Diagnosed again Monday, still no treatment??

  I had my first colonoscopy on Monday, but was diagnosed by a flex sig in 1999 with ulcerative proctitis. Now they are saying I have ulcerative colitis as the inflammation is now in my ascending colon. I'm 'attempting' to use the bathroom about 6-8 times a day - mostly its air/urgency and then mucous and blood.  I don't have the 'diarrhea' that many times per day.  I'm havnig blood & mucous each time I go.  I talked to my Fam Pract dr about my diagnosis from the colonoscopy & she just say to come in next week for a 'long appt' with her.  Shouldn't she just be referring me to GI??  And now???  Shouldn't I be on some medicine for the bleeding?  I had Rowasa back in 1999.  Help!!!  I'm feeling alone here!

 

I was having very similar symptoms as you and I told me PCP that I needed to see him the next day and couldn't wait for an appt at a later date as there was a good amount of blood and pain. He saw me the next morning and then referred me to a GI the following morning. Then the morning after that I had the scopes and meds needed with almost immediate improvements.

UC_Dad brings up a good question on whether or not your insuarnce will allow you to go straight to a specialist.

Sometimes you have to be a little aggressive with the drs regarding appts and such.

Don't think I'd be happy with the lack of care you're getting - have you at least had some flexi-sigs done between 1999 and now? She should absolutely be referring you straight away, as getting a flare under control seems to be harder the longer it goes on. Don't be afraid to push for a referral and treatment - you deserve to be looked after!

Totally unacceptable.... it seems that your doctor does not understand UC very well. At the very least the doctor should prescribe enemas until you see a specialist. The bleeding and mucous is not good ( understatement- and could progress rapidly to the bloody diarrhea stage.

I doubt it is Crohns, that involves the small intestine.
I don't understand, you wrote your doctor? You mean e-mail, I hope? You should be able to call and leave a detailed message/demand, and expect someone to get back to you and get things happening.

Well, it's Friday already. When is your appointment next week?

That blood and urgency is sign of flaring, it sucks. The suppositories or enemas are good because they don't give you the side effects of an oral med, but can reach that area affected. Are they more gross than all that blood? It's really best...

bougiebaby said...
OK...i just saw my doctor at the evening appt tonight. This is the fam pract dr. Still having all the terrible symptoms. I "go" about 8-10 times a day/bloody/mucous (tissue-looking most times even). Anyway - she called GI - apparently there is a 3-4 wk wait to get in there (figures!) & he (GI) looked at my colonoscopy while talking to my fam pract dr. He said since its in the end of the ascending colon - that he would like a CT scan (barium) (NUM!)...and that he wants me to do Entocort(Sp?) enemas - 1 a day x 4 wks. Hopefully by then I would get in to see him for further treatment plan. He said he thinks its Crohns. I had to do 5 more viles of blood -so now I feel like a slab of meet. So is it crohn's? Is it UC? I had to run to the bathroom at the appt & 'go' mid-appt. How lovely! I'm sorry - I'm just so frustrated, PMS time & confused!!!!!! I'm sooo thankful to have this site though!!! You all are such God-sends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't blame you for your frustration.  Like I have said before on here, I didn't realize how good my doctors are until I read others' stories on here.  Are there any other GI facilites around?  The GI I go to has 10 or so other GI's in the same group/building and my PCP got me into see him ASAP (the next morning, 8am).  The following morning (Christmas Eve!), I was in there for my Cscopy/Endoscopy and got meds that day and had immediate relief.

Good luck to you.

The fact that the GI doesn't have time for you now is a good indication of how the GI will treat you in the future. Maybe it's time to look for someone else on your own.

A similar situation happened to me when I was in my second flare. (My first flare was so short-lived that I didn't even know I had Colitis and didn't see a doctor.)

I saw my PCP. He said my symptoms (blood, diarrhea, blood clots) sounded like Colitis. He referred me to a GI.

Bad mistake. After the initial consultation, they penciled me in for a colonoscopy when I was in no condition to get a conoscopy. Luckily, they did not take the type of coverage I had.

I then tried the clinic I usually go to. They couldn't get me an appointment with a GI for at least a month. It did not matter that by this time I was bedridden.

I then tried the emergency room. They gave me an IV for dehydration and sent me home. Although I was quite anemic, I wasn't anemic enough to be admitted.

I then gave my older daughter the Web site address for my insurance company and asked her to find a GI for me. (I was too sick to call around by then.) Using the insurance company's Web site plus bios and reviews on the Internet, she called around and found a GI for me that would see me right away. I then told my doctor that this was the GI I was going to see and asked him to faxed a referral to that GI.

It turns out I made the right decision. My GI always makes plenty of time for me. He prescribed medicine for me right away when I needed it. I've been told he is very good at giving colonoscopies and doing surgery if needed. My only complaint is that he doesn't know much about alternative treatments, but then that's not where his training lies.