Optimism

We are happy to let our readers know that our new web page is a success and we are getting more business from it and the cyberworld. Of course word of mouth is always our best accomplishment and the fact that we get so many patients returning to have second and third babies, or undergo corrective surgery is heart warming. Most say they love the small intimate office and personnel and are usually sad to find that one or another of the staff have left to pursue higher education or moved away. Being small has many benefits, the biggest is the ability to get to know most of our patients after only a few appointments, and they know each of us as well. The staff love to be able to recognize someones' voice and know their name and story. We can be more flexible in scheduling appointments this way too. With only 7 weeks left until the new year, we find that we are getting quite booked with end of the year surgeries and procedures. This is good all around. We are proud of all our successes: helping create wanted pregnancies, alleviating painful periods and other issues. I am even performing hysterectomies on "a few success stories" from the 80's these days (returning infertility patients now near menopause with uteri issues). Of course, medical treatment is always a good first choice. In future posts, I can talk about the choices for heavy periods after childbearing is completed. For now, happy autumn, and don't forget to keep exercising.
Carry On.

Broken Leg

Well, strictly speaking I have a broken ankle. I broke the fibula (smaller leg bone) in my left leg and tore a ligament too, when using my foot as a brake on a hotel bicycle. Stupid. I forgot to pedal backwards to brake and tried to use the nonexistent hand ones. Fortunately, it was at the end of a gorgeous 2 1/2 hour ride up and down the coast of Santa Barbara, where I was attending an IVF conference. I missed the last day of the conference. I spent the night in the ER and then in surgery to fix the bone (screws and a plate). I was able to be discharged the next afternoon and go straight to the airport to get my 5PM flight home. Horizon Air was awesome, and provided me with wheelchairs and had a chair contraption to get me up the outside stairs. I was able to hop on one foot down the steps to get off. They also got me bulkhead seats so I could prop my foot up on the wall in front of me. It still swelled, but not as much as if I had a normal seat. Learning to use crutches has been humbling. It is hard work. I have been working half days since I came home, with the extra help of my staff, wheeling me around in a wheelchair, until today. Da da da dum....I now have a knee cruiser, so I can prop up my bad leg and use my good one to push me around. It made it easier in the office, plus I won't have to rely on someone to meet me with a wheelchair everyday. I just have to figure out how to balance all the stuff I want to carry with me (like the crutches in case I need them, maybe I won't?). At any rate, I am able to work and do most things, but slower than normal. I did cancel surgeries for a couple of weeks to be sure I will be able to do my best job for my patients. Luckily, I have a high pain threshold and can get by on plain tylenol and antioxidants. It has certainly made me slow down in my life and appreciate some of the things I took for granted. I look forward to walking, hiking and playing tennis again, but until that time, I will try to remember to do my situps.

Learning to Blog

I will admit it here and now, I am not really a blogger type. I am happy to answer questions but find it hard to come up with random thoughts of the day. So, I am asking any of you (if there are any followers yet) to come up with suggestions or questions I could answer. I know an awful lot about medical stuff, but don't know who wants to hear what. Today I will ramble on about what is on my mind for the business side of my practice. (The not so fun part). Part of the problem of this business model (mainly treating patients with infertilty), is that the better I am, the more patients I lose. Well, I don't really "lose" them, they just go away for a year or three, then tend to wander back in. The "success" rubs off, when they send in their friends and neighbors, sisters and cousins and their aunts..... but, I have been seeing less of that lately. This is probably due to the economy and insurance company changes, but it still is of a concern. This was part of the impetus to start a new website and blog. The other was that my website was being sold to a new website company that was not what I wanted to be part of. Now we have our new look, and I am reaching out to find those patients that would find my practice to be a good fit for them. Small, intimate, personal, with common sense and cost consciousness. I am looking into adding In-vitro Fertilization as well. That would be a big step. Any comments from the world out there? What else would patients like me to do?

Welcome

We have finally put up our new website and I wanted a blog to answer frequently asked questions or to respond to recent news articles of concern to my patients. The process was much slower than I expected it to be, so we have been without a website for a while. I am also setting up a facebook page, to join the 21st century, where patients can post photos or comments if they prefer. My hope is to write something each month, or when the mood strikes. If anyone has a burning desire they would like answered, please let us know. For now, I thought I would just say hello and welcome. Our wesite is hopefertilityandgynecology.com. Please let us know if it needs any corrections or additions.
Thanks,
Dr. Laura Hope Greenberg