Toronto Canada URO-gynocologists - my experience

Submitted by ann.helen on May 24, 2006 - 6:36pm
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Hi

Now that i'm in catch-up post mode, a good while ago i asked christine whether she thought it o.k to post our experiences with doc's she said we could and then i forgot to do so.... Well i was back for my six month visit with my uro-gyn today and rememberer.

well i've been to two of i think three uro-gyne's in toronto city.

I went to DANA SOROKO of St. Micheal's hospital in november they said today and she was very pleasant that day. She took the name of Christine's site and book and did not at all push surgery or pessaries. She said i had a mild bladder prolapse. I even felt not too rushed despite that sort of unpleasant time saving tactic of having a trainee take all your details and then be passed on for the "viewing" with the Doc.

The (male) trainee came back in as i was on the table and i asked for him not to be present and she was also fine with this.

So six months on and today was a more rushed affair and i got the impression she was both surprised i had the second opinion and that i was overly concerned with my situation.

I also told her that the second uro-gyne i went to had said i had a mild urethra prolpase not a mild bladder prolapse. She didn't comment on this any more than to say "well everything looks the exact same today so there hasn't been any disimprovement"

Today the female trainee who took my details was present throughout and i didn't mind because she was female(but i think you should be asked).

I also asked to be seen in the mirror standing up and she said it was really the same way and that nothing had changed from either position in what it told her and that it was natural not to have a "hole" there. that this is only in pictures.

I had meant that it seemed a LOT of mass for "mild" and quite different to when there was a relatively unfilled space there.

(I can speak "medical" - i've done my western medical training for acupuncture but i just don't want to -but sometimes doing this i feel leads to some condensation. So From now on i'll talk the talk!).

Afterward's i asked her had many women in my situation lived their lives with the mild bladdder/urethra prolpase's remained unchanged and she said in her experience yes, particularialy if they were slim, never had children and did their kegels or "whatever excercises worked"

I told her i was still doing CHristine's DVD and asked had she had a change to look at the site or video and she said "NO"... I filled the silence with "i'm sure you're so busy" or something to that effect! Shame on me but i do get very uncomforable in these medicalised conveyer belted situations.

Bottom line - i do think she is a nice lady overall and that today she was a little more rushed and with people with more pressing situations and on their first visit she would be fine to go to.

(Oh the very nice nurse who was present took the website name and was very interested in the sea sponges i thought).

SECOND urogynecolog. i went to was Dr. ROSE KUNG or women's sunnybrook hospital around january/febuary.

I was in and out within about five minutes but i had told her it was a second opinion and that i had been to Dana. She was pleasant and nice in a regular business like way and also was positive about checking things out standing. However she said for her it was more of a urethra prolpase (what i felt myself). She asked had Dana run throught things like kegels and pessaries with me and then i was on my way.

She showed little interest in Christine's book/ video/ ideas from what i ran by her.

So for me, nice enough Doc. Again - not one of the ones who as someone described PULLED at her prolapse to see "how far down it would go"!!!!!!!!!!

Or like my first gynecologist i saw at St Micheal's months before i got my urogynecologist appointments was completely dismissive. I.e (it's a bladder prolapse or anterior wall...... - all women have it, we'll fix it at menapause) gave me a breast exam/rub for no reason and who told me to go out another door when i was done dressing (so no opportuinity to ask questions).

Anyway hope that is usefull for those considering Toronto Urogynecologists.

And while i have a feeling things are a little more lax around the bladder i'll go with a WHOO HOO nothing's (radially) changed for me in six months....

xx
Anne-helen

mommi2three

May 24, 2006 - 8:54pm

Thanks for your sharing your personal experiences with the doctors. So many of us go and just run thru the mill b/c we feel broken. I am not a fan of going anymore either unless I need it, i.e. for pap smear. But if I feel things are ok down there I will avoid going.

I did not like one of the urogyns that i went to for a second opinion. I waited months for her apt. and it was such a waste of time. Initially, I thought she would be more empathetic or even more interested in POP b/c she was a female urogyn. But she was horrible. She was condescending and dismissive. She told me that we all have to accept our bodies after having children. But she didn't address my pressure pain or urinary frequency or even acknowledged that i have prolapse. She examined me while i was laying on my back and pryed me open with her unlubed gloves. Ooouch! I know she ripped something!! She was so proud that she didn't even use a speculum. Please, I would have preferred that than her gloves pinching my vaginal opening. Very strange and unacceptable behaviour for anyone to be treated this way. SHAME on her for treating a woman like that. But i guess i was wasting her time (in her mind) b/c i was not a candidate for surgery. Btw, she is know for fixing urinary problems.

So, I told myself that is the last time that i will deal with any unnecessary exams. It is enough to manage POP daily to avoid pressure and constipation issues. But having a sore vagina from the exam is ridiculous.

mummy76

May 25, 2006 - 5:42am

Well I went to a physio a few weeks ago (had to wait seven weeks since gynae referral) and she was rubbish. Just went through everything I had heard a thousand times and told me to carry on doing kegels. At one point when I asked her how mild she thought the cystocele was she even said 'to be honest I'm not an expert' (!) I was mortified, I thought she'd have some magic programme of exercises for me. The only tips I got from her were things I gleaned myself from my own questions (i.e. a sheet of pilates moves that aren't harmful to prolapse, doing abdominal bracing, and a tip about using breaths as counts while squeezing pelvic floor instead of counting in my head).

I showed her Christine's book, she said bending the knees for the posture looked a bit unhealthy.... BUT she was fascinated with it, as in just flicking through it for ages, she said 'I could read this for hours', so I let her keep it til next months appointment (will let you know what she says Christine, she's the head physio at the hospital).

So a few days later I had a smear appointment which I was dreading.. I was worried she'd be rough, or she'd notice the prolapse and say how terrible it was. So I get in there and the smear nurse asks how old baby is and I say four months and she said 'I'll be gentle then' (phew!) I mentioned prolapse and she asked what exercises I was doing. I said kegels and posture, she then gave me really good advice about squeezing in gently for 5 seconds, then holding the long squeeze, then making sure I release it really SLOWLY over 5 secs or I'd be undoing the good work. Noone else had EVER mentioned that. She was so encouraging and said I was doing really well and I really shouldn't worry yet.

So I start squeezing out gently and within a few days I've seen a noticable improvement, I had an 8 day run of not feeling so bulgy (despite lack of sleep).. it's still totally there, but not so symptomatic. I've had these good times before, but never for more than 4 days at a time. I'm worse again today but I think that's coz I ran myself ragged yesterday for my four year olds birthday, ate rubbish and then my 4 month old kept me up all night!

So my point, is that it's ironic that the best advice I've got in the last while is from a smear test nurse, not the people who are supposed to be the 'experts'!

xx

UKmummy

May 25, 2006 - 9:36am

I am with you all with this subject! I have heard SO MANY conflicting opinions from so called experts it is amazing. How can something like this be so apparently difficult to diagnose without all the subjectivity! Ah well, just another indication that we have to take charge of ourselves I think. I am not even going to bother with a uro/gyn, no point at all right now.
Michelle.

Christine

May 25, 2006 - 10:49am

Sorry about that, Ginger. I was trying to show "soft" knees and the exaggeration only caused confusion. Several women have written in asking if they are supposed to walk like that! That is one example why I'm not printing any more 1st edition books.

I guess I'm kind of amazed why there's so much surprise about treatment and responses from urogyns. The other official name for the very new specialty is the Society of Reconstructive Pelvic Surgeons. They did not go to school for over a decade at huge expense to hand out pessaries and tell you to eat well and stand up straight. It's just not how the system works.

mummy76

May 25, 2006 - 1:37pm

I'll tell her that when I next see her! Honestly, she seemed pretty captivated by the book!