suzannethemom
Member
My surgeon has ordered an upper GI barium swallow test. He gave me the option of having the procedure done at a hospital near me, but I could not find any place in my area that does an upper GI. They do an endoscopy instead. So now I have to drive 45 minutes to have the upper GI done at their special clinic location. Also, the procedure isn’t covered by my insurance. I have pay out of pocket towards my deductible (sigh).
At first, I thought about calling the nurse and asking if my surgeon could change the order to an endoscopy. Then I remembered what some members here said: Be nice to your team, don’t be difficult, follow their instructions, etc. So I’m thinking I should just do what the surgeon requested. But I was just wondering how many patients had an upper GI and how many had an endoscopy? I also wonder why my surgeon prefers upper GI versus endoscopy considering upper GI is an old school type of procedure. My husband thinks that maybe it’s because an endoscopy requires anesthesia and my surgeon wants to limit my intake of anesthesia. I cannot ask the surgeon these questions myself because I won’t see him until pre-surgery and I don’t even have a surgery date yet. Any advice?
At first, I thought about calling the nurse and asking if my surgeon could change the order to an endoscopy. Then I remembered what some members here said: Be nice to your team, don’t be difficult, follow their instructions, etc. So I’m thinking I should just do what the surgeon requested. But I was just wondering how many patients had an upper GI and how many had an endoscopy? I also wonder why my surgeon prefers upper GI versus endoscopy considering upper GI is an old school type of procedure. My husband thinks that maybe it’s because an endoscopy requires anesthesia and my surgeon wants to limit my intake of anesthesia. I cannot ask the surgeon these questions myself because I won’t see him until pre-surgery and I don’t even have a surgery date yet. Any advice?