Posted 7/11/2013 4:31 AM (GMT 0)
I have had FOUR GIs in Boston! I can recommend two of them.
Gale Fiarman was the doctor I saw at Harvard Vanguard (Cambridge) for my first two flares. I was incredibly sick when I showed up in her office six years ago, and she pretty much fast-tracked me through the process. I kind of felt like she saved my life, honestly. I think she does work at the Kenmore location as well, but I was never totally clear on that (I think she only does scopes there). I ended up finding a new doctor, though, because the Cambridge location was too hard to get to, and I was having trouble seeing her quickly enough.
I started seeing a doctor at BIDMC who was AMAZING but he left for a different job out of the country. I was switched to another doctor in the practice I did NOT like, so I decided to try one more BIDMC doc before finding a new practice. I started seeing Richard Doyle and WOW, he is AWESOME.
I was completely bedridden back in January and February, and I was able to get an appointment with him within 3 weeks of calling (I think it was about 2-2.5 weeks). One of his fellows took my extremely long medical history (she was wonderful) and went over it with him before he met with me, and he explained some of my treatment options to me. He was totally understanding when I told him I didn't want to take prednisone. He also was non-judgmental when I asked if I could be sedated for the flex sig. And his office handled the Remicade authorization so I didn't have to do anything.
Finally, my on-going treatment with him has been superb. He explains things to me without being condescending, and he listens to me when I have ideas for treatment. For example, when I felt like the Remicade wasn't lasting long enough, or working well enough, I didn't even have to ASK him to up the dosage and frequency--he suggested it immediately. He also agreed with me when I called him between appointments to ask if I could try hydrocortisone enemas (he hadn't prescribed them because he respected my request to stay off steroids). Those have been practically magical for me, and I'm nearly in remission now because of them.
He's also been easy to make appointments with. The doc I was switched to before Dr. Doyle was IMPOSSIBLE to make appointments with. I had to wait months in between appointments, regardless of how sick I was, and before each appointment, I'd get a call from his office saying he'd be out of the office that day and needed to reschedule my appointment. So when I was able to get an appointment with Dr. Doyle so quickly, I was surprised, but I was even more surprised that he could see me once a month, or even every two months.