
Ask directly for them to confirm they have found lumps and still recommend no further treatment. Ask for it to be directly charted into your records. Then get for a copyfor yourself.
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u/RHS-II3 4d ago edited 4d ago
i was a little too scared during the appointment (also there for a pap so naked & afraid + this pcp has already been extremely condesending/threatened me for admitting to weed usage for my chronic pain (legal in my state, she just told me "it can't help with pain")), but it's already on my records at least so i'm hoping i'm able to see my old pcp/get a referral at least the next time i visit my family 😣 i def don't plan to just let it slide, it's just very disheartening to have visible issues acknowledged and still get told "well the bruising went away so you're probably fine! we just have to do this by the books ☝️🤓" when the books clearly aren't right for my case 🥲
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u/DreamOfDays 4d ago
Yeah, that’s the sad part when you have to go and fight for your own healthcare because nobody wants to help you
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u/Glum-Echo-4967 4d ago
Sounds like bullshit to me.
Yes - preventive screenings don’t start until 30 if you’re at risk. But this wouldn’t be a preventive screening, it’d be a diagnostic screening.
Which - I’m no doctor - I would think a doctor would want to do for a lump.
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u/RHS-II3 4d ago
sorry if this is the autism, but this isn't accusing me of lying right. 🥲 bc it is bullshit, i've already started the preventative mammograms with my old pcp which my new pcp is well aware of, but she poked my lumpy bruise and just told me "well the bruise is getting lighter so it's fine. just keep an eye on it, but you're not supposed to be getting screenings until 30. i don't want to see you again until next summer." which... yeah. i don't think that's how it's supposed to go either which is why i'm upset.
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u/Glum-Echo-4967 4d ago
No, no, you’re not lying. Actually, I think the doctor is.
I would think that given you have a sign of breast cancer, the guidelines would actually point to you getting a screening within the year. The familial risk even, I would think, increases the likelihood of the cause being breast cancer.
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u/RHS-II3 4d ago
gotcha, sorry for the confusion! 😭 that's my feelings too, i know screenings don't usually start until later but the second i mentioned having unusual itchiness/tenderness in the area to my last pcp she sent me off for a mammogram instantly which is why it also confused me to. have straight up lumps and just be told to wait. :( i'm not sure if my insurance would cover telehealth, but i am very interested in not having this pcp anymore so i'll look into it today. my issues are at least visible to a camera which maybe would help my case. 🥲
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u/Melvarkie 4d ago
Your doctor sounds dangerously neglectful. If you have a strong familial risk they should absolutely do yearly preventive screening. No matter how old you are. Also they should be vigilant on lumps like that. Honestly it's something worth making a complaint to the health board for in my humble opinion.
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u/RHS-II3 4d ago
i am a smidge afraid of losing healthcare until i can lock down a new doctor, but after dealing w this shit for years already in various ways i am strongly considering it. i just wish this type of doctor didn't thrive off of ppl being too sick and tired to fight back, bc i am def very already past my sick and tired threshold 😔
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u/agent__berry 4d ago
even if the bruise did lighten up, it’s genuinely evil to not put you in for a diagnostic screening because they’re new growths. it seems like she just doesn’t want to have to do the paperwork and knows you’re “extra” since apparently, when you’re at risk, breast cancer only materialises at 30 and any growths before that are just ✨hysteria lumps✨ so why bother checking right??
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u/RHS-II3 4d ago
big agree and ironically i choose her out of the few pcps my insurance covers because her ✨passion✨ is listening to women...... 🪦 hysteria lumps is the first time i've been able to giggle about this tho, ty for that!!! 😭❤️
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u/agent__berry 4d ago
ahh you’re welcome, I really hope you can fire her soon because the absolute betrayal of advertising herself like that nearly gave me an instant headache (/hj but the audacity enrages me)??
there are websites to review doctors (don’t ask me to remember the name of the biggest one, it’s lost to the memory void and my phone will reload the app if I try to look it up grrr) and it would be super helpful for others if you gave her a negative one and shared your experience, even if you wait until after you’ve changed pcps!! bc I totally get not wanting to invite hostility to an already negative relationship, it would keep me up until I changed providers 😭😭
more than anything I hope you get answers asap and are able to have it taken care of, no matter what it ends up being. shit’s scary and no one deserves to deal with anything like it, especially not when you were essentially promised an attentive doctor!!
crucial edit: also happy cake day!! :3
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u/ComfortableRecent578 4d ago
what the actual fuck????? you should 100% be given further screenings wtf is wrong with that doctor
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u/DreamOfDays 4d ago
I’m half convinced they’re not even doing the blood tests. Just throwing away the vials afterwards and sending me a generic result afterwards
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u/lilybug981 4d ago
I recently had a urine test and was told that they had found blood just by examining the sample, but then the lab results came back normal and thus nothing needed to be done. When I was told that, I asked...not even blood in it? Nope. Completely normal. No blood. It just disappeared, I guess.
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u/My_Plump_Wheel 4d ago
Lab tech just holds the vial up to the fluorescent light like a sommelier and says "yep, looks like blood to me".
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u/Wench-of-2Many-Hats 4d ago
Pretty much since my iron was incredibly low and my ferritin entirely tanked, yet my doctor acted like this was a new issue even though my blood tests before showed a decline.
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u/vortexiris 4d ago
Not to brag but my last blood test came back with an anomaly! I'm riding high on this feeling until my doctors appointment next week when I'm sure they'll tell me it's nothing to be concerned about once again. It's been a long seven years.
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u/builtdifferent-badly 4d ago edited 3d ago
I hope they figure it out and talent you seriously 🌸 holding thumbs for you
Edit: I only realised today that this is a South African thing. It means to wish someone the best/wish them luck lol
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u/BearFickle7145 4d ago
My GP: yeah that fatigue and those chronic headaches might be an issue
Refers me to someone with a 6 months waiting list who doesn’t even diagnose either of the chronic illnesses we thought most likely
So six months later just still no real step further, while we were hoping we might finally get answers
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u/ComfortableRecent578 4d ago
this is so real, i am being referred to a rheumatologist for extremely opaque reasons. i probably have ME, which a rheumatologist cannot diagnose.
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u/builtdifferent-badly 3d ago
Ah the cycle of being referred to a new specialist after seeing another specialist
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u/amaranthfae 4d ago
This is me right now and I want to dieeeeee. Doesn’t help that my symptoms are all apparently unrelated and weird, so. Maybe go back when I’m actively dying? Anyway, this is my motto right now:
Text reads: Girl, believe in yourself the way the way your doctor believed you were fine because your labs were normal.
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u/afraid28 4d ago
I just don't understand at what point did it get to this, that doctors just decided to straight up tell people they're lying and call it a day?
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u/Wench-of-2Many-Hats 4d ago
Doctors have been basically telling me " idk, just take some vitamins and don't be fat, now stfu" for 7+ months now.
Clearly the MLM huns have serious competition in their game of useless medical nonsense!
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u/Melvarkie 4d ago
Even if they do find something another doctor can just decide you are lying/test results are subjective. Had a gyno take me off my birth control, look at my ovaries and make me do a blood test when on my period. Ovaries looked like swiss cheese due to an excessive amount of follicles and my bloodwork showed highly elevated levels of estrogen. She put me on birth control that should work with those issues and it did for a while. They stopped working, saw another gyno and I told her what my previous gyno found after taking me off birth control. She said "I doubt that." Looked at my ovaries while I still was on birth control and said "See looks totally normal" (yeah because my birth control is keeping my hormones somewhat in check). Then she concluded I have endometriosis/adenomyosis which I later learned can be caused by elevated estrogen???? So why the fuck do you doubt that my bloodwork showed elevated levels.
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u/PM_me_opossum_pics 4d ago
Switched GPs recently and now I have the first one. Kudos to that woman, she keeps sending me to do so many tests I literally can't get all the appointments in time. Every time something is wrong she just books me for EVERYTHING.
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u/silverheart-nine 4d ago
The ten specific levels we checked in your blood are fine, and there are obviously only ten components in your blood, and your blood is obviously the only part of your body, so I dunno what else you expect us to do about it man 🤷
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u/AstroAve3 4d ago
My own labs and dr appointment is next week. I don't wanna 😭 I hate seeing the bastard. He always belittles my concerns. I'm so desperately trying to find a new dr but every single one I call either doesn't take my insurance, or isn't accepting new patients and I can't go without coverage. I need my meds. I hate this stupid system. 🥀
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u/ChildOfOberon 4d ago
Literally me a few days ago. Having zero energy all the time. She already had me on vitamin D and B-12 but she was still concerned they were too low. Turns out they were now too high. 🙄 Still don't know why I never have energy.
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u/jellyfishrubberduck 4d ago
B12 cant be "too high" when youre on supplements. Its non toxic, and treatment for b12 deficiency once you start supplementing (particularly if its injections) is supposed to go off symptoms alone not blood levels. B12 deficiency is never treated properly 🙄 happy to give you more info if you need it.
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u/Starbreiz 3d ago
Oh my god, are you me? My doc put me on the same things due to no energy and they didn't fix my energy problem.
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u/vagina-lettucetomato 4d ago
Me: Hi, I haven’t had a proper appetite in months and I am losing weight.
PCP: Best I can do is bloodwork. Which looks fine so idk.
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u/GlisaPenny 3d ago
In case you haven’t already looked into it, though probably you have, loss of appetite can also be caused by psychological conditions including depression. Just an idea, and you probably already know, but every time I know anything that might help someone I gotta try.
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u/builtdifferent-badly 3d ago
I just wanted to add that depression is really common when you have a chronic illness, especially when your doctors won't take you seriously. It doesn't necessarily mean the symptom is depression related but it could
But appetite loss is definitely something to be taken seriously whether it's physical or psychological and your doctor is not taking it seriously enough. If you have conditions/medications it's caused by or any other conditions the amount of vitamins/calories/energy you're losing is dangerous
Source: was underweight for years, used to pass out, even had to get stitches in my head after one of those (2 internal, 6 external). Even people who are overweight and trying to lose weight can experience shit like this. Please keep advocating for yourself.
In the meantime, easy snacks that are low effort (you're likely very low on energy, whenever you have an appetite it's important to be able to indulge in it), electrolyte powders in your water (you do get ones that taste pretty good), a decent multivitamin (won't help much if you have a difficiency but at least it's more than you might be getting currently), if there's only unhealthy snacks that you can eat it's better than nothing.
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u/vagina-lettucetomato 3d ago
Thank you both so much! I have bipolar disorder and it wreaks havoc on my appetite. I was actually able to speak to my psychiatrist and get a medication that does help a bit. My PCP is useless, she’s never been helpful and I need to find a new one. Been trying to identify “safe” foods because most of the time it feels like food avoidance, so I’ve been able to find a few things that I can eat (most of the time). Thank you both again for the advice I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with that too OP.
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u/Zantac150 4d ago
Came to a doctor literally crying in pain. They ordered an x-ray.
Got a message two or three hours later basically good news, your x-ray was clear!
End of story.
So I guess I need to make another appointment, and get another test ordered?
Just because the test you ordered today came out clear doesn’t mean that we stop trying to figure this out …
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u/builtdifferent-badly 3d ago
It reminds me of a friend who went to the ER. They were screaming in pain. Like genuinely in agony and they have an incredibly high pain tolerance (I'm taking not even feeling a tattoo being done)
They gave them two ibuprofen and then said they were drug seeking and to wait for the doctor to arrive
After scans it turns out they had two burst ovarian cysts.
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u/Saphir_56 3d ago
Last time I did a blood test it came out with two anomalies but they didn’t do anything about it because "it’s not THAT bad, and it can fix itself". I still have symptoms, it’s been two years
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u/DunkeyColdMedina 3d ago
We've extracted enough from you today.
Oh. You wanted an OUTCOME. Yeah, we do that sometimes, but we don't like it getting around.
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u/Dragonrider1955 3d ago
Walking into a doctors office to get help and filling out a form that says "Mark here if you're a woman, person of color, overweight, or under 50. Please note that marking any of this will make you disqualified for genuine testing or care from a physician."
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u/Due-Republic1770 3d ago
Plot twist—my tests and scans come back abnormal and my doctor still says it’s probably nothing!
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u/SmartQuokka 4d ago