Changing doctors …

Whoops! Another proofreading error. I meant to say:

" … a cordial relationship with my doctors, NOT to gain favors … "

Sorry about that!

Ray (@ray666)

Wish you the best - you sound as if you are weighing the pros and cons and realize that a change could be best thing you ever did or not the best. Distance to visit a doctor is relative but one Dr. I saw drove by his house/office on way to work and was the worst! So many things play a part - we know ourselves, we dont know the doctor’s lives outside the office and what he/she is dealing with ..... thats the thing with humans! Nurse phoned me this week after being off for a year and hadn’t even looked at my file before phoning then cut me off every time I tried to explain something... wanted to hang up (I’ll teach her!) but guess what, she wouldn’t miss me one bit ... this is the thing, no rapport any more as in years ago when some of us had the same doctor most of our lives. Personally I wouldn’t want to be a doctor or a teacher these days with all the information on Internet and patients , sometimes, knowing more about their illness than the doctor!

Good morning,
Just a quick update on my PN caused by chemo. I really don't have much pain and my numbness is still pretty bad. I had noticed however that after a year plus that my pain was moving up my legs to my knees causing such pain that I could not walk very far. After a while my son-in-law, who is a general surgeon advised my to go to a vascular surgeon as he didn't think it made sense for it to get worse even tho I was still very active. Bottom line, I indeed have some blockage in both legs and will be having an angiogram next week on the left which is the worst. A stent or balloon will be inserted which should alleviate this leg pain. I am overjoyed. Of course it won't do anything for my numbness but am thrilled that there is something to help my leg pain. I will keep all of you posted as to my progress. Bottom line, make sure you are not dealing with another issue that you are blaming on this troublesome PN.

Ray, I am on my 4th front-line Neurologist in 7 years, and I was sent to 2 different distant one/time consultations with different medical university systems when my sudden crippling event first happened at age 51 and my small town doctor wanted to make sure we dotted i’s and crossed t’s. My regular front-line doctor changes were because I moved a couple of times to different states during this time, except for 1 doctor change that my PCP agreed was needed because of several important doctor/office mistakes that hindered my care, and I just couldn’t chance a 4th error dispute their excuses and despite him being a very nice man. He was an older doctor who seemed to not have been able to keep up with the computer skills needed today in their busy business.
So, what my new (very rude) doctor saw from my history available now to doctors in Share Everywhere, and what she wrote in my visit notes in my care establishment visit was “patient has had 6 doctors in 7 years, she switches a lot”. No other explanation I have for the reason, but I can read she’s a very disgruntled and frustrated doctor who wants to share with all doctors anywhere that it is me who is a problem and disgruntled patient wasting all of their time. What future doctor reading her notes will take on the task of digging into my records and noting the different addresses I had, or that the 2 one-time “expert” consultations were both 4 months into disease that turned my life upside down and in a wheelchair? So I’m left always explaining errors or misunderstandings of how doctors write their notes.
I strongly dislike this neurologist, but have kept my annual appointment with her that’s now 6 months away. I don’t need bedside manner, I’d rather have competency, though I’m not sure she has that either. But I’ve come to terms with no doctors in my path have had answers or solutions. They don’t have them no many how many times I’ve asked, and I’m ok with it now!! It’s been me and this forum to figure it out. The Neurologist is just for token checkin and perhaps a neurological emergency if they might have knowledge to help with that. I get it that they are perhaps as frustrated as we are and it’s hard for them to get recognition as being 3 to 5 stars in their discipline. So I’ve learn to accept their situation, and even more so, MINE. My reason for continuing with this witch is to help her understand she doesn’t have to assume we’ve all come in to fight her, that some of us want to work WITH her. Plus I would like her to work on her note keeping, and how her tone and omissions in her appointment notes can have unfair negative implications on a patient’s future care if she might be intentionally throwing negatives in a report because of her own frustration with her job. So Ray, make sure the exit notes and reason are stated positively, if you can.

Definitely at this crossroads too - you describe exactly how I feel when I go to my Neurologist..and the same frustration with my PCD. I have had PN 20 years + , but in the last two years it has progressed to the point of diabilitating some days, as the numbness, tingling, hot, cold, is 24/7. Ironically my PCD and Neurologist seem to "wave away" that it could be from pre diabetes...yet my numers (AC1) always are at 5.7-5-9 range. Again, as many of us do, researching (this site is so helpful) I discovered this doctor and book. I highly recommend it. It opened my eyes and convinced maybe I should move deeper into this. I talked to PCD, and am stopping my 1x day 500 mg metformin, eliminating sugar from my diet, and we will recheck/blood work in 90 days. I hope I see some of the numbness /pain disappear or lighten. She didn't seem to thrilled, but there was no curiosity or regard to helping me feel better. It amazes me. Here is Dr. Jacoby's web site - also can follow him on FB, plus great podcasts. https://www.extremityhealthcenters.com/our-doctor Good Luck Ray - keep posting.

I totally agree and I also was in the healthcare profession and I’ve been saying the same thing, I’m very disappointed in the medical profession lately.
Waiting 4 mos to get in for a follow up is ridiculous if you have an ongoing medical issue.
I thought it was just here in Florida,where we have a lot of seniors but I guess it’s all over.

Having done much research on this topic, I found doctors tied to insurance, medicare, medicaid, etc are required to see 25 patients per day. The figure can vary from state to state. That means in out no quality for doctor or patient. Many doctors still function on the obama care routines; yes obama care was not removed. In it is a place where clearly age 55 or older are to be gotten rid of quickly. Also Covid 19 did not 'remove' the intended number.
Sad yes, leaves everyone on their own. To make matters worse, NON DIABETIC neuropathies are not covered by insurance or medicare. Those who are covered have signed agreement to false claim borderline diabetes.
To find a new doctor within driving distance to home, is challenging. Why do you think the new doctor search first question is your address or zip code?
I am thankful to Mayo Clinic Connect for its wealth of information. As you know, any neuropathy affect each person differently. There is no standardization of treatments or outcomes. Also another reason the doctors do not want new patients.
Often I sing the song "Grandpa Tell Me About The Good Ol Days" when family doctors had sincerity and tried to help. But even then patients would not stop sugar, too many carbs, alcohol, etc that impacted their neurolgy....you know let Grandmother sit in the rocker by the fire place to ease her neuroligia....old school term.....For me daily prayers and looking for not processed food with B 12 magnesium, Alpha lipoic acid, Acetly-carnitine and on worse days tylenol or aleve....homemedics brand vibrator/massager and the recent neurored laser light helps me live day by day

@dbeshears1 Debbie, your frustrations are on point, and it IS the medical field. About 1/3 of the neurologists, I've seen I would say are close to normal and trust me, I use the word close with a degree of hesitation. Another 1/3 are "off" a little...it's like something you can't put your finger on. I often wonder why they entered the field they did?? The remaining 1/3 are about as normal as you could expect, and I've been to all three categories. My current neurologist wants to see me once a year. My wife is having a heart procedure in early Oct so I had to cancel my once-a-year Oct appointment and I explained the reason for the cancelation. I'm told...if you cancel, we can't get you back in again until May. Really? I snapped back and said my wife's issue is more important than this appointment and put me on the cancelation list for November and I hung up...well, Ok I slammed down the phone. My wife said time to start looking for a new neurologist. So, you are not alone with your frustrations. I'm sure others have similar stories. If I can't have confidence in any doctor or their business practices, I'm moving on. All my other doctors, no problem at all. Why do I want to see a doctor who can't see me for 8 months. Meanwhile, I'm looking for a new neurologist because they will not call me in November.

I get you Ed. There’s part of me that wants to say let it go, there may be someone with something with a chance to be cured, so maybe they should have the doc’s time if they’re really short on doctors. On the other hand, since nobody has even opened our file for a year and won’t until right before your appointment, maybe new research results have come out in the past year that may be believed to be able to help us live better. At least assess our progress or regress seen in the last year and advise us how we might want to steer our ship differently in the next year. I go in with a positive attitude, telling them I’m so thankful I’ve come so far to get out of my wheelchair, and while I’ve accepted that I’ll never be able to work again or walk a 1/2 mile, I would like to stay on my feet and keep use of my hands to be able to be self sufficient, and hope that they can help me with that goal. I actually did manage to get a consult with a new Neurologist- I see him Tuesday again, for 1 “simple” question, which is regarding hammertoes on my left foot (my weak side) that are getting worse. I have an orthopedic surgeon anxious to do surgery and things he can help, but he has no Neurology point of view. The recovery would be a bit hard to manage with my condition, but I would like a neurologist opinion on whether the proposed improvement will indeed help meet my neurological goal of helping my gait and balance and leg strength get back to pre-hammertoe condition, or at least help my foot not get worse. I have been chasing this question down for over a year (yes, I moved so kind of started over), but this visit I’m promising myself to keep the focus to this 1 question & not let me get rushed out of the visit without an opinion. I don’t want to lose waiting another 6 months to hope for the other (witch) Neurologist to weigh in, as my visit with her 6 months ago was unsuccessful in getting to that question. At least Tuesday if I only get an “I don’t know” from this Neuro consult, I’ll know the decision to proceed with hammertoe surgery will be based on my own gut feelings and information others have shared on here.

What a shame isn’t it?