My GI

Pathetic, isn't it? The strain some doctors cause their patients is somehow on purpose...due to their arrogance and pride.

I do hope you can find a kinder GI....

q

O my goodness, I can't imagine. I hope you have access to another possibility for a GI!

I first learned of probiotics from a GI, have had 3 GIs (including my son's) tell me almost "miracle stories" from some folks who have taken them......I can't imagine a doc in today's world not being at least open-minded toward them!!

Wow, sorry you had to deal with someone like that. Hope you find a GREAT new GI!

I feel like I do not fit in his "good little patient" mold. I can not wait for my husband to get home so I can show him the reports that he wrote after our appointments - it is so clear he did not like the idea of having the patient participate in treatment plans.

The sad thing is that is there are very few options here for good GI doctors - my friend last year had an emergency colostomy and her surgeon told her that although he is such arrogant jerk the only GI she would recommend is this guy. I don't care though - I will take someone else over this treatment.

I agree with you 100%.

Now why your GI thinks you're annoying and stupid:

You are making it difficult for him. You are telling him that what he learned in school is wrong and incomplete. He has spent many years getting his degree. He got his degree. He is now qualified to practice medicine, and you are questioning his qualifications.

He learned how to diagnose your symptoms, what medications to prescribe for those symptoms, and that doing so is the best way to keep your symptoms at bay. He learned that no one knows why his patients will get IBD; so there is no reason to try to treat the cause. And he's is right about not being able to figure out the cause. There are simply too many reasons why someone gets IBD for him to be able to figure out why each of his patients has this disease.

His expectations are to meet you, hear your symptoms, prescribe medication, have you come back in better condition, and if you're not in better condition, to prescribe stronger medications. He feels you should be happy that he is treating your condition by prescribing those medications. Anything else he feels is annoying, crazy, and stupid. You did not receive the training he did. Besides, if your treatments have really worked for you, then why are you still seeing him?

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Now for the reality. You have this disease. You know more about how this disease affects you than he does. How could he know without asking you? He is not in your body experiencing what you are experiencing. You have spent much time researching this disease. In all probability, you have spent more time than he has researching this disease, because after all you have it. Plus, you continue to research it. You have also been experimenting with different treatments; so you know which treatments work for you and which ones don't.

Let your new GI know exactly why you are seeing him. If you aren't seeing him to get medication, then let him know this. I let my new GI know exactly why I'm still seeing him. My treatments are working now, but I don't know that they will keep working indefinitely; so I would like to have a backup supply of Canasa suppositories just in case. Plus, I would like to get periodic colonoscopies to test for colon cancer after I hit the 10-year mark.

My new GI, too, is irrational. I somehow went from having a severe case of UC to being a patient who has only a mild case of UC. In other words, he thinks that I must naturally have only a mild case of UC since I'm doing so well, not that I'm doing so well because of my choice of treatments.

Yes. I also feel frustrated with my GIs. I somehow thought that if I told them what worked for me, they would write it down, record it for future use, and use that information to help their other patients. I do think they make a mental note of it in their mind, but that's it. It doesn't go any further than that.

Post Edited (subdued) : 12/6/2010 1:50:56 PM (GMT-7)

Heard a researcher discussing the aspirn with milk = lower cancer results on the radio today and he was telling the host that they have found many doctors will resist "new ideas" and be behind the times by almost 10 years as they have always done things a certain way and that's what they know.

I would LOVE to find a GI with UC who is under 40... Please?

Get a new GI, I fired mine, just waiting forever for a new referral (takes forever here in Canada but at least it's free)

killcolitis said...
I believe GIs must have been the dumb kids in med school and that's why they are so against patients asking questions or considering alternatives.

What do you call a doctor that graduates last in his class? Doctor. The same thing you call the one that graduates first. Unfortunately we have no way of knowing which is which. But I'm starting to think the slackers are the ones that specialize in GI.

subdued said...
His expectations are to meet you, hear your symptoms, prescribe medication, have you come back in better condition, and if you're not in better condition, to prescribe stronger medications.

And don't forget he expects you to make sure he gets paid A LOT of money. These docs are making piles of cash, it's obscene how much money they make.

Thank you all for validating that this guy is out of line. The ego on these people is unreal. I am leaving the area for a few months but will be finding a new dr. when back in the Spring.

Thank you for supportive comments and suggestions on how to find a new GI.

I also feel that doctors are reluctant to perform surgery until all medications have been tried due to their feeling like failures if they prescribe medication and it doesn't work. Some people with UC feel the same way, that they somehow are giving in to this disease if they opt for surgery.

There is a definite conflict of interest between the GI doc and the surgeon. I agree that a GI can feel like they failed when a patient opts for surgery. But there is also the loss of a patient perhaps if surgery cures their UC.
Of course some after-surgery people will continue to need to see a GI so maybe the GI sees only the less successful surgery cases not the successful ones.

Sure doesn't make choosing surgery easier when GI's don't make the recommendation for surgery and you have to decide for yourself. That's a big value to this and the Ostomy forum. Hearing from real people who went that route and have the story to tell.