Skip to main content

You Can't Cure Endometriosis

I knew if I went and looked at a few blogs today it would give me some thoughts on something to post. And boy did it ever. It was Nancy's post about the misleading infertility POAS test.

It made me think of these local radio commercials for the other reproductive practice in my area. There are only two in Delaware and I went to the one that doesn't have commercials. And if I was looking to change to the other practice, this would have made me not. One of the patient's husband is talking in the commercial "Dr. So&So cured my wife's endometriosis and now we have a baby!" Gag! OK Dr. So&So, have you explained to these people that endometriosis cannot be cured but only treated? Or are all your patients just stupid and don't really understand infertility? "OK crazy husband, let me set you straight. Once the doctor has cleaned out as much of the endo as they can through surgery, they really can't stop it from coming back, barring putting your wife on Lupron and putting her in menopause. But when she gets off Lupron, it will come back. There is no cure, dude!" That is all I can think about when I hear this commercial.

Heather will now come down off her soapbox and put it away for awhile. Thank you.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The clinic I used does have commercials. I have no idea if anyone makes stupid comments because my stomach wrenches everytime I realize The False Hope Center is on the television and change the channel.
Summer said…
I followed your link and read Nancy's post. I'd been very curious, after seeing the TV commercials, about just what this test could do -- I'd guessed it was a repackaged OPK.

The whole "are you able to get pregnant?" thing pisses me off, too. Of course, I'm pissed off because I personally AM able to get pregnant (did it twice, had one kid) but that hasn't meant that I WILL get pregnant. I'm fertile, my husband's fertile, we don't use birth control, and I haven't gotten pregnant since 2002... which makes me certifiably infertile.

I think you'd be better off buying a Magic 8 Ball to answer your fertility questions. At least that you can re-use for important issues like "should I order Chinese for dinner?"
I didn't know that. Seriously. I thought pregnancy cures endo for lots of people - am hoping it fixes mine up some...
Lots of misinformation out there, Heather, thanks for taking a stand.
nancy said…
Ah. What a fabulous doctor! Able to CURE something that can only be treated. Wow. He must be busy.

I like Summer's advice about using the magic 8 ball to figure it all out.

Hrm. Where is my magic 8 ball?
Anonymous said…
Geez, why not? Why can't the medical community cure all of our ailments? (sigh) What they advertise to give people false hope.
That test is awful, but I bet they're going to make tons of money on it. Same with these new POAS tests that supposedly tell you if you're having a boy or a girl before the ultrasound can show you -- which I definitely have my doubts about.

Speaking of endo -- several years back (before TTC) when I went to 4 or 5 docs w/ pain and ovary weirdness and was trying to get help, I remember one gyno telling me I probably did have endo, but to "just get pregnant, and that would cure it."

Sigh! This same gyno, when I asked her about my low sex drive and wondered about a hormone imbalance or some such, blew me off by saying "people in NYC just don't have as much sex because it's stressful here". Nice!

Popular posts from this blog

Bad Dreams Go Away Magic Spell

Wow! Two posts in one day!!! I just had to blog about this. Indigo Girl had posted about her daughter having bad dreams and looking for advice. I had to post what we do in our house to keep away bad dreams. I have to admit it was one of my most brilliant mommy moments as I pulled this one out of my a$$ when I came up with it. When Phoebe was about 3 or 4 years old, she started complaining about nightmares. I knew it was half true and half stalling for bedtime. She has always been very into witches, wizards and spells (heck she was named after the character on Charmed and my due date was Halloween), so I came up with a magic spell on the spot to keep away bad dreams. I figured all it had to do was rhyme. I will share it with you all and feel free to try it if you need it: Bad dreams, bad dreams go away In Phoebe's dreams she must play She should dream of ice cream and cake Until the morning when she wakes She loves it! She still asks for it sometimes if she's had a ni...

Stopping the Voices in my Head - aka Mastering my Mindset

The more I work on my personal development, the more I realize I need to stop listening to and changing the negative things I tell myself in my head.  I'm also noticing the older I get the more the negative things I hold as beliefs about myself are not true.  This reinforces that I should second guess the other negative beliefs I hold inside ... maybe those are not true either.  Here are a few things I've realized are not true: I need help to put air in my car tires - This was one of the first things I learned as my husband had to move to Colorado for work. I did this at the Wawa up the street where the machine will stop and beep when your tires are at the right pressure.  I also learned and committed to memory that the pressure you want your tires at is inside your gas cap, something I have to open at least once a week.  This was something that was super easy to learn to do and had me zipping along the roads in a few minutes without the anxiety...

Phoebe's Fifth Grade School Picture

Here's Phoebe's 5th Grade School Picture.  I really like her in red or bright colors.  She's definitely becoming quite the little lady.