Checking In with the GYN: My Go-To Doc

I kept my appointment today with Dr. Vineela Poddatoori, who checked on my incision today. Everything looks good. She told me the line would smooth out over time, fade, and the puncture marks on each side of that line would disappear, eventually.

She noted that I was still swollen a bit around the lower part of the incision, and that that's normal. She said it would probably disappear within the next two to three weeks.

She also gave me a lecture. It somehow came out in the conversation -- I think when she asked if I had been lifting things -- that I had been carrying the recycle and garbage out. Well, of course, I said. Who else would do it? She went on for a good 10 minutes about how I could easily hernia. And gave me examples, like a cousin who had a baby but then everything ruptured, and now, well, her intestines won't stay inside where they should be. Horrible stuff. She said it's harder to treat a hernia than my initial surgery, as the hernia never seems to completely heal. She made me promise to be more careful over the next couple of weeks until I'm completely healed, and not lift.

We noted that she looked like she was well along the pregnancy path, and she acknowledged that her due date is in August. I made a note to myself that I won't be able to see her until maybe Christmas, if necessary. Still, in the same breath, she suggested I call her if I had any concerns.

An important note: She said either she or Dr. Stern should be my check-off against recurring cancer. If Dr. Stern sees the June tests and pronounces me good, signs off on me, then I should come back to her. She said annual visits to one of them is important during the next five years.

Which made me think: where was my go-to doctor during the first five years after my colon surgery (also cancer) back in 2002? I didn't have one. I kept wondering whether my GP doc would know what to look for. I was just lucky: nothing recurred.

But now I have a back-up plan. I'm very happy about that.