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| - Updated after 4 visits to the Dr. They gave me too much hormones and it made me feel a lot worse then before I went in, when I told them this they responded by let's do the same treatment again. They told my husband that they wanted to see his testosterone at 1200, but both his Cardiologist and Endocrinologist told us that was way to high (needs to be under 700, 500-600 better), and high testosterone causes heart problems and can cause prostate cancer. They told us many lies about costs (something would be free/covered by insurance when it was not.
1) I asked for a pap smear & mammogram & hormone balancing when scheduling my first visit. I saw a Dr/PA for 10 minutes each visit plus other staff members who didn't give names/positions. The first visit they read the paperwork and got blood work. They said if they did the pap smear/mammogram "they don't get paid by insurance if they do two things at the same visit". They would not schedule these when I left saying the Dr would do this. The second visit the Dr said I needed Estrogen, Testosterone, Progesterone, and Thyroid but again "no time" for the pap smear/mammogram and no appointment. The pellets were pushed hard and I felt like I got the used car salesman rush - I don't expect that from a Dr. When I asked about other choices, they discouraged pills or creams and when I still wasn't sure about the pellets the Dr walked out of the room and with her back to me said let the staff know. Unfortunately since I wanted to feel better and no other options were given I agreed to the pellets (Estrogen & Testosterone) and someone rushed me thru signing the forms, saying of course check this box that you have not had a pap smear in the last year. The whole visit was rush-rush.
At home I looked over the paperwork and under the box saying No I haven't had a pap smear & mammogram within the last year said is said therefore I would not hold the Drs liable if I got cancer (from the treatment). WHAT? They wouldn't give me the tests when I asked for them, they pushed the pellets, and then it was my fault if I got cancer? Another paper said people taking hormone replacement for the first time (me) typically do NOT do pellets, but if you really want them you can get them. Again WHAT? I had said I was not sure about pellets, but that was the only choice I was given. At a later visit they said "well... that is what we do - put pellets in".
2) I felt horrible after the pellets (much worse than they said I would). I called for an appointment to discuss this & again asked for a pap smear - I was assured I could do both in the same visit. At the visit I said the side effects were most important, the PA listened, then said let's do the pap smear, then "didn't have time" to discuss the pellet problems.
3) One of the papers I took home had said the pellets would last 3-4 months. At the 5 week mark to review the pellets I was greeted in the lobby with a "You signed this before but we need it again" - like there was a problem with the first form. The form was permission to put in more pellets. I questioned this & was told "The first pellets never last, you need your 5 week boosters". I said I wanted to talk to the Dr first as I was still sick from the pellets and the thyroid pills gave me hyperthyroid symptoms. The Dr never said let's do this so you feel better, she just talked about putting more pellets in. When I resisted, she said I had a serious unrelated medical condition and immediately needed a bunch of tests. I ran all this by my regular Dr said the next day and he said I had no problems. He felt they created an "emergency" to distract from them not addressing my side effects to the pellets.
4) Other women there told me they ALWAYS got pellets every 5 weeks. At the pellet followup visit the Dr told me they ignored estrogen levels, they only looked at FHS. The medicine manufacturers (for my pellets) told me I was given too much Estrogen and that testosterone of 1200 was way too high for guys & that we needed other labs to monitor things than the ones DeRosa's office were taken. E.G. Test for when the testosterone was starting to affect the prostate negatively rather than wait until the cancer shows in a PSA test.
5) Expect high costs: They told me hormone tests were free (they were not), that things were covered by insurance that were not, and didn't bill for months so the first bill was over $1000 (would have been higher if I agreed to pellets the 2nd time). I heard someone else talking about her high bill at the window. Others told me the same thing happened to them.
6) I now have a better Dr. She gives one hormone at a time as they can all affect each other. She pays attention to symptoms not just test results (one person's low is another person's normal). The new Dr reduced the problems the pellets were causing me (DeRosa never tried to do this). The new Dr does more testing than De Rosa does which they say gives better information.
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