Monday, July 1, 2013

I Love My Gynecologist

It's not often that I get to hear the phrase "I love my gynecologist" spoken but it is definitely true in my case.  Dr. Lewis runs her own practice close to my house and has a very close-knit, incredibly nice staff.  Dr. Lewis, herself, is an absolute hoot!  She's got an incredible bedside manner (straightforward and blunt but funny) and genuinely cares about her patients.  Needless to say, I'm a fan!

Since I haven't entirely talked a lot about it, I should explain where my deep-seated affection comes from...my hysterectomy.

When I came into Dr. Lewis, I had an IUD impacted in my uterus.  They tried to figure out how to get it out but it was jammed in there and causing some pretty awful side effects. Lo and behold, the hysterectomy becomes the treatment plan and we sprung into action.  Not only did the doctor make sure that I was fully aware of the procedure, the side effects of every little thing, and what my long-term prognosis would be but she also laughed with me, talked with me about the positive points and made sure that I felt completely comfortable with what was going on with my body.

When I went in for my pre-op, I explained to the hospital staff that I was very nervous around needles.  I've NEVER had a blood draw where I haven't felt the needle until that day.  The staff was phenomenal!  The staff fully explained to me what was going to happen the day of my surgery and what I could and couldn't do leading up to the surgery.

The day of my surgery, I woke up early and prepared myself as best as I could.  The hospital staff was wonderful with getting my IV put in with minimal pain (numbed with a tiny needle so I didn't even feel the IV needle go in) and making sure that I knew what was going on but Dr Lewis was the one that calmed me down.  She came in and met the man in my life, explained what was going to happen one more time and watched as they gave me the "happy juice."

What was supposed to be a 90 minute surgery was done in 45 minutes.  She did a stellar job, didn't have to make an abdominal incision of any kind, and had me at a tolerable pain level and able to go home within less than 12 hours of the procedure.  She checked up on me following the procedure and gave me a no-nonsense, simple answer to every question.

Today, I went in for my six week check up knowing that I won't have to see Dr. Lewis again for a year and found myself a little sad.  I'd miss the staff and the doctor and be a bit sad that I wasn't going to be in to visit with them regularly (though the treatment was the whole reason I was there to begin with obviously).  They'd become a bit of extended family to me.  My post-op prognosis is great...released back to work full time, able to work out and do just about everything (ease back into it at my own comfort level).  I'm thrilled to be a patient of Dr Lewis and I'm proud to say, "I love my gynecologist!" 

No comments:

Post a Comment