Hey ladies, especially black women, I know we already know this but I’d like to reiterate that it is KEY to take your health into your hands and advocate for yourself!!! Irrespective of the race of your doctor.

I’m chilling in the hospital recovering from surgery but it could’ve been a whole different kind of surgery because one doctor chose the most extreme “solution” where there was an a better alternative.

At a exam last year my previous OB identified that I had fibroids while palpating my ab, did an ultrasound & confirmed it but she said they were too small to do anything about them at the time, we’d just watch them. It’s something not uncommon for black womens so I didn’t fuss.

This year she raised a brow and sent me back for another unreasoned. Watching the face of the tech, I knew something was up. She sent me back to the OB for interpretation of the ultrasound. Doc comes in and tells me that I now have several and they’re so large they’re casting...

...a shadow and they can’t see my entire uterus. I ask when we can schedule a myomectomy and she said that I’m not a candidate, I’d have to have a hysterectomy. Period! I was visibly distressed, because whether or not I wanna have kids, instant menopause had its own issues.

I push back and she says I could probably get a uterine embolization to cut off the blood supply to the fibroids so they shrink or Lupron shot which temporarily puts me in menopause, robs the fibroids of estrogen & cause them to shrink but I’d still end up with a hysterectomy...

...cos there’s no guatantee. First things first, I’d need an MRI so we can see what we’re working with.

That was my first red flag! You haven’t fully seen what you’re working with but have gone to the most extreme.

Then she adds that I’d have wait till corona virus situation is over before I can get an MRI in the hospital. This was in March. I should just sit and wait with rapidly growing tumors that cause me indescribable pain? She said she could write a script for 800mg ibuprofen.

I had to call @Rimzzzeee to talk to me as I drove home, that’s how distressed I was. 2 days later I call my insurance to ask about an independent diagnostic lab that I’d be covered with and they give me names. I make an appointment and I’m there 2 days later.

I get the scan done, call the doctors office and get their fax number so that they can get the result. Ask when I can speak to the doc and they say a day after they recieve it. Days pass abd I don’t get a call, I start calling but she’s never available and neither is her nurse.

Finally, a full week later, her nurse calls me to tell me what the doc said to tell me. Lol. She was too busy to come to the phone. She said I have several fibroid measuring xyz and she was still insisting on complete hysterectomy or the other options that’d bring me back there.

I had questions but the nurse was unable to answer me. I thank her & hang up. I was tweeting about healthcare providers & @NailsNCrowns mentions the Health Grade app, download and see this OB with incredible reviews and rating. I hesitate cos she’s not black but call regardless.

Week later I’m with her and it’s like night and day! She breaks things down completely, tells me the size of my uterus and says there’s no reason why I should be ruled out for a myomectomy. I tell her the other options I’d been given and she was aghast.

Said embolization is for older women who are done having kids, are a bleeding and stroke risk. Said Lupron is also extreme as there are birth control pills than can give me a similar result. She sends me to get my labs done (the one that gave me crazy potassium numbers, lol).

Result comes back, she says everything checks out and if I wanna do a myomectomy, she’ll do it for me as soon as restrictions are lifted. Duh! I agree. Restrictions lift and I’m scheduled.