The other side of the paper gown

I have no living family members who are doctors, no friends who are doctors, and I have always viewed the profession with a healthy dose of skepticism.  Husband says I trust none of them (well, I don't).  Particularly since - if we're going to have a real pity party - all they've done for me is 30+ useless procedures, tests and needless surgery (bye bye appendix!).  I say he trusts all of them just because they're doctors.  If someone wearing a white coat examined him and suggested that he needed to have his private parts put thru a meat grinder, he would probably agree.  Husband is of the mindset that doctors are right, you trust them and do what they say. Was there some Public Service Announcement in the early 80s that I missed?  Maybe when you're on the other side of the paper gown it's easy to say "come on, just trust them" because I'd like to think if Husband had something wrong he'd do far more than just sit back and go with the flow.

I'm busy figuring out how to properly cross-examine my doctors since I do NOT come to the table assuming that they are right.  Yes, they know more, they have medical degrees, but as others in chronic pain and fertility blogs have shown, you can become quite schooled in the area of your problem.  Husband thinks I'm engaging in some kind of devilish activity with all this internet research and he "wants to know what the DOCTOR says not billy bob on his blog."  While obviously we all want to know what our doctors think, the blogging community and message boards are also a critical place for information that doctors just don't and often can't provide.  These sorts of forums can tell you what kind of luck someone else had on a drug or with a doctor or a surgical procedure, something that you cannot get anywhere else.  In no way is this in place of a doctor's advice but it's a great supplement and can be a great place to start with a list of questions for your next appointment or a way to find the next specialist.

Since my neurologist is recommending an exploratory surgery of my abdominal wall to check for nerve entrapments, I'm clearly heading back to my internet research.  I've already had an exploratory surgery so I'm not really interested in having another one but thanks.  And, I've had some doctors confirm that I should be looking into the pudendal nerve entrapment theory (thank you internet research).  So I have a call with a specialist in Texas and an appointment with a specialist in Minnesota.  I have a hypogastric nerve block on Friday so I'll probably post about that.  I've had some other previously unsuccessful nerve blocks so here's to hoping this one works.  To be honest, they didn't put much thought into deciding to give it to me so I'm not too optimistic.  Lupron hasn't worked so I suppose I should be happy that this doesn't appear to be a reproductive problem.  It doesn't change the fact that when we start a family is no longer in our hands.