The SUIT study
Nov. 24th, 2004 09:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
percivalSo I finally got a call by the doctor who's running the SUIT study, after my e-mail had been forwarded by the secretary I'd written to earlier this week.
He's Indian. First of all, he didn't say what he was calling about, he just went to great lengths to tell me that he couldn't tell me anything about my scans. (Maybe as a reaction to my "it's you! FINALLY!") To his protestations, I said, "fine, I know, let's get on with it." So he asked me whether I wanted to go on the study yes or no. No apologies for having made me wait seven weeks for that call.
I expressed concerns about the interaction between the Clomiphene Citrate and the fibroid - whether it would stimulate growth. He responded: "If you want Clomiphene, you tell your doctor." No, sucker, I don't have a doctor, I have registrars, and they certainly doen't have time to discuss that with me. Also, I expressed CONCERN. So I repeated the request. He said: "Well, you are the boss, you tell me". Then, I lost my patience and SHOUTED: "Will the CLOMIPHENE make my fibroid GROW????" No, it's an anti-estrogen, and estrogens make fibroids grow. Phew, an answer, finally.
I also got some more info about how the study is run. Basically, on our first consultation, we'll be asked a few questions, and then we'll be randomised. If we're in the Clomiphene group, we'll get 6 months' supply of pills, with the first cycle being monitored. If we're in the IUI group, we get six months of ovulation predictor kits - when I'm ovulating, I call up the clinic and I get inseminated with fresh sperm. We'll be sent home with the kit right there and then.
I said I'd phone him tomorrow on his bleeper to tell him our decision.
His "bedside" manner is certainly under par. I'm willing to chalk part of this up to cross-cultural differences, part of this up to stress. He's only part time on the study, the main funding having run out. However, I'm also quite vulnerable right now, and this is not what I hoped for - I hoped for people who care. I think a long talk with my husband is on the cards tonight once I'm home from the course. I'm sick and tired of being treated like a thing. I want proper care and support, and I won't get that from a stressed-out Indian male doctor or from a clueless Icelandic female registrar or from a newbie British registrar.
He's Indian. First of all, he didn't say what he was calling about, he just went to great lengths to tell me that he couldn't tell me anything about my scans. (Maybe as a reaction to my "it's you! FINALLY!") To his protestations, I said, "fine, I know, let's get on with it." So he asked me whether I wanted to go on the study yes or no. No apologies for having made me wait seven weeks for that call.
I expressed concerns about the interaction between the Clomiphene Citrate and the fibroid - whether it would stimulate growth. He responded: "If you want Clomiphene, you tell your doctor." No, sucker, I don't have a doctor, I have registrars, and they certainly doen't have time to discuss that with me. Also, I expressed CONCERN. So I repeated the request. He said: "Well, you are the boss, you tell me". Then, I lost my patience and SHOUTED: "Will the CLOMIPHENE make my fibroid GROW????" No, it's an anti-estrogen, and estrogens make fibroids grow. Phew, an answer, finally.
I also got some more info about how the study is run. Basically, on our first consultation, we'll be asked a few questions, and then we'll be randomised. If we're in the Clomiphene group, we'll get 6 months' supply of pills, with the first cycle being monitored. If we're in the IUI group, we get six months of ovulation predictor kits - when I'm ovulating, I call up the clinic and I get inseminated with fresh sperm. We'll be sent home with the kit right there and then.
I said I'd phone him tomorrow on his bleeper to tell him our decision.
His "bedside" manner is certainly under par. I'm willing to chalk part of this up to cross-cultural differences, part of this up to stress. He's only part time on the study, the main funding having run out. However, I'm also quite vulnerable right now, and this is not what I hoped for - I hoped for people who care. I think a long talk with my husband is on the cards tonight once I'm home from the course. I'm sick and tired of being treated like a thing. I want proper care and support, and I won't get that from a stressed-out Indian male doctor or from a clueless Icelandic female registrar or from a newbie British registrar.
