is anyone else so sick of pompous dr's

[breannak]

im not sure if im posting this in the right place

but when did listening to patients and actually working go out of medicine.

I have been to 5 different dr's in the last 2 months and not one has addressed the actual problem, i can understand that maybe they havent read my records but when i try to explain what is wrong they totally dismiss me and my problem after 2 months is not better, i still feel like poop and it is getting worse.

end of may i got sick to my stomach and had intermittent sever abdominal pain and kidney pain, as well as a fever. I go to the ER cause my primary wont call me back and when she did -- she told me it would be a week before i could come in. I get to the ER and even though i tell them i have endometriosis on my ureter and it may have caused a blockage, they ignore it and check into appendicitis, once they rule that out, they send me home with pain pills and tell me i am probably passing a kidney stone, but they couldnt see one. They didnt even check to see if my kidneys were blocked.

I go in to see my primary a week later, she does a urinalysys, and gives me antibiotics, still no one checking the other thing, i knew i didnt have a uti.

Then i go see a urologist, he checks to see if im retaining urine after i void, it turns out i am, and he suggests i see a different urologist.

So i call my ins company and switch primary care dr's, i go see the new dr and once again she does not even look into it, instead tells me i have to see the urologist and my surgeon that it is probably scar tissue aggravating it and i need surgery and maybe a stent.

so i have an appt next week with the new urologist and surgeon, hopefully someone finally examines this problem.

meanwhile i have been extremely fatigued, have a fever, intermittant severe pain, and nausea for two months, from what i read that if a kidney blockage goes untreated for too long you can lose the kidney, i swear if i lose my kidney heads are gonna roll, for being so incometant. How can that many dr's fail you?

[omaklackey]

ah, yes... I understand since I'm having a problem of a similar nature. My husband even tried to tell the doctor hoping he would listen to him but NOPE. I'm sorry. Hope you can get someone to listen soon. The ER doctors are not the ones to go to since they only deal in getting you on your feet and out their door in case an accident or emergency comes through their door. They don't know what to do if an arm isn't hanging off or a foot missing. LOL

[Amanda]

I definitely understand what you're going through. I've been through so much crap in the last 3 months that I'm ready to pull my hair out. I've been checked for a ruptured appendix twice which means hours at the hospital and drinking a ton of nasty contrast. I've been treated for a bladder infection, a kidney infection and now I'm on antibiotics for infected tubes and ovaries. I've seen 6 different doctors in 3 months and I still don't feel any better. I'm so tired of it and I'm sure you are too.

The problem is, I've had to deal with so many incompetent doctors that I started to feel like I was just done with the medial community. There was one night when I had horrible abdominal pain, started throwing up and had a fever but refused to let my husband take me to the ER. I didn't see what the point was! I knew that they would think I was having an appendicitis and I didn't want to deal with more tests and another night at the hospital. I eventually felt better, but what if something was seriously wrong? Doctors need to think about things like that.

[JC]

The protocol for an ER doctor to treat endometriosis is just pain control. ERs don't treat chronic illnesses, just the symptoms.

And I can't even begin to tell you how many UTIs I've been treated for that I didn't even have. Also as long as you're passing urine you should be ok with the blockage stuff. Are you on medication to treat the endo?

And I often wonder what has happened to that friendly awesome doctor that makes you feel so much better. Those days seem over.

[Amanda]

I understand that ERs can't treat chronic illnesses, but what happens if there's something more serious going on? It's like they only want to check your appendix and send you on your way. After my last CT scan (to rule out a ruptured appendix, again) my new doctor took the time to actually get the scan and look at it herself. She discovered that my stuff is all stuck together. I wouldn't have known that unless someone was looking at something other than my appendix. Sure, the ER doctor couldn't have really done anything to help with the problem, but at least I know what's causing my pain now. I hate being told "I don't know why you feel so horrible, but its not your appendix!"

I completely understand that ERs are designed for emergencies and aren't designed for people with chronic pain, but is it too much to ask for them to look at something aside from my appendix? Medical professionals can't be so narrow minded!

[breannak]

wouldnt a blocked kidney be an emergency though. I wasnt in there complaining about endometriosis pain, i merely told them that i had endometriosis on my ureter and it could block it, how hard would it have been to just send me for an IVP to rule it out, and not just the ER dr, but my old primary, new primary, the urologist etc.... Isnt a blocked kidney a serious matter? A couple of years ago, i went into the ER with pelvic pain, nausea and a fever, and was told i had PID, then i followed up with my dr who did an ultrasound and told me i had a ruptured ovarian cyst, like wtf!!! Are ER doctors there because they sucked so bad they couldnt do anything else?

[ouchy]

The radiology report should have been written by a competent radiologist, who would have noted any remarkable patholgies visible on the scan. For instance, when I had a chest x-ray for pneumonia a few years back, the radiologist noted that the my zyphoid process was pushed in to the border of my heart (from when I got hit by a car while walking). He did his job and looked at the entire scan. He was supposed to analyze my lungs but noted anything remarkable.

[ouchy]

Jul 24, 2009 15:32:46 GMT -5 breannak said:

Are ER doctors there because they sucked so bad they couldnt do anything else?

I highly doubt it. Some of the best doctors are ER doctors. You (like many of us) just happened to get a crappy one.

[omaklackey]

And actually, You have to be highly qualified to get an ER doctor postion. They have to be experts in all fields and areas of trauma, and heart. A blocked kidney or pain from Endo does not constitiut an emergency. They are trained in Heart blocks, Appendix attacks and hacked off limbs. knife wounds and things of a bloody nature. Don't ever expect them to do anything else. That's why we called our on call GYN first before we headed in to the doctor. To see if it constituted an emergency. The only thing they can do is give us stronger pain meds which is what I needed to get me through the night to a doctor who was supposed to help me. ER doctors shouldn't have to help us with this stuff if we would get help from the OBs and general MDs when we are supposed to we wouldn't need to flood the ER doctors with specialty things that they are not trained for!!!

[Amanda]

Yes, but can't they call for consults when warranted?

Jul 24, 2009 17:26:48 GMT -5 omaklackey said:

ER doctors shouldn't have to help us with this stuff if we would get help from the OBs and general MDs when we are supposed to we wouldn't need to flood the ER doctors with specialty things that they are not trained for!!!

If we lived in a perfect world! The problem is, it seems as if there are more bad OBs and MDs than good from what I've experienced.


The bottom line is that doctors, regardless of what they should or shouldn't have to do, are responsible for giving their patients the best care possible. If they don't know anything aside from heart attacks and knife wounds they can find someone who does and can help treat whatever is ailing us.

[omaklackey]

No, not unless its an emergency! Their job is to get you patched up enough to get you to a doctor to help you. In my case he ordered an ultrasound, saw it was a cyst and refered me to my gynecologist. He gave me a shot of Dilatud to relive the pain and six vicoden to get me through the night and sent us on our way. THAT is his job! They are not there to deal with those of us with chronic conditions. We need to be aware of that and go to the doctors who can help us. I realize we don't always have flare ups during office hours but it doesn't matter. The best care an ER doctor can give is to hold you out until you can get to the doctor who specializes in your care or treatment. If you go to an ER know that all your going to get is a 'patch job' until you see your 'real' doctor. It sucks that so many of the times the specialist could have been able to catch it before it got that far but... hey we know that doesn't always happen. BUT don't dump on the ER docs. That's just not fair since its not their job.

[Amanda]

As I said before and as Ouchy elaborated on, an COMPETENT ER doctor or radiologist should have seen that something wasn't right. If they were checking an appendix, it would have taken just a second to look slightly below that area to see what else was going on. It very well could have been something much more serious like a ruptured ovarian cyst. There are a ton of other things it could have been that would be considered "emergencies". You're entitled to your opinion but I don't know what qualifications you have that allow you to define what an ER doctor should and shouldn't do. It's an opinion.

I'd also like to add that aside from frustrations with treatment, I had a horrible experience with a doctor giving me pain medication after I specifically told her not to. The ER doc said that she wanted to give me something for the pain I was experiencing and I told her that I didn't want anything. I am extremely sensitive to pain meds and I ALWAYS get sick to my stomach, no matter how weak they are or what the dosage is. I talked to her for several minutes about it and expressed very clearly that I didn't want anything aside from the anti-nausea meds. Well, I fell asleep from the Phenogren and when I woke up, I was more nauseous. Come to find out, the doctor had Morphine put in my IV while I was asleep! I vomited for the next several hours, just as expected. I was so furious! So yeah, I can dump on ER doctors all I want.

[omaklackey]

This whole discussion is about the fact the most doctors don't listen to us. SO in the case of that ER doctor she is proving our point. (my qualifications for standing up to for ER staff) My husband is a Paramedic, so I have to listen to all the bitch'n about people who clog up the emergency system with things that should never have made it past the doctors office let alone go to the emergency room. (please ask Jenaya about this as she will tell you the same thing I'm saying - she is very qualified as she works in an ER) I'm not saying all ER doctors are the bomb either! I'm totally agree with you there are some freakn stupid ones out there!! No one is perfect that's for sure. I'm just saying we have to be careful to accuse them of 'missing' things that our specialist aren't even catching. If the specialist is so... slow they dont' catch whatever it is how is the ER doctor supposed to???

[breannak]

my main problem was that the ER doctor didnt even listen when i told them it could probably be a blockage in my ureter, that i had cause to think that. He didnt order any tests to even check it out. Not to mention that i was failed by my primary care dr, who said they couldnt get me in for a week. Being that i have an hmo i didnt have an opportunity to see a specialist. Even after the ER visit, i saw another 3 doctors, none of which even addressed it. From what i read, it the ureter is blocked and not fixed, it can lead to kidney failure in that kidney, i know i would still have one healthy one, but it shouldnt even get to that point.

[ouchy]

I think a lot of doctors don't appreciate self-diagnosis. That could have put him off.