Vel
10-12-2004, 06:58 PM
continued from here: http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?p=1265179#post1265179
And being I had so many symptoms hinting towards hypothyroidism, which as I stated, has the potential to run in my family, why was I not given any further tests for that, even though the bloodwork came back in normal range? I feel if there were that many symptoms and there was the potential to have it run in my family, that there should definately have been more tests done on the thyroid besides just bloodwork to completely make sure.
Before I left i made mention that I had paperwork from the welfare department that they wanted him to fill out. He said drop them off and he will sign them.
Now this puzzled me how he could say he'd sign them before the results of my echocardiogram and MRI came back. On the medical assesment form, they ask these questions for the doctor to fill out:
Employability: am I disabled? Temporarily disabled? Employable? Without even seeing the results for either tests and going strictly off the bloodwork, he was ready to make a decision. Judging on his lecturing he gave me, I'm going to say that he would have said employable.
Examination results:
diagnosis and what the assesment is based upon: Again how can he know what to put here until all the data from all tests had come back?
There is also a form for me to fill out asking if I need to be on any health sustaining medication that allows me to be employable. Again, I have no idea what to put here because I haven't had the diagnosis come back yet for the echocardiogram or the MRI. I was also never sent to a sleep clinic to get that monitored, nor was I sent for any in depth thyroid tests, so again, who knows?
So 2 days later I went for the echocardiogram. The person who did it for me was surprised to see I was never given a heart monitor to wear prior to it, nor did I have my EKG yet. I don't know if this is the hospital's fault or the doctor's however.
And this is where it stops. I have yet to hear about the echocardiogram results and have yet to schedule the MRI of the back. But one thing is for sure, I certainly feel really let down over the whole situation.
Any and all thoughts welcome.
And being I had so many symptoms hinting towards hypothyroidism, which as I stated, has the potential to run in my family, why was I not given any further tests for that, even though the bloodwork came back in normal range? I feel if there were that many symptoms and there was the potential to have it run in my family, that there should definately have been more tests done on the thyroid besides just bloodwork to completely make sure.
Before I left i made mention that I had paperwork from the welfare department that they wanted him to fill out. He said drop them off and he will sign them.
Now this puzzled me how he could say he'd sign them before the results of my echocardiogram and MRI came back. On the medical assesment form, they ask these questions for the doctor to fill out:
Employability: am I disabled? Temporarily disabled? Employable? Without even seeing the results for either tests and going strictly off the bloodwork, he was ready to make a decision. Judging on his lecturing he gave me, I'm going to say that he would have said employable.
Examination results:
diagnosis and what the assesment is based upon: Again how can he know what to put here until all the data from all tests had come back?
There is also a form for me to fill out asking if I need to be on any health sustaining medication that allows me to be employable. Again, I have no idea what to put here because I haven't had the diagnosis come back yet for the echocardiogram or the MRI. I was also never sent to a sleep clinic to get that monitored, nor was I sent for any in depth thyroid tests, so again, who knows?
So 2 days later I went for the echocardiogram. The person who did it for me was surprised to see I was never given a heart monitor to wear prior to it, nor did I have my EKG yet. I don't know if this is the hospital's fault or the doctor's however.
And this is where it stops. I have yet to hear about the echocardiogram results and have yet to schedule the MRI of the back. But one thing is for sure, I certainly feel really let down over the whole situation.
Any and all thoughts welcome.
Sponsor
quincy
10-13-2004, 04:27 AM
You're definitely not in a good place at this time. You've only seen your doctor twice, and it's a process to get things figured out.
I can understand through past experience where you're coming from.
I think though, you might have your doctor between a rock and a hard place -- you have urgency regarding income and papers for him to sign plus to get you all figured out....etc right NOW!! It takes time.
What your doctor said to you wasn't really lecturing (although from your perspective it's understandable how it would be received as that), and his points really do hold merit.
But, in saying that....you're really not yet in the position to look at the whole picture to understand it all because you're suffering with health problems.
Try not to make blame on the doctor, but to try and make enough appointments with him so that your immediate health issues are checked out and exhausted before looking at other options. Like I said...it's a process.
Considering how many patients a doctor sees in one day, how many thoughts might be going through his mind at any given time, trying to formulate your concerns and needs and possible solutions for them....reminders are OK for doctors. I've had to do it on a few occasions.
Actually, your doc has sent you for many tests at this time...now you're ready for the next bout to continue ruling out problems.
Try to be patient while getting all this figured out. It won't be easy and will definitely add more distress by not knowing...but please try not to make the doctor the focus of your frustrations. Work with him and become proactive in your care -- you might be pleasantly surprised and find he's more empathetic than you thought.
Been there,
quincy
I can understand through past experience where you're coming from.
I think though, you might have your doctor between a rock and a hard place -- you have urgency regarding income and papers for him to sign plus to get you all figured out....etc right NOW!! It takes time.
What your doctor said to you wasn't really lecturing (although from your perspective it's understandable how it would be received as that), and his points really do hold merit.
But, in saying that....you're really not yet in the position to look at the whole picture to understand it all because you're suffering with health problems.
Try not to make blame on the doctor, but to try and make enough appointments with him so that your immediate health issues are checked out and exhausted before looking at other options. Like I said...it's a process.
Considering how many patients a doctor sees in one day, how many thoughts might be going through his mind at any given time, trying to formulate your concerns and needs and possible solutions for them....reminders are OK for doctors. I've had to do it on a few occasions.
Actually, your doc has sent you for many tests at this time...now you're ready for the next bout to continue ruling out problems.
Try to be patient while getting all this figured out. It won't be easy and will definitely add more distress by not knowing...but please try not to make the doctor the focus of your frustrations. Work with him and become proactive in your care -- you might be pleasantly surprised and find he's more empathetic than you thought.
Been there,
quincy
Vel
10-13-2004, 03:32 PM
You're definitely not in a good place at this time. You've only seen your doctor twice, and it's a process to get things figured out.
I can understand through past experience where you're coming from.
I think though, you might have your doctor between a rock and a hard place -- you have urgency regarding income and papers for him to sign plus to get you all figured out....etc right NOW!! It takes time.
What your doctor said to you wasn't really lecturing (although from your perspective it's understandable how it would be received as that), and his points really do hold merit.
But, in saying that....you're really not yet in the position to look at the whole picture to understand it all because you're suffering with health problems. Eh no, as I said in one of the parts I told him from the beginning that I know what I have to do with my life and have goals that I want to accomplish that aren't going to get done int he state I'm in. In fact if I didn;t understand the big picture and not liked what I realized when I did so, I wouldn't have made the appointment to get the ball rolling int he first place. Remember, just cause I have issues doesn't mean anything when it comes to realizations of anything, in fact it's more of a kick in the *** to do so.
Try not to make blame on the doctor, but to try and make enough appointments with him so that your immediate health issues are checked out and exhausted before looking at other options. Like I said...it's a process.
Kind of hard not to blame to blame the doctor when I pointed out everything to him clear as day and he overlooked what in to me anyway seemed to be the core matters of why I went to see him. If you go to a dentist and complain of a toothache, and instead of filling in an obvious cavity in the sore tooth they do something else and try and give you a lecture on why brushing is important everyday and send you out the door, how would you fell about that?
And as for making multiple appointments with this guy, guess who doesn't have the cash to be spending 50 bucks everytime I want to see this guy? I think it's both more logical and cost effective to find someone who can recognize issues to begin with right off the bat and persue all means to find out what's wrong and fix the problems later.
Considering how many patients a doctor sees in one day, how many thoughts might be going through his mind at any given time, trying to formulate your concerns and needs and possible solutions for them....reminders are OK for doctors. I've had to do it on a few occasions.
Actually, your doc has sent you for many tests at this time...now you're ready for the next bout to continue ruling out problems. NO, he sent me for 2 tests. I HAVE many problems. It's his job to take my word that the things I come to him for really honestly DO exist and just because blood results show nothing doesn't mean the problem is not there. Just because things may fall into a normal range doesn't mean that things really MAY be normal from person to person. I mean really my back problem DOES exist and plays a huge role in those whole thing, so why did he not even bother to get that looked at? Why no more thyroid tests? Why no visit to the sleep clinic? I have to spend 50 bucks for an appointment to come back and REMIND him of this stuff? I don't think so. Everything was told to him in the initial visit, and reiterated for the second. He's got my notes right there in front of him, he had no trouble recollecting dialog from our previous visit 5 weeks prior. The guy really does seem to know up from down, he just doesn't feel like considering it seems.
Try to be patient while getting all this figured out. It won't be easy and will definitely add more distress by not knowing...but please try not to make the doctor the focus of your frustrations. Work with him and become proactive in your care -- you might be pleasantly surprised and find he's more empathetic than you thought.
Been there,
quincy
I can understand through past experience where you're coming from.
I think though, you might have your doctor between a rock and a hard place -- you have urgency regarding income and papers for him to sign plus to get you all figured out....etc right NOW!! It takes time.
What your doctor said to you wasn't really lecturing (although from your perspective it's understandable how it would be received as that), and his points really do hold merit.
But, in saying that....you're really not yet in the position to look at the whole picture to understand it all because you're suffering with health problems. Eh no, as I said in one of the parts I told him from the beginning that I know what I have to do with my life and have goals that I want to accomplish that aren't going to get done int he state I'm in. In fact if I didn;t understand the big picture and not liked what I realized when I did so, I wouldn't have made the appointment to get the ball rolling int he first place. Remember, just cause I have issues doesn't mean anything when it comes to realizations of anything, in fact it's more of a kick in the *** to do so.
Try not to make blame on the doctor, but to try and make enough appointments with him so that your immediate health issues are checked out and exhausted before looking at other options. Like I said...it's a process.
Kind of hard not to blame to blame the doctor when I pointed out everything to him clear as day and he overlooked what in to me anyway seemed to be the core matters of why I went to see him. If you go to a dentist and complain of a toothache, and instead of filling in an obvious cavity in the sore tooth they do something else and try and give you a lecture on why brushing is important everyday and send you out the door, how would you fell about that?
And as for making multiple appointments with this guy, guess who doesn't have the cash to be spending 50 bucks everytime I want to see this guy? I think it's both more logical and cost effective to find someone who can recognize issues to begin with right off the bat and persue all means to find out what's wrong and fix the problems later.
Considering how many patients a doctor sees in one day, how many thoughts might be going through his mind at any given time, trying to formulate your concerns and needs and possible solutions for them....reminders are OK for doctors. I've had to do it on a few occasions.
Actually, your doc has sent you for many tests at this time...now you're ready for the next bout to continue ruling out problems. NO, he sent me for 2 tests. I HAVE many problems. It's his job to take my word that the things I come to him for really honestly DO exist and just because blood results show nothing doesn't mean the problem is not there. Just because things may fall into a normal range doesn't mean that things really MAY be normal from person to person. I mean really my back problem DOES exist and plays a huge role in those whole thing, so why did he not even bother to get that looked at? Why no more thyroid tests? Why no visit to the sleep clinic? I have to spend 50 bucks for an appointment to come back and REMIND him of this stuff? I don't think so. Everything was told to him in the initial visit, and reiterated for the second. He's got my notes right there in front of him, he had no trouble recollecting dialog from our previous visit 5 weeks prior. The guy really does seem to know up from down, he just doesn't feel like considering it seems.
Try to be patient while getting all this figured out. It won't be easy and will definitely add more distress by not knowing...but please try not to make the doctor the focus of your frustrations. Work with him and become proactive in your care -- you might be pleasantly surprised and find he's more empathetic than you thought.
Been there,
quincy
kisa
10-13-2004, 04:35 PM
Hey Vel, I also have been there, & it took me over 35 years to find out what the name to my disability's are.wow, what state do you live in to go to a Dr. for only $50.00?. I have spent thousands in just a few months time attmepting to find a MD that would take a "cash" payment after moving from one state to another, & it took me almost 6 years of driving back & forth from RI to NY just to get my medications. I then found a great MD who remembered his oath, & wasnt in the feild for $$, but ti help you. But he passed away after a year 1/2 of treatment, & I was on the hunt again, but this time I had insurance in place & what a new world for me that was. but thru my experiance, I always made sure that copies of all tests results were also sent to me & paper work that the MD needed to sign for me, I would wait for.( I even made a copy of the request & filled in what I could to ease the load, & then have them sign if the agreed, if not they had the blank to fill), I just hope that you have your needs addressed, & if payment is to much, is there a board of heath clinic in the area?, they will look at your income & base the visit on that, no cost to low cost. Please let me know how you make out, peace, Kisa :angel:
quincy
10-13-2004, 05:31 PM
Hi,
Well, I can't answer the questions as to why your doc didn't send you to all those tests.....but you have to be proactive and work WITH him. You made the suggestions...that's good.
When I say I've been there...I meant it! I know what it feels like to have MANY health problems and the reality is that it takes time to get it all figured out. And, once it's all figured out....it takes time to learn how do deal with and fit it all into lifestyle. Many changes had to be made.
Your expectations need to take that into consideration. You have goals etc....that's great to hear. You can't work because of the condition you're in at this time....definitely understandable.
Your expectations that the doc SHOULD understand is lofty. Work with him so that he DOES understand. He might not be the best for you at this time, but maybe he can help with some recommendations as well.
I'm from Canada so my perspective of US healthcare is definitely flawed.....but, Kisa has given you great suggestions. I hope they help.
Have you been a victim of bad doctoring? NO! But, if you continue to believe you have, the only victim you'll be is of yourself.
Like I said, been there!!!!! No ****!! But, my responses to you are from going through the learning process and through experience.
Change your attitude, change your perspective and find out what all your options are to get you to your goals (health/profession/etc). Try not to waste your energy and emotional state on trying to prove how wronged you've been.
Get on from where you are now. I realise that money is the issue at this time and that can definitely exacerbate the distress. I really do hope you get resolve with your health and are able to find avenues and options to help you in process.
Definitely on your side!!
quincy
Well, I can't answer the questions as to why your doc didn't send you to all those tests.....but you have to be proactive and work WITH him. You made the suggestions...that's good.
When I say I've been there...I meant it! I know what it feels like to have MANY health problems and the reality is that it takes time to get it all figured out. And, once it's all figured out....it takes time to learn how do deal with and fit it all into lifestyle. Many changes had to be made.
Your expectations need to take that into consideration. You have goals etc....that's great to hear. You can't work because of the condition you're in at this time....definitely understandable.
Your expectations that the doc SHOULD understand is lofty. Work with him so that he DOES understand. He might not be the best for you at this time, but maybe he can help with some recommendations as well.
I'm from Canada so my perspective of US healthcare is definitely flawed.....but, Kisa has given you great suggestions. I hope they help.
Have you been a victim of bad doctoring? NO! But, if you continue to believe you have, the only victim you'll be is of yourself.
Like I said, been there!!!!! No ****!! But, my responses to you are from going through the learning process and through experience.
Change your attitude, change your perspective and find out what all your options are to get you to your goals (health/profession/etc). Try not to waste your energy and emotional state on trying to prove how wronged you've been.
Get on from where you are now. I realise that money is the issue at this time and that can definitely exacerbate the distress. I really do hope you get resolve with your health and are able to find avenues and options to help you in process.
Definitely on your side!!
quincy
barton93
10-15-2004, 03:57 AM
First of all, what kind of doctors have you seen? Are you seeing a family doctor or are you seeing specialists or both? I think you really need to see a physchologist. I wasn't too clear on whether or not you took the doctors advice and had seen one. You sound like you definately have anxiety, maybe depression. Many of your problems may be related to those issues alone.......except for obviously your back problems and the problems with your heart. But I truly think that goes deeper than that. Your back problems and heart issues are not going to make you unable to hold a job and function.
I think you really need to find a psychologist that will take you under his wing regardless of your financial issues. Most doctors that don't specialize in that area take psychology issues lightly............which is why you aren't getting anywhere if you are not seeing one. If you ARE seeing one and not getting anywhere, then I would find another one that will take you seriously and give you the help you need.
I also will agree with Quincy........it is a process. You sound like you have many issues that need to be resolved. It isn't going to happen overnight. You have to be willing to work with your doctor.
Best of luck to you.
I think you really need to find a psychologist that will take you under his wing regardless of your financial issues. Most doctors that don't specialize in that area take psychology issues lightly............which is why you aren't getting anywhere if you are not seeing one. If you ARE seeing one and not getting anywhere, then I would find another one that will take you seriously and give you the help you need.
I also will agree with Quincy........it is a process. You sound like you have many issues that need to be resolved. It isn't going to happen overnight. You have to be willing to work with your doctor.
Best of luck to you.