Best and worst

A recent post reminded me that some people have a grudge against certain professionals that others love. There's typically an underlying cause for each so if you'd like to, post your best/worst tales of health professionals.

In third grade a doctor misdiagnosed me with stomach flu instead of appendicitis.  2 weeks later I was in the ER.

The doctor told my dad his heart was fine. Then he had a massive heart attack at age 38. Lost 30% of his heart. Had to have a quintuple by - pass. Was very sick. Now he has diabetes and **** due to complications of the heart disease.

Got a pay out in court, but not nearly enough. He used the money to take me to the USE, on a bus tour of the West Coast.

When I was a teenager doctors diagnosed my uncle with appendicitis.  He was in great pain, and had surgery to remove his appendix.  A few months later, he was no better and got a hepatitis diagnosis.  After a few weeks of no improvement, he went to another doctor who told him he had liver cancer that had basically taken over.  He died a month later. 

Unfortunately, this occurred in Argentina (where I am from originally) and taking the doctor to court for malpractice was not an option (too expensive, red tape, etc.)  Needless to say, the whole family was devastated.

When I was in my 30s, I began to have shortness of breath and chest pain.  The doctor told me it was anxiety and prescribed tranquilzers.  It was true, I was in a miserable marriage and the doc knew it, but he never looked further.

One day, I had an appointment with him and was running late.  His office was near where I worked and I always walked the two blocks, but this day I almost ran it.  I got there, very out of breath to find that the elevator was out of order.  I climbed 3 flights with great difficulty, gasping for breath.  When the receptionist saw the shape I was in (clinging to the desk and unable to speak) she shoved a chair under me, got me a glass of water and made the doc hurry up. 

Finally, he did an EKG and saw something on it.  He made and appointment for me to have an echocardiogram, which at that time was done at the hospital, not in the office.  He did apologize for not seeing it sooner. 

The echo showed that I had a serious heart defect.  It wasn't anxiety or panic attacks at all.  I was treated with medication and that helped, then surgery in 1988 at the age of 40.  I still need treatment as the condition has gotten worse over the years, but I'm alive at 67, and that's all that matters to me.

I think when women complain they are not taken seriously.  Nobody looks for heart problems in a 35 year old woman.  It was just assumed that I must be overwrought and neurotic.  That doctor could have killed me - one of the symptoms of this defect is dropping dead after exertion.  When you hear of a high school athlete collapsing, it's usually from a heart defect like mine. 

I have a few worst.  At 14 I was told my bunions were going to cripple me if they weren't fixed.  Of course my father was very worried and scheduled surgery.  They never left a pin or screw or anything in and now my small bunions that were straight for a year or so came back...and ten times worse then they ever were as a kid.  They didn't really bother me at all prior and now they do.

My dad was told for a couple years (2 or 3) that this "spot" on his xrays was a bone chip in his shoulder from a car accident when he was in his 20s.  They were doing head xrays for the sinuses but he (doctor) said from the angle you could see that part of the shoulder/neck.  He was having bad headaches and a myriad of other symptoms and the doctor just said allergies or migraine, etc and gave him drugs.  We ended up having to call 911 for him and they didn't know what was wrong at first (was presenting like a heart attack and stroke) and found out the "bone chip" was really a 7cm tumor in his head.  Further testing found another on his spine and told us that he had myeloma and the doctors missed blood cancer even with his bloodwork being done by their office.

My mom was having vertigo issues and they put her on meclizine.  The doctor (neurosurgeon) pressed on the back of her head and said her shunt was working fine.  Year and a half later we FINALLY ;after going through a few doctors and an ENT who thought it could be crystals in the inner ear being 'off' got her the ct scan (damn insurance wouldn't authorize without cause) and go figure it's her shunt.  Was totally blocked off.  Her replacement surgery was Monday.  Now she's exhibiting signs of alzheimers, especially at night.  Before it was just minor and she'd go in and out depending on time of day from her brain injury (stroke survivor) but we think the excessive fluid and pressure masked the rest of it.

And a good one... my gyn told me I'd never (like the not in a million years) ever be able to have children.  Cited scar tissue from fibroids and a few weeks of unexplained bleeding and surgery to explore and see if they could find a cause.  Keep wishing I could find him and send him a family photo.  Never having kids.... lol I've got 4.

I cried a lot when I was a baby, my mom was worried and took me to the doctor many times. They told her she wasn't feeding me well and sent her back. She returned many times but always got sent back home. By the time I turned 2, my legs were severely bowed and THEN the doctors took it seriously and did the tests they skipped a year ago... I have a severe, rare condition "hypophosphatemic rickets" (about 20 cases in my country) and by the age of 5 could barely walk, needed surgery for my deformed bones, having problems nowadays too... IF they had done the tests before it was too late I would probably be just like a normal teen girl...

The best? I dunno.

Last fall I got really sick....couldn't keep food down and was always lightheaded, nauseous, dizzy, etc.  At first my doctor diagnosed with "some kind of virus." He said my electrolytes were low but "that's healthy."  A couple of weeks later I still wasn't feeling good so I went to another doctor to get a second opinion.  She was concerned about my low electrolytes and did some more testing, but still thought it was just a virus.  Then, she got lab results and decided that I had Adrenal fatigue...then more testing.  After seeing about every specialist possible and doing every test she could think of (including an upper and lower GI and a gastric emptying test) I still wasn't feeling better and no one knew what was wrong with me.  Jump forward about two months and I end up being hospitalized b/c my sodium level was dangerously low.  I did even more tests (including one where I had to eat radioactive eggs so they could watch them go through my GI system).  But then luckily I ended up with a doctor who caught something no one else had...a rare side effect of one of the meds I was on (prozac) is hyponatremia (low blood sodium) and it explained all of my symptoms.  So, they took me off the Prozac cold turkey and within a couple of weeks I was feeling physically better.  Unfortunately though they didn't take into consideration that taking me off Prozac that quickly would cause my mood to crash.  So I went from physically ill to seriously mentally ill.  I'm still recovering from all of this (including trying to gain back some of the 30 lbs that I lost) and still angry about the whole ordeal. 

I have to say that I come down firmly more on the "love" side.  But, I'm a little prejudiced here - my dad's a doc, mom was a nurse, husband is a pharmacist.

My dad is amazing.  He's a great doctor and he really does care about his patients, which is so much of it.  For the last few years, he and my mom have gone to South America 1-2 times a year to do free clinics for kids down there who would normally not get any care.  They've organized and helped pay for several kids with more complicated problems to fly here to get surgery and follow up care - these kids can now live normal lives compared to a previously short life expectancy or crappy quality of life. He's given up so much of his life to work and take care of children who need it (believe me, I've seen it first hand).  I admire him, and I know I could never do what he does.

On a lighter note, I love my local Target pharmacy!  They are cheap, quick, and remember me by name - something the smaller Walgreens pharmacy never did.  Guess it just depends on the people though.

And for balance...the thing I despise most after crappy care is unnecessary waiting.  I have one (non-surgeon) doctor who is continually late, even first thing in the morning.  When I have the second appointment (8:10) and don't get seen until after 9:00, that is just ridiculous.  I would understand if he was a surgeon coming from an emergency, or if I was at the end of the day and there was a build-up of lateness, but this guy apparently just can't wake up on time!  Definitely pales in comparison to some of the above stories as I've been lucky enough never to have had major issues.