ear-less doctors! (or those who don't use them)

[JC]

Karen, those patient advocates are so awesome. I remember the one I used to work with that covered the ER and she was the most kind and sweet woman. She was able to resolve anything we threw at her. I also had to deal with a patient advocate reguarding a bill I had. They were also very nice even at the hospital that d*cked me around the most. DO they have those where you are?

On a side note, I have noticed that even though we encourage everyone to keep looking for a doctor until you find one that listens, it actually does NOT feel good to bounce from doctor to doctor. I've had to do my fair share of doctor bouncing and I'm starting to feel like a pest and a nutcase; like I'm crazy! It really sucks to not have them listen, then in addition you feel like crap because you have to keep seeing more and more doctors.
It's so crappy that you have been getting the run around. We all know how it feels.

[Karen]

Oct 9, 2010 8:51:26 GMT -5 JC said:

On a side note, I have noticed that even though we encourage everyone to keep looking for a doctor until you find one that listens, it actually does NOT feel good to bounce from doctor to doctor. I've had to do my fair share of doctor bouncing and I'm starting to feel like a pest and a nutcase; like I'm crazy! It really sucks to not have them listen, then in addition you feel like crap because you have to keep seeing more and more doctors.

I know!!! It's mentally exhausting, to get all prepared for the appointment, get it set in your head what you want to accomplish, and then to have your hopes dashed completely. In the last 2 years, I've seen more than 15 different health care providers... A lot of that is due to health insurance provider changes, but a good chunk of them can be chalked up to shopping around. It sucks! But, I have to admit, when you finally find a good one, it's SO worth it all!

[pretty]

not to mention all the wasted money..... I had this really dissapointing couple of appointments with this lady Doc from Anchorage, who was travelling here once a month.... she was great at our first appt, good listener, seemed savvy about endo, even told me she herself had endo, and told me about IVF (worked for her - I don't wanna try it tho) anyways I had pinned all my hopes to this lady. We left that appt with her promising to 1. send my records to Dr. Redwine for a case review 2. Get back to me asap (within a couple days) about questions and ideas that came up. Well, she NEVER called me, once. I tried and tried to contact her too, nothing. then the DR office here that she was working out of when she came, tried to get me to formally make a complaint about her not following up, making committments and not keeping them, etc. I told them about it but they wanted me to SEE her again and talk to her about it. I was like, wtf, she screwed me over, and now you think I should PAY her AGAIN just so I can tell her I don't want her to be my doctor? sheeeesh! crazy mo fos! just because I FINALLY have health insurange, doesn't mean it's not still REAL MONEY! dang!

[JC]

I freakin hate having to go back in over and over again "just to talk." It's expensive! And since OBgyn is considered a specialty, I have to pay a $35 specialist copayment, and my insurance gets billed like $300. It's such a waste.

[uncomfortable]

YUP, doctor shopping sucks balls. I have government coverage for doctor visits, but its still a huge waiting period just to get in to see one, and if you are already being seen by one doctor, another doesn't want to tread on their territory. Another thing I have come across is, that is one doctor knows of another doctor, they tend to back each other up, even if they don't seem to agree with each other's methods. I had one doctor tell me what I was being told wasn't unreasonable, and that she could see why I was offered that. And then proceeded to tell me she couldn't offer me anything else. But I suppose small town doctors all work together.

I absolutely hate initial visits with doctors. I feel like I have told my story dozens of times just in the last year, and every time I do, I always get prodded with more questions, and then they always look at me with that face that screams, "you're fine, why are you wasting my time"

All my test results keep coming back normal, so on paper sure I look great. But they also keep refusing to check my thyroid and hormone levels. The one thing I want checked!

[pretty]

buncha jerks! aaaaagh! it's like, WHY don't you want to help me? Do you think I LIKE sitting here having a bunch of strangers MINIMIZE my pain and suffering? What kind of IDIOT likes that kind of treatment? PLEEEEEAZE!