20 Week U/S Showed Cyst on Brain - Horrible Doctor in Plantation!
funsunnotsomuch
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Hi all. I am writing this for two reasons. First, I am looking for anyone else out there who has had a similar experience to mine, basically for moral support.
The second reason I am writing this is to ensure that anyone who is expecting in South Florida does NOT visit Sinai Perinatal in Plantation, or Dr. Dorel Abramovici (practices there, as well as in Boca). If you are referred to him, ask for another doctor. If you have an appointment with him, cancel it. If you are a patient of his and have had good experiences, let me assure you...if something is ever wrong or imperfect with your baby, he will scare you to death (and very likely unnecessarily).
I apologize in advance for the long e-mail but am hopeful some of you moms to be will read this and empathize with me. If anyone wants to e-mail me directly with thoughts, comments or feedback, please do so at samanthajacobspr@yahoo.com.
I am currently 20.5 weeks pregnant. My husband and I went to Sinai Perinatal in Plantation for our 20-week U/S. We were so excited to find out the sex of the baby. The woman who did the U/S was nice and spent about 45 minutes investigating everything. We were told "It's a Boy!" and thrilled. She also said that everything looked "perfect." We saw baby's hands, open fingers, waving, toes, he yawned, saw his heartbeat, face, etc. and all was perfect. Then, she left for a second and in came a male doctor. He did not look at us, did not shake our hands and did not introduce himself. He picked up my file, pointed to the screen and said "So, it looks like we have a problem here." He pointed to the baby's brain and said "see that? That's a cyst on your baby's brain." He then said for us to come and meet him in his office, and walked out.
The original tech who was doing the test was still in the room. I could not breathe. I had to get a moment to myself so went to the restroom. My husband said that while I was gone, she asked him "Oh, is she ok???" He said "No, probably not, thanks to Dr. Frankenstein." Gotta love my hubby...lol.
I came back and we went into the doctor's office, whose name we still did not know. In fact, he never told us and the first time I learned his name was from my referring OB yesterday.
We got to his office and he pointed at the brain image and literally, this is how the entire conversation went:
Him - "See that? That's a cyst. Basically, it's a marker for one of two things. Down's Syndrome or T18, Trisomy 18. You're probably familiar with Down's. T18 is much worse, a fatal disease and if your baby has it, they will likely not make it to age 1. 90% are stillborn. My recommendation is that you have an amnio today to find out for sure what is wrong with your baby."
Us - "Um, excuse me? We do not want an amnio without talking to my OB first."
Him - "Your doctor won't have anything to add to this discussion. You need to make a decision now."
Us - "Ok, no. We do not want an amnio now, would rather research this and talk to our doctor."
Him - "Sign this waiver (hands us paper)."
Us - "Do you have any info on this T18? We don't know anything about it."
Him - "No, but you can google it."
Us - "What do you think the odds are that something is wrong with our baby?"
Him - "I can't tell you that. You need the amnio."
Get this - this is the last statement he made before I walked out.
"You need to decide this week if you are having the amnio. You are 20 weeks. Just so you know, in the state of Florida, you won't find a doctor to perform an abortion after 24 weeks."
Us - in total shock.
Basically, in a 5-minute conversation without ever telling us his name, this doctor pronounced a death sentence on our baby, discussed amnio and abortion, and told us we didn't need to bother talking to my doctor.
I got up at that point and walked out. We called my doctor and spent the past 48 hours researching cysts on the brain at 20 weeks. So that all of you know, in case you are unfamiliar with this, we learned (after consulting with my doc and looking online):
* These cysts are EXTREMELY normal and common. By Googling it, you can see that 99.9% disappear on their own by week 24-28. Many, many women present these.
* In order for the baby to have one of the two syndromes this doctor indicated, there would be other symptoms in the same U/S. These would include clenched fists, shorter femur bone, deformity in face or ear, problem with heart and/or problem with kidneys and/or cord. Our baby showed NONE of these (our doctor later confirmed that).
* Many doctors do not even believe that these cysts are tied to one of the two syndomes at all.
Did Dr. Abramovici bother to indicate any of these things? No. He simply indicated that our baby probably had one of these two syndromes and NEVER pointed out any of the other information, the fact that these are common, and that they typically don't mean anything.
I want to first thank whoever invented the internet. I was a complete disaster and unable to make it to work after meeting with Dr. Frankenstein, as my husband likes to call him now. We were both a mess. I wanted to cancel my baby showers and just hide under my bed. Everyone was texting and calling to see how the appointment went. I couldn't talk to anyone. Fortunately, I was able to find totally contrary information online and my doctor also indicated that the rest of the baby's measurements were all normal.
My issues with this doctor are not about sugar coating. My husband and I are both professional, well-educated people. We do not need things sugar coated. However, there is a way you say things to people, there is a basic, decent way to treat expectant parents, and there is a real benefit in objectivity and perspective - knowing to share both sides of the information with people when there MAY be a problem, rather than simply giving them one side of the story. I don't know if he was looking for money and trying to push us to other procedures or what. But I just cannot understand how he could have neglected to give us any of the information that is out there about these cysts.
So that's my story about Dr. Abramovici. I really would love to hear from any of you out there, not necessarily who've experienced this with him, but from those of you who may have presented a cyst around 20 weeks. Any positive thoughts or stories would help.
My OB set up a second opinion perinatology appointment w/Level II U/S tomorrow at 2:45. This time, we're going to her first choice in Fort Lauderdale. Please cross your fingers and send positive thoughts out to us and to our baby boy. I never realized how much I loved and wanted him until this happened, and now I just don't know what I will do if something is wrong. I am hopeful that like the other 99.9% of cases out there, because there were no other symptoms, he is fine. That is what I am going to pray about tonight and hope all of you will too.
Thanks for reading...
Re: 20 Week U/S Showed Cyst on Brain - Horrible Doctor in Plantation!
My Blog: SIREN.ORG!
my goodness, what a horrible experience!
my prayers are with you and your family and im crossing my fingers for a 100% healthy baby!
gl to you - thanks for advising on this!
Camryn Grace ~ July 6th, 2009 ~ 7lbs 9oz, 20.5"
Brayden Richard Drew ~ December 20, 2010~7lbs 9oz, 20"
((hugs)) I'm so sorry that happened to you! You must have left the doctor's office in complete shock. You were smart to want to discuss this with your OB and do so research on your own.
That Dr is awful and should be reported to the state health dept. He tried to bully you into making a decision based on incomplete information. Amnios make a lot of money for the doc and I'm sure that's what he was motivated by. If he was motivated by providing good care to his patient, he would have had a bedside manner!
I've read of many instances on the nest boards of cysts on the brain that go away by the next ultrasound. I hope and pray your baby is perfectly fine.
Good luck to you and please keep us updated.
I'm am in shock at that doctor's behavior and so sorry he treated you that way. Completely unaceptable! Best of luck to you on your u/s tomorrow!
Erin
Wow what an awful experience! I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. I'm glad you guys did your research after leaving that Quack. I almost needed to have an amnio because my old OB told me there was a good chance our son had T-18 but my level II u/s didn't show a thing so we skipped it.
Best of luck tomorrow. I hope you have a better experience with this other practice.
Wow, I'm speechless.
My best wishes that you receive good news tomorrow. Good luck!
wow...what a sad experience. My first though about this was to report such conduct. No one, and I mean no one should be treated like that. Imagine a future mom who's son or daughter might really have a problem....so sad to have a doctor talk about abortion like that like if its nothing.
I have also read that the cysts disappear on its own. Good luck tomorrow.
I'll be praying for you and your little boy. What a terrible experience. Glad you found some positive info. online.
I'm so sorry to hear you had to go through this! What an awful experience!!! I pray all is well with your baby and that everything goes well at your next ultrasound. Please keep us posted!!
Also, my sister is a med student and I asked her if there was something one could do to report a doctor and she suggested you post your review of your experience with this doctor on https://www.ratemds.com. You can also contact your state medical board (https://www.mdnationwide.org/choose_a_doctor.htm) with your complaint by writing a detailed, professional registered or certified letter regarding your situation. I hope no one else has to go through such an experience!!
You and your family are in my thoughts!
I am so sorry you are dealing with this - how scary. And what an a$$hole Dr!!!
I will be praying for you - please keep us posted!
Wow...what a jerk! I am so sorry that you had to go through that. I would report him. Sending positive thoghts your way and you are in my prayers. Everything will go as smooth as silk...you'll see. Keep us updated!!!
C
First of all I am so sorry for what you went through. Secondly, good luck tomorrow, you'll be in my prayers. Thirdly, the same thing happened to my cousin with the first OBGYN I went to when I first found out I was pregnant (needless to say I stopped going as soon as she told me what had happened with him). And everything with her ended up turning out fine. She has an extremely cute, healthy, and hyper 3yr old! GL!