Hi all,
It feels like I have continuously run into road blocks the last couple of months with my healthcare providers. Whether it's my local gynecologist dropping me from her care, the oncologists office taking forever to decide if they would book me an appointment, and now my family doctor has vetoed my nurse practitioner's decision to order me an MRI.
My cancer journey started on October 16th, 2025, when the local gynecologist performed an endometrial biopsy. After that, I started experiencing pelvic pain 2 or 3 times a week. This is unusual for me. I received my biopsy results on October 29th, 2025 confirming it was grade 1 endometrial cancer, I was then started on a progestin until I could see the oncologist. November was a flurry of appointments, between having a CT scan, the initial consult with my oncologist in London, meeting with my local gynecologist to get her opinion on the matter, and following up with the oncologist in London again. At the end of November, my local gynecologist placed an IUD for me and I started on Letrozole. Unfortunately, the IUD became displaced and had to be removed a week before Christmas. I was still having pelvic pain in addition to menstrual cramps during this time. Since the IUD removal in December, I have had daily pelvic pain, I also started having back pain, which is different from my usual lower back stiffness.
I saw my nurse practitioner yesterday, and went over all of this pelvic pain and back pain with her, and after an examination she agreed that an MRI would make sense and that she would put through a request. Unfortunately, she called me this morning to say my family doctor doesn't want to order the MRI, and thinks I should have an Xray and Ultrasound instead, and then she will decide if I can have an MRI.
I expressed my disappointment, and my concern that we won't see anything on an Xray, as I feel that my pain is soft tissue or nerve related. My nurse practitioner replied that she can't go around my family doctor's orders. I am really feeling now that my concerns are being dismissed and that none of my healthcare providers care or want to help me. I will finally get to see my oncologist on March 11, so I guess I will ask him then if he will consider ordering me an MRI...
That said, has anyone ever paid for private care, especially to get diagnostic tests or imaging done? I'm honestly just frustrated after asking for help from medical professionals for four years now and not getting anywhere, only to finally get some answers, learn that it's cancer, and now feel like I'm back at square one with no help from my healthcare providers.
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