Soon I will have an appointment with a potential new LLMD. I hope to interview them and try to determine if we would be a good fit. The change would be very beneficial financially.
What should I be asking and what specific information should I be trying to find out? I have some general ideas but what would you want to know about a Doc beforehand?
Thanks for any help
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Do you use Igenex Lab?
Do you treat until symptoms are gone?
What is your plan for treating possible babesia?
What is your plan for treating possible bartonella?
Do you believe in candida/yeast and treat accordingly if needed?
Do you treat coinfections if the patient has symptoms but a negative test?
What antibiotics are in your "arsenal?"
How often do I need to see you??
Do you use IV if necessary?
Posted by rera2528 (Member # 29886) on :
How can I reach you if I have questions during treatment? (email, call, etc.), and a follow up about who will be answering those questions (is it a nurse practitioner, a PA, etc.).
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
All I care about: "How many have you CURED and please give me the names of these patients to verify you're being truthful."
Posted by map1131 (Member # 2022) on :
I like the idea of interviewing a doctor. That made me smile and chuckle.
Seek, you know that is not a fair question to ask a doctor? Cured is achievable but it all depends on the patient too.
Doctor can only do so much. So much is left up to the patient to do their part. Many great LLMDs give patients informational sheets on extra protocols and ways to help speed up or even live thru the experience.
The LLMD is not responsible for patients that fail their part of the test. The patient failed to follow thru with every method to help themselves.
Would you ask a cancer doctor what his % of cure rate was? Maybe that would be a good question. Do cancer doctors really follow thru on all the things a cancer patient should do on their own to help themselves heal from cancer.
In fact I would say the majority of cancer doctors don't know what else a patient should do in order to make their chances better.
Do we always blame the cancer doctor for failures of curing cancer patients? Or is it the system and support that cancer patients should have with alternative thinking healers in combo with traditional medicine?
Just some food for thought!
Pam
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
A doctor can't give someone the names of their patients. That would be a violation of privacy.
I suggest you contact lyme support groups in the doctor's state and find out all you can about his cure rate. Do they know of people he has cured? If so, will they give you their names?
If the support group will give you names of some of his current or former patients, then you can find out how he treats also. For example, does he follow the Burrascano protocol?
You can also call the doctor's office and ask if the doctor follows Burrascano. If they ask what you mean by that you say:
Does he treat with high dose combinations of antibiotics as recommended by Burrascano?
Does he use Igenex lab?
Does he test for coinfections and treat them based on symptoms?
Does he use the meds recommended by Burrascano for coinfections?
Does he prescribe supplements as recommended in Burrascano?
If he doesn't follow Burrascano, then ask what protocol he follows. Ideally, you don't make an appt with a lyme doc until you know his philosophy of treatment. If his philosophy lines up with yours, then that is a good fit. If it doesn't, no sense making an appt and spending all that time and money only to find it out then.
If the doc has a website, that often gives this type of info.
These are some of the things I would want to know about the doc BEFORE the appointment.
Posted by pooldog71 (Member # 21722) on :
Wow, thank you for these great ideas...
Now if I can do this without putting her on the defensive... hmmm?
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
Others have given you some excellent advice.
Top of the list for me is asking if he/she is an ILADS member. They are typically plugged into the lyme community, keep up with new discoveries and issues and have a whole group of doctors to brainstorm with if needed.
Terry
Posted by MichaelTampa (Member # 24868) on :
On the list of questions I'd ask (if I were nervy enough to ask all the questions I actually cared about):
- Is he/she willing to prescribe weeks of antihelminthics to treat parasites seriously?
- Is he/she able to use energy testing in some form to determine appropriate abx to prescribe?
Posted by lada (Member # 32618) on :
Honestly I'd start by getting a through explanation of all your labs. I'd then ask about they docs approach and what kind of treatment he plans for you. Medications, herbs and there potontial side effects. What to do in a herx? And when to know if something not Lyme related is going on. Also I can't stress enough how importnant good customer service is. These llmds are busy, but they need to care about us. Make sure you sense that! And trust your own body!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :