Dr.'s Good or Bad
So much on the Chronic Pain Board is spoken about bad Dr.'s. Dr.'s who don't get the Diagnosis that one thinks he should give. Dr.'s who don't order the tests that one thinks should be ordered. Dr.'s who don't give the medications that one thinks should be given and Dr.'s who start to lessen a persons medication dosages.
And medical staffs, they can be a doozie. They usually aren't taught great "bedside manner". They're more educated in the business end of things. The nurses usually have patients stacked up waiting to be seen and they get grumpy and that tends to bleed over into the way they treat the patients, unfortunately.
But, for every bad Dr. out there there is a good Dr. One who actually cares about the patient. One who goes the extra mile to make sure every single test is ran, every avenue for diagnosis is studied and all possible tests are ran. There are Dr.'s who sit with their patients for 45 minutes to an hour, listening to their problems, learning whats new since the last time they saw them, learning what's new with all the other Dr.'s they've seen in that time....just talking to the patient, like their a person, not a price configured on a equation based on a 10 minute per patient sliding insurance scale.
There are great nurses who talk to you about your children and show you pictures of theirs. They spend a few minutes in the room just talking about life and what each other are doing. Their are front office staff who are very helpful, who all know you by name. Who don't yell at you or cancel your appt. if your 15 min. late.
And there are incredible surgeons that keep people alive with the gifts of knowledge that God gave them. They have the gift of life in their hands and they use it to the best of their ability.
We rarely talk much on this Board about the good Dr.'s, but they do exist.
It took me 20 years and moving from one coast to another to find them, but I did. And yes in that first 20 years I've been through my share of bad Dr.'s. When I started "Pain Management 27 years ago, it didn't exist, unless you had a terminal illness. So unless you had surgery and went home with a few Percocet, then daily pain was managed with NSAIDS, PT and if you were lucky and just happened to find a compassionate Dr. you'd get some Tylenol 3 w/Codiene. The weird thing was I found excellent Pediatricians, Pediatric Nephrologists, and Pediatric Surgeons for my son, but couldn't find the same caliber of adult Dr.'s for my medical issues, which were all kind of new, and some not things the average 20 yr. old should have. But I pressed on and found the best I could. Would I ever see them now, most of them hell no. lol
I'm very fortunate to have found Dr.'s and Surgeons that I've had for almost 17 years now, so there are rarely any surprises, I've even had the same pharmacist, he practically knows my diseases better than I do. I've also managed to keep the same Psychiatrist for 10 yrs. now and that blows my mind at times. Prior to moving to the East Coast, I'd went through 17 Pdocs in 11 years. I figure that was going to be the one break that The Powers That Be were going to give me to equal out all the other crap I deal with on a daily basis. And yeah I still get the grumpy office staff worker who clearly doesn't want to be at work that day, but these days I just kill 'em with kindness, it keeps my blood pressure from getting too high.
I hate that I have so many friends on that Board that haven't found their Good Dr. and I keep them in my thoughts that they soon will. It's one of those things where you wish you could go to their city and find a good Dr. for them and say, "here try this one out."
I think its a 2 way street though. People have to be willing to go into a Dr.'s office and let the Dr. do the doctoring, recommend what tests should be done, and hypothesize and come to a Diagnosis. Nowadays people walk in with their internet printouts and say, "I think I have this, this, or that and I want you to run these tests, and the tell me which one I have." Then if you happen to have a Dr. stupid enough to do that and you have something totally different wrong with you, you argue with him about his Diagnosis. I find this behavior very bizarre....this Dr. has studied for roughly 9 yrs of Higher Education and 2+ years of Residency in a Hospital to become a fully licensed M.D.; you've spent an hour or so on the Internet and your convinced that you know more than he does. That is just truly baffling. When did patients stop listening to their Dr.'s and start Diagnosing themselves???
I think maybe if we go back to letting Dr.'s do their jobs, they would be happier and in turn I think patients would be happier....but that's just my opinion.
And medical staffs, they can be a doozie. They usually aren't taught great "bedside manner". They're more educated in the business end of things. The nurses usually have patients stacked up waiting to be seen and they get grumpy and that tends to bleed over into the way they treat the patients, unfortunately.
But, for every bad Dr. out there there is a good Dr. One who actually cares about the patient. One who goes the extra mile to make sure every single test is ran, every avenue for diagnosis is studied and all possible tests are ran. There are Dr.'s who sit with their patients for 45 minutes to an hour, listening to their problems, learning whats new since the last time they saw them, learning what's new with all the other Dr.'s they've seen in that time....just talking to the patient, like their a person, not a price configured on a equation based on a 10 minute per patient sliding insurance scale.
There are great nurses who talk to you about your children and show you pictures of theirs. They spend a few minutes in the room just talking about life and what each other are doing. Their are front office staff who are very helpful, who all know you by name. Who don't yell at you or cancel your appt. if your 15 min. late.
And there are incredible surgeons that keep people alive with the gifts of knowledge that God gave them. They have the gift of life in their hands and they use it to the best of their ability.
We rarely talk much on this Board about the good Dr.'s, but they do exist.
It took me 20 years and moving from one coast to another to find them, but I did. And yes in that first 20 years I've been through my share of bad Dr.'s. When I started "Pain Management 27 years ago, it didn't exist, unless you had a terminal illness. So unless you had surgery and went home with a few Percocet, then daily pain was managed with NSAIDS, PT and if you were lucky and just happened to find a compassionate Dr. you'd get some Tylenol 3 w/Codiene. The weird thing was I found excellent Pediatricians, Pediatric Nephrologists, and Pediatric Surgeons for my son, but couldn't find the same caliber of adult Dr.'s for my medical issues, which were all kind of new, and some not things the average 20 yr. old should have. But I pressed on and found the best I could. Would I ever see them now, most of them hell no. lol
I'm very fortunate to have found Dr.'s and Surgeons that I've had for almost 17 years now, so there are rarely any surprises, I've even had the same pharmacist, he practically knows my diseases better than I do. I've also managed to keep the same Psychiatrist for 10 yrs. now and that blows my mind at times. Prior to moving to the East Coast, I'd went through 17 Pdocs in 11 years. I figure that was going to be the one break that The Powers That Be were going to give me to equal out all the other crap I deal with on a daily basis. And yeah I still get the grumpy office staff worker who clearly doesn't want to be at work that day, but these days I just kill 'em with kindness, it keeps my blood pressure from getting too high.
I hate that I have so many friends on that Board that haven't found their Good Dr. and I keep them in my thoughts that they soon will. It's one of those things where you wish you could go to their city and find a good Dr. for them and say, "here try this one out."
I think its a 2 way street though. People have to be willing to go into a Dr.'s office and let the Dr. do the doctoring, recommend what tests should be done, and hypothesize and come to a Diagnosis. Nowadays people walk in with their internet printouts and say, "I think I have this, this, or that and I want you to run these tests, and the tell me which one I have." Then if you happen to have a Dr. stupid enough to do that and you have something totally different wrong with you, you argue with him about his Diagnosis. I find this behavior very bizarre....this Dr. has studied for roughly 9 yrs of Higher Education and 2+ years of Residency in a Hospital to become a fully licensed M.D.; you've spent an hour or so on the Internet and your convinced that you know more than he does. That is just truly baffling. When did patients stop listening to their Dr.'s and start Diagnosing themselves???
I think maybe if we go back to letting Dr.'s do their jobs, they would be happier and in turn I think patients would be happier....but that's just my opinion.
Replies
OCP well said. Having good GP and specialists often causes me to forget that others might not have that experience..
I have had some rotten apples but moved on. Unfortunately my bad apples caused harm to my body and pain. It took sometime to regain trust. Possibly
some on that board may have trust isssues. Who knows. Like you say and we both know doctors are only human and they can have a bad day.
Same pharmacist always. It is a must. Sometime a med comes in from a different manufacturer and the fillers don\'t agree with me. My pharmacy makes sure I get my old one back. Little things mean a lot.
I think you raise a lot of very good issues .......my dad had a terable doctor ..for five years ..we finaly moved him up here and got him a new doctor and he is a great doctor for my dad and my dad likes him ....and has realy helped him ...get back some of his health ..................I have a good doctor ..but I had a realy bad one ...he was disbarred ...eventualy .....I nearly died fron a galblader .....he did not diginoc ....because I had migrains he just thought I was a complainer .....I went into a walk in clinic ......I have a very good pharmist I have had for maney years now .....he knowes me and my meds ....and he catches everything ....take care ...God bless .......