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Hopes, I am sorry that you have had such poor experiences with doctors and the medical establishment in general. You represent the type of patient that is incredibly difficult to deal with. You have lost faith in the medical profession and you are wary of placing trust in medical professionals. There is nothing worse than meeting someone for the first time who has already decided to hate you and everything that you stand for.
I am sure many can relate to this. Imagine trying to do your job when you have a client who comes in who has had nothing but bad experiences with your entire profession. They do not respect you or your field of work. You find out that they have been seen by all of your other colleagues and have fired all of them. This client has done their own "research" and has a "list of demands." They are openly hostile and they proceed to tell you exactly what you need to do. Anything you suggest is met with skepticism and oftentimes sharp criticism. You do your best to help this person and you do everything in earnest to help this person. But at the end of the day, this person leaves your office still hating you and unappreciative of anything that you have done for them..
It sounds like you had a problem with several doctors who you feel missed your diagnosis and that has made you wary of the medical profession in general. You must remember that doctors are human beings as well. Medicine is not infallible and doctors make mistakes. If something has been missed by several doctors yes there may be an issue with the doctors, but there may even be issue with the nature of the disease itself.
I love the last doctor who missed my diagnosis. He's still my doctor today. He's a fantastic doctor. I have my entire family seeing him. I've sent my friends to see him. (Thank goodness I did because he saved my girlfriend's life.) As soon as my son turned 18, I took him there to find out what a real doctor is like. He has my highest respect. I trust him completely. He listens to me. I listen to him. He debates with me. He brainstorms with me. He's not insecure about having a patient who asks questions. He loves it. He is that way with everyone. He is always a few hours behind schedule because he spends as long as it takes to talk to his patients. And people don't mind waiting to see him because they know they'll get his undivided attention when he is in the room with them. He's my point person, my quarterback. Whenever specialists send me for tests, I tell the labs/hospitals to also send my results to him.
When I first presented to him with fatigue in the beginning, he had just become a doctor. He was very green, but that was very temporary since he's a super smart guy. He's an excellent diagnostician. He readily researches everything and anything. My other internist I saw prior to him is also just as fantastic. My current doctor trained under him. I only switched to this doctor because the other one moved offices on the other side of town and cut back hours to teach. Now they are both teaching. I've run into doctors across the United States who know both of them. Just looking at his name on the chart has inspired doctors to talk about him. Meanwhile, I was glad to find him years before everyone knew him. The funny thing is that I have this family doctor I see for regular illnesses like sinus infections and such because my doctor is difficult to see immediately due to teaching. Every single time I see this other doctor, she tells me what a great doctor I have----and they both work for different health systems that are at war. She's great too. I'm planning to switch to her when he retires because he is older than me and she is younger than me.
I don't switch doctors often. When I find a good one, I stick with them for eternity. I went through quite a few gynecologists until I was 30, but I was seeing the same two for 20 years now. I only recently decided to drop one of them, but I'll be continuing with the other. I have been seeing the two doctors I described earlier in my post since my mid-20s. Most of my problems are with specialists. I don't have time to shop around for a good match with specialists because I don't see them long term. At least, I haven't needed a specialist long term yet. Don't assume I'm looking for bedside manner. My internist has that, but my gyne doesn't. He has zero personality, but he's great at what he does.
I learned a long time ago to play dumb when I meet new doctors. They don't think I'm hating them. I'm not. I'm pleasantly and quietly evaluating them, hoping they turn out to be great. Since I have fantastic doctors, my standards are very high. I learned to play dumb via my sister. She has congenital emphysema and had 30 lung collapses before she was 21. When she would go to an emergency room and tell an ER doctor that she had a collapsed lung, they'd get an attitude because she was diagnosing herself. She knew damn well when she had a collapsed lung, but she learned how to get around their egos by going in and playing the game of telling them her symptoms acting like she had no idea what was wrong with her. No attitude. Maybe it's not ego. Maybe it takes the fun out of it for them if the patient knows what's wrong. Or maybe they think we hate and mistrust them, like you assumed.
I love the last doctor who missed my diagnosis. He's still my doctor today. He's a fantastic doctor. I have my entire family seeing him. I've sent my friends to see him. (Thank goodness I did because he saved my girlfriend's life.) As soon as my son turned 18, I took him there to find out what a real doctor is like. He has my highest respect. I trust him completely. He listens to me. I listen to him. He debates with me. He brainstorms with me. He's not insecure about having a patient who asks questions. He loves it. He is that way with everyone. He is always a few hours behind schedule because he spends as long as it takes to talk to his patients. And people don't mind waiting to see him because they know they'll get his undivided attention when he is in the room with them. He's my point person, my quarterback. Whenever specialists send me for tests, I tell the labs/hospitals to also send my results to him.
When I first presented to him with fatigue in the beginning, he had just become a doctor. He was very green, but that was very temporary since he's a super smart guy. He's an excellent diagnostician. He readily researches everything and anything. My other internist I saw prior to him is also just as fantastic. My current doctor trained under him. I only switched to this doctor because the other one moved offices on the other side of town and cut back hours to teach. Now they are both teaching. I've run into doctors across the United States who know both of them. Just looking at his name on the chart has inspired doctors to talk about him. Meanwhile, I was glad to find him years before everyone knew him. The funny thing is that I have this family doctor I see for regular illnesses like sinus infections and such because my doctor is difficult to see immediately due to teaching. Every single time I see this other doctor, she tells me what a great doctor I have----and they both work for different health systems that are at war. She's great too. I'm planning to switch to her when he retires because he is older than me and she is younger than me.
I don't switch doctors often. When I find a good one, I stick with them for eternity. I went through quite a few gynecologists until I was 30, but I was seeing the same two for 20 years now. I only recently decided to drop one of them, but I'll be continuing with the other. I have been seeing the two doctors I described earlier in my post since my mid-20s. Most of my problems are with specialists. I don't have time to shop around for a good match with specialists because I don't see them long term. At least, I haven't needed a specialist long term yet. Don't assume I'm looking for bedside manner. My internist has that, but my gyne doesn't. He has zero personality, but he's great at what he does.
I learned a long time ago to play dumb when I meet new doctors. They don't think I'm hating them. I'm not. I'm pleasantly and quietly evaluating them, hoping they turn out to be great. Since I have fantastic doctors, my standards are very high. I learned to play dumb via my sister. She has congenital emphysema and had 30 lung collapses before she was 21. When she would go to an emergency room and tell an ER doctor that she had a collapsed lung, they'd get an attitude because she was diagnosing herself. She knew damn well when she had a collapsed lung, but she learned how to get around their egos by going in and playing the game of telling them her symptoms acting like she had no idea what was wrong with her. No attitude. Maybe it's not ego. Maybe it takes the fun out of it for them if the patient knows what's wrong. Or maybe they think we hate and mistrust them, like you assumed.
Ah, the wonders of communication through the internet. Your post above is surprisingly pleasant and you seem sincere and down to earth. It may have been in my mind, but your earlier posts seemed to have a hint of venom and seemed anti-medicine. I apologize, it seems I may have misjudged you.
Ah, the wonders of communication through the internet. Your post above is surprisingly pleasant and you seem sincere and down to earth. It may have been in my mind, but your earlier posts seemed to have a hint of venom and seemed anti-medicine. I apologize, it seems I may have misjudged you.
That's okay. I have had some terrible experiences. It wasn't in your mind about that specific post you quoted. I was talking about a specific experience with my son when he was a teenager. A radiologist punctured his lung while doing a biopsy on the wrong part of my son's body. He knew it too because my son heard him say it, but the doctor never told us when he discharged him. My son was complaining about pain when we were getting into the car. That seemed to make sense since he had just had a needle put into him. We got home and my son was sitting next to me on the sofa, bent over slightly, holding his side. I knew instantly that he had a collapsed lung because I had seen my sister in that position so many times when we were younger. I take him to the ER and nobody is paying attention to his panic attacks for hours even though I'm begging them.
Guess what? It turns out my son didn't even need any biopsy because the first radiologist only advised to do another CT. (It was a CT of the head that saw something questionable in is neck. The neck was supposed to be biopsied if the second CT scan still showed something questionable.) It was a travesty in every single way---a biopsy on the wrong part of the body, a biopsy that he shouldn't have had, he was injured in the process, add insult to injury the same hospital's ER disregarded his anxiety. We didn't sue because we're not those type of people.
I've got quite a few stories like that. That's why I hold onto good doctors when I find them. They're like boyfriends. You have to kiss a lot of toads before you find the princes.
That's okay. I have had some terrible experiences. It wasn't in your mind about that specific post you quoted. I was talking about a specific experience with my son when he was a teenager. A radiologist punctured his lung while doing a biopsy on the wrong part of my son's body. He knew it too because my son heard him say it, but the doctor never told us when he discharged him. My son was complaining about pain when we were getting into the car. That seemed to make sense since he had just had a needle put into him. We got home and my son was sitting next to me on the sofa, bent over slightly, holding his side. I knew instantly that he had a collapsed lung because I had seen my sister in that position so many times when we were younger. I take him to the ER and nobody is paying attention to his panic attacks for hours even though I'm begging them.
Guess what? It turns out my son didn't even need any biopsy because the first radiologist only advised to do another CT. (It was a CT of the head that saw something questionable in is neck. The neck was supposed to be biopsied if the second CT scan still showed something questionable.) It was a travesty in every single way---a biopsy on the wrong part of the body, a biopsy that he shouldn't have had, he was injured in the process, add insult to injury the same hospital's ER disregarded his anxiety. We didn't sue because we're not those type of people.
I've got quite a few stories like that. That's why I hold onto good doctors when I find them. They're like boyfriends. You have to kiss a lot of toads before you find the princes.
Did your son end up having a collapsed lung? I'm assuming he did. So there was a questionable finding in the neck on a head CT and they wanted to biopsy it? Wow, that sounds incredible. A biopsy sounds much too invasive unless they were truly worried. Then they ended up puncturing his lung and ignoring him when you came back? Your story sounds like a page out of a bad book.. Was this at a reputable ER? Sadly, some of the ERs are staffed by less than ideal physicians.
I am glad that this has not completely soured your opinion of medicine.
Did your son end up having a collapsed lung? I'm assuming he did. So there was a questionable finding in the neck on a head CT and they wanted to biopsy it? Wow, that sounds incredible. A biopsy sounds much too invasive unless they were truly worried. Then they ended up puncturing his lung and ignoring him when you came back? Your story sounds like a page out of a bad book.. Was this at a reputable ER? Sadly, some of the ERs are staffed by less than ideal physicians.
That's pretty much it in a nutshell without going into details about all the stuff that happened between the first ER visit for the concussion and the biopsy that collapsed his lung. When he was in the ER for the concussion, they told me about the questionable CT scan and advised to follow up with his pediatrician. Then two days later I got a certified letter in the mail stressing the importance of following up on it. I already had an appointment scheduled with the pediatrician, but that letter scared the sh*t out of me.
I'll rep the hospital to you. They make a big deal with PR, but it's truly a pathetic hospital IMO. (I subsequently learned my own doctor has no respect for this hospital either.) It's part of the same healthcare system as the CT hospital. I have no respect whatsoever for that monopoly anymore. The problem with the collapsed lung ER visit is because that hospital is a teaching hospital. There was a resident or intern (I can never keep track of which one is which) who was afraid to bother the doctor who approves treatment/prescriptions. For Benadryl! I could have walked across the street to buy some myself if it hadn't been the middle of the night and everything was closed. He kept telling me that he was waiting for her to approve it and she was busy. When I was transferring him to another hospital, she came in and blamed the resident/intern. I was less than impressed---to put it mildly.
That wasn't the end of the story because they still needed to figure out what wrong. A few weeks later he had a nuclear medicine test to check his thyroid. I still don't understand why they performed that test since the question was about his thymus. They thought what they saw in the first CT scan was a thymus tentacle in his neck. I think the nuclear medicine test was to rule out that it wasn't a piece of thyroid since they didn't want to do another biopsy in the right area. Long story short, there was nothing wrong with him AT ALL. The tentacle was probably extended into the neck because he has super bad allergies, or maybe he was just developmentally delayed in it receding. All I know is my son is healthy and they put us through living hell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swack
I am glad that this has not completely soured your opinion of medicine.
I'm very vigilant now. My sister died after a hysterectomy for endometriosis and the autopsy concluded that she didn't have endometriosis.
...Not a good idea to use health insurance for mental health??!!
Some people do not want their insurance company to maintain a permanent record of their mental health history, in fear that that these data could later be used a means to deny future benefits, such as life insurance. In the past, people have also had problems getting mental health coverage due to a pre-existing mental illness, but this problem is being negated somewhat with the recent health care legislation. That said, there is an additional concern that a prior history of mental illness could affect one's premiums in the future.
Some individuals simply do not want information about a possibly embarrassing disorder (e.g. a sexual fetish) to be shared with anyone, except for their therapist. They prefer that this information remain in their chart, and nowhere else.
Bottom line: there is no way to know how personal information that is being maintained by your insurer could be used in the future, since laws change over time. At this time, HIPPA and other laws generally protect your health info that is maintained by insurance companies from being released. However, no one can be sure what disclosure might be permitted 20, 30, or 50 years from now.
Here's the deal. It doesn't matter if they use their health insurance or not to pay for mental health. When they sign forms to release information to health insurance providers, those providers can gain access to all of their records regardless of how they pay for them. The only way to truly protect your privacy is to go to the doctor under a fake name and pay cash. They never ask for identification unless you're using insurance to verify you're not doing insurance fraud via using someone else's insurance policy.
Here's the deal. It doesn't matter if they use their health insurance or not to pay for mental health. When they sign forms to release information to health insurance providers, those providers can gain access to all of their records regardless of how they pay for them. The only way to truly protect your privacy is to go to the doctor under a fake name and pay cash. They never ask for identification unless you're using insurance to verify you're not doing insurance fraud via using someone else's insurance policy.
The DEA might have an issue with someone who gets a doctor to prescribe drugs under a false name. Obtaining medical services under a false name may also be illegal in some jurisdictions. Nowadays, many doctors are requiring patients to show a picture ID during their first visit, and sometimes at every visit. There seems to be some controversy as to whether or not and ID is legally required, but many physicians are doing it anyway.
If you pay in cash, and do not give your physician any insurance information, I don't see why the physician would release your records to any insurance company (or other agency that could submit the data to The Medical Information Bureau.) The physician might share your info with other physicians, as needed, though this should not be done unless you agree to it. If you are really concerned, you can simply strike out the portions of the informed consent that relate to disclosure of info to insurance providers, or refuse to sign this portion of the informed consent.
Really simple...it's just part of the standard questions that any doc asks; it's called a history. If you don't want to divulge any mental health issues then just be honest on the medications part (when you list your current meds). Also in the case like brokencrayola it's beneficial for them to know.
This is not a cloak and dagger "He's going to murder me in the night" thing, it's just a standard question that I guarantee you every single doctor, PA, or NP will have that or a similar quesiton on their intake forms too.
They also take mental health history on license applications for driving, nurse, doc, construction, etc..., certain permits as well.
If a form asks if I have a psychiatric problem, I just write, 'Yes. We do.'
Well, not really, LOL!!!
I have Bipolar Disorder and I have filled out 'first visit' forms that actually DIDN'T have any questions that called that into question and I made a point out of adding it on there, myself.
I think one time it was for a dentist.
I WANT anyone treating me to know about it, because it may have an effect on how *I* behave, as a patient.
And I think it would be nice for the doctor to know that if he or she gives me Cortisone, I'll probably become manic, LOL!!!
Bipolars don't 'do' some meds all that well!!!
I think the more a doctor knows about you in every area, the better they can treat you.
But I don't think that everyone should give full disclosure if they don't want to.
Just lie on the darn thing if you feel sure that it isn't pertinent.
If you're wrong, you'll be paying the price and the doctor will have his or her behind covered, should it come to that mattering.
(And I really do think that the odds that nothing bad will happen are pretty good!!!)
Now, certain things MAY be important to know.
If you were on Lithium, it may have damaged your kidneys.
If you are no longer ON Lithium, but the damage is done, it's pretty important that the nephrologist know that you were on it in the past.
I recently learned that I have CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease), fluctuating between Stage 3 and Stage 4.
Because the nephrologist knew that I am Bipolar, she asked me if I've ever been on Lithium.
I haven't, but it would have been an important piece of information for her to know, had I been.
(Then again, maybe she asks every patient about past medications. But it wasn't on the form I filled out.)
And most doctors (all the ones that I've had) want to know what medications I'm taking now.
But they don't ask which ones I've been on in the past.
(Thank God!!! I'd get cramps in my hand if I had to list them all!!! LOL!!)
So I do think there are some valid reasons for doctors to know 'everything'.
As to the doctors disclosing your records, I'm pretty sure that they can't do that unless you sign a release form that specifies who they can provide that information to.
I know that I have to sign them so that my various doctors can share information with each other, so they don't miss anything or do anything that will screw anything up that the other doctor's doing.
I guess ask them up front what their policy is about sharing your medical information.
I thought that HIPPA pretty much protects you when it comes to that.
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