Cause this letter to the editor makes me want to find this woman and slap her. I understand the frustration, but come on, rats?
With regard to Stephen Palmer, M.D. leaving the Auburn area, I too am sad to see him go. I do however, have a different view than that of Kerry Cohlmeyer (at the birthing center), Journal Sept. 9. as she states that the other three obstetricians/gynecologists here to serve the women in the community.
While I respect and trust Dr. Palmer’s abilities and experience, because I am not a child-bearing woman in this society (clearly a minority), I have been rescheduled three times and still not been seen by him.
On my last scheduled visit, I was in the exam room, prepared for the less than five minute procedure and I was told the doctor had to leave to deliver a baby.
There I sit, quite, vulnerable, passed over because someone is having a baby, as if they are more important than me. My time is just as important as someone having a baby.
My understanding, which could be wrong, is that the obstetricians/gynecologists in Auburn area have to deliver their own patients babies from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and run their practice.
I thought in this day and age there were such things as on-call physicians.
While it may be nice and comfortable to have your obstetrician/gynecologist deliver a baby, these doctors are licensed to practice both obstetrics and gynecology.
So, for those of us who choose to not procreate like rats, we just have to wait to have gynecological procedures completed and hope we can be squeezed in between births.
Am I supposed to believe that these three remaining doctors, whose baby load is probably on overload already, are going to be there for me for my yearly gynecological exams?
I intend no disrespect or disregard to any of these physicians or their staff, however, there is a clear emphasis on babies.
I believe that every person is deserving of time from their physician whether they are 8 seconds old or 80 years old.
Just because someone is giving birth does not make them any more important or their needs more special. Michele Weber
Nice huh? Go figure-an emphasis on babies at an OB/GYN. I had the bad luck to have both of my children when my OB/GYN was on vacation, and man, how having a strange doctor between your legs make the day even better!
And around here, your “monthly appointment” is expected to be taken care of at your GP, not the OB/GYN. Not sure about everywhere else.
Spin Me I Pulsate 
Good lord! Yeah, it was my understanding that you went to your GP unless something was wrong in hooha land. Like seriously wrong. That’s like crying that your precious face-lift had to wait because the damned plastic surgeon was busy mending the faces of those who were horribly burned in a plane crash. So half their face is missing. I pay his bills! waaaa!
Wow, this woman’s letter even made Steve call her a stupid cow. I second that sentiment.
Those women who are inconveniently giving birth will just have to not push and cross their legs for a while so she can have her much more urgent appointment. That’s perfectly reasonable.
/sarcasm
In the Portland Metro area there are so many doctors that handle only the GYN and leave the OB patients to others, I assume that other cities have the same? Maybe she should get off her fucking podium and find someone to meet her needs instead of whining.
O.M.G.!!!
Are you fucking serious? “I’m just as important as a baby being born!” Perhaps, but the baby is just a TOUCH more pressing than your annual gyno exam, wouldn’t you think? And those of us who are procreating “like rats” made her sorry ass and all her friends not to MENTION any possible GYN’s she’d see, so you think she’d at least be understanding!
I’m not one for name calling, but I think she just properly labeled herself a dumb bitch.
Damn straight my needs were “more special” when I was giving birth! Can I slap her too?
Yeah. This woman needs to be slapped. Has she never heard of a regular GYN? We have plenty here who don’t handle obstetrics at all. It’s called a phone book, moron, learn to use it. And yeah, having a strange person between your legs when your vagina suddenly becomes a garage door is likely alot worse than having a strange person between your legs when you’re just getting your yearly screening. Not to mention that when a doctor goes to deliver a baby, he actually is serving two patients, instead of one, so if nothing else, that trumps your whiny little uptight ass anyday. Selfish people should all go get an island somewhere and see how long they last when no one is serving anyone’s needs but their own.
A pap smear and pelvic are in no way comparable to giving birth. Forget the baby, how about the woman whose cervix is now 10 cm and is slightly more uncomfortable and in need of a physician than a woman waiting for a routine exam? Gosh, I tried not to be upset when my on-call physician was in surgery at another hospital and unable to attend to the issues we were having with my epidural and the baby’s heartbeat. What a selfish cow!
Oh wait… I forgot, they did that whole island thing. It’s called survivor. Darn.
LMAO! What an ass. It’s clear that she will never be one of us “breeders”, if she does she will change her tune.
I remember being like her, sitting in the waiting room, waiting for a check up with my wonderful OBGYN, who is the Chief Of Obstetrics at the hospital only to see him go bombing out the door to deliver a baby. At first, I was annoyed yes, but then when I thought about it, you have the same person checking your innards, blood work and taking care of you for 10 months, you want them there at the grande finale.
Then, when I WAS one of those women, I really could care less that my OB was leaving a room full of patients to come see me in L&D while I was puking blood and terrified for my baby.
I hope someone finds her and slaps the crap outta her.
Ouch, rats, that’s rough.
Perhaps she’s missed the memo that doctors go by urgency?
I’ve never had a GP that would handle ob/gyn stuff and the closest GYN on my insurance is in Richmond, about 3 hours away. I think she does make a couple of valid points, but too bad she let the frustrations of being cf ruin what might have been a good letter.
I think the fault lies with the OB/GYN offices when women get this frustrated – they take on too many patients, with the result being that those who aren’t high priority always seem to be the ones who always get rescheduled. And being overbooked like that, especially if you’re an OB, isn’t good for any of your patients.
That’s exactly the reason I refuse to consider open practices anymore. In my experience, they don’t care about the patients left hanging when all the doctors are either at the hospital or the one doctor left behind trying to see 5 patients in one appointment slot. And the ones I’ve been to don’t even have the courtesy to call you if your doctor leaves to deliver a baby an hour before your appointment and obviously won’t make it.
My Family physician will handle it but that’s the first time I have had that. Typically I have gone to a OB/GYN office for my annual and any strange stuff related to it.
She needs to get off her ass and find a GYN only. There are a slew of them since OB’s now have to pay such hefty malpractice insurance. Many are choosing not to do obstetrics. She shows her ignorance pretty quickly.
And yes, she needs slapped.. a nice big Doh slap.
ehrm … yes, i do understand her frustration, but rats is clearly too much.
in my part of the world, GPs don’t do your yearly examination, the GYN does that. however, there are a lot of GYNs here who do just that and the medical care for women during their pregnancy, but don’t do the delivery itself, so i’ve never had my GYN be called away for a delivery while waiting for my exam.
if in her area there are no such doctors it clearly sounds like a bad arrangement. but rats? ugh.
I’ll concede the part about not all GP’s doing those procedures. Until I moved out here, I never went to anyone but an OB/GYN or a woman’s health clinic for my yearly torment. And I now haven’t had one in two years because the thought of my family doctor being between my legs makes me want to cry. So I get the sense of wanting to have a specific doctor do it.
But rats? She sounds like she wants the world to stop for her.
But I still hope that sometime she’s in urgent need, and they pass her up for someone with an appointment. Just out of pure spite.
The malpractice rates for ob/gyns in Illinois are so ridiculously high, they have to deliver a million babies just to stay afloat.
Poor Michelle, not being able to breed like a rat. She should try it: because it’s SuperDuper Cool! to get that preferential treatment.
These are things, like the Feministing comments re: nursing in public, that make my brain explode so hard you can probably hear it in Canada. This woman makes me wish I had a phrase like “what a stupid cunt” that sounded sufficiently filthy yet did not involve me dissing the awesome and sacred vagina. The stupidity hurts physically. As if: “Oh no you CANNOT put off treating my hangnail to treat that person who has just cut off his goddamn hand! This is my time. Mine, mine mine*!!!”
*This analogy in no way meant to suggest that birthing is an injury, nor that women need to be “delivered” by doctors**.
**Because midwives rule. Or *shudder* you could do it unassisted. Oy, that makes me feel a little lightheaded. But you go girls***.
***I mean wymmyn.
Wow. Poor, poor girl.
My GOD everyone’s a victim nowadays, huh?!
What a stupid little twit!
At my OB office, they did certain things on certain days. It was wonderful when I was going in for infertility appointments b/c there were no pregnant women around. Then when I went for OB visits, the waiting room was packed with pregnant gals.
Hawk does those yearly tests all the time. GPs in the US are really getting away from doing OB but of course they still do gyn. If her concern is that the doctors have to go do their jobs, she needs to go to another office and, it sounds like, one that doesn’t do OB. Why doesn’t she go to an internist? Oh wait, she’s too busy bitching in the paper. NM.