how to get over medical trauma?

Question

4 weeks ago, i had a cervical biopsy. The dr.s all said i would experience lil pinch of pain after lil bleeding for a day or 2 with brown discharge from medicine they use to stop the bleeding for about two weeks. When i had my biopsy there was severe pain so bad that i pushed off the stirrups, grab the sides and started crying. After the biopsy, i had severe pain in my stomach and private area for 3 days and mild moderate pain for 5 days. Brown discharge lasted 2 weeks. Brown discharge stopped i start my cycle and all the pain came back. My cycle has not stopped and it’s been 2 and a half weeks and the dr. said that’s normal because my birth control is ending.
I have my results back from the biopsy and i have pre-cancerous cells on my cervix’s and need laser treatment surgery. The Drs said i need to get it done within the next 2 months.
now here my problem, I now i need the surgery but i am terrified of going back to a ob/gyn and getting back on the table, ever since the biopsy. Since the biopsy i cry every time i think or talk about it, even know as i write I’m crying. I had a meeting with the dr. who supervised the biopsy on Monday the 8 and he apologized and said it wasn't trying to hurt me on purpose. While he apologized and explain my results, i just sat there frozen clutching a notebook and grinding my teeth. I could not talk and i felt like i was being suffocated my mother had talk for me eventually i started talking but few words. After the dr. left and it was just me, my mom and the delegate i just bust out crying i could hold it no more. I start to talk to her and tell her how i felt about what happen. one thing that bothered me about that conversation is the fact my mother and HR rep both said I was sensitive, like I was blowing the hole thing out proportion, and I need get some counseling to get pass this. I agree with the counseling suggestion, and my mother think it her fault cause she sheltered me, that why I’m so sensitive about this.
i told them the reason i m so upset about this is I’m 23 and one man seen me naked or touch me and 2 women, and that was my mom and obgyn dr., and that 1 time 2 months prior to the biopsy. then i trusted the dr. to take care of me be truthful and not to hurt me and he did the opposite caused me pain and lied about the pain and didn't give me nothing for it. Now i can’t stop crying, i gave up on life i had and just go to work, church, and home. I even thought and tried to kill myself in the beginning. I have an overwhelming feeling of pain sorrow and anger that i can't stop or control.
now I’m asking what can i do? I’ve talk to the dr. and my mother and a couple other people about this and i still have those feelings and I’m scared.
Lawyers and law student: do think I have a good case
Everyone else: how do I get pass this and get the help I need

Answer 1

You poor, little thing. Dr.s can be real a**es. I am so sorry you were treated this way. For some reason, women are told that cervical biopsies are not painful. True-they are excrutiating! One trick is to take a naproxen or ibuprophen before the biopsy. It does lessen the pain. However, if the results were correct, you will have surgery, not another biopsy, and with the surgery you will be anesthetized. I would not go back to that doctor. Honestly, I don't know why men become OB/GYN's anyway. Can you imagine a woman being a penis doctor??!! It doesn't make sense.
If you are just off of your birth control pills, then your periods will be bad for a few months. (I generally don't believe in taking a lot of medicine, but 2 ibuprophens before the period pain starts, and then every 6 hours for a day or 2, will help til you get back to normal.) Birth control pills are bad for your body, and they are just beginning to see what all the side effects are. One side-effect is STD's, because if a woman is on birth control she doesn't make the guy wear a condom. If the guy doesn't wear a condom the woman ends up with papilloma virus, which, you guessed it, causes cervical cancer. My advice, stay off birth control, never let a guy have sex with you unless he wears a condom with spermacide on it, and find a compassionate woman OB/GYN to give you a pap test and a second opinion. (I was misdiagnosed and had a horrible surgery worse than laser for nothing.)
I hope you will breath deeply, and be strong, and do the right thing and take care of yourself. You are young yet--maybe you will be one of the ones to change this crappy society that treats women so roughly and disrespectfully. We need strong women to change things around. God bless you, young lady. I hope you heal inside and out, and don't ever let anyone tell you how you feel. You have a right to be treated honestly and respectfully. My best wishes to you-

Answer 2

Hi there, I'm so sorry about how this has affected you. I had the same biopsy and remember saying to the doctor after...you didn't prepare me for how this was going to feel, but I just got over it.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you spoke about the privacy issue and trust.

I don't think seeing a lawyer will help you in this. I think that talking to a psychologist might. Or, hypnotic healing where the psycholigist puts you into a light state of hypnosis and helps to determine why you felt such intense pain and can't get past this.

I'm not trying to insult you on this, infact when I had an ovarian cyst I did the exact same treatment I am suggesting for you and it worked. I saw the hypnotic healer (psychologist) and she did a healing through hypnosis, after we discussed her findings and she was able to discuss with me why I manifested this cyst in the first place. (Amazingly, the cyst burst hours later without needing any surgery)

I have not suffered this problem again.

There are many times in our lives that we create more pain than is necessary, based on something that happened in our past, or a belief we have and aren't even aware of. This might be one of those times. However, whatever the cause, you will need to correct the issue at hand and your fear is not in any way protecting you so it is up to you to work your way through it, whatever method will work for you.

Answer 3

Lesson one , If youare a woman , you are going to have to expect some discomfort or pain with nearly anything that is done down there. It was probably made worse because you were afraid and overwhelmed with the news that "all is not right" I don't think that this doctor probably meant to cause you pain. You need to gather your medical records together and go see a female OB/Gyn who is not associated with this doctors group. You would probably feel more comfortable using a female and your crying and "giving up on life" are red flags for depression. Since you do not feel comfortable with this physician, I would get another opinion, weigh the options and see a psychiatrist who can help you with your anger and depression issues. This is not something to feel ashamed about. The only shame will be in not taking charge of your own life and getting the help that you need .

Answer 4

I AM SO, SO SORRY YOU WENT THROUGH THIS. THIS PROCEDURE SHOULD NOT HAVE CAUSED PAIN. IF I REMEMBER WITH MY MOM, THEY GAVE HER A NOVOCAINE SHOT.
I UNDERSTAND YOU FEEL VIOLATED, LIED TO, AND NOT SUPPORTED BY ANYONE AROUND YOU. MY SUGGESTION IS TO FIND A DIFFERENT OB TO GO TO. IT IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO GET ANOTHER OPINION. THEY CAN LOOK AT YOUR RESULTS FROM THE FIRST TEST. YOU SEEM VERY YOUNG TO HAVE THIS AS AN ISSUE BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT CANCER., OR PRE-CANCER HAS NO AGE LIMIT ON IT.
DONT GO BACK TO THAT DOCTOR IF YOU DO NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE. I KNOW WHEN MY MOM HAD THE LASER IT WAS DONE IN THE HOSPITAL AS AN OUTPATIENT.
YOU ALSO HAVE THE RIGHT TO CONTACT THE MEDICAL BOARD AND FIND OUT IF THIS GUY HAS ANY COMPLAINTS AGAINST HIM.
LEASE CHECK INTO AND GET A SECOND OPINION. ASK QUESTIONS, CAN YOU BE PUT TO SLEEP? CAN THEY GIVE YOU A TRANQUILIZER? WILL THEY NUMB THE CERVIX? AND ANYTHING ELSE, ANYTHING, THAT COMES TO YOUR MIND. IT IS YOUR BODY AND YOU HAVE THE RIGHT, NOT THE DOCTOR. YOU DECIDE, WHO, WHEN AND HOW YOU ARE TO BE HANDLED. AS FOR BEING SENSITIVE, DUH! DONT THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU REALIZE YOU ARE SCARED TO DEATH? YOU NEED A SUPPORT SYSTEM NOT PEOPLE TRYING TO CONVINCE YOU IS NOT A BIG DEAL.
GOOD LUCK AND EMAIL ME IF I CAN HELP YOU IN ANYWAY. I HAVE BEEN IN THE FIELD FOR OVER 15 YEARS. E.M.T., INSURANCE, ALL KINDS OF STUFF.
BEST OF LUCK, MY PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU.

Answer 5

It's not unusual for doctors to minimize the amount of pain they cause at times, so I don't think your pain is "imaginary" or exaggerated. I STILL hate PAP tests, and I've had several. I just can't seem to get used to that dang steel speculum.

May I make a couple of suggestions? First, I think you should seek short-term counseling to work through your traumatic experience. And it WAS traumatic!!! Second, you need to find another doctor to continue your treatment. Be sure to tell your (new) doctor about your previous experience, and find out how he plans to minimize your discomfort. If he won't discuss these things with you, he or she is not the right doctor for you.

Finally, please stop thinking like a victim. Doctors are not gods. We are the consumers; they provide a service. If that service is unsatisfactory, you have the right, as a consumer, to take your business elsewhere. Doctors need our business to maintain their practices--not the other way around.

Answer 6

wow.....

well ask that counselor about some possible therapists/ psychologists/ pyschiatrists. i would recommend seeing both, psychologist and psychiatrist because therapy and medicine work great together. when they treat the right thing of course i'm not saying take any drug or do any type of therapy. you have to find what works best for you.

if you're in college ask a person in the psychology department about your symptons. they should be able to determine what has happened to you.

you say you go to church. i'm catholic and they say suicide is a sin so keep that in mind and also would God want you to give up on life because of a medical procdure gone wrong?

by the way try praying about this and speaking with a priest or religous person who works for the church. they too can also help find some therapy/ medicine for you.

also keep in mind this is not going to go away real fast. any major traume done to ANY person will take some time to deal with.

as for a legal case, i'm not a lawyer and i just started my career in law but i do know if the doctor has a prior history of doing something like this then there is a good chance you can sue him/ her.

hope i was of help and i'll pray for you.

Answer 7

Well, you're very young to have pre-cancerous cells on your cervix and from my medical knowledge as a RN, there are risk factors for this young age that you should do a google search on and read about, so you don't end up with it again after your surgery. Which I encourage you to get the surgery because if you don't, you will end up with full-fledged cervical cancer which there is no cure if it spreads. You are lucky the doctor caught it early and it seems to me this is where your head should be....grateful the doctor found it and is able to save your life! And besides, a brown discharge for two weeks is not abnormal. Nothing you wrote is abnormal.

As far as you having a legal case, you don't. For what? Because your doctor thought you wouldn't experience pain? Most people don't in this type of biopsy, but when you tense up and come into surgery with the anxiety and fear you demonstrate now, you will experience a self-fulfilling prophecy. Pain is subjective, but pain is exacerbated by uncontrolled emotional reactions to the biopsy and the fact a doctor looked at your private parts. Trust me, the doctor see's tons of private parts and I doubt yours mean anything to him as well. It's his job. But as far as you looking to sue, you should be ashamed of yourself. Sorry, but I am tired of people who come to the doctor thinking they are entitled to no pain from medical procedures and expect such guarantees. Many times the doctor goes by experience and depending upon his or her experiences with patients, you might have been the ONLY patient he's ever had that HAS expressed an exorbant amount of pain from that procedure. You won't find a lawyer anywhere who will tell you that you have a legal cause to sue someone based on what you just wrote. Its patients like you that make me want to quit the medical field. Here we are working long hours, putting up with babies who whine over an injection when all the time they are screaming for pain medication! Who expect a doctor and a nurse to wave a majic wand and poof! You are well with no pain involved. Get over it and grow up.

Answer 8

Pray for healing. God is still working miracles. I had Bareatric surgery in 2005, my body shut down and would not heal. I went through a number of surgery's. my doctor put me into two comas and it was very hard for me to come out of them. finally I went into a coma own my own, I saw a bright light and a voice said not yet Maria you have not done my work. I was finally released from the hospital after spending months at a time to be sent to a nursing home where my body would have time to heal. after 30 months of being on pain medication I was addicted. I had a seize in July of this year, went into the hospital for a week, than went to a mental health hospital because they thought I was on drugs. after three days the doctor believed me that it wasn't street drugs but pain medication. I was released only if I would move with my son and his family. To make a long story God allowed these things to happen to bring me closer to him.If it wasn't for God being on my side I would have been dead. Things happen and sometime it's not for us to understand.

Answer 9

of course you can get pass this. I highly recommed going to a psychologist specialized in cases like yours. Also, you don't have to stick with the doctor you have, I'm sure you can find a good doctor that will not lie to you, but also remember that they go by what they know and not everyone is equal, which means that the body of everyone could respond differently to certain medical procedures.

Good luck and I hope you get better!

Answer 10

I think you need to put things in perspective in this situation. Compare it to mine for example. I HAVE invasive cervical cancer stage II. I have to have radiation, chemotherapy and a radical hysterectomy at age 33. I can never have any more children (I have 1 son) and...I could die.

Feel better? Instead of dwelling on the negative experience be thankful that you do not have cancer!!!!!!!!