Doctors | Pad Patter 11.30.16

I love my doctor. I've been seeing her for years but unfortunately, I usually only see her for my annual appt. If I try to see her when I'm sick, she is usually booked up and I end up with someone else in the office. I saw her yesterday and requested a new place for mammograms because the last one was horrible (didn't call me back to say that I needed to come back!). So I have a new place -- maybe I'll make that appointment soon!

 

I'm very lucky. We live in an area with many great physicians. My Internist is my favorite. He's young, brilliant, and has a wonderful bedside manner. He's also very down-to-earth and doesn't shy away from alternative forms of treatment. (I take raw locally-produced honey every day for my allergies, and he's a big fan of it because it works!) I've multiple GI issues, and my GI doc is fantastic, but very busy. I need to remind him every time I see him what's up because he never reads my chart before seeing me. He's one of the best in the area, so I put up with it. I also give him a hard time about it and he just smiles. My ophthalmologist/optometrist is great, and same with my ENT, allergist, dentist, and dermatologist. My hearing specialist is good, but is so busy that she always passes me off to her new people. I don't mind that because they have the time to sit and figure out what's up with my hearing/aids when she's looking at the clock. The only sad thing is that my OB/GYN retired, and I had been seeing her since 1990.

 

oh gosh! I'm not very happy with my doctors right now. The family doctor my husband goes to was terrible. He used to be good, but he's gotten too busy and his staff is the worst. After I was finally able to see him, I couldn't get test results and his nurse and MA were terrible to work with. They wouldn't return my calls or even ask him my questions. He was just too busy and I gave up. In May I was finally able to switch to a new family doctor and I love her and I love my OB GYN (he's great).

I've been fighting some side/back/abdominal pain for over a year now and I'm getting tired of being sent from specialist to specialist and having expensive test after test with no real answers. I've yet to find a good urologist for my kidney stones either. I had an appointment with a surgeon Monday, but he sent me to a GI specialist. Happily, I did like the GI guy I saw yesterday, so hopefully after the upper GI endoscopy tomorrow, I'll have some answers and can get moving on getting rid of this pain. I've already meet my deductible and I'm almost to my max out of pocket so I really want to get this all figured out before the end of the year. If it is my gallbladder and I need surgery, I want to get it done in December while the insurance will pay for most of it. We have a really high deductible, so timing is everything right now. I keep praying that the doctors will know what treatments I need and that it can be done before year end.

 

I use an NP for most things and I like her. And I'm picky! When I use a doctor I try to find a DO instead of an MD--they are typically more supportive of my desire to not take a bunch of meds. But my last DO was terrible and I only saw her twice. Also, I'm a bad patient so I'm lucky I'm not on some 'don't take this chick' list.

 

What does this mean? (Please ignore the fact that my DH is an RN. I so don't know all the initials!)

I need to find a doctor. I need one that will take my thyroid issue seriously, and not just start over at the beginning and tell me that my numbers say I should be fine. I hate finding new doctors. I hate having to start all over at the beginning again. I was trying to wait until January, because insurance blah blah blah. But it turns out that our deductible carries over from Oct-Dec or something so I need to double check that.

 

So...I haven't been to the doctor for a check up in about 5 years. For some of the same reasons you mentioned @bestcee, I hate finding a new doctor, my insurance has changed twice in the past three years, yada, yada, yada. If I'm really sick, I'll pop into urgent care. But, it is a resolution for 2017, so I'll have to start the search soon.

 

My new Family Doctor is a DO and I love her.

Here's what google says about DO vs MD.
In the United States, physicians (medical doctors) who practice medicine hold either the Doctor of Medicine degree (MD) or the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree (DO). Other than DO medical students learning osteopathic manipulative medicine, the medical training for MDs and DOs is indistinguishable.

Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment. ... Osteopathic manipulativetreatment, or OMT, is hands-on care. It involves using the hands to diagnose, treat, and prevent illness or injury. Using OMT, your osteopathic physician will move your muscles and joints using techniques including stretching, gentle pressure and resistance.

I kind of think of her as a MD with some chiropractic and homeopathic training. She's wonderful.

 

It's been a nightmare for me this past year. I had gone about 6 months without needing to see my doctor (of 20 yrs) and when I went to get my lab work done (I have a standing order) they refused me, saying I had no doctor on record and therefore a standing order was nullified. I was baffled b/c I told them I have' had the same doc for 20 yrs and have had a standing order for thyroid testing for about 7 yrs now. Then they tell me my doctor has closed her practice. I then had to go to a clinic to get a lab requisition for the one time and then had to start searching for a family doctor. I must have visited and called about 40 doctors in the area but no one was accepting new patients until I found one at a clinic who was taking new patients. Now I know why. She wouldn't look at me, didn't want to know anything about me and just wanted me in and out in five minutes. When she was done the visit she would just get up and walk out so I clued in that if she didn't come back in a few minutes, I was supposed to leave. I found one other doctor to try out and she was the same. I felt uneasy about both of them. Luckily, a few days ago, my hubs went to his doctor, told him I needed a new GP and was having trouble finding one, as mine had closed her practice. He knew that doctor, said she left Canada for the US and just basically closed her doors and disappeared overnight. So he has agreed to take me on and said to tell the girls at the front desk that he agreed to see me b/c they will tell me no.

Jeez, it's impossible to find a doctor now in BC.

 

I had a similar problem in Utah. No one was accepting new patients. The guy that did take us on was okay. He was new to the area, so didn't have a bunch of patients yet.

 

Kayla got it right. DOs versus MDs--DOs get the same 8 years or whatever of medical school, pass the same boards, etc. But they (in my experience), value holistic and natural treatment paths along with traditional medicine.

 

I have had a series of doctors over the years, mostly because every time my husband changed jobs, we got a new health plan. I don't really go to the doctor often, so any one that is competent suits me. However, when I did make an appointment with the gynecologist, she said some things that I didn't like. Maybe I should pick another one.

I did recently change dentists for my son. We were going to this guy, and he was just a little weird. He was nice, but just ... weird. I happened to need to change an appointment, and the other dentist was available, so I went ahead and booked our appointment with him. And he was so much nicer, and not ... weird. We officially switched soon after that.

 

I have Fibromyalgia, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, severe depression and anxiety.

My family's primary care doctor left the practice last month to move back to CA. I am beyond devastated. It took me YEARS to find a doctor who would listen to me and help me. He was only a year older than my husband, which was weird at first, but he was an amazing doctor. The remaining 4 doctors in his practice refused to take my family on, so the only other person I could find around here can't see me until January. I also need a rheumatologist. The one I was seeing left the practice in October. It's ridiculous around here. In 3 years, we've had 5 doctors that we see leave. My husband's orthopedist, his urologist and his pulminologist, and then the 2 I mentioned before. The troubles of small town life

We are moving back to the east coast in June, and I will AGAIN have to go through the motions of trying to find a doctor who will listen to me and help me. It's so frustrating!!

 

My insurance? Is the VA. Yep Veterans administration. It gets a bad rap in media, and I believe our soldiers have been lost in shuffle of bureaucracy. Soap box.
But... I have an awesome PA. He was a army medic most of his life. I am healthy, the concerns I have, he listens and has plans and initiates the paperwork. It took almost 6 months to get approval for him to remove scary black mole, but now he can slice me up at will. Lol
The office here is small, the let me walk in, and am seen quick.
My kids have the best doc in town. Think Jimmy Stewart with a doctor's degree. I love him.

 

I don't even have a family doctor. I do go to my ob/gyn annually and they also do bloodwork type stuff to check cholesterol etc. Other than that... I don't go to the doctor.

 

ugh- doctor finding can be difficult!
I have a family practitioner who I love, but her staff has been getting worse and worse. I can't get them to return calls when I leave messages and they haven't been great at following up with test results and insurance stuff. I live a few doors down from my doctor and have been tempted to go to her house to talk to her about the staff issues! (Don't worry- I haven't gone over there!) I go to church with her, so when we see each other there she will ask me how I am, and I have taken time to go over some issues and she's actually come over to our house before to check on my daughter when my daughter had an allergic reaction to some antibiotics my doctor's practice had prescribed.

As I have some big issues, (bulging discs, degenerative disc disease, arthritis in my spine and hands, thyroid nodules, partial thyroid removal, double vision, some hearing loss, migraines, depression and anxiety) I've got lots of specialists. The ENT who did my thyroid surgery also checks my hearing and I feel like his staff and office is very kind and well run. My ob/gyn is great and I love the mammography clinic I go to. The doctor I saw for GI issues was also really nice.

I mostly like my orthopedist, who I've been seeing for over 5 years with my degenerative disc, although the last time I went she made me feel pretty bad when she said "I've told you before that losing weight will really help" about my back. I was almost 70 pounds lighter when the issues started, and yes, I have gained weight, but she'd never said word one about it, until the last visit, which was the first time my husband had gone to the ortho with me. I felt really bad, like she was calling me out in front of my husband. Yes, I know I should lose weight, and I want to lose weight but I didn't want her to say that in front of my husband. I just wish I had a "medical manager", who could keep up with all the issues and schedule stuff when it is needed. I guess I want a secretary/personal assistant!

 

We just found a family doctor (one that will see us & all of our kids) that is okay (he's quick and efficient, but not super personable). We've had to switch docs several times due to docs changing offices, etc... Fortunately I don't have any medical issues, the only time I have to go is when we are updating our homestudy and I need a checkup for that. My kids are all stay pretty healthy, so we rarely go to the doc. I do have ENT and audiologists that I love for our sons who are deaf...of course we drive 4.5 hours to go to them! Our little girl is going to Shriners in January to get a full exam since she is missing a limb and a few fingers. We don't know if there are any hidden things that might be going on. We'll have to travel about 2.5 hours for that. But other than the deafness and orthopedic stuff our children are all pretty healthy, and I've been happy with the specialists....it seems like it's the family docs are the ones I have a harder time having a connection with.

 

I see 2 doctors regularly. My GP is a DO. He took over for an MD who took over for another MD, who moved to South Carolina a few years ago. I loved her. We had been neighbors and friends before I became her patient. She knew my whole history. I cried when she moved.

I also see a Physiatrist/Physical Rehab/Pain Management doctor every 2 months. Back in 2005, after what was supposed to be a routine hysterectomy, I woke up and couldn't walk. It was determined that I laid in the wrong position for too long, cutting off circulation to both legs. After years of rehab, I can walk again. I can drive short distances, mostly to the gym and around our town. I can't work since I was awarded a permanent disability status after 3 years of trying.

I hate the fact that I'm treated like a drug abuser. I have to see the Dr., he asks my pain level, writes a Rx, faxes it to the pharmacy. I'm not allowed to touch it. I'm subject to random drug testing. I wish I didn't have to take the pain meds, but when I've tried not to, the pain is excruciating. That's when I realize that it really does help.

 

something happened and my doctor of 20 years cut back her practice and i'm left doctorless. i go to a new one on december 20th. i'm going to miss my doctor she was thorough and really cared. sigh