Good Morning! The motel looked super sketch from the outside, but the room is actually really nice. Unfortunately the bed is much softer than I'm usual. I still slept pretty well.

I had planned on getting homework done last night, but that didn't happen. Now I'm at Starbucks and will put in an hour or two here to get it done before heading over to the house and family. Tonight is my cousin's party. Both she and her husband are turning 60 soon and it is their 40th anniversary. Their kids planned this gathering and party.

Ok - back to homework.

Ugh. I could REALLY use some advice/perspective.

I don't know if I told the whole story of my stomach pain, but here's the (brief) backstory: I've been having intermittent stabby stomach pain for about 3 months. It's VERY different from my IBS pain. I saw a nurse practitioner at Awesome Doctor's practice, and she thought it was my gallbladder, even though the pain was on the wrong side, and ordered a CT scan. That came back totally normal, and so she referred me to a gastroenterologist. In the meantime, 7 days ago I started taking Nexium because I really started to think this was maybe an ulcer. And as of today, the pain is 95%-98% better.

I saw the gastroenterologist today, and he spent most of the time focused on my IBS, even though I told him that my IBS meds didn't help the stabby pain but I told him clearly that 7 days of Nexium reduced the pain by 95%. He wants me to have an endoscopy for the stomach pain and then decided I should have a colonoscopy, too, "because of the IBS."

I cannot state this clearly enough: my IBS is NOT A PROBLEM right now. It's not flaring up. I feel like this doctor didn't even listen to me. He would repeat (or attempt to) things back to me that I didn't even say, like (sorry) "So you're having 2-3 loose stools a day, 5 days a week." OH MY GOD I DID NOT SAY THAT.

So I feel like jumping to really invasive tests is overkill here. When the Nexium helped my symptoms so dramatically, I almost cancelled the appointment, but I decided that since the stomach pain lasted so long,** I should probably get a specialist's opinion. But I thought the opinion would be "Yes, keep taking these meds for a couple of weeks so your stomach lining can heal and then we'll reevaluate." I didn't expect "Hi, I am not listening to you but I want to shove tubes into you okay bye."

So...I really don't want to schedule the endoscopy and colonoscopy right now. But is that stupid? I feel like his recommendation was based on a serious misunderstanding of my medical history. I'd really rather just keep taking Nexium for another couple of weeks and then reevaluate.

**(And, okay, the stomach pain lasted so long because I didn't treat it with the right medication until a week ago. The fact that it responded so rapidly to meds seems like a good sign.)

So...I really don't want to schedule the endoscopy and colonoscopy right now. But is that stupid? I feel like his recommendation was based on a serious misunderstanding of my medical history. I'd really rather just keep taking Nexium for another couple of weeks and then reevaluate.

It's not stupid. But you should definitely call Awesome Doctor and tell him that Not Listening Gastro did not inspire confidence and before undergoing the invasive procedures he recommended you want a second opinion. Because Awesome Doc needs to know that he shouldn't send more patients to Not Listening Gastro, and also, you should not have to undergo treatment with someone who's not listening.

Why don't you go ahead and wait the two weeks and then see how you feel? I'm onboard with not getting invasive tests if you don't need to.

I have a number of Gastroenterologists as customers. Yes, some people need an endoscopy and/or colonoscopy, but they spend a huge amount of time in their practice meetings finding ways to justify them for everyone. I don't want to say don't but if it was one of my client doctors I wouldn't take his word as perfect. Also, patients know their own bodies!!

I would feel a lot more confident that the tests were necessary if I felt like he listened to me during the appointment.

Steph, getting a second opinion is a real thing. Ask to be seen by another doctor. If I had a big repair on something for my car I'd want to get multiple bids, I think the same thing for major repair work on my body would benefit from the same.

What everyone else said. Though I would consider the endoscopy...I'd probably think on when my last colonoscopy was and if I was due for one anyway, but definitely wouldn't prioritize that.

I haven't had a colonoscopy, because I'm only 46.

I keep putting mine off. If I could do it and drive home by myself, I'd do it, but everyone I know works jobs with less flexibility than I do. It's hard to schedule when I don't know if I'll have a ride home. And apparently just calling a taxi is frowned up.