lexibelle

I'm looking for suggestions of a good OB/GYN in the Orlando/Kissimmee area. One of the big things is I need a doctor that's 'size-friendly' and isn't going to tell me to come back when I've lost weight. I want someone who's willing to help me get pregnant WHILE I'm working on the weight issue.

Any help or information would be great.

RE's unfortunately are out of the question as they won't be covered by my insurance.

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ErikaG

He may be a bit of a hike for you, but I see Dr John Parker at Advanced Women's Health Specialists in Lake Mary. They also have an office in Deltona, which is the other side of the world from you. He just switched his hours around so he's not in Lake Mary as much as he used to be, but I said last night to my husband that if he were to only practice in the Deltona office, I'd drive to Deltona for him.

My weight has been a non-issue in his office. They do weigh me each visit, but I get on the scale backwards, and no one has mentioned it until my pregnancy (I'm 19 weeks now and losing weight, and so it gets mentioned in the sense of "You're losing weight" and that's the end of the conversation unless I ask.) They generally have large enough blood pressure cuffs available, too, which is always a bonus, and my large rear end usually fits into the chairs in their waiting room-also an important feature.

One of the things I like best about this practice is that I actually feel like I get to be involved in my care-it's not just "here, do this" it's about my feelings and my choices as well. I truly feel like a partner in my own care.

I'm really pleased with the quality of care I've gotten from Dr. Parker and from Paula Vaughn, the NP who I've seen for routine gyn stuff. Both have been incredibly kind.

lexibelle

LOL Thank you for the suggestion, and I actually have to agree - though I see Dr. Goss there.

We just moved so I was hoping to find someone closer to Kissimmee (especially if I DO get pregnant .. I'd be worried about hospital privileges and such) ... but worse comes to worse, I'll go back there since I KNOW they'll work with me.

Thank you for the suggestion though It's good to know that others are willing to suggest where I already go.

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ErikaG

That is funny-that you already see Dr Goss.

How do you like him? The only MD I've met in that office is Dr. Parker, and of course at this point, I have no idea who will deliver my baby (I'm due in April.)

In their favor, they are located rather close to I4, and so if you are driving up that way, they're not as bad to get to as when they were located over by the hospital in Altamonte Springs.

I know they deliver babies at South Seminole, but the perinatologist they have me seeing right now is affiliated with Winnie Palmer. (If they do refer you to the Fetal Diagnostic Center, see if you can get in with Dr. Al-Malt rather than Dr. Christensen. I've never even met Dr. Al-Malt, but I can't stand Dr. Christensen. It makes Dr. Parker happy and it makes him feel better that I'm going, and so I keep going, but Dr. Parker understands and approves and agrees with my reasons for not liking Dr. Christensen. If I have to go through this again, I'll see if I can get in with the other doctor.)

I should tell you the funny story that happened the other day when I was at my pre-natal visit though.

They just redid their office in Lake Mary, again, so all the doctors are at one end and everyone else is all the way down at the other end (near where they draw blood.) I finished my appointment, made my next one and left, only to discover that Dr Parker had forgotten to give me a prescription I needed for test strips for my new glucometer. (Side note-Dr. P is being really awesome about GD stuff...rather than torturing me by taking me off of met and then making me go through GTT and then most likely on insulin, he's letting me stay on met, skip GTT for now and monitor blood sugar at home. If we see an issue with the numbers from regular monitoring I'm doing, then we'll do GTT if necessary and go to insulin if needed.) So I duck back into the office and I'm talking to one of the nurses about what I need, and two other women come out of the exam rooms we're standing near and both say they have PCOS and we had a little support group going in the hallway waiting for the doctor. Apparently this practice is good with PCOS. I wish I'd known that before my diagnosis...I picked them for entirely different reasons, but I'm really pleased.

I hope you can find someone down that way who is as good. That said, I think they're worth an hour's drive. You don't find what they have every day.

lexibelle

That story about the impromtu PCOS group is great They must be doing something right there.

So far my experience has been OK with Dr. Goss. To be honest I've only had 3 appointments and only saw him at 2. On the third they drew blood and I was told they wanted to hear from me in 3 months. The only thing that struck a nerve with me was during my second appointment I'd made a comment that I was doing the SB diet but hadn't seen any weight loss on it. He proceeded to tell me that sometimes it takes people going down to 300 calories a day to actually lose weight. I gave him a funny look and changed the subject because the last time I checked, unless that's medically monitored, that's called anorexia...

So far I haven't found anyone down here ... I'm considering staying with them and if I do get pg, just asking for a referral to a MD down this way unless they have privileges at a hospital close to where I live (right on the Orange County/Osceola County border to be exact...).

It's too bad Dr. Parker's not at the Lake Mary location as much now :\ I would've switched to him if my next appointment with Goss is less than outstanding.

Thanks for the reassurance about the practice though Knowing there are more ladies going there for the PCOS makes me feel a bit better about the choice.

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ErikaG

Switch to Dr Parker for your next appointment if you're going to stick with the practice for now. He's only in Lake Mary on Wednesdays right now, which has made even my pre-natals a bit tighter than usual, because I try and get the first appointment after lunch so that I'm waiting around less (I had a 1:45 appointment last time and was out by a bit after 3.) Still it's worth it. If you want, I'll give you my last name to mention to him when you see him as the recommendation.

Dr P has mentioned my weight three times over the fourteen months I've seen him. At my first visit, when he prescribed Metformin (I fly under the radar for PCOS unless you're really looking...Paula, the NP was reluctant to make the call on it so she had me see Dr. P who had no problem with it) when he mentioned that I should expect weight loss as a side effect, at one appointment where we were discussing pregnancy and he said that it's possible that I might gain as little as 8 pounds during pregnancy and that that would be fine so long as the baby is growing well, and at my last pre-natal visit when we discussed the fact that I'm halfway through my pregnancy and down about 30 lbs, and that, again, that was okay as long as the baby was growing well, and that I may well end this pregnancy at a lower weight than I started. He saw me every three months from the time he made my PCOS diagnsis until I got pregnant (about ten months.)

He's enthusiastic about new information; I'd gotten a hold of a study from a few months back which recommended continuing Met further into pregnancy than it had previously, and he was thrilled that I'd taken the time to look for information, to read it, and to share it. He's been incredibly sensible about the risk of GD. When I mentioned that it seemed silly to me to shoved such a huge amount of sugar into my body (not something I would typically do) and then deprive it of Met, which normally helps me regulate insulin use, we came up with an alternative plan-we both realize that PCOS makes it a greater risk but instead of the tactic that many OBs use...early and repeated glucose tolerance testing, we decided on an A1C when he declares it necessary and regular glucose monitoring at home with a glucometer, and I'm expected to report to him if I'm seeing sugars far out of the ranges he gave me (and he gave me the more liberal value of 140 for post prandial glucose) on a consistent basis, at which point we'll decide what to do. In other words, because I've taken an active and involved role in educating myself, and in coming up with suggestions and ideas, he's willing to work with me.

He's had no problem doing things like raising my metformin dose when I started Synthroid and realized I felt miserable, and pointed out in the patient prescribing information where it talked about the interaction between the two drugs and how the dose of met might need adjusting. He's been generally supportive of my desire to breastfeed after the baby is born and has

And I think, almost more important than anything, he was compassionate when I was really struggling emotionally with the fertility stuff-my husband has a fertility issue as well, so we're coming at it from two sides, and he was just really kind. And he talked about his own frustration at seeing someone like me who not only wants to be a parent, but who would be good at it struggling so much. That meant a lot.

Anyway, if you opt to stick with them and want to switch to Dr P, go for it. He's been really good to work with.

LMHCLinda

Hi there!
I saw your post and had posted about the same thing about 2 years ago and this is the suggestion I had gotten from another Cyster she was seeing Dr. David Mercantile and Dr. Crider in Celebration and they were helping her despite her weight. I did not end up seeing them as I became pregnant soon after! I don;t know if they are still there but that sounds closer for you and I know how important it is to find a size-friendly doctor. I had a had experience with a very well know RE in Orlando and he would not help me until I lost weight- of course he took all my money and insuranc companies money for numerous tests and a lengthy consultation! It still upsets me 2 years later. I learned after that when I called some other REs to just come right and ask if they treat women with weight issues. They should tell you upfront that you need to meet certain criteria before seeing you!!

Best of luck and take care!

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Linda
Married to a wonderful, supportive husband since 11/9/02
Had beautiful first baby boy on 9/19/06
me- 39
DH- 38

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"Don't be afraid to go out on a limb, Thats where the fruit is"

ErikaG

While I have an OB who I like, and got pregnant while waiting to get things set up with the RE (PCOS plus thyroid plus a spouse with low sperm count meant that our chances weren't really good and no one really thought that what we were doing-unmonitored Clomid cycles would work) it's possible that I'll end up seeing an RE should things change in the future. While I realize it's bad form to publish the name of the RE who you had an unpleasant experience with publicly, would you mind PM-ing the name to me...I'm curious whether it's one of the names that my OB and I discussed, and the one who he suggested not seeing because that doctor had poor bedside manner.

lexibelle

By chance, was Dr. David Mercantile actually David Marcantel? Just curios - the names seem so similar and Marcantel is located in Celebration (AND he's on my insurance).

Thank you for the suggestions

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