Not All Doctors Know What Theyre Doing - from Highlands Today and TBO.com

[Guest guest]

Wow, that is great! Would you mind if I sent this to the group I am in called NAC it stands for National Awareness Campaign, I know they would love to have someone with your knowledge on the team. The newspaper article that I did was because of them, just let me know I won't send them it until I here from them.

I hope this Holiday season will be a good one for you and I pray that you are having lower pain levels.

Lin

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[Guest guest]

Dear Group, I am forwarding this to you from My articale that was printed by the Tampa Tribune Highlands Today Section for Highlands County here in Florida. I tried to send it once I guess it did not get through so I sent to as many people Manually as possible so I am trying to send it to the group again. Thsi is about what happend to me as a patient at Florida Hospital Heartland Division in Sbring Florida. This article was printed and came out yesterday and as in a matter of hours I recieved a call from th Hospital Attorney stating that the Hospital is very upset, and they want to meet with me next week on the 29th with the Hospital Adminstrator and more top People from the hospital. A lot of Northerners are down here in Florida for the winter season and this caught them off guard. We only have 2 hospitals in Highlands County. A lot of people who saw the article have been calling me and congradularing me on my courage to do this as this is a Good Ole Boy County.

I was made as you see the Guest columist again as the editor is a great guy with the Tampa tribune, but its a section for our county called gain the Highlands Today

if you dont get the article you can go to www.highlandstoday.com

and you have to find the articles in one of the section for the name of the article

'DOCTORS DONT KNOW EVERYTHING"

Everyone have agreat holiday

Hugs

Jan

Avon Park, Fla.

Highlands County

Not All Doctors Know What Theyre Doing - from Highlands Today and TBO.com

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In Opinion:

By JAN LOEBGuest Columnist Published: Dec 23, 2004

I have been in Highlands County since 1986. I have seen a lot of changes here to the medical community. A lot of the doctors do not know a lot about medicine. They come here to Highlands County because they cannot practice in a big city with their minimal qualifications. Yes , there are a few great doctors here, but very few. I have a very bad spinal chord disease that I had for years, and I had to go to Jefferson University Pain Center for RSD in Philadelphia. For people that don’t know what RSD is, it’s called reflex sympathetic dystrophy. Many doctors here say they know what it is, but they don’t. I went to see the Godfather of doctors at the University in Philadelphia. I was in our local hospital last July and a pain management doctor convinced my own doctor that I did not have the disease. When Hurricane Charley came here Aug. 13, I was without electric, water, telephone and no food for a lot of days. My oldest son’s wife drove down from ville Tenn., a 12 hour drive, to drive me back to Tennessee because I am also a diabetic and all my food was lost. While I was in Tennessee, I called my doctor in Sebring when the phones came on, and told him I needed him to call in my medications for my cardiac condition and my insulin. He refused to do this, and I was very ill because of that. I faxed a letter to my doctor in Sebring and told what I felt about his attitude. He wrote a letter to me in Tennessee. He wrote to discharge me as a patient because I told him that I needed my meds called in and he was very mad at my letter. After being without a doctor and no meds I almost died. When my daughter-in-law drove me back after two months, I had no doctor and I complained to the hospital about the pain management doctor that convinced my doctor that I did not have all the qualifications of RSD. I went to another doctor in Orlando just to get another diagnosis, and he said to me that doctors in Highlands County don’t know anything about RSD. I just found another doctor here in Highlands County who is very caring, I won’t mention his name, But there is a law now. I had another doctor for over 10 years here that now refuses to see me because the one who discharged me told the other doctor not to see me. I have had seven back operations, have diabetic neuropathy and cardiac problems. I am 55. These doctors that are here except for a few should be reported to the state for unethical behavior. The doctor that discharged me should have his license removed. A patient has the right to know what medications he is being given, what course of action in regarding any surgery procedures, and a good bed side manner. The state has a patient bill of rights that no one follows here. I have found out during my stay this past July, I was treated like an animal at a kennel. The hospital said it would investigate my complaints, but as you know most of these doctors are in a clique with the hospital and nothing was done. Jan Loeb lives in Avon Park.

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[Guest guest]

Jan,

I'm sorry I didn't get back to you earlier. I wish more people would speak out when some one or some place treats you in an unprofessional way. I'm one who speaks out. Sometimes you hear "no one else has complained." I tell them that this doesn't mean that there isn't a problem, it just means people haven't gone to the effort to tell them there's a problem!! The ding dong psychologist I had first was put out by me because I wrote a complaint to Christie Clinic. He said no one had done that in the 20+ years he had been there. Well, there's a first time for everything! Didn't make me feel bad at all! I probably told him that some just hadn't bothered to tell him. Didn't want him there while I read my notes anyway! He had a paper with short comments about him doing a good job. I asked if he had any from chronic pain patients. He had to admit "no." Put him in his place. The News-Gazette

(that wrote the article on RSD) gets some 'letters to the editor' when someone writes one that ticks me off. Let us know how the meetings with the "big wigs" comes out!

Love,

N.__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Jan,

That was a Very good Article!! That is what is needed to wake people up in

high places....and it looks like that is exactly what you did!

Good luck with your meeting, and don't let them walk all over you. Stand up

for what you need, don't let them make you sit in a shadow. Just because you

ll be in their Turf, and just because they will have their lawyers present

and talk the talk.....you stand your ground and make them listen to what you

have to say!!!!

Tonia