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        New Message Board Archives >> 2005 Cluster Headache Specific Posts >> Pays to be NOSEY patient
        
(Message started by: Leggs on Jun 27^th, 2005, 10:39pm)

Title: Pays to be NOSEY patient
Post by Leggs on Jun 27^th, 2005, 10:39pm

So, you may have seen, that I was inquiring about what questions to take to a nuerologist. THANKS 100 TIMES for all the GREAT input!!!

It is SO IMPORTANT to be a PRO ACTIVE PATIENT!!!! I will be an educated patient when I get there, IF I get there....

You will not believe this, I called up the referring office, and asked the woman who handles this to let me know the doctor's name. I figured I had a couple weeks before I went, I would journal, read, etc and why not look up the doc on the internet. Afterall, he IS at Emory University Neurology right?

Well, no record of my appointment, no doctor by that name....Mmmm, she refers me out of neurosurgery to neurology, still no luck. Well, I end up at the physician referral desk at Emory Clinic, where a nurse evaluated my presenting symptoms, and said THE doctor I needed to see was Dr. Daniel Barrow, she gave me his number , etc. She said I would need a referral however. So I call back to get the name straight, and I look up the name, and it's a guy in gastro enterology [smiley=huh.gif].

Well, my brain was feeling a tad squeezed over this all so I go to get away from the kids so I can moan and grown if need be. I realize that my last appointment was a follow up on weight loss, even though we discussed referring me to a neurologist, and I also had xrays of my neck and spine. I am about 60 pounds overweight, 20 of which was from medicating myself with food when nothing else worked. Anyway, I look up the doctor's name I was referred to July 12, and YEP, he's a bariatric physician. MY DOG GONE APPOINTMENT WAS WITH A STOMACH STAPLER NOT A NEUROLOGIST!!!!!!

By the time I realized this, the office was closed. Now I have to call back tomorrow and tell her how to do her job, and that always goes over well :-/

The moral of the story is, especially to newbies, STAND UP FOR YOURSELF, BE NOSEY, IT'S YOUR HEAD WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. GO TO THE DOCTOR EDUCATED, AND IF YOU KNOW MORE THAN THEM, FIND SOMEONE ELSE!!!If I had not done all this checking, I would have wasted a DAY of my life to talk about the extra lard I am carrying around that amounts to about a large bag of dog food, instead of the REAL issue!!!!

Thanks for being there everyone....it was actually funny when I knew I could tell you all about it, and have it be some use, instead of plain pissing me off.... ;;D

Title: Re: It pays to be a NOSEY patient
Post by Bob_Johnson on Jun 28^th, 2005, 11:20am

You are absolutely on target! Check, confirm, be polite but firm.

Good docs are out there. I've just moved to a different state and my former primary care sent me a letter wishing me good luck, expressing sadness that I was leaving, and thanking me for teaching him about some conditions where he had little experience.

We may only find people like this rarely--but they are surely ou there....

Title: Re: It pays to be a NOSEY patient
Post by Leggs on Jun 28^th, 2005, 11:39am

Yep, that type doctor is out there...another way to spot them, is when you tell them you want a second opinion. I had a great doctor, and when I told him I wanted a second opinion, he agreed heartily. He told me my confidence in the procedure would make me less nervous, and I would have a faster recovery. He said I could pick someone myself, or he would recommend.

The other thing I liked about him, is he had no problem saying another doctor was WRONG about something. Some doctors are so wormy, it's like it's the good ole' boys/girls club. My PA, the one who will refer me to Emory, also agreed with me about my dissatisfaction with the local neurologist. He didn't want to hear a THING about my past, and what I knew about my condition, and how it changed, and why I wanted to see him. She understood why I wanted to be referred elsewhere.

Another good sign, is when you doctor doesn't gimp up when you tell them you are in an accident, then something changed....but that is a whole other story!