This theme of distrust seems to me a vital part of every encounter I have with doctors now, and it affects my medical decision-making in important ways. The stress of dealing with doctors in that context of distrust has definitely taken an added toll on my health and made my recovery more difficult.

In other words, it wouldn't even have occurred to me that this was an inappropriate topic here.

Why not spell out the criteria you use, DM?

eg, "Unless you are posting a about a specific symptom, test, drug or non-drug treatment, you should be posting in general support."

Anyways, to answer the question:

Yes, I am tired of Doctors. Im fortunate to have an excellent, sweet GP that I wouldnt give up for the life of me.

He asked for all the Specialty Labs info which I gave him along w/ DR. B's guidelines.

I also gave him pamphlets that I got from LDF and other organizations.

My new GP has Lyme, so I'm in good shape now! That, and a wonderful LLMD...so I'm ready to roll!

I hope to do the same. And I figure the good docs will listen. Those that are too busy or too full of themselves won't.

Nal~ maybe at some point in the future, as you learn more about lyme, you can go back to all the docs who missed your diagnosis and let them know what you have....that is my plan.

I know what you mean.

I do have faith in my family doctor though. I have given him stuff from my LLMD and he is getting real educated about lyme.

He is gonna be treating my Mom and younger sister, and I just found out he has a few lyme patients also....so who knows??

And he is willing to use IGeneX labs too..(keeping my fingers crossed) He did offer me IV a while ago, but I said no...

quote:

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Originally posted by paulscha:
I'm not sure why a question about which medical professionals we still trust belongs somewhere other than Medical Questions, Duramater. And you know I'm not saying that to be difficult, I think the world of you.

This theme of distrust seems to me a vital part of every encounter I have with doctors now, and it affects my medical decision-making in important ways. The stress of dealing with doctors in that context of distrust has definitely taken an added toll on my health and made my recovery more difficult.

In other words, it wouldn't even have occurred to me that this was an inappropriate topic here.

Why not spell out the criteria you use, DM?

eg, "Unless you are posting a about a specific symptom, test, drug or non-drug treatment, you should be posting in general support."

I might agree or not, but I'd be clearer about what you mean. Thanks!

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Whew! Tall order to make explicit what is implicit, but I'll give it my best with the caveat that I may be forgetting an appropriate topic or two.

So there is Off Topic which seems appropriate for things not related to anything Lyme/medical; after that, really, we could say that everything else is related to Lyme/medical, so it should go there. What use then is General?

My (implicit) distinction between Medical & General (which is still Lyme/medical related) was Medical was for: Lyme/coinfection treatments (conventional, supplemental and alternative (although it would be nice to have a distinctive categories here as well)), testing issues, diagnosis/symptom issues, and ancillary medical issues (e.g., gallbladder disease, yeast infections, "hypercoagulation").

I would think everything else would fit nicely in General (e.g., political action, potentially weaponized borrelia, broader discussions of the medical field (such as docs & trust), etc.

While the borders are certainly murky, it seems to me that General is under-used/inclusive and Medical is over-used/inclusive. But hey, I'm not trying to play border guard here, its just that the recent spate of political messages and biowarfare hypothesizing makes it hard to wander through the actual "medical" stuff and since we have a "general," why not make use of it?

Like I said (I think), really EVERYTHING that is N0T overtly unrelated could be construed as belonging in Medical. I just think that the overinclusivity of topics in Medical makes it hard to find/wade through the clearly-related stuff that is getting buried these days.

That's my (current) best shot, Paul. And I'm left wondering what your distinction among the 3 primary categories might be given your request for me to elucidate mine...

PS - apologies (A) to Nal for coopting this thread to answer Paul's query and (B) for something that should, based on content, be in 0ff-Topic!

quote:

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Originally posted by tikbit:
the only problem with general is no one reads it or at least no one answers it.

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If everyone would check General Support at least once a day, alot of problems would be alleviated.

We've all broken the rule of posting non-medical stuff over here, but fewer would feel the need to do that if everyone would read and answer posts over in General.

But then again, I miss quite a few posts (I find them when I'm bored or when I'm searching for something) simply because so much stuff is now posted over here.

Now to the question at hand.

I have lost all trust in the medical community. I really feel that I myself has the best outlook for myself and my family's health.

Doctors these days are way too busy, rarely take enough time with patients (I've had doctors who have seen me several times yet have to look in my records for my name when talking to me) - you spend more time in the waiting room and then waiting in the examining room than you do with the doctor or nurse (1 hr wait to see the doctor 5-10 minutes), the doctor prescribs all this medication, never stoping to think if all the medication can be taken together and tries to get you out the door as quickly as possible (at least this is how it is in my case).

I have seen doctors with major god complexes, doctors who rolled their eyes at me, doctors who 'glanced' at the first few symptoms on my ever growing symptom list (last time I checked, 6 pages printed) and tossed it to the side like it was nothing - all the doctors told I needed anti-anxiety medication and I would be fine.

When I had my gallbladder out, I thought I was having a heart attack. No one told me until the next day and it was a tech. that did, that I should have my gallbladder checked since the symptoms are identical and many a HA have been cured by gallbladder surgery.

So When the Card. came in and told me I was fine and she was doing a heart catherization to be sure. I requested a gallbladder scan.

She argued and acted like I was being stupid, no surprises there, and said ok. Then proceeded to schedule the heart procedure and totally ignore my request.

I had to pitch a fit from hell to get them to do the gall. scan before they did the heart cath. It came down to the wire and I literally had to tell them no cath unless I get my scan.

Guess what a scan miraculously appeared on the horizon. So I'm waking up from the cath and the dr.s signing my release papers. They are sending me home and they haven't even looked at the gallbladder test results.

So I ask the dr. still groggy from the surgery if she's seen the results yet, and she again looks at me like I'm a bug she'd like to squash and says, "oh ok give me her chart back".

Next thing out of her mouth is oh my God that's the biggest gallstone I've ever seen. It was as big as my gallbladder.

So I say, well I'm not going home and having another attack like this, I want it removed. Next day surgeon comes in as I'm being prepped for surgery and tells me everything going to be fine, where have I heard those words before.

I have just finished reading and signing the release form that by the way stated that under no circumstances was a gallbladder bigger than so many cm to be removed via a laperoscopic procedure.

You know how the insurance co love that surgery since supposedly you heal faster and they can send you home the same day of major surgery. UNbelievable!

Any way my stone was way bigger than their statistics that they were saying not to for. So I tell the dr to please make a regular incision instead of the bandaid surgery lap.one because the stone is too big for removal through that little hole they make with the lap.proc.

He turns too me, and I kid you not, and I'm 48 years old, pats me on the head and says don't worry about it.

I tell him, well I am worried about it since thus far I have had to diagnose myself and then insist that the test was done and read and I didn't feel like trusting anyone right now.

Would he please listen to me and remove it through a reguar incision. And he tells me "oh no I couldn't do that, it would be medically unethical". But it's not unethical to rip my abdominal wall trying to remove a stone that is way to big for that tiny lap. hole.

After I woke up and was in considerable pain, he came in and said well it was a little bigger than I thought.

Why they can't listen to you and try to figure it out, I'll never know. Laziness? Incompetence? No problem solving skills?

They seem to not have the ability to think out-of-the-box.

I have totally lost faith in them. They are a complete waste of money IMHO unless you've broken a bone or something like that.

Nothing - NOTHING - connected with this disease gives me more grief than dealing with doctors.

Having said that, I don't think I'm guilty of demonizing them. Some I have some respect for, others I think should be put behind bars, but they are only part of the problem.

There are two words that sum up the worst of it: "managed care."

Paul,

I have to say I feel both duped and disappointed. You asked me a hard question and I tried to answer it and did so here - I didn't ask you to start another thread or email me or anything. When I asked the same of you, you are blowing me off. Like I said, duped & disappointed...