Or does he?

The endocrinologist’s office called again when I came home from work today. It was a different woman, who wanted to know if the appointment that was made for me last night was a “needed” appointment. I told her I did not know what she meant by needed. She told me that he just saw me in October and she didn’t know if he needed to see me again. Besides the fact that my TSH isn’t straightened out yet, I told here that I was told he likes to do an ultrasound a year after a total thyroidectomy if the total thyroidectomy was for thyroid cancer. I kind of got upset by this call, I told her if he doesn’t want to be my doctor anymore it didn’t matter. She said no, that’s not it and quickly got off the phone.

I was just feeling that they had just “let me go” and were making things right. Until this phone call, of course. I didn’t’ know that the lab should have been sending them my TSH levels along with sending them to my primary care physician. My thing is, is that first the surgeon takes care of your synthroid and checking your TSH and then you go to the endocrinologist, or they work together. I know my surgeon called him, so that was good. Then I get the primary care physician because the surgeon can’t do it anymore, because they only get you so far after surgery. The primary care says they can take care of the synthroid and TSH levels. When that doesn’t work out like they thought, that nurse recommends calling the endocrinologist and you start talking to them again. They are upset they haven’t heard from me since October, but I didn’t know they were supposed to. I did not get a pamphlet on aftercare etiquette from any of the various offices and doctors that have been in my life for the last year, so I do not know. someone needs to tell patients what is expected of them. All I know is that I need my levels checked every six weeks, and a prescription, and someone to keep increasing the Synthroid prescription. Beyond that I don’t really know the protocol and it wasn’t explained to me. I am aggravated now, is it a “needed” appointment? I don’t know.