Who(m) can you trust?

I feel you. I’m drowning in doctors and have no diagnosis for my condition. They don’t document my symptoms or communicate with each other.
Who(m) can I trust? ME

I always believed that people with healthcare insurance were in the best position, if you don’t like one doctor then you fire them and get another one, people have a doctor for every part of their body, it’s totally enviable. I am very sorry to hear that you are going through this, in my world, Canada, we get one family doctor who’s a “ jack of all trades and a master of none “, you rely solely on this person to check you out and if needed will forward you on to a specialist. If you’re financially secure you can also get health insurance which might open up more options but not everyone can afford insurance, our healthcare is out dated and needs so much improvement, currently they are getting more doctors to come to Canada and it’s happening since your last presidential election. As a Canadian citizen and a cancer patient I have been so stressed because my doctor has one foot out the door and keeps disappearing for several months, sometimes he leaves a colleague to look after his patients, I was told by a employee a while back that he lost so many patients since the pandemic, mostly seniors who died waiting for medical attention. In the past five years I’ve been in my doctors office twice only to remove my stitches from cancer surgery and the rest of the time I get a phone call appointment every couple of months to check in with him.
I realize that this is not what you want to hear but sometimes when things get really hard it can perhaps help a little when you hear about other people who have nothing, I wish you well and hope that you will get through this quickly.

@shmerdloff
Have you seen a vascular specialist and a lymph specialist to check into your swelling?

It is hard to get doctors to listen, spend time checking you thoroughly and referring you to specialists if they are not the right doctor to treat you. Patients should not be left to their own to deal with this and try to navigate the broken healthcare system. You need to advocate for yourself and keep pressing for answers to get to root cause and get the right treatments.

And all this is brought to you by the so-called health insurers. No one should be surprised that the last thing these people are interested in is providing health care. They are only interested in their bottom line. In addition, the brightest are not going into medicine because of this. They can do better elsewhere without all the red tape and obstacles being put in their way. The best doctors find it more advantageous to become boutique doctors and there are plenty of wealthy out there to use their services. Where does that leave us? With the ones who graduated near the bottom of the class; who are burnt out by the demands of the insurers. When you go to see the doctor, you are lucky to get 10 minutes. Many other countries have much better health care. Why don't we? Because that opens up a Pandora's Box that takes us into a political world that is not discussed in this forum. We all need to make ourselves better informed. I have a problem with medications. Too many times they work strangely on me. So I make it a point to read about what a doctor is trying to prescribe for me. Mostly I refuse. We have to educate ourselves and advocate for ourselves. This is what our healthcare system has become.

That's why I'm extremely happy to have met and started following the work of Dr. Victor Montori and his organization - The Patient Revolution - https://www.patientrevolution.org/. There is hope out there and we just have to support it anyway we can. I think most doctors also want change.

Just got the book on Kindle and looked over the website. Sounds very interesting and definitely worth more of my time exploring.
Thanks!

I think you need a new cardiologist. Just my opinion

I'm so sorry that you are having such an awful experience with your doctor! Perhaps you should find another doctor if that is possible.

My husband had lung cancer. I kept a record of all his on going symptoms and the research I did about them including the side effects of his medications that could be causing a current problem. Plus I included his ongoing activities such as taking the garbage down when he was still able to do that, etc. and his blood pressure and blood sugar levels. I wrote all of this up and shared it with the doctors, (he had several doctors) at every appointment with my suggestions of what might be done giving the research as an example. Many times they agreed with me and would change a medication or discontinue it or add a new one based mainly on my research which was always documented. (Documenting everything was the best thing I ever learned in graduate school!) His doctors really appreciated my efforts because they were just too busy to do all the research that was needed. I think my research helped because my husband lived 14 years with lung cancer. He died in 2024.

It might be a good idea if you also documented all of your symptoms and presented it to your doctor at your next appointment. At least he'd have to take the time to read it. Plus he would have a much better understanding of your physical situation than what he is allowing to take place now. It is a lot of work but could be beneficial for you. I do remember commenting to my husband, "Why are we paying $700 for each appointment when I'm doing all the work?" But it was well worth it since I had 14 more wonderful years with him!

I hope things work out well for you. I'll say a prayer for you.
I wish you the best.
PML

I like that!
After all we come in this world already embedded with information as what to eat -- looks good, smells good, tastes terrible, throw it.
We also learn On Our Own how to WALK..ever wondered that ... from being flat on our back we crawl out ON Our Own and one day we are climbing and sprinting?

But older as we get we forget all that as our lifestyle of years of eating unhealthy foods and moving too little alone can make us host to myriad diseases. I guess I can say for sure (even though it's not a Proof) that it has kept me seeing my doctor fore maybe over ten years (82 y.o.) with no medications or surgeries tho I cud use for cataract, but do have some some joint pains which don't make it hard to do my groceries and walking a few floors in my bldg.
'Trust ME' is ought to be the First Step!

Im a ME also. I have zero trust in medical profession. Its $$$$ before patient care. Im a post Stimulator horror story....Drs keep trying to right all the damage they have done me..apart from required pain meds doing my hardest to STAY AWAY/ meditate and let my body slowly heal from all their damage.
God Bless all of us who suffer from arrogant/$$$ driven Drs and medical errors/ medical neglect, its the norm, not the except....so terrible.