Sunday, October 22, 2006

Day 57 Doctor Drama

Some of you may know the details of my Dr. drama, I will provide a quick summary.

Just after July fourth, when my cold would not go away and I was really feeling bad (and I thought it was just that Susie was leaving me!) I made an appt. to see my primary care Dr. I had not been to the Dr. in almost 3 years, and I had not actually seen my Dr. in over 5 years, because I preferred seeing the nurse practitioner. So, I again agreed to see a nurse, and was scheduled for an appt. a few days later. Melanie the nurse was very nice, and although I repeated that I had never had any allergies, she insisted that allergies can appear at any time in your life and that I must be having allergies with post nasal drip that was irritating my throat. So, I paid my $25 co-pay and went to the pharmacy and stocked up Claritin, which I took every day for a week. However, I was still feeling bad and my throat didn't seem to be getting any better. So, I made another appt. and agreed to see a different nurse and a few days later I went back in. This nurse was Ann, and she was very nice and gave me a throat culture - which tells you in about 3 minutes that you don't have strep throat - and then said maybe you have a little infection, here is some amoxicilion. So, I paid my $25 co-pay and I went to cvs and paid $10 for my antibiotics, which I dutifully took for 10 days, and then I still wasn't feeling better. So, I made another appt. and this time I got to see a Dr., although it still wasn't my Dr. So, the Dr. (unknown name) agreed that it was a long time for a virus and that the antibiotic should have worked, but sometimes amoxicilian doesn't work for everyone, so here is 10 days of zithramax. So, I paid my $25 co-pay and I went to cvs and paid $10 for my new antibiotics, which I dutifully took for 10 days. And I was still feeling lousy....The Dr. agreed that I should see an ENT (ear nose throat specialist) however, the next appt for a new patient was at the end of October.

At this point my friends were getting a little tired of me being tired and not wanting to gab on the phone as I usually would. I was occasionally crying to one of them that I was just going to go the emergency room so that someone would help me....So, a certain friend of mine (thank you Ann) insisted that I get some real attention and stand up for myself and get someone to really diagnose me. She took my kids, and while being coached on the phone by her, I went to the Drs office and cried in the waiting room - omg - did they treat me badly - like a total drama queen. Anyway, there were a few more dramatic moments in the story, but the end of it is , that you need to cry to the receptionist to get what you want, and really don't worry about who is in the waiting room listening to you be hysterical.
I waited a few more days and then was able to get an appt with a wonderful ENT Dr. who looked down my throat using the disgusting endoscope (ouch and gross) and immediatly scheduled the surgery..

the moral of this not so short story is to trust your instincts and do not trust the Dr...if what the Dr (or nurse) tells you does not feel right then keep asking questions... and keep your checkbook out for the co-pay!

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