Ever have a doctor treat you like an idiot?

[kerry1379]

I've had a couple of bad experiences many years ago that have taught me to speak up more. Most of them were for my medically fragile son so that gave me the incentive I needed. The first time was when I was visiting my son in the NICU. This particular time I was by myself as my husband had to be at work that day. Most of the doctors and nurses were phenomenal. But one wasn't. He chose that time to come over and try to push me into signing a DNR for my infant son. He kept saying, "what quality of life can he expect?" The thing is, they had NO CLUE at that point what was even wrong and the only machine he was on at that time was a ventilator. I was livid. The next time was a follow up to an Endocrinologist a few months after the NICU. I told him my son was urinating more than what was normal. He barely glanced up from his paperwork and said in a very condescending tone, "He's fine. How would YOU know what is normal?" "Well, you mean aside from the fact that 1. your collegue's at the NICU diagnosed him as such; 2. because he is medically fragile, I measure/monitor/record everything, and 3. this is my second child so I do have a reasonable comparison-while you, sir, have laid eyes on him for a grand total of 30 seconds and read one paragraph on him." I had a home health nurse with me as I needed the help and she too looked like she was about to strangle him. We left and found another doctor. I have learned to trust my gut and follow through more as I have gotten older.

 

[china mom]

OTOH I had quite the opposite experience the other day. I met with a new surgeon and he immediately said he wanted to rebuild my foot (again) and he had my x-rays up on the screen. He was talking about all of the options and strategies such as modifying my hardware, replacing the hardware, adding screws, removing screws. And between every thought, he would look at me for my opinion as if I was part of the surgical team. It was such an odd interaction. I have no clue, he's the one who specializes in this particular surgery. My degree is in Criminal Justice. Ask me a question about your traffic ticket and I'll chime in. In the meantime, you can be in charge of the surgery.

I did like him a lot though and despite the fact that he was looking to me for medical advice, he did make me feel like part of the team, not just a foot that he was working on.

 

[rajak73]

Wow, after reading this thread, make me really appreciate my primary doctor, my DW primary doctor, our new dentist, and all the specialty doctors, nurses and surgeons that my DW has seen. We actually had a Doctor come into the hospital room and apologize to us for not listening.

 

[_19disnA]

It seems most doctors today are specialists and only deal in their specific field. If your condition isn't within their specialty they push you off onto someone else. I often take my mom to her doctor appointments since she is elderly and has various medical issues. Most of the doctors talk in medical jargon that sounds like mumbo/jumbo to me. I am sure my mom has NO idea what they are saying. More often then not, I don't hesitate to tell them I don't work in the medical field, have no idea what they are saying and they need to describe things in terms a non-medical person can undestand. Most seems suprised. Hard to believe I am the first person to ever tell them I don't understand their terminology. Some doctors seem to forget that the average person is NOT an expert in their particular specialty.

 

[fly girl]

The only interaction I truly was angry about was when my dd was very little. We were at a routine baby well exam and this visit we saw a nurse practitioner. This exam had a finger stick iron test. My baby could take all those vaccines without a whimper, but the finger stick was not the same. She was full on whaling!

**Preface, I have a minor blood disorder that is hereditary. I will ALWAYS have low iron and be anemic. And supplemental iron will not help, and can cause more harm than good.**

Unsurprisingly, it came back with low iron. I explained that I had Thalassemia and that it was likely she did too. And that I didn't want another finger stick, I wanted to have her tested. She didn't listen to anything I said and she gave her another finger prick! I was absolutely livid.

I have never been so angry at a healthcare professional. I wrote it up to the office and unsure if anything happened. However, I still liked that practice overall, just not her. DD still visits that office, however I refuse to see that nurse practitioner which isn't hard as there are over 12 doctors, PA's and NP's in that practice.

 

[Dznypal]

Not the dr treating me like I’m nuts but twice with the office staff. First time was at the gyn was told I needed to fill out papers. I knew I filled out the papers the last time. She got real huffy and shuffling the papers saying see nothings filled out. I looked at the folder it was thhe right last name wrong first name. Without a word she huffed back to get my folder. Nice to verify.

Next was I had an issue with my nose and the dr had to get it out every day for a week so he just had me come in to where he was for the day. He had to do something else besides just check it so he set up an app for the next day while I was there he wanted me to go where he was that day hospital A. So when they called that night to set everything up she told me to go to hospital A. No I said it’s hospital B. We argued back and forth with her insisting I go to hospital A. So I said fine I’ll go but it’s the wrong place. I even told her I was there when tve dr set it up didn’t matter. So the next day I set out for hospital A. Now remember the dr is at hospital B. Not A we’re they insisted o go. How they coukd even check me me when the dr isn’t even there that day is another question. Anyways so I’m waiting in the exam room when they come in saying I have a phone call. I’m thinking I’m thinking why would someone be calling me here instead of on my cell. Gee was I surprised when I answered that it was the dr wondering where I was He was mad when he found out I was at hospital A waiting for him and he was at hospital B waiting for him. I told him I tried to tell them but no one would listen. He told me he was going to call scheduling and have a chat. I can only imagine how that went.