"New doctor" warning signs

[Not dead yet!]

Good grief. It's not until I got home and calmed down a bit that I got this aftermath of anger about the visit.

I am having issues with the staff at the doctor I'm seeing. He's a good doctor but his staff are obstructionist.

So I went to see a new one in a different city (there are four cities with in close driving distance to me). I start telling him the problems I'm dealing with. He doesn't directly discount any of it. But he's not making much eye contact. Warning sign.

I'm alerted also because I know my internal tendency is to want to trust "fatherly" men. And he was one of them. Warning sign. When I had time to process it, I realized I felt uncomfortable with him.

But I was even more uncomfortable with the nurse who seemed to think I needed a diet and exercise program to lose weight. She would talk of nothing else. Warning sign.

This was MDVIP so the visit was a "meet and greet" free visit to see if I was comfortable with them. Funny how you can feel ok if a bit uneasy with things until later when it's like... hey, wait.

Even worse, I feel like they will now talk about me in that hairdresser's back room sort of way. The waiting room was so empty. Warning sign.

And so opulent, like something out of an old French movie. Warning sign.. maybe? or maybe he's just French.

Anyway I didn't feel like I was in the presence of a detective. I felt like I was in the presence of someone who forever has to check with someone else before doing anything. And who is happy to prescribe the most expensive drugs instead of cheap alternatives (based on things he said).

Not sure if that last one is a bad thing. It's so hard to know which new drugs are a sincere effort to help someone and which are shams. Should I be concerned that he was keen to put me on an expensive new diet drug? I definitely think obesity is a problem, but not THE problem. And if I could figure out what is actually wrong, I don't think my body would remain obese. It never has before.

It's the "what is actually wrong" part that has me seeking new eyes to look at my case.

I'm very aware of what Jen Brea has been through lately and I"m still processing that. It could very well be my issue, but in my case there are... complications of my physiology like torticollis. And I'm having new dizzy spells I haven't had before, especially when moving my head. The time I seriously hurt my back, the pain was located in the lumbar area and it happened when I took a fast u-turn in my hallway. I lost consciousness for a sec and collapsed straight down, legs unresponsive, but I could move my arms while falling. CCI may explain it.

But I don't think I can tolerate going on a Facebook group to find out. I'm seriously tempted to just go to a minute clinic for colds, and maybe not even have a doctor. Maybe these last few drugs should also be tapered down and I can suffer through whatever comes next.

Or maybe I'm still mad about doctors who think they know stuff, but don't.

 

[Chicky]

I am new here, but I am of the *trust your gut* type of person. The lack of his eye contact, I agree, big red flag! I worked in a hospital a long time and have had really good docs and bad ones. it is very frustrating this journey. (I am retired, on disability) I hear you about docs who think they know it all! I call them *doctors in a box* They have closed minds with blinders on and only have their box tests/treatments, and if you don't fit in the box, that is all they have! The best docs I have had looked at me, listened, and thought outside the box and were not afraid to say they did not have all the answers but kept looking/trying to find answers even when that meant referring another doctor. I am a cancer survivor, my oncologist (great doc) actually called me at home late in the evening with inconclusive pathology results and pushed me to not wait, to get another opinion asap! That saved my life! Good Luck to you!

 

[Not dead yet!]

I am new here, but I am of the *trust your gut* type of person. The lack of his eye contact, I agree, big red flag! I worked in a hospital a long time and have had really good docs and bad ones. it is very frustrating this journey. (I am retired, on disability) I hear you about docs who think they know it all! I call them *doctors in a box* They have closed minds with blinders on and only have their box tests/treatments, and if you don't fit in the box, that is all they have! The best docs I have had looked at me, listened, and thought outside the box and were not afraid to say they did not have all the answers but kept looking/trying to find answers even when that meant referring another doctor. I am a cancer survivor, my oncologist (great doc) actually called me at home late in the evening with inconclusive pathology results and pushed me to not wait, to get another opinion asap! That saved my life! Good Luck to you!

Thanks for this. Sometimes I don't count eye contact with enough emphasis, but you're right. When combined with the continual assumption that I was there for a weight loss treatment, it's a very bad sign. I've read those articles where doctors are too disgusted to touch patients.

On the whole I could enjoy my current doc if the staff were more on the ball. Not sure how this will play out.

 

[Likaloha]

Yeah I had a frozen shoulder from a call and when I visited my ortho for follow ups he did not even touch my shoulder, arm, anywhere... Big red flag to me and stopped seeing him... My pain doc, who I really appreciate ranges all my joints, measures some for range and size as presses on problem areas and actually helps me up onto the exam table....this seems to be a list art for doctors to actually look at, talk to and physically examine when appropriate..he even has an attendant in exam room when working with female patients...I totally trust him but guess he is being careful.