OH, you're not going to believe this. today after hubby and i went to my lawyer nephew to update both our wills, we stopped at the dairy queen.
couldn't believe who walked in before me and stood right by me while i ordered my takeout...1st LLMD!
i hadn't seen him since 1 yr. ago. he recognized me of course, and i told him i wanted to ask him a question. why did he NEVER return my call the next day after a very severe herx and why also he never responded to the email i sent day after describing everything that took place?
"he never was given a phone message to call me". no comment on email, but " i take full responsibility for my not calling you back. i'll get out your file when i return to see where the communication gap is. i've been told by other lyme patients there calls were NEVER returned either."
i told him that's why i stopped going to him. "betty, i'd stop going to me too!" so i filled him in briefly where i went and about all the body testings showing my 2 major food allergy classifications, etc. he wished me well.
he said 2 mds have left the practice so he's swamped; has 20 lyme patients only; 1 per week! Posted by CaliforniaLyme (Member # 7136) on :
Yup, doctors offices are like any other place, they can have inefficient staff!!!!!!!!!!!!
Exasperating!!!!!!!
I always call and call again if it is important, just because I know how busy busy BUSY docs are and sometimes need that...
After my recent kidney thing I had to call the hospital 13 times to get my test results!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"We'll call you back in ten minutes!" all day long.........................
I am glad you ran into him, it sounds like he needed to hear you & you needed an answer*)!*!)!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
quote:Originally posted by bettyg: he said 2 mds have left the practice so he's swamped; has 20 lyme patients only; 1 per week!
And he thinks that's too many??
Posted by Nebula2005 (Member # 8244) on :
The office staff is so important. They are the link between us and our doctors. They have so much power.
What a lucky trip to Dairy Queen, Betty! And they say treats aren't good for us!
There seems to be a nation-wide shortage of doctors. That may expain why there are so many bad (did I say that?) ones.
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
tutu, in iowa, the mds who do treat lyme only see ONE LYME PATIENT PER WEEK due to the extreme amount of time we're w/mds!
also each iowa dr. sees a MAX OF 20; 1 per week!
so you missouri folks are so fortunate to have one FULL-TIME CHRONIC LLMD there!
yes, i'd also sent this dr. prior in an email how UNFRIENDLY HIS RN was. she stuck me in the smallest cubicle; told her i couldn't be in there....claustrophobia! NO, you must be here.
when this doc came to talk to me, i told him i couldn't be in there. FINE, we went to an empty drs. office and had my appt; NO PROBLEM W/HIM!
yes, will be interesting to see if i get a letter or phone call from him WHERE THE COMMUNICATION GAP WAS!
i could have mentioned that, but i needed to eat/run to lawyer on updating my will ... so passed on that opportunity! Posted by hopeful123 (Member # 3244) on :
you go girl!! good for you!! Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
Yep, staff at a doc office can be a real downer. Not all of them, of course. I do think that because lymies have memory problems and there are so darn many symptoms and fluctuations, and scary episodes, that they call and send messages a lot more than other types of patients, and this might aggravate a staff.
Just recently a receipt from doc office sent to a wrong address, in a state where I never lived, then the office computers don't seem to say the same thing about my next appt, got three different versions. Geez. Got to bird dog this thing constantly. Doesn't do to just sit back and be patient, hopeful they will get it right. Hmmmm.....maybe this happened because they were swamped with messages from OTHER lymies, do you suppose?
I also had an allergist fail to call back when I had a major reaction to a drug. He was at a different office for the day, mean receptionist wouldn't give me number, said he would call later in the day. He didn't. When I checked back weeks after recovering on my own, with no medical help, he says he did call and left a message on my answering machine. Except there was no message. Somebody else's machine got the call? Wouldn't you try a little harder if someone calls with a very bad reaction to a drug?
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
lou, sorry to read about your episodes as well.
in this case, this dr. only has 20 lyme patients max! but that's a possibility that others called same day i did.
one time this doc took 2 wks. to return my 1st call! i called 2-3 times in 1.5 years.
Posted by chroniccosmic (Member # 7789) on :
Way to go Betty, I admire your courage. You go girl!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
quote:Originally posted by bettyg: tutu, in iowa, the mds who do treat lyme only see ONE LYME PATIENT PER WEEK due to the extreme amount of time we're w/mds!
I thought you meant he sees only 20 patients TOTAL. That wouldn't be very many.
Posted by MizMo (Member # 8389) on :
bettyg, odds are that when you sent the email, she was the one that read it - which would be why he never saw it!
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
quote:Originally posted by MizMo:
bettyg, odds are that when you sent the email, she was the one that read it - which would be why he never saw it!
mizmo; by golly, i think you hit pay dirt and you're right!
tutu, he sees a TOTAL OF 20 LYME PATIENTS plus his normal folks; so 1 lymie per week gets seen. hope that clarifies this better.
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