Has anyone had a hysteroscopy?

@naturegirl5 the doctor who tried to do this was, from what I understood, an ultrasound specialist experienced in performing hysteroscopies, not a gynaecologist. She said she would recommend that my GP refer me to a gynocologist who can do my hysteroscopy in a hospital. I told her that the reason I was referred here is because my doctor couldn’t find a hospital that did this procedure in a hospital as hospitals don’t do them now. Even my next door neighbour had a uterine biopsy done in her gynecologist’s office. She too went through a lot of pain because anesthesia is not allowed in office settings.

Hospitals are so backlogged in Canada - especially Ontario - procedures that once were done only in hospitals are now being performed in clinics and doctors’ offices.

@rashida I've been reading your helpful comments and questions on some of the other discussions. I'm wondering where you are with trying to get the hysteroscopy in Ontario. Would the hysteroscopy be accompanied by a D&C (dilation & curetage)? I had both of these. I ask this because I wonder if a D&C could be scheduled at a hospital in Ontario where you can have anesthesia. What other options are available to you?

I listen and/or read the CBC news most every day and there is often information about the lack of primary care providers and the backlogs in hospitals. This includes EDs that have to close during certain hours because they are understaffed.

@naturegirl5 I live in Kitchener, Ontario. My doctor tried every hospital in the Wellington County area and apparently hospitals here will not do hysteroscopies. I later found out that it was a Nurse Practitioner who attempted to do the hysteroscopy at an ultrasound clinic.

I have now been referred to a gynaecologist and have a consult with her on May 8. The reviews on her have been negative for the most part, but my doctor has tried several gynaecologists in Kitchener and none others are taking new patients, so it’s a case of either see her, or forego the hysteroscopy which she may attempt - possibly in office without anesthesia since hospitals have stopped doing them here. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I have had daily pelvic pain ever since the January 23 fails attempt by the Nurse Practitioner.

@rashida I hope that that the consult on May 8 will be OK for you. I've never certain what to think about online reviews and I reserve judgment until I've actually met with someone. I recall saying before that it's surprising to me that Kitchener, Ontario has such a lack of gynecologists. It's not as if you are in a rural area of Ontario where you'd have to drive hours to find a provider.

@naturegirl15 it’s not just a problem in Kitchener, but all over Ontario, including big cities like Toronto. The healthcare system across Canada leaves a lot to be desired. Things have gone worse since the pandemic. Many doctors have taken early retirement because of burnout during Covid lockdown, then there are boomer doctors retiring and not enough new doctors coming in. There are several specialists here - but few taking new patients.

I have a friend who is a nurse working at a hospital in Toronto whose doctor retired over a year ago and she still hasn’t found a doctor willing to take on new patients! I even tried to get my former doctor in Toronto to take her in my place since I had moved to Kitchener and she too said emphatically she is not taking any new patients. She said if anything, she has entertained thoughts of retiring, herself - and I think she is only in her fifties. She must be, because I started going to her just about thirty years ago when she started practicing as a new doctor at a clinic. She now has her own practice.

My husband and I moved here in October 2022 and we are among the fortunate few who managed to find a family doctor taking new patients, a year later in November 2023. We literally asked anybody and everybody we came across here if their doctor was taking new patients! Finally, my neighbour overheard the receptionist at her doctor’s clinic telling someone they were getting a new doctor in who would be taking new patients. We rushed over immediately and signed up, and were given an introductory appointment with her for November 6, 2023. After our visit with the doctor we went up to the receptionist to ask if our doctor is still taking new patients so we could pass the information on to others looking for a doctor and would you believe we were told she is not taking in any more new patients!? This was merely days after we registered and got accepted!

@naturegirl5 that “doctor” (I had assumed she was!) turned out to be a nurse practitioner, and the clinic I went to was actually a fertility clinic - I guess my GP figured “any port in the storm!”.

Unfortunately we are an hour and a half drive away from Toronto and I don’t drive. Going by regional bus would take much longer!

Anyway, my doctor finally did find a gynologist and I had a consult with her early May (that’s how long a wait is!) and she wants me to do a repeat ultrasound. If results of thst ultrasound show know change, she said there will be no need for a hysteroscopy. 🤷🏼‍♀️ The earliest appointment I could get - in early May - was for July 13! That is how bad our health system is, here!

@rashida I used to worry about seeing a nurse practitioner vs. a physician but after very positive experiences with nurse practitioners at Mayo Clinic I’ve revised my opinion. Still, you thought your GP referred to a physician, and it wasn’t, and then it was a fertility clinic? Can you hear me say that long, drawn out…….ooookkkkk?

Anyway, you did see a gynecologist 6 weeks ago and she’s ordered a repeated ultrasound and it’s more than a month away? Yes, that’s very slow and it would sure bother me too. What can you do? As we, in the U.S. deal with the mess insurance companies make over medical care and the move toward more in profit companies owning medical practices and hospitals the U.S. medical system is surely in trouble. I hear more about Ontario’s health care system than the other provinces but maybe that’s because of the news source that is reporting it?

My GP did try to find a gynaecologist at the time, but none were taking new patients. There’s a real shortage of. Even family physicians here, never mind specialists, and I am one F the fortunate few who managed to find a GP within a year … and my GP too is not taking any new patients now!

What?! Where did you get that idea? Perhaps if other things are being done in addition to the hysteroscopy, sometimes it only takes a few minutes (still painful), but I’ve never heard of anyone going under for it especially in a clinic setting.

@naturegirl5 Well, after my second pelvic ultrasound on July 13 my GP called me. The gynaecologist she finally found for me had sent me for the second ultrasound and had said if she was satisfied with the result I would not need to see her again (she had not requested a copy of that ultrasound to be sent to my GP but I made sure to inform the technologist that I wanted a copy of the result to be sent to my GP).

My GP said she saw something in my ultrasound result that concerned her, but that gynaecologist who sent me for that second ultrasound (she hadn’t even bother to call me) was not concerned so my GP went back on the hunt for another gynaecologist. After several referrals being turned down she finally found another gynaecologist right here in Kitchener who agreed to see me. I had a consult with him on September 26 and he scheduled a hysteroscopy and D&C at the hospital for October 11 - so I finally did get the hysteroscopy done, in hospital and under anaesthesia!

It’s Canadian Thanksgiving weekend here, so I guess the gynaecologist wanted to get away for the weekend and he didn’t talk to me in the Recovery Room. I have been given a follow up appointment with him for November 22 but I think my GP will get in touch with me sooner as she always updates my husband and me on any test results as soon as she gets them. This being the log weekend, I don’t expect to hear from her till later this week.