Continuing through my travels of the medical profession
I have to say this again. I have been a RN since 1963. I worked full time plus part time jobs and well as as much overtime as I could get. Why am I saying this? Because I have had time to observe doctors and can make a judgment on which doctors are good, poor, mediocre, or excellent.
Recently I had to go into see my new primary doctor since I had never seen him before. I was met by a pleasant Asian man who pondered my chart and talked about my laundry list of complaints giving his opinion on how I was doing and what my lab reports showed. He then tried to address my chronic pain. I am very opposed to taking medications like Percodan, Oxycontain, or the like. I wanted a small dose of a anti depressant that some doctors are using to raise the pain threshold. He did not want to give me this medication. He suggested another drug, Neurontain, used for seizures but can help pain.
Now I have given these drugs over the years and have seen the side effects. I opted not to take this powerful medication. He lost interest and sent me away without relief for my pain which on some days is very debilitating.
I was now at my wits end but pulled one more rabbit out of my hat and went to see my orthopedic doctor. First he asked me what my problems were. He then told me we would work on one problem at a time to get back some of the quality of life I deserved.
He injected my shoulder, the one with the torn rotator cuff. I was told to come back in a week.It was a little painful but by the next day I felt better than I had felt in twenty years. I could move and I could lie down in bed and sleep. What a wonderful feeling.
When I returned to have the next problem looked, my right knee that hurts all the time and is swollen. The first doctor just looked at it and said “it’s arthritis.” Well my orthopedic doctor ordered X-rays and when they came back he showed me the bony tumors that are causing me problems and pain. I have had bone cancer before so this put me mind in a panic mode. My doctor stated that they look benign but has ordered an MRI. This is the difference between an excellent doctor and a mediocre doctor.
He listened to my complaints and went the extra step to really find out what the problem was.
Can you believe that Kaiser is making this wonderful man retire in two years because he will be sixty-five years old? What a waste. He could teach younger doctors how to treat patients and get to the bottom of their complaints with the least invasive treatment.
The world of medicine has changed since I came into it. But I feel its not all for the good of the patient. If you have a good doctor treasure him. But if you have a bad one, run don’t walk away. Your health and quality of life is at risk!