Recently, my mom, sister and I have become very dishearted in the medical system. We have all fallen ill with an ailment and went to the doctor to see what was wrong. They ran basic tests and made a diagnosis and prescribed a generic drug. We are all still sick with the original problem after our treatment was administered. It seems as if the doctor will only treat the sympotms unless you tell them what disease you have. Excuse me, isnt that a little backwards? Shouldn't they being the one to discover what I have. What are we paying them for?!?!
Lets take my mom for example. She has had a chronic cough for over a year and she goes into the doctor once a month or so and he contnually prescribed an antibiotic, anti inflammatory and a cough suppressant. Finally last week she insisted on doing a swallow x-ray where they discovered that her cough was just a symptom of a bigger problem. They still arent sure what caused it, but she has an extreme amount of scar tissue all the way down her esophogus and it is getting worse. She is currently being treated for acid reflux until they can get the swelling down and see what is in there. I think the whole idea of her being in the Drs office once a month for the same problem just to get the same result is stupid. Since when is she trained to self diagnose. If the medical community is requiring us to know what ailments we have before we go see them, why do we need them?
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Good question. I get mad when doctors act like that too. I used to see a doctor who would just run in and out and prescribe whatever to clear her office and appointments. Finally, a doctor who had been in this area and had taken a break for a few years started practicing again. He really cares about his patients. I went in one time with a foot injury. He x-rayed my foot, did blood work to make sure I had no arthritis and scheduled me to come back the following week. I went in with the flu last march. He did chest and head X-rays to make sure my lungs and sinuses were okay and he did blood work, IVs, and a mono test to make sure I wasn't sicker. He's a really REALLY good doctor. Another time, I sliced my thumb open with a can and we called to the office and he waited on us to get down there so he could make sure it didn't need stitches. Doctors need to actually take time and care about their patients, and if that means limiting the load of people they can see in a day, then so be it. We need more doctors.
Your family should switch doctors. My family has been with this one doctor for several years, and he does absolutely nothing. All he does is prescribe his patients with amphicillin and Tylenol, which I guess he thinks is a "cure all." I f you have a dislocated shoulder, he'll just prescribe you some with Tylenol. My grandmother was in the late stage of cancer, and he didn't even diagnose it. Switch to a doctor who you know actually cares and knows his/her stuff, otherwise those doctor visits are a huge waste of money and time.
While I agree that our system is failing, it's not necessarily right to blame everything on the doctors. When they're being forced to see 6 patients an hour in order to pay their bills (including the 200K that they took out loans for to get trained to diagnose the problems in the first place), they don't exactly have time to sit there and probe information out of you. Which is why it's important to tell everything to your doctor up front. The problem is compounded by the fact that insurance companies aren't reimbursing the doctors well enough, so those that would be great primary care docs are specializing so that they can get paid more.
But I agree with the poster above me. You need a new doctor.
~C
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About a year ago i had sprained my ankle really bad. It swelled up so huge that i thought it was broken. When i went to the er, they did not give me a room, i sat in the hall way when the doctor looked at me. There was another patient there with a broken finger whom they gave pain releivers and room, which was more then i got. I still have not paid the $700 dollar bill they sent me for there bad service.
http://www.progressiveu.org/090204-dont-miss-this-chance
Thank you! You finally proved my point. I was saying the exact same thing about doctors in my blog America doesn't care about you.
DISCLAIMER: I am not being rude. I'm stating my opinion. No personal attacks are meant. Please give some leniency on how you take my words. imagine me saying them with a smile. ^__^