Can any patients of Dr. H in NY PM me and let me know how to best prepare for a follow-up phone consult? I'm kind of lost as to how to make the process efficient and keep costs down. I have a tendency to 'babble' and I can't afford to at their rates!
I want it short, sweet and to the point. Kind of sad one has to budget their time like that.
Unfortunately, I don't have the structure of Metallic Blue. It would take me forever to hit that level of detail. I commend his efforts though.
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
I'm not terribly organized like MB either!
Write down any questions you have. Maybe even write down a symptom list. When asked about symptoms, read your list. Be sure you ask the questions on your list, too.
Also think about your % of wellness prior to the appt because you know they're going to ask that.
I never did more than that.
Sometimes we would have good insights due to my babble. For example, I babbled that I wish I could go back on Cipro like I had been for my gut infection because I felt better on that than anything else thus far. Dr. H got the idea I might have bartonella because Cipro doesn't hit Lyme, so we discovered a coinfection based on my babble and I did respond well to bartonella treatment.
So, don't beat yourself up for it.
Posted by jkmom (Member # 14004) on :
I am not a patient of his, but I will tell you how I prepare for phone consults.
I write a short summary of what is happening as far as symptoms getting better worse or the same. Just the major symptoms or anything new that has popped up. I include a description of my daughter's activity level. Then I prepare a list of questions and try to order them in importance.
The summary is really for me so I can look back later, but it helps me to clarify my thoughts. I don't always ask all of the questions depending on how the conversation goes.
I leave space after the questions to jot down the answers. The whole thing fits on one page.
Posted by viva (Member # 8183) on :
This may be redundant w/jk mom, but this was my approach:
When my husband was seeing an out-of-state LLMD, I'd fax a summary to him beforehand, so he could read it before the phone consult.
I'd divide the symptoms into category headings--for example, cognitive, pain, skin symptoms, fatigue...
That gave me a way of organizing the information. I'd note what was better/worse in each area, with a brief description.
Finally, I'd prioritize my (many!) questions to the doctor. Most important ones first, since time was always limited.
That was the first page.
I also included a current meds/supplement list on the 2nd page. That way, it would be right in front of LLMD for easy reference.
Viva
Posted by Stacyb (Member # 13084) on :
Seek,
I agree with all of the above advice and see the same LLMD. I would def. send a fax ahead of time and your questions too. The PA told me to do this to save time/money too.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)