Re: My doctors' appt---top doc or top quack?

[Guest guest]

> my temp was

> 96.5*F (I hadn't & didn't even know where the water fountain was!

> First time in office). I waited a while for the doctor. When he

> came in he took a look at all of my questions, took a look at the

> labs from Solantic (T4, T3RU, T7, and TSH). He said given the

> symptoms, etc. IF I had low thyroid function my TSH " would be in

the 90's. " He further stated that he was certain my thyroid wasn't

to blame for any of my problems because of my TSH (bad sign right

there, huh?).

Ella, I can give you response in one sentence: When it comes to this

doc and good thyroid care, you have a LOUSY LOUSY LOUSY doc!!

Definitely a TOP QUACK!!

Janie

[Guest guest]

RUN RUN RUN!!!!! My only thoughts. And if you were paying for the lab why

would he not order a FT3? Sounds like a jerk to me. I'd skip the labs and

find a new doc that has a brain in his head before I'd get stuck.

in AZ

> Posted this on another board, but wanted to get everyone's thoughts...

>

> First things first... the good doctor spent more time out of the room

> than in (wasn't as thorough as I'd hoped, and didn't walk out too

> confident in the situation). Okay, having said that, here's the blow

> by blow reader's digest version:

>

> I filled out a VERY thorough questionnaire that covered ALL my

> symptoms, which was a good thing (didn't have to give him a narrative

> anyway).

>

> Nurse took my bp (a teeny bit above normal, but okay). She then took

> my temp, gave me a weird look and asked me if I'd just taken a drink

> from the water fountain right before she came in because my temp was

> 96.5*F (I hadn't & didn't even know where the water fountain was!

> First time in office). I waited a while for the doctor. When he

> came in he took a look at all of my questions, took a look at the

> labs from Solantic (T4, T3RU, T7, and TSH). He said given the

> symptoms, etc. IF I had low thyroid function my TSH " would be in the

> 90's. " He further stated that he was certain my thyroid wasn't to

> blame for any of my problems because of my TSH (bad sign right there,

> huh?). He then said, " Everyone always wants their health problems to

> be caused by one thing, but the truth is... it could be a lot of

> things. " In other words, he sees my symptoms, and said as much, as

> separate things that he did not think at all were really related.

> And because I have MVP (he could hear it himself) he did an EKG, and

> he also wants an echo done to make sure there isn't any regurge going

> on. My gut tells me my heart is fine. I've made myself very aware

> of the symptoms associated with MVP that gets so bad you need

> surgery. But oh well.

>

> He agreed...because I asked and gently reminded him that I was paying

> for the labs out-of-pocket to do the frees. He agreed to have the

> FT4 done...no FT3 (is that weird??). In fact, here's the list of the

> labs he ordered, and you'll be able to tell the ones I specifically

> asked for! LOL

>

> 1. Sed Rate, Westergren

> 2. DBC, Diff, Indices

> 3. Complete Metabolic panel which includes: Na, K, Cl, CO2, Glu,

> BUN, Cr, Ca, TP, Alb, Tbili, AP, and AST.

> 4. Thyroid panel: T3 TOTAL, T4 FREE, TSH (no FT3)

> 5. ATA

> 6. Antibodies (worded differently, but writing hard to read..

> something like Anti. Microsomal...can't read the third word).

>

> There is also two columns on this page for symptoms, a little over

> 100, many of which I have (not all). The ONLY ones he checked in

> reference to the labs were " overweight " and " fatigue. " I mean,

> there's tons of stuff on there from low libido to dry skin, even

> dizziness (which I feel a lot...kind of like being spacey). But all

> he checked were the two mentioned. Kind of makes me sound like a

> whiny female who wants to blame her problems on everything but weight.

>

> Oh, and he scheduled a stress test for my heart, too. I wish he'd

> get off the heart thing already! My heart is fine! I've lived with

> MVP, the palpitations, the flutters, etc. my whole life. He said the

> EKG was fine, so why bother? Well, I did mention that I had two

> episodes over the last year that felt like severe heartburn with

> chest pressure with severe neck and jaw pain. It wasn't heartburn, I

> don't think, because it went away on it's own before I had a chance

> to take anything. But it's happened twice, and I think if I'd had a

> heart attack that the second time would've been bad. I really just

> don't know, but my gut tells me he's focusing on my heart ONLY. He

> wants my lipids checked because he thinks it might be my heart, and

> he says the fatigue and weakness could be from anemia, so they're

> supposed to check that in the labs. Then he says CTS can be caused

> by a lot of things, and hair loss (even eyebrow loss) can be due to

> nutritional deficiency (I don't see how THAT could be happening,

> though). He basically ignored the big picture, just like I was

> afraid of.

>

> One last thing... he couldn't remember what to call the lab to check

> antibodies, and he said since he felt my thyroid and didn't think it

> was swollen that it's most likely not Hashimoto's. I thought they

> did a swallow test or something? Anyway, I don't think my thyroid is

> swollen, but I do feel a " clicking " in my throat, or a rolling

> sensation (like I'm swallowing past something) when I do swallow.

>

> So....$140 later I'm home, not looking forward to the $350 (possibly

> more) in labs I have to get tomorrow (didn't get them today because I

> have to fast for 12hrs prior). The good thing about the labs is...

> they will bill me because I don't have insurance.

>

> Well.... what do you think? Maybe I can ask the lab to do FT3 for me

> as a separate thing and pay for it separately??

>

> What stands out the most from this visit? Easy, within the first

> 5min he told me that if I had low thyroid my TSH would be in the

> 90's. Somehow, that just scares me.

>

> Any ideas on this little experience??

>

> Ella

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> Ella, I can give you response in one sentence: When it comes to

this

> doc and good thyroid care, you have a LOUSY LOUSY LOUSY doc!!

>

> Definitely a TOP QUACK!!

>

> Janie

rofl, Janie! Maybe we should start a " top quack " list as a companion

to the top doc list!

Ella

[Guest guest]

> RUN RUN RUN!!!!! My only thoughts. And if you were paying for the

lab why

> would he not order a FT3? Sounds like a jerk to me. I'd skip the

labs and

> find a new doc that has a brain in his head before I'd get stuck.

>

> in AZ

I really was convinced I was going to just say to heck with it when I

left the office, but then realized that it wouldn't hurt to get most

of that stuff done anyway. I've not had any lab work (other than my

lousy thyroid panel the other week) in YEARS, so it would be a

good " check up " for me to see where I stand. And with heart disease

running in my family, diabetes, etc... I probably should know where

my lipids, etc. stand, too. And there could be a deficiency

somewhere, and at least if I go ahead and get this stuff done I'll

know if it's to blame or not. That way, when I do find a good doctor

we can definitely rule out other possibilities. It's a lot of money,

but with the way my health is now.. wont hurt to check it out.

Ella

[Guest guest]

my vote is........top quack........horses pitoot..........numb as a

hake......NEXT.

Gracia

Posted this on another board, but wanted to get everyone's thoughts...

First things first... the good doctor spent more time out of the room

than in

[Guest guest]

Hey Ella,

I read your post and almost fell over. My doc is chasing the heart

route too. I've got my stress test Monday, for what good it will do.

Also, no FT3, no antibodies, but the whole basic metabolic series.

Had it done last week, so we'll see.

I have the same lump in my throat (worse at the end of the day).

She did order an ultrasound of the thyroid which I don't think

showed anything.

We'll see. Keep your chin up.

Jen

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 5/30/03 1:07:59 PM US Eastern Standard Time, usns@...

writes:

> We've toyed with that idea, but with our lawsuit happy society.....

>

You could always title it " Doctors who we personally feel did not respond to

our needs as we would have wished... " Does that sound PC enough?

[Guest guest]

> rofl, Janie! Maybe we should start a " top quack " list as a

companion

> to the top doc list!

>

> Ella

We've toyed with that idea, but with our lawsuit happy society.....

Janie, on library computer until my own gets fixed

[Guest guest]

> my vote is........top quack........horses pitoot..........numb as

a hake......NEXT.

> Gracia

That gets the Blue Ribbon award for best description!! LOLROF

Janie on library computer

[Guest guest]

...or...

Doctors that choose traditional TSH lab results along with

non-personalized exams as the best method of treatment. Great choice for

those that want simply to breeze through the exam process.

If you were to read that, knowing what we know about how we are feeling

and how our symptoms are doing being of such key importance in our care,

would you want to see that doc? Yet, to get technical, it says nothing

wrong..it merely lists a doc that has short exam times, streamlined....

On Fri, 30 May 2003 15:10:40 EDT topaz0803@... writes:

> In a message dated 5/30/03 1:07:59 PM US Eastern Standard Time,

> usns@...

> writes:

> You could always title it " Doctors who we personally feel did not

> respond to

> our needs as we would have wished... " Does that sound PC enough?

>

[Guest guest]

> Hey Ella,

>

> I read your post and almost fell over. My doc is chasing the heart

> route too. I've got my stress test Monday, for what good it will

do.

Is this like a new trend for them or something? He was going to

order the echo only until I stupidly told him about a couple of

episodes I had over the last year that I wasn't sure was GERD or

something else. GEEZ..WHY did I open my mouth? LOL

>

> Also, no FT3, no antibodies, but the whole basic metabolic series.

> Had it done last week, so we'll see.

I bullied mine into the antibodies, but he wasn't about to do the

FT3. LOL

>

> I have the same lump in my throat (worse at the end of the day).

> She did order an ultrasound of the thyroid which I don't think

> showed anything.

No ultrasound with mine. I don't know what mine is, though.. it's

weird, like a click or like I'm swallowing past something because it

has a " rolling " feeling. Hard to explain. But, my doc wasn't

concerned.

>

> We'll see. Keep your chin up.

>

> Jen

Thanks. ) You, too!

Ella

[Guest guest]

> You could always title it " Doctors who we personally feel did not

respond to

> our needs as we would have wished... " Does that sound PC enough?

You can't get much more diplomatic than that!! Geez, you're good. I

really want to....when I get my computer back, I'll get it done. I am

on a borrowed laptop now.

Janie