jacal5

I don't know what he thinks about it, I do not like Mom's doctor, he's an internest/gastroenterologist and I have been after her for years to go to another doctor. His patients are mostly seniors, they even admit they don't like his personality, but say they don't want to switch doctors because he has all their medical records from years ago. The seniors seem to think in this technology age medical records can't be transferred from one doctor to another in this New York City suburb, ridiculous!

I don't think a gastroenterologist should be treating a patient with high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and high cholesterol who is on drugs for these conditions. A few years ago she fainted a few days after he gave her a diuretic for high blood pressure and she was rushed to the hospital. To make a long story short, a cardiologist was called in, and I asked him if he was going to order a stress test for her and he said no!! Well, I told him off, so he ordered one. While she was on the treadmill another cardiologist saw her heart race and immediately got her off the treadmill. and determined she has atrial fib by monitoring her. Her gastro never suspected she had atrial fib, even though she complained of a fluttering heart for a few years, he passed it off as anxiety and gave her tranquilizers!

The same gastro doc treated my father for colon cancer in 2001, never referred him to a cancer specialist until a year after his surgery when the cancer recurred. By that time it was too late, the oncologist said he only had a 30% chance of survival, and admitted my father should have had chemo after the surgery, and couldn't imagine why it wasn't done! A year later my father passed away. I am so upset that Mom still goes to the same doc for treatment, but I don't say anything any longer. She sees the cardiologist who diagnosed her atrial fib in the hospital on occasion, so I figure at least someone else examines her once in a while. I feel very guilty about not doing enough research on-line regarding colon cancer when my father was suffering from it, maybe he would still be alive today if he had the proper care. We thought everything was being done properly at the time, little did we know, that's why I research everything now, and read and post on these boards. If I can save just one person from medical negligence it will make me happy for the rest of my life, even though I can't bring Dad back.

Sorry for venting and making the post get so long, when I read your post it hit a sore spot with me, so I wanted to explain why I don't address any of Mom's issues with her doc, I can't stand him!

Anyway, I did read that high blood pressure medication can cause atrial fib,
but I didn't read it about Lipitor, but people on the message boards think Lipitor cause their atrial fib.

Thanks so much for your post!