Dr.s make me so angry sometimes - ThinnerTimes

taleci · 03-08-2008, 11:06 AM

Just venting.........

We got back from our cruise a couple of weeks ago and I brought back the flu (or something) as a nice souvenir. Luckily I didn't start feeling really bad until the next to last day of vacation.
Anyhow, I went to the doctor as soon as we were back because my fever was really high for more the 48 hours at just shy of 103, I'd been in three different countries and I didn't know if it was just a cold or could be something more because I felt terrible. Since I was fit in to the schedule, I didn't get to see my doctor (there are about 40+ doctors at the office we use), but this doctor made me feel like I was wasting her time, told me I had the flu (with a duh! type of voice) gave me some codeine for the cough and sent me home with instructions to rest, take ibuprofen and plenty of fluid. Two days later I realized I couldn't hear out of my left ear. This had never happened to me before, and I was alarmed. The nurse for the doctor told me is was just congestion from the flu, not to worry and to take Claritin to help clear it up. That it might take ten days to clear up. I do recruiting for a living and so essentially, I have not been able to effectively work for two weeks. My voice has been too wavering and the coughing spasms have just been too much to communicate well with people.

I shouldn't even get started with how your are made to feel almost criminal now when you need to purchase one of the packs of cold medicine that the pharmacy has to keep behind the counter now. It is easier to get dilauded (a morphine painkiller) than Claritin.

So yesterday was two weeks, my hearing still wasn't back and the coughing was so bad I was coughing up blood. I called the doctor's office again and insisted that they fit me in. I got a brand, fresh new doctor right out of med school. This doctor immediately diagnosed me with a bacterial infection, put me on a z-pack of antibiotics, changed me from Claritin to Sudefed, suggested afrin, gave me something to get a good night's sleep.....and in less the 24 hours the difference in how I feel is AMAZING.

I know that there are a lot of school's of thought on antibiotics these days, and the office I go to prefers to only prescribe them when necessary. But how a doctor could let me and my work suffer for 2 weeks when this end solution was so easy is just beyond me.

One thing I have learned since the surgery is that I am my only advocate when it comes to my rights as a patient. Most doctors have no clue how to handle the GBS patient with routine medical care and I really have to watch out for myself.
But when it comes to something like this, I just don't know when to get "pushy". Now that I am feeling better almost overnight having been given the right prescriptions, I wish I hadn't waited the two weeks to insist they see me again. And I really hate it when a doctor makes you feel like you wasted their time because you went in for something, like the flu or a cold, and they really can't do anything for you. I feel guilty.......like I took time away from someone with something serious with my trivial disease. Am I the only one that isn't in tune with their body enough to know when it is something like bronchitis or strep or when it is a cold?

Godsblessedme · 03-08-2008, 11:51 AM

definatly not the only one not in tune with your body. i'm sorry your not feeling well. hope that the zpack helps

coptergirl · 03-08-2008, 12:26 PM

Leslie - I am glad you are feeling better, and that Doogie Houser was sensitive enough to your needs to do the right thing. I would contact your normal doc or the head of the clinic to complain about the cow that "helped" you out in the first place. I did that with some arse I saw at my old clinic about 6 months before I actively pursued GBS. The little f***er had the nerve (at 150lbs overweight) to tell me that I was lazy and that all I would have to do was diet and exercise. Ummm...hello? Needless to say, I spoke with the head of the clinic (my usual doc and a man I miss as having my PCP since moving east), and told him what happened. He called me a week later to let me know that Napoleon had been let go as other folks had complained about his horrid bedside manner. Problem solved

PennyJ · 03-09-2008, 10:27 AM

Hey Leslie! Sorry to hear your vacation left you more under the weather than in the pink! I hope by now the meds are in full force and you're feeling 100%! Take care!!

Zenomia · 03-09-2008, 10:54 AM

Your first clue that something wasn't right should have been when they told you to take IBUPROFEN! RNY patients are NOT supposed to have it, at all. NO NSAIDS!!! Too difficult on the pouchy. You are right though...we are our only advocates for our HEALTH. It's best as a patient you know your signs and symptoms and really don't just take what the Dr. says as absolute gospel! It's good to remember that Drs. are only human too...they make mistakes all the time, especially when they are forced to see 'quotas' of patients and keep those visits as short as possible. Health care today is about the $$ not about taking care of HEALTH. Sad but true.