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Why doesn’t my doctor screen me for cancer, I have concerns
Men's Health | Last Active: Apr 21 12:24pm | Replies (12)Comment receiving replies
@chriscooper - Welcome to Mayo Connect. This is a great place to ask questions about all types of health issues.
It certainly is frustrating to have symptoms that seem to warrant doctor attention - yet the docs seems uninterested in your plight. How can that be?
It's a tough decision to make - but can you get an appointment with a different primary care physician? Think of this process as "getting a second opinion" - which is always a reasonable strategy when facing concerns over issues like yours. Not all docs are created equal and checking with someone new should be considered.
Have you attempted a visit to a new doc?
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Hey @upstatephil! Thanks for the suggestion. I am scheduling with a different provider for my “follow up / discharge” instructions. Fortunately I can schedule with anyone in that practice but there is only one male Dr. he has many years experience. The challenge for me is it’s uncomfortable to talk about screening for something more serious. I have been avoiding things like rectal exams and colonoscopy for years but now with more serious symptoms I think it’s appropriate/ necessary at this point. I feel like I owe it to my family.
I found in my military records from 15 years ago a doctor noted “the rectum had a mass”? I don’t remember having an exam and I think I’d remember that… Unless they did. DRE during surgery? No one ever talked to me about it or followed up.
It’s uncomfortable to me to see this new doctor and basically ask him to give me a rectal exam and check prostate… maybe I just ask to have psa test and go from there?
What happened to the medical profession? I hadn’t been to a doctor in 10 years and the female doc didn’t do any kind of physical exam just pretended to listen to my heart and says well your healthy? What a joke.