Annoyed With Doc

Pratoman,

Why don't you just go to the "Records Section" of the medical center? They will make a copy of your pathology report on the spot.

Doctors and nurses are just too busy these days. I have fairly good doctors that respond to me by email, almost with a few hours.

JL

Let's see, I get run around in circles, bills go to wrong addresses and wind up with a constable at the door for collection, and have to fight for meds to treat the cancer I wish I didn't have, all thanks to insurance companies.

I'll trade you.

Pratoman:

When you say you got the results by email, do you mean you got a copy of the pathology report, or just that the results were negative ??

If you haven't got a copy of the path. report yet , you could just show up at the Dr.'s office and ask for a copy. I usually always get much better results in person.

No excuse IMHO for the poor service and insensative treatment.

I think it is an indication of how the practice is run and I'd think about alternatives. I'm not condemning individuals -- the doctor and nurse may be skilled and caring people -- but they might be hobbled by working in a system that doesn't enable the support you may really need some day.

We had stunningly bad support from the first doctor and practice we dealt with on this journey, so unhelpful and thoughtless that it made you wonder if you had an actual human on the other end of the phone. We've since talked to several doctors since this is a pretty high stakes game we're in, and all have been better to work with than the initial doctor (rated one of the best doctors in our mid-sized city).

I'd give a sigh of relief that things look good, and find a better-run practice for the long run so that if you ever need them, they're there for you.

Suppose the easy answer is to fire the doctor...I did that with the pompous practitioner I initially encountered - a highly regarded local urologist on a referral from my GP.

He was/is the top urologist at a local hospital - my initial experience at his office was not good at all - the staff was rude but I chalked it up to a 'bad day', etc.

When the doc came in to see me there was no greeting other than "Drop your pants and bend over" by him followed by a pre-biopsy immediate declaration from him of: "You have prostate cancer". In any event I was anxiously in a hurry so I agreed to have him do the biopsy the next day...and I was treated better that day (after I called my GP and told him how rude they were, etc.)

A few days later when he was delivering my biopsy results he actually handed my wife one of the arms from his brand new DaVinci machine while telling me "When I get finished with you Mr. M, you won't dribble three drops". (Found out later he had done a "few" DaVinci procedures at that point in time...)

Without missing a beat I responded with a calm, "Well we won't have to worry about that Dr. because you won't be touching me."

Understand I am fortunate to live 25 miles South of Boston and have immediate access to very good alternative care - actually a had a choice of more than one and all are extremely 'busy' major medical hospitals ...yet the difference since then has been remarkable.

*

My point is reading your experience pratoman really pisses me off and no you are not wrong at all... What you describe is unacceptable to me.

Both my wife and I are cancer patients and both have had 180 degree different experiences between both our care and expertise levels since accessing the Boston medical community - from two different hospitals...

I don't know where you live or what practical alternatives you have available but I would demand better care/communication from this guy or find another source for future treatment/monitoring, etc.


_

Age 63, dx at 60, PSA 2.9 ; biopsy t3b Gleason 7 (4 +3)
11/09 Post-prostatectomy: ext-prostatic growth 60% tumor both lobes; perinural + l sem ves w/lympho-vascular tumor; nodes:14 right; 9 left (no mets)
10/11 adjuvant IGRT 8 weeks
4/10/12 psa rise from 0.3;0.5;0.9 post-SRT –to med onco
5/30/12 neg bone scan; ct – enl. adrenal gland + 1 pelvic node "involvement"...
6/5/12 500mg daily use of pom extract 6/5/12 psa to 1.5… 7/10/12 psa to 2.0
7/17/12 diagnosed w/ of “aggressive metastatic” pc; start 50mg Casodex (Bicalutamide) + 500mgpom extract
9/11/12 ct scan + psa drop from 2.0 to 0.2; shrinking lymph gland
9/27/12 radiation team to treat my lymph gland with the cyberknife
10/12/12 Gold fiducial makers as prep for cyberknife treatment
10/23 cyberknife planning session 11/12 cyberknife to begin 1 week
11/12 -11/16 underwent 5 days of cyberknife treatments
11/23/12 - continuing with oncology meds (as above) - more blood tests and another ctscan scheduled then on to both ck and onco teams in mid December.*

akai said...
You do not need to apologize for being annoyed. I had the same experience except the nurse was also not responding to my calls or emails. Since being Dx for PCa the nurse has gotten better but I have had very little contact with my uro. Thanks to a site such as this, I have been able to learn so much on my own. I have to initiate a request for a PSA test, I believe I will have to initiate the next appointment request, my doc has never set up any follow up appointment. It is frustrating to say the least.

Akai - i have thought about that, i think maybe i am just low on the priority list with a negative diagnosis. I know they see tons of people at that hospital, the Dr told me the first time i met with him that he had 43 appointments that day (although he spent about 45 minutes with me). I am starting to think i need to find a new Uro, not even sure how to go about it. Maybe go back to the one who first suggested i get the biopsy done, and who has been monitoring me for the last 4 years. I'm a little embarrased though going back to him, since i didnt have him do the biopsy. But probably not such a good idea to go back to him anyway, because i would just rather be with a larger more well known practice.

As far as you needing to initiate appointments and PSA tests, i dunno, that seems like a disgrace to me. At the end of the day, we all need to be responsible for ourselves, but still, a good Dr practice should prompt the patient to do things at the proper intervals. Its not a big deal for them to send out a postcard.

Don't assume you're low on the priority list because of good results.  When we were dealing with our nightmare doc, I thought maybe we were low on the priority list because our results were so bad, maybe we were beyond help.  Now I think it's just how some practices operate. 

We got terrible news, made more terrible by the way it was delivered (our files say everywhere to call me, the wife, rather than Ted, who was very emotional, but a doctor still called Ted and told him while he was driving that it was cancer, it had metastasized to his lymph nodes and throughout his skeleton, that it was too late for any treatment -- none would extend his life and all would seriously diminish the quality of the time he had left.  That's good to hear while driving on the highway in traffic).  And even so when I called back to schedule an appointment, they were "too busy" to see us for weeks.  And getting the results from them had been a nightmare requiring many calls and in-person visits to more than one office (bone scans were in one office, CT records were at another location, biopsy results at the hospital -- they made me drive to all  -- nice for someone coping with a lot right at that moment). 

Don't assume it's something about you, I bet its about them.    

@Infohound - thank you, and glad to see that your husbands PSA is so low, post treatment

@JAV - Thanks - and trust me, i'll get those records, i'm not one who takes no for an answer very often, especially on something like this. In fact i need to hold myself back because i tend to go nuts pretty quickly. Which is why i came here with this, just to make sure it wasnt me, being me ! LOL

Seriously, this forum is awesome.

Thank you Bill. I do wish i could contribute more, but everyone here is much more knowledgeable than I, and unfortunately, has gone through much more than i.

I do intend to look for another Uro. I am going to see my PCP in the next few weeks and will probably discuss it with him. I THINK i can trust him to refer me to some good names, rather than send me to someone just because he is a friend of his. I think. LOL

I have a strong feeling, that i will ultimately go through a similiar experience to yours, Bill. My father had PC, and my PSA is rising. Assuming it continues to rise, I am sure there are more biopsies in my future, and if they do enough of them, they will find something eventually. But at least, thanks to this place, i will be educated, and out in front of it early.

Post Edited (Pratoman) : 12/8/2012 12:05:09 PM (GMT-7)

I get frustrated with doctors sometimes too, but also insurance companies. In the year 2012 you'd think we'd have it down to a science if something is covered or not. I fight for so many tests and drugs that it's tough to keep track. Let me know up front-is the darn thing covered? The doc shouldn't prescribe anything unless it is.

My favorite is my bone density test. I have spent hours trying to explain that I'm not being screened for osteoporosis, but that I'm on drugs that aren't that healthy for bones. The runaround is almost comical. And the automated phone systems that not only involve pressing numbers for answer, but a half working voice recognition system. By the time you get to speak to someone, you're already set to go off the handle. What upsets me the most is that the patient is in the middle a lot of the time, left to provide justification for something or tracking down reports, etc...

Most of my docs are amazing at getting back to me. Their office staff - I've seen the best and I've seen the worst.

For your specific request for your path report-I'd view that as a hidden treasure venture. I'd track that baby down, have fun doing it, and frame it vs. mine which is literally in a hundred pieces.

There are some things in life we can't control or change. Doctors are not one of them; who you choose to treat you is totaly under your control, and in the majority of cases who you choose will significantly affect your outcome.
I can accept a doctor who is opinionated or curt. What I will not accept is one who doesn't address my concerns, answer questions or has poor follow up. If a doctor has a poorly run office or lacks attention to detail, this will also affect his treatment of you as these are symptoms of his overall personality and should be red flags to anyone.
The best run operation I have ever seen was a specialized Vet who treated my dog years ago for cancer, surgery and 8 weeks of radiation. He used mooonlighting doctors from local hospitals to do all the treatments and did all his work from 12am to 8am. After seeing how efficient his operation worked I told my wife if I ever got cancer I'm going to that Vet.

Food for thought:

This time of year every year, everybody and there brother is getting medical treatments before Dec 31st comes around and a new deductible kicks in. Then there's the part about weeks are shorter due to holiday days off... And use your vacation time or lose it before Jan 1st which makes any office short handed.

My URO has stood me up two times (not been there) due to getting held up in surgery. 2 out of 20+ visit isn't bad in my opinion and I'll continue to see him.