Hi Thanks for the info, I was very spoiled with doctors in Seattle. There is a great Spinal Cord rehab there. The doctor I had while I was in rehab had just started his intern. I was one of his first SCI patients. After his Intern he started his own practice fairly near my home. So I went to him for 20 years. He let me do so many things by phone, I could have others drop off my pee to get tested, etc. Here, they make me go in to drop it off. After that he moved away, but the doc who took over was a Physiatrist also. Not as nice of a guy, but new his job well enough. Since I moved here, my insurance makes me see a Primary Doc who then sends me to a Specialist. So it's 2 trips to the doc for anything SCI related. I have only been to the Rehab doc 2 times. I liked her a lot, so I'm hoping she can recommend a Primary Care doc she works with. Or somehow get the insurance to let her be mine. I have really been lucky with docs in the past, but I really haven't had many real medical issues. H.O. in my hip (That was hard to I.D. at fist.) pneumonia 2 times, lots of UTI's, that's about it. This has been one of my worst 2 months. The sore abdomen, sick feeling, excess pain, spasms, nausea, sweats, lots of minor AD, and a few majors ones. 2 ER visits ending in a 4 and 3 day stay. They think it might be Proctitis, and a little fluid in my left lung.
I know about "Notes" on doc files. My mothers was having really bad back pains and other Nueropathy issues. I went to her doc with her. We got her files to bring to specialist and see had put in there that "she brought her disabled son to try and get sympathy to get pain meds" That pissed me off. Thanks much, Greg _____ From: Lori Michaelson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2007 1:15 PM To: Greg; [email protected] Subject: Re: [QUAD-L] New Doc Hi Greg, My lengthy ramblings again but I feel y'all need to take caution and hopefully NOT enacting scenarios like chicken little and then eventually your name gets around that you are a hypochondriac through no fault of your own. And it does happen! The member of this list from Oklahoma, with his vast array of mdical & hom care problems and advocating for himself in the medical realm, only looks at him now I as a problem . Folks in this country seem to have to resort to diagnosing themselves because of the inadequacy of the medical system these days. Please read this all as I am sure you might get something out of it. Especially when I talk about controlling autonomic dysreflexia from an unknown stimulus. Because I asked two questions BY my Urologist that I was told to ask (over the phone) at my urologist's office my doctor ended up telling me that there was a "star" put next to my name that I was too inquisitive or whatever and even she could not believe it! It was supposed to have been removed but who knows! In fact, my urologist only noticed because she was around the computer when my name was brought up by one of her staff. I am sure that I have written this before but it probably has been quite some time ago. I have been to three different Primary Care Doctors after moving here to Tucson, Arizona (just 90 minutes south of Greg) and I have just had it with doctors. Someone recently summed it up with a line of comedy about how the medical students going for MDs... don't graduate at the bottom of the class for nothing! Or, one could say, it is called medical practice because it IS practice. LOL I am sure that a great majority of you see me as the eternal cynic or pessimist but I am actually the opposite. Before I go to any new doctor... I usually look up where they went to school and where they did their residency and/or internships. And how long they have been in practice and if they have had any malpractice suits brought up against them. It can't hurt to be that cautious when it comes to taking the best care of the only body that we are given on this trip around the sun. And during the very first visit... have a whole list of questions ready so you do not forget to ask them. Remember... they are working for you... not the other way around. Unless, of course, any of you do get paid for going to see the doctor! LOL. Not a single one of my doctors that I have had for over 20 years have understood fully everything surrounding quadriplegia. Since they don't... I avoid them like the plagues of Egypt because I have had more harm done to me then good and they still get paid for not helping me. Even rehab doctors. In sum, I do not go to my doctor's office, a clinic or a hospital unless I am in dire straits to the point of no other option. From experience I have learned that it is a waste of time. And I think you, Greg, just experienced that. If not before at another date over the years. You spent several days in the hospital and came out not knowing anything more than you did before you went in. Therefore... having you on strong antibiotics for God knows what may be doing your body more harm by resistance just because they had no better answers for you. That is a well-known tactic by many personnel that essentially says go away and don't bother me. Take these pills and you should be OK. OK... take them for what??? I am thankful that my husband knows how to read a laboratory report and any patient has the right for a copy of their medical records. So, if it reads that I have a gram-negative bacteria and my doctor has given me a gram-negative antibiotic... that is OK. But we have experienced the opposite and would never have known had my husband not have the ability to do what he does! My AD (serious bouts) is either taken care of by keeping Procardia or Atenelol on hand. Procardia can also be taken under the tongue like nitroglycerin. My doctor in Brooklyn that did my surgeries for Syringomyelia completely ignored my severe, beyond life-threatening, bouts of AD including heartbeats so bad and so fast that I thought I was surely going to die from that alone. Not to mention the severe pounding headaches like a hammer is inside your skull pounding away to get out. Stroke level. I spent many, many, many hours with him with questions about the surgeries and made sure I got all my questions answered before I chose him as a surgeon. I "assumed" (BY BEING a neurosurgeon) that he knew enough about spinal cord injuries. I found out much, much later that he was primarily a brain surgeon and did not study much about spinal cord injuries at all and also afterward admitted that he was not familiar with AD! What a jerk! And from my explanation of benefits (Blue Cross and Blue Shield while I was working) showed that he got paid $100,000 from me while nearly killing me! I am not saying that my circumstances are any more serious than yours. That is just one example out of many whereby doctors egos get in the way of their helpfulness. I chose my last, and current, primary care physician because when I went in to see him for the very first time and like I do with all the docs I see for the very first time ... I asked him if he knew about the wiles of home health care agencies because that was of my greatest concern. He assured me that he knew everything about home health care agencies because of this or that going through his residencies or by some other means. I needed him to be my advocate because it is his orders that are required for the home health care itself. HE IS THE ONLY DR over a 27 year period that did not advocate and on my behalf and, because of his inactions, he left me in dire straits and then had a smart ass commentary. Believe it or not... I still have him but only use him for getting my prescriptions ordered and for him to sign the recertification papers every 60 days for the little bit of home health care that I do get. Would you believe that Medicare pays him a $85 JUST FOR HIS SIGNATURE??? So, in other words, he gets paid every two months for NOT having to see me! I can't believe Medicare just allows this insanity. We are truly living in an upside down, turned around world! Bottom line again... I will not turn my body over to doctors or hospital personnel unless it would kill me not to. And since I have almost been killed in hospitals in thousands of different ways... I am in no hurry to get there ... even for a nebulous reason. Good luck on finding a new doctor but doctor hopping is no fun. And you do not find out until later whether or not they are good for you or not. I assume that you know that you can look through the Yellow Pages to find your local "doctor referral service" and call them to ask about the doctor first. Or sometimes the University Medical Center will give out referrals. Lori Michaelson C4/5 complete quad, 28 years post Tucson, AZ On Nov 30, 2007 3:59 PM, Greg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I want to change my Primary Care Doc. Mine just doesn't understand my issues. He has always been helpful, as in doing what I asked, but just didn't take my AD seriously enough for me. I have been using a Dr Alcott at St Joseph, in Phoenix as a Specialist a few times. I'll ask her next week. But who would you recommend in the Phx area? My insurance needs them to be a Primary Care or Internal Medicine. Pacific Care, Secure Horizon. I'd like my docs to be connected better. The hospital gave me strong antibiotic that are killing my stomach, causing cramps, etc., and more Dysreflexia. I'd like to get shots or IV antibiotics. My Primary wouldn't change the orders. I understand since he didn't really get much info from the hospital as to why I'm getting them. But I can tell he doesn't like how much paperwork I am. Thx, Greg -- Lori C4/5 complete quad, 27 years post Tucson, AZ
