New Member in Tampa Bay Area

[noahsmom]

Hi

We recently moved to the Tampa Bay area (St. Pete) and I'm looking for a good OB (perhaps high risk), who has dealt with patients with preeclampsia succesfully. I recently transferred to an OB practice which deals with high risk patients, but yesterday after my visit, I felt like the Dr. wasn't concerned with my rising BP. I'm currently 13wks and my BP has risen from a baseline of 110/65 to 128/70 (the office measurement yesterday). I've been taking my BPs at home and have noticed that they are running in the 115-120/70-72 range. I know these are not considered "high", but is is disturbing to see the slight rise and I was sort of expecting him to say something like "well, we'll keep a close eye on you", but instead, he said that he could make my numbers (BP numbers) look great, but that wouldn't change a thing with me developing preeclampsia. I know that the progresssion to pre-e can't be stopped, but I guess I feel that with close monitoring and perhaps antihypertensive medication once my pressure reaches a certain point perhaps it can be slowed down enough so that I don't give birth to another IGUR preemie at 32 weeks weighing 2.5lbs. Not to mention maybe I can avoid 48 hours on mag sulfate and the damage to my poor little kidneys!

Sorry about the rant, but if anyone in this group is from the Tampa Bay area and has some suggestions on doctors in the area that are excellent and listen to their patients, that would be great.

Thanks!
Sarah

[liza]

Hi Sarah,
I live in St. Pete also!! Welcome!! Dr. ****** was my high-risk doctor, and he was great. I didn't actually meet him until the night before I delivered b/c up until then I had been with my ob. I got really bad really fast. Anyways, he was great. Let me know if you have any more questions. His office is @ Bayside.
Liza :)

[noahsmom]

Hi Liza

Thanks for writing back. Bayside is really close to where I live. Is he with an OB practice or does he work for the hospital? I was seeing another OB at Bayside, but she wasn't really someone I would see for a potentially high risk pregnancy. She was good for pap smears, etc!

I guess I'm really disappointed with my new Dr. b/c he was referred to me by one of my medical assisting instructors and he works for a highly respected high risk OB practice. I feel like he's not going to take me seriously. When I received my old medical records from my last pregnancy I found out that my blood pressure started rising into what would be considered PIH levels already at 22 weeks. Nobody told me (and I was totally oblivious to preeclampsia - I honestly hadn't even heard of it until my midwife told me about it) I felt fine, I had no symptoms until around week 29 when I started swelling up pretty badly and like you, after that, I got very bad very quickly.

When I mentioned this to my Dr. he just said that yes, the ground work for preeclampsia starts very early in the pregnancy and that there's nothing you can do to prevent it. He told me to just to continue to take calcium. grrrr.

On a more positive note, my blood pressure has dropped a bit - back down to the 105-110/65-70 level. But I think I would still feel better with a Dr. who listens and isn't going to brush aside my concerns.

Thanks again for the info!
Sarah [:)]

[akemt]

Our registration agreement asks that we avoid specifically naming doctors and medical facilities. This is in order to protect the Preeclampsia Foundation against legal issues, which would enormously hinder the Foundation's mission of support, education, and research. Thus, I've edited such references out of the above posts.

It is fine, even suggested, to search for a great doctor, but any further discussion including the names of specific doctors, clinics, or hospitals will need to be shared via email. If Sarah's email is enabled, you can simply click on the paper and envelope icon above her posts to send her such information in email form. We would encourage you to use this feature.

Thank you for your understanding,

[noahsmom]

Liza,

my email address is sarahedgcomb@hotmail.com. If you could give me that Dr.'s name again, since I didn't write it down, that would be great.

Sarah

[liza]

opps!! sorry Catherine!!:) I will email Sarah directly. :)

[nicoleharrison]

Sarah--

Just emailed you the name of a fantastic Peri right at Bayside...

Nicole