4 months ago I went into the doctor to address my daily headaches, all day long headaches for the previous 3 months. It took me 6 weeks to get the "new patient' appointment. I went in to discover my blood pressure was through the roof. He gave me a super low dose of meds and said to come back in 4 weeks (and he gave me lab papers to get blood work done in the meantime).
My mother in law is a doctor, so after 4 days of my bp not getting lower (230/130), she told me to up it and within 2 weeks I had increased my meds by eight times and made an appt. with the doctor to get a new prescription before I ran out. When I went in, I had stabilized my blood pressure and he was happy with that, but he saw I had high blood sugar and low thyroid. Gave me new blood work to be done in 4 weeks and to come back. I did that and came back in January. My blood sugars were bad, my thyroid was still bad, but my blood pressure was getting better and I had lowered the dosage. He gave me papers to do blood work in 3 months. Which was for April 11th. I went into the lab on April 11th and get my blood work done. .
Yesterday afternoon my doctor's office called, one day after my results were in. Ah, the moment of truth. I would learn if things are better 3 months later. The lady on the phone I think is designated to call every patient for reminders and she must be their native Spanish speaker too as her English is really, really weak. Now, I have a lot of empathy for foreign speakers and don't feel contempt or anything like that when I speak to a foreign speaker on the phone, but it is frustrating when a representative from the doctor's office can't communicate properly or explain things better.
What she told me was that my lab results are in and the doctor would like to see me in 4-6 weeks to go over the results. I thought I had misunderstood or something. So, I asked to be sure. Yes, 4-6 weeks and she would give him the message that I was confused why I had to wait 4-6 weeks to talk about the results. She acted confused and said she would leave a note for the doctor, but didn't say what kind of note that would be.
Not sure if maybe this was correct or not, I called the office and got the front desk. The lady there pulled up the doctor's notes and the notes say, "Make appt. in 4-6 weeks to discuss lab results." I told the lady this didn't make sense. If things were bad, shouldn't I know? If they are good, why do I need to wait to find out the results? (as I told her it was follow-up to some bad bloodwork results). She just reiterated what the doctor said. Ugh! So, I asked them to please mail me the lab results. That way I can at least see the results for myself. I understand what the tests mean and I want them for my records anyway.
Ugh!!! I'm going to assume that the blood work was good or mostly good. But, if they were good, like everything normal, then why would I even need to discuss them with my doctor? How hard would it have been to say, "They are perfect... let's recheck in 4-6 weeks or 3 months or whatever, and have you come in at that time." Or, if they need tweaking, let me know so I can try to make things even better. Why wait 4-6 weeks doing the same thing without changing anything if that isn't working? Plus, there's no new blood work ordered, so what is that all about?
So, I'm beginning to think my doctor is a quack. First, he let me walk out of his office when I had a bp of 230/130. And, he gave me the lowest possible BP med prescription to try to lower it AND the lowest thyroid meds to try to get that in line. Now, I'm totally OK with being a minimalist with meds, but when you see someone that in danger, more should have been done. It was my mother in law who had me increase the meds and it was because I called to say they weren't getting lower, that he had me come back in (and do more blood work).
It has been 3 months since he saw me. When I last saw him, my blood pressure was regulated (but since then I've dropped my dosage by one third as my blood pressure is lowering), my blood sugars were pretty high and my thyroid was still quite out of whack. So for three months I've been plugging away - eating lower carbs, exercising 6 days a week and working hard to make a healthier lifestyle. I did the blood work when he told me - after 3 months and then I have to wait another 4-6 weeks to find out the results of my efforts? What is that???
Of course, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and maybe his notes weren't complete and it was a miscommunication, but the cards are beginning to stack up against this guy. I might switch to my husband's primary care within the same practice.
I will call this morning to see if they have mailed the lab results. If they have not, I want to swing by and pick them up. I sort of don't trust the office as they said they would mail my husband's lab results and they remembered one time, and didn't mail them the next time he asked.
I am a little frustrated. Can you tell? Plus, life has gotten in the way with exercising too much this week and that makes me mad too! I'm going to hit it hard today!
Edited to add: I called my doctor's office this morning to see if I could drive by and pick up the results. This lady on the phone at least was surprised at the "4-6 weeks to go over the results". She then said she can't release my results until the doctor has given the OK. So, she will have him call me. What the heck?!?!? ugh! She at least had the sense to question the doctor's notes instead of just going along with whatever he said. So, we'll see if I get a call today or not.
What's your take on this?
Last edited by berryblondeboys; 04-13-2011 at 09:47 AM.
I wouldn't put up with that. They are your results, you are entitled to them over the phone or in person. Hopefully it was just a misunderstanding, that they were normal and he wanted you to follow up in 4-6 weeks. I think trust in your doctor and his/her office is crucial so I would definately switch if this continues. I would go pick them up today too, in person always seems to get more results.
sometimes our instincts are right if you are not comfortable with this I would try and see another doctor. 230//130 is dangerously high that is odd you were able to just walk out of the offfice.
my bad experience was I lived 11 hours away from my daughter and she kept telling me these symtoms she was having, I asked her if she was pregant and told her to go to the doctor and get a test not just a home one. So she left it and left it and left it. She finally saw the doctor and he scheduled her for an ultrasound casue at this point he thought she had a tumor or somthing. She had EVERY symptom of pregnancy. so she goes for an ultrasound and the picture shows a 6 and half month baby! REally!!!!!
I'll say this: I'm pretty sure you have a right to the records. Not sure where you live, but do a google search and I'm sure you can figure that out.
It seems that your current doc is at the worst incompetent (wrong dosages, etc.), and at the best, insensitive. There's no reason to make you wait for your results. None. If there are problems, he should see you soon. If it's great they should tell you so. If they're so-so, they can tell you that too, and say it's not a rush, but he'd like to see you again to discuss what else needs to be done. Medical professionals should know that people WORRY about tests, and should be given the information they need.
I would only wait that long for a new patient appointment if it's a specialist - and even then, only a highly recommended one. And I'd still look for another apt in the mean time. A wait that long means he has more than he can handle.
And yes, letting you walk out with your bp that high is nuts. I went in one time with high bp (lower than that) and they made me lie down while the brought it down in the office.
Find a new doctor. Get your results, have them sent to another doc, something, but someone who can only see you six weeks from now? Is not the doctor to depend on when you need something.
To be fair, when my blood pressure was 230/130, he checked before leaving his office and it was 180/110. However, he didn't ever say, "keep checking it." "Do this or this if it gets high." Just gave me 5 mg of lisinopril and sent me on my way for 4 weeks. Within 3 weeks I was up to 40 mg lisinopril. After a month down to 30 mg and now it's down to 20 mg. (And I hope to eventually get rid of completely).
A doctor should never let a patient walk out of the office when their b/p is that high! That is stroke numbers. He shouldn't have let you move.. until they got it done. That in itself would be reason enough to get a new doctor. You have every right to be ticked off w/ him. Not to mention all the other issues you have had with him. I'd go ahead and start looking for a new one.
That kind of stuff makes me crazy! Even if the Dr is great, and it sounds like he's not, clearly the staff could use some brushing up on their customer service skills.
You're in charge of your health - you need to find someone to help you take care of it that you're comfortable with. It's often not the first (or fifth) doctor you find. But talk with others whose opinions you value and search out one - put the energy into finding a caregiver that you respect that you would into any other research you'd do. Good luck.
i think it's time to switch. past time, actually. i'd get my results and take them to a new doctor. your health is not worth the risk for you to be "polite" to someone who obviously either doesn't care or doesn't get it.
The first thing I would do is head straight to the doc's office to get my records and not leave until I had them. Once I had them I would get a new doc. I would also explain to this doc why I was getting a new one.
And, I'm still waiting to hear from the doctor's office. That really pisses me off. I picked this doctor from Angie's list recs (we are fairly new to the area and of course, we need to find doctors that work with our insurance too). My husband sees another doctor at the same practice. I think I'll switch to his or the nurse practitioner I saw there once. This guy is totally rubbing me the wrong way. Either he is way too busy or is a quack. Either one doesn't work for me.
I think I'll switch to his or the nurse practitioner I saw there once. This guy is totally rubbing me the wrong way. Either he is way too busy or is a quack. Either one doesn't work for me.
I'm a nurse and I almost always see the nurse practitioners at my doctors' offices. I get a lot more quality time with them and feel like they really care about me. Waiting this long in between appts. sounds totally inappropriate to me....especially with the dangerously high BP readings.
What do you make of this? Doctor rant!
