There was the nephrologist who, back in 1997 when I was first diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, told me it was not a big deal, just quit smoking, lose 30 pounds and come back in 5 years. He didn’t even see me in the examining room, he spoke with me in the waiting room. I firmly believe if he would have educated me about the disease, I wouldn’t be in the situation I’m in now. Yes, I should have also educated myself, too, but - he’s the doc.
There was the ER doctor I saw in December 2012 who literally patted me on the head, told me “they” call PKD “Mushy Kidneys” and the severe pain I was in was nothing more than a cry for narcotics. His crappy attitude drove me to my primary physician who informed me my kidney function was under 20%, hie thee to a different nephrologist and get on the transplant list. So, in a way, while I wouldn’t piss on him if he were on fire, he forced me to confront this disease.
Then there were the two surgeons who did my fistula and fistula fix. The first one snapped at my daughter, basically telling her to shut up. When I stated I didn’t appreciate how he spoke with her, he basically told me to shut up. I had to go back 6 months later to have it repaired. That surgeon told us it would be a quick in and out, scar of maybe an inch, I’d be ready to go home in under two hours. FOUR hours later and four new gashes on my arm, the nurse led back my freaking out daughter - no one had told her what was going on. She had asked, and no one knew.
Insurance company stupidity: Since I started dialysis, I’ve had to have two fistulagrams (basically going in and seeing how it’s working). My insurance will cover it only if I have them done at the hospital. The doctors who do the fistulagrams have an office, they do them there daily. It would, I presume, be MUCH cheaper to have them done in office - I would not be sedated as they do in hospital, not have to take up a whole theater, but no.
My daughter (then 14) was involved in an accident (as a pedestrian, crossing a road) and suffered a number of injuries, the most serious a fractured pelvis. She had external fixateurs to stabilize the fracture, spent 4 weeks in hospital and another 4 weeks in rehab learning to walk again.
After being home for a couple of days, she started complaining of pain in her hip. She was febrile and very miserable, so I took her back to the hospital. They admitted her overnight, then the Senior Nurse (from her previous admission) took me aside the next morning to explain that my daughter was basically malingering, there was nothing wrong with her, and she’d just become ‘institutionalized’ from her previous stay.
So I took her home again, and the next day the pain was severe…so back to hospital and this time DEMANDED further investigation. An ultrasound of her hip area was ordered, and when the radiologist pressed the monitor against her hip (site of the previous fixateur) it literally EXPLODED with pus. It was the funniest sight ever to watch the operator recoil in utter disgust. But we did get a diagnosis, and it wasn’t Acute Hypochondria…she had a very nasty staph infection in her hip joint. :eek:
She underwent 4 further surgeries in five days to clean the site, another two weeks in hospital on IV antibiotics and a Senior Nurse who avoided me like the bloody plague.
1.Telling you to try OTC meds or some method or diet or lotion and come back in two weeks if it didn’t work, even when you say I HAVE already I’m not rich or a fool of course I tried OTC options or home remedies and found them failing or I never would have paid money for this visit. Well try it for another two weeks and come back, no how about you do your job and write me a script and stop trying to wring another damn office vi$it out of me?
2.Messing around with your RX meds for no discernible reason when you have already been through the options and are happy with what you’re using now? Oh no I don’t like that med I find this one better, no thanks I’d prefer not to be miserable with allergies or asthma just because you don’t like something. This happens a lot with new docs, they feel it is mandatory to mark their territory or something by messing with the meds you’re on currently, that took trial and error already going through the options to find and you’re happy with.
*I’m not talking about narcotics or anything.
Several years ago, my father was in the ER with one of several trips due to the COPD that he eventually died from. It was a late Friday evening. The ER was extremely busy, all of the ER rooms were full, and there were several people in each room, visiting with the person who was being treated. I was in my father’s room with my mother. Both of them were elderly and hard of hearing, and neither of them was understanding what any of the many medical professionals who were running in and out of his room were telling them. So I tried to get the ER nurse to let me know what was going on. She told me that she couldn’t do that, that she could only tell my father, who was barely lucid, and my mother, who didn’t understand what was going on. So I went into the room and asked my Dad, loudly, to tell the nurse (who had walked away) that I had his authority to get his medical condition.
The nurse came storming back and ordered me to get out, that only one person was allowed in an ER room at a time. I pointed to all of the other rooms, full of people, including tiny kids but she said that if I didn’t leave immediately, she was going to have me arrested.
I tried to get in touch with the hospital’s ombudsman’s office, but being a late Friday evening, they were closed. I did call first thing Monday morning, but I have no idea if anything was done. But I never did see that nurse again in the multiple trips back to the ER.
Since then, I have gotten medical powers of attorney for both of my parents.
