Last Friday I finally called the reproductive endocrinologist’s office - let’s call her Dr. Ovary - and got the receptionist’s voice mail. (This is odd, isn’t it? It was, after all, before 5:00.)
Today the receptionist called back and said, “Dr. Ovary isn’t seeing any new patients until next year.” I felt a lump rise in my throat - I really really want to get an answer on the early perimenopause question, if only for peace of mind.
But after I’d described the problem, in far more detail than I want to describe it here, to the receptionist, she said, “Well, you can see her fellow, who is supervised by Dr. Ovary.” If I did that, I could get in on 8/16. In, you know, 2007. So I took the appointment. I’m 38, people. If this is perimenopause, by next year, it could be all over. Besides, Dr. Ovary, who is something of a hot shot in the field, will be present at the initial evaluation, too, though I assume the fellow will be running the show.
Note to self: be extremely well-prepared and ready to share anything that seems important, regardless of whether Dr. Fellow asks, just in case it seems important to Dr. Ovary.
This reminds me, when I initially tried to set up an appointment with a neurologist that specializes in headache back in June, they told me they were not making appointments until October. My GP told me that a bunch of folks in the neurology department had retired lately, so they are a little overextended, and agreed to continue to do my migraine followup until I could see Dr. Migraine on Halloween. Does anyone else find it amusing that I’m going to a migraine specialist for the first time on Halloween?
I wonder if something similar is happening in Endo - the first of the baby boomer doctors, who are 61 this year, taking early retirement. We hear a lot of predictions about the upcoming crisis in health care as more and more aging baby boomers need more and more care, with only tiny little Generations X (my generation) and Y left to provide it, but I have never heard anyone mention the compounding phenomenon - a shitload of doctors and nurses are ready to retire in the next five years, too, further worsening the shortage. This is going to be a problem for everyone, young, old and middle aged alike.
So I have mixed feelings about this Endo appointment. I wanted to see Dr. Ovary, because she’s apparently the best in her field. On the other hand, it’s important that young doctors get experience, so seeing Dr. Fellow is a win-win situation - I get an appointment before the ovaries completely wither away (and presumably stop complaining), Dr. Fellow gets some experience, and hopefully I will get at least some benefit from Dr. Ovary’s experience. Heck, maybe my case will turn about to be some completely routine thing they can solve with a shot of progesterone.
I still haven’t made the ophthalmology appointment. Maybe I should try that now, in case they can’t get me in until 2021.
Migraine aura picture from 
